A few newbie questions

[TeaPleaseTa]

Well, newbie as in not camped for 30 years and have just booked for my first ever festival!

Back in the day camping in our early 20s we took minimal stuff, never cooked (lived on bread, ham, chocolate and juice) and used the loo block or, on one memorable occasion, the sheep field we were (allowed to be)in. Never wee between a sheep and her lamb…

So this time it will be just me and DD14. In the same tent as yesteryear, so a classic 2 man with teeny porch (no groundsheet in that part) and no headroom. We will test it out beforehand for waterproofness etc but no point getting a new one for this kind of event.

I am getting a SIM secondhand and will take chairs. She has a rollmat she uses for Guides. I may even get a small stove. But because it’s a festival I don’t think I should take too much kit.

First question, do people have their own portaloos and teeny loo tents at these things or is that more for proper camping? I would be worried they could get disturbed or wrecked. Is it possible to have a wee into a special bag in the porch or will I end up in a heap at 3am?!

Secondly, how on Earth do you work out where to pitch when there’s a huge field? I understand not too close to the loos or showers but then presumably also not too far away. Am worried we will get there and everyone will know what they are doing. How do you know whether to have the tent a certain way round? And how do people know where is best to put their windbreak, which appear to be a thing now?! (Or not at festivals?)

Thirdly do we bring the chairs in at night? The stove I assume we do.

Be grateful for any advice, thanks in advance!

Which festival is it? They all vary. We take the kids with us to Glastonbury. We take a bucket to wee in. You can then walk it to the loo in the morning. We bring chairs and stove and boots in at night. In fact we take a cheap pop up 1 man festival tent thing to put up next to us to store these bits and the buggy in!! Things left out can wander.....

At most festivals there's loads of food - we take a million snacks but always end up bringing stuff home: pot noodles, instant porridge - stuff that's easy with a stove and a kettle.

I get frozen in the night so I won't go without taking a single duvet in to go over our sleeping bags. It's surprisingly cold at 3am!!

There's often a long walk to camp from the car. We pile up the buggy. Lots of people take festival buggies but the smaller, cheaper ones seem to break and don't seem worth it.

Get there as early as you can. Camping space disappears quick - just go for a space - don't be worried about your position just be grateful for a space!! Having said that never go right next to any metal barriers (in case you get men weeing against them ). Most festivals have a family or quieter field. I'd definitely recommend that. At Glastonbury they have compost loos - look out for them - they are a million times nicer. I often take a pack of bathroom cleaning wipes with me....the loos can get manky.

Take ear plugs, a million baby wipes, loo roll, hand sanitiser. But most of all just go for it - it will be tiring but an amazing time together x

Sorry also split your clothes - don't keep everything in the tent in case it rains in. We keep 1/3 of the clothes in the car, 1/3 in the tent, 1/3 in one of the free security lock up places on site (but I'm not sure all festivals have these). (But we take younger kids - you and an older DD might be more resilient!!) We once got utterly drenched and it was a year where a lot of the tents got flooded too! It was great to collect a bag of dry stuff, and to put everything wet in a bin bag and to just forget about it. Thankfully our tent didn't get flooded but there were lots of wet people with nothing dry at all....if you are going in a car leave dry emergency stuff in the boot. It's often a long walk back to the car but it's completely miserable if you are drenched with nothing dry to wear.

I would never camp at a festival, but wrt to night time wees, some campers use a small bucket lined with a food caddy compostable bag and some cat litter, all of which can then go in the rubbish. In fact a food waste caddy is a size that works for me, and has the advantage of a lid. I don’t bother with liner or litter, but might in a tighter space.

Definitely test your tent for waterproofing. An application of Fabsil will restore some water repellency but not full waterproofing in a proper downpour. IMO.

Hi,
these are great tips thanks both.
It‘s the Big Church Festival. I joined the FB page but there is no discussion for attendees so nowhere to ask silly stuff.
Really looking forward to some time with DD and hoping she enjoys it.

If you're early enough to pick your camping spot choose somewhere uphill so you don't end up in a puddle if it rains. Not near the loos or by the edge of a path. When choosing which way round the tent goes think about your lying position. If it's a bit of a slope don't go sideways otherwise you'll slide down into the side of your tent and put your head uphill.

Windbreaks and gazebos can be a bit of a no-no at festivals if space is a premium like Glastonbury. I don't know how popular Big Church is. But a small tarp to extend your porch would probably be ok.

I've never bothered with extra toilet tents it's just extra shit that you have to carry back and forth from the car. Same for cooking equipment, a little folding stove and a kettle to make a brew in the morning is good enough. There'll be loads of good food stalls to try onsite saves having to carry plates, bowls, cleaning cloths, cutlery etc and the food itself.

Bring loads of snacks - babybels, cheddars, fruit roll ups, baby food smoothie pouches, chocolate will melt (unless you're bringing a cool box but that's just more shit to carry), crisps, pot noodles,.

Take a load of handy tissue packs to use as toilet paper - the portaloos will run out. Bring your own hand sanitizer.

If the tent looks something like this (but much older) what would be the best plan to have a gazebo/roof for a possible standing height/cooking section on the front? And is that too much faff for festival goers, ie would people be annoyed at the room it took up?https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trail-Camping-Festival-Waterproof-3000mm/dp/B073QQ9PTM

Unless it is pouring with rain, just cook in the open air. You could take a tarp, or even a big umbrella.

I‘ve seen a tarp with a pole and pegs. Simple and yet adding a layer of complication I may not need!

I think my most exciting new addition will be if I take a stove. Usually I just wait for a cuppa.

No way would I camp in a "2" man tent with another person waaaaaaay. Too small! I use a shewee type thing and pee in a bottle.

Me and my then boyfriend went Interrailing in it for a month and are still together 31 years later so am going to risk it ;-)

Can’t believe it’s happening, I have been out today and got a few more bits and pieces and am (overly) ready! Problem is I haven’t got a useful corner in the house to keep everything so it’s spread around and I don’t want to forget anything…

DH more or less insisted I buy a cheap pop up tent as a spare in case ours gives up so I’ve done that. Ours had 36 hours in the garden the other day and seems in good nick. I am wondering about using the spare one for storage next to us as the porch areas are tiny and not lined.

I am going to have a stove as I need to overcome my fear of them and people have cautioned against long food queues (and the cost)! But just for tea, tins of beans etc.

What am I likely to forget?

Oh and the she-wee arrives today!

Take a flask. That way you can fill up with hot water for tea when you make breakfast hot water, and have hot drink later without constantly heating stove back up again.

Thanks!

If you can fit it in/on the car, a wheelbarrow is the best thing for transporting stuff from car park to camping pitch. I took one of the allotment wheelbarrows for a clandestine weekend at Camp Bestival the other year. They were renting out those stupid little red trollies for a fiver per half hour 😱

Others might not agree with this, but I'm not a camping chair person. A picnic blanket is so much easier to carry, and you can take it around with you and plop it down where you want. And then sunbathe on it in front of your tent.

My particular choice at festivals is to camp as far away from the noise as possible, ideally next to a hedge. That way you have a little chilled, green spot to retreat back to. Of course, if it's a massive festival like Glastonbury there is NO escape from the noise....

Bucket with a lid for sure.

Camp against a hedge if possible
Take bread and peanut butter or similar
Pringles
Wipes
Loo roll
Bin bag
Rain coat
Wellies
Sun cream
Hat
Pillow

You really don't need much at a festival.
The less the better

Ear plugs
baby wipes
loo roll
suncream
dry shampoo
UHT milk
tea bags
head torch
small led lantern
something to be able to ID your tent- long bendy pole with a something memorable flying above.

bunce in pretty much there.. I like eyes masks as tents get light, a foldable bucket for the night time wees, a self inflated mattress thing as sleeping just in a sleeping bag is cold and a woolly hat is a godsend. Layers and Waterproofs.. because being wet is ok for an hour but miserable for a weekend…