Camping cooking for one person at a festival

[erinaceus]

Hi camping mumsnetters,

For the past two summers I volunteered at a music festival. This year I am volunteering at two different festivals a few weeks apart. In past years I didn’t cook at the festival all. I brought shelf stable snacks and bought a hot meal each day from festival vendors. As a volunteer I have access to hot water, tea and coffee, and at one festival toast and spreads as well.

All that eating fast food all week makes me feel grim, so I am thinking of buying a cooking setup. However whatever I bring I have to carry with me on the train and from the festival gate to the campsite. I won’t have access to a fridge.

Do you have any recommendations? What I really miss is fresh food, vegetables and the feeling someone cares. But if I want to cook properly I will need a knife, chopping board and washing up kit and everything seems to get complicated quickly.

When I was a teen on D of E we used Trangias so at least I am familiar with those. From memory a Trangia with a meths stove took forever to cook. In later parts of D of E we used a Trangia with a gas stove adaptor and that made cooking more feasible.

Any hacks or tips for this situation? I do not own any kit so will have to buy it all, I am happy to invest in something that will serve me well and last.

Before you do anything else, make sure you're allowed to use camping stoves. Many festivals don't allow them onsite.

@CurlewKate It’s a good point and I checked this. Gas stoves are permitted at both festivals although for one of them they stipulate “please place off the ground” which implies bringing a little table unless there is another way around this rule (or I could ignore it).

In my days of camping I ate a lot of tinned food.

I think the minimum you can get away with is a camping stove, a couple of mess tins and some cutlery. Mess tins can be used to cook and eat.

You could consider a casserole type pan that you boil on a morning then wrap in your sleeping bag to slow cook all day - try it at home first.

I would buy pre chopped veg and take rice, pulses, nuts - things that do not need refrigeration. If you don't want to go vegan while camping bacon and cheese can be kept without a fridge.

You can hire equipment if you don't want to buy

https://www.campingpackhire.co.uk/how-it-works

www.outdoorhire.co.uk/product/two-person-camping-kit/

Could you look at dehydrating your own food so that you just add water

Lots of stuff on Instagram about it

Presumably this is in the summer so could you just perk the last food up with lots of fruit and salad type veg so you feel healthier. Porridge pots for breakfast maybe if you can get hot water. Cooking will be a massive faff.

This is perhaps what I was thinking: find some other way to make me feel better than taking a camping cooking setup. The volunteer shifts I do are long and demanding and by the end I just want to sleep. All the portable setups I have seen for camping will be a lot to carry, and take a lot of time. What veg will keep without a fridge? I guess carrots and maybe peppers.

Breakfast is OK, I usually eat cereal bars and fruit although I miss real coffee.

@2024riot Regarding dehydrated food I hadn’t thought of doing my own. I’ve tried loads of variations on pot noodles and other “just add water” meals and never found one I could stomach. But I could have a go at this at home and see if I can make something better.

@sashh Oh that’s awesome that you can hire the kit I hadn’t thought of that. I might give that a try.

Baked beans if you can make toast
Tin of chilli and those pots of rice
Cherry tomatoes you can add to the chilli etc
Bag of apples and oranges
Bag of stir fry veg

Get a Jet Boil or similar. These are all in one stove systems that are compact, lightweight and boil water really quickly. Then take things that just need water added. Porridge, cous cous, noodles etc from supermarket. Decant anything in bulky tubs to small food bags. Some of the dehydrated meals are pretty good these days - I like Summit To Eat and Tent Meals. All of these can be supplemented with tinned fish, fruit and veg (blueberries for porridge, sugar snap peas, spinach etc for dinners).

@DownThePubWithStevieNicks As a volunteer I have access to hot water 24/7 already. So maybe what you suggest food wise plus a good thermos would do rather than taking a jetboil myself.

Certainly what I’d do! I always admire people that cart a load of fresh ingredients into the wilderness but simply could not be bothered with the faff. I always cook from fresh at home, so can cope fine with a bit of packet food for a week here and there though.

I’m a good camp cook, but it’s the washing up that would put me off at a festival. I think the hot water ideas sound good. All veg except bagged salad/pre-cut veg will keep for a couple of days. Cherry tomatoes, cucumber, peppers will all be fine

Thanks everyone for all input and suggestions.

Another option is halfway through to do a shuttle bus run to Tesco and buy more fresh stuff. So I only have to bring enough fresh things for three days and then get some more. I have been trying to work out if I can deliveroo stuff to the site entrance, can you tell I live in a big city?

We go to festivals and freeze a pint of milk, a bag of wine(from a box) and a pack of bacon/chorizo and they act as a mini fridge for about 48 hours in my cool bag for any additional food we take. You could freeze pre-made portions of bolognese or chilli to warm up on your camp stove and mix with sachet rice. Also make veg fried rice using sachet rice with veg and an egg. Lots is possible until you get to the point your wine bag is defrosted We have a stove top espresso pot for coffee in the morning. For breakfast we fry chorizo with baked beans and a fried egg on top. We take 1 pan, 1 kettle, 1 single burner stove. I bought a mini utensils kit from amazon last year which includes chopping board, knife and various cooking utensils for about £15.

Many Festivals have banned Gas stoves due to a few exploding. The little single burners that the gas lays down on its side if you put a pan on it larger than the cooking ring it can cause the gas cylinder to over heat and explode.
We have a Colman petrol powered stove it won't burn the grass, its very controllable and quick works in any weather. Have a google you can cook Pasta in a flask, just add boiling water when you leaving in the morning its cooked by lunch / dinner time. Ket boils are great for boiling stuff but not really controllable for longer cooking. https://news.surreycc.gov.uk/2018/07/12/video-and-pictures-firms-ordered-to-pay-45000-after-surrey-man-suffers-horrific-injuries-from-exploding-gas-camping-stove/

Haven't been to a festival in years sadly but seasoned glamping cook as both dd2 and I have allergies and can't really eat out. I find it easier to make a few "favourites" ahead and freeze in reusable silicone freezer bags (they stay cold much longer than the plastic ones) then just reheat them on a gas stove. Easy carried in a chill bag and will stay cold for 48hrs with a freezer block. We often do veggie meatballs in ragout sauce and bring pasta to boil, chicken/halloumi stroganoff and root veg bake are also easy to transport. I have done curries and chillies too but only half the family eat them.

Thanks for the suggestions everybody although I feel some of you may not understand the limitations having to carry everything on the train places on my options. If you travel by car it might be hard to picture the predicament.

Gas stoves are permitted at both festivals - I checked this.

Have you considered the shopping trolleys on two wheels? I deal for carrying your stuff and cheap too

Do you find that this works for the walk from the entry to the festival to the campsite itself? Last year I took a wheely cabin bag which worked okay except the exercise chewed up the wheels of my luggage.

I did have a shopping trolley (which thinking about it I maybe took the first year I volunteered) but I since ruined it trying to take a heavy lot leftover tiles to the communal bin across the road (can you tell I do not run a car and have to improvise?)

There’s things like this which might work but reviews of this (cheap) model are mixed: www.lifesystems.co.uk/products/wheeled-duffle-bag

I use a Trangia - very lightweight.

So you need to carry everything in - I've done wild camping so I am use to that
After going through my backpack menu I changed my mind... I can supply that if you don't like this idea

I would look to mix and match with festival food - bring in a supply of fruit and vegetables ( carrots, celery , peppers ) to augment the festival food . A loaf of bread and sone sliced cheese ( it doesn't need to be in a fridge - so make lunches and have veg and fruit as snack. You might even manage a tin of tuna for a change

No need to cook then , much less food to carry , and only having one festival meal a day and plenty of carrot sticks will probably keep you feeling better

I think the fresh food would likely be heavier than the cooking kit. If you have access to hot water I would go with things like instant noodles BUT chop up carrots finely, and peppers, add some tinned sweetcorn or something, and tip over the boiling water with a bit of stock cube.
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables/aromatic-veg-broth/
Obv this is more faffing than you’d do at the campsite but the idea is to shred veggies up small then just tip over the water and cook them in with the noodles. It can be really nice.

Big bag of apples, some carrots, tinned sweetcorn, a robust lettuce like a romaine lettuce to last a few days - keep them out of the sun in a shaded area and they should last ok. Get the carbs and meat parts of your food from the vendors and supplement with fresh stuff.

I think a part way through the week run to Tesco would help. Or just have fresh stuff for the first half of the week and hope you last the second half ok!

I'm also a seasoned volunteer at festivals and totally get what you are saying about fresh food.

For a few years I took a stove and some frozen chilli/meatballs which I defrosted and heated on the stove along with rice and pasta. Quick and not much prep onsite. Can minimal to wash up at the taps.

These frozen a meals last the Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday night before the real festival starts and you are tighter on time, and happier to buy meals.

I also take a bit of fresh fruit and snacks to take along with the food from vendors. Great for breakfast and snacks.

If the festivals has an onsite supermarket -a lot of the big ones have a coop now, but meal deals or fresh fruit from here. It's very refreshing

I have a small camping stove that folds up a bit like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Camping-Portable-Backpacking-Suitable-Trekking/dp/B0BY2NDBDK/

Breakfast - porridge/ museli / nuts.
Powdered (oat) milk. Tea/ coffee

Lunch - bread with cheese/ tomato/ peanut butter/ banana, cuppa soup and an apple.

Evening meal - Batch cook and freeze flat (in plastic freezer bags) chilli, pasta sauce, tagine etc and pack into a padded cool bag. They will be OK for 2-3 days. Get out to defrost before (if still frozen on day 1-2) so they cook quicker. You can warm the food by putting the sealed bags into hot water (to save on camping gas) and then just heat through on the stove to make it hot.
Packet rice or cook in flask noodles/ pasta.

Last few day either tinned veg soup with canned butter beans mixed in and the last of the bread or food truck meals towards the end of the week.

Did you check out healthier options from the festival food, OP? I generally go with salads, Indian food and veggie food. Second suggestions to top up with fruit, tomatoes, olives a cucumber, tubs or tins of fruit.