Festivals: Alternatives to tents

[loud 1]

me uncles got a foookin massive american camper thing,full size double bed,kitchen,2 further bedrooms,shower,sat tele,double glazed windows the works..

im gonna nick it for festial season.

 

[William of Walworth]

It was meant just a little tongue in cheek!

 

[Orang Utan]

When was the last time you slept in a tent?

About five years ago - what I don't like is the heat and the sweatiness and being woken by natural light about an hour after you've gone to bed

 

[Hollis]

Camping is crap.

End of.

 

[Orang Utan]

Orang -- come to some one dayers (eg Strawberry Fair), or free-in London two-dayers (a new one planned for June 17/18, and Lambeth Country Show in July)

Thanks but no way am I going to any old festival - I'm only going for the music and Strawberry Fair looks wack.
Lambeth Country Show is ace however and no need to camp.

 

[Orang Utan]

Can you sleep alright on camp beds Orang Utan? I find the worse thing about sleeping in tents at festivals is when the sun starts to rise at 7 after you've only just got to sleep at about 6:40 (if at all) and then there is no way you can stay in the tent because it's too sweaty and uncofortable, you end up getting 2 hours sleep each night your there.


If it comes to it just stick a couple of wet tissues in your ears and a couple of valiums up your arse and you'll be well on your way to 40 winks.

Ay yes - just what I just said.
I can't sleep on those canvas and metal thingies - I can't even sleep on a normal single bed - I need a double or a king size. I'm like that Princess Pea bird.

 

[William of Walworth]

I can't sleep on those canvas and metal thingies - I can't even sleep on a normal single bed - I need a double or a king size. I'm like that Princess Pea bird.

Yes, festivals may not be for you then ... but seriously, double inflatable mattresses are the closest you're going to get ... and they are VERY comfortable.

 

[William of Walworth]

Strawberry Fair looks wack.

Whats to lose, with only a train fare and beer money at stake?

 

[William of Walworth]

About five years ago - what I don't like is the heat and the sweatiness and being woken by natural light about an hour after you've gone to bed

I appreciate that camping in a heatwave CAN be a problem ... but I've survived many WOMADS.

And those eyeguard thingies that editor mentioned could be your friend ...

 

[Orang Utan]

Whats to lose, with only a train fare and beer money at stake?

Having to listen to a people playing fiddles and singing hey nonny nonny.

 

[mr steev]

You could splash out on some memory foam. A mate recently bought some off the net to cover a knackered setee... it's well comfy now.

As for the heat... I went to a festival in portugal a few years ago. In this country when you wake up feeling like your in an oven, atleast it's only a short crawl to some cool, dewy grass to lay your head on. There it was like crawling out of an oven to find yourself under a grill!
We got a couple of beach mats last year that are silver on one side. I have a theory that if they were draped over the tent, shiny side up, it should reflect some of the heat. Not been anywhere hot enough to test it out yet.

 

[Wintermute]

 

[William of Walworth]

Having to listen to a people playing fiddles and singing hey nonny nonny.

You're mixing it up with the Cambridge Folk Festival (different site in Cambridge, different month!).

You twonkdaddy!!

 

[Orang Utan]

OK - what sort of music do they play there?
I bet there's lots of bands who wear colourful trousers.

 

[William of Walworth]

Strawberry Fair!!!

OK - what sort of music do they play there?
I bet there's lots of bands who wear colourful trousers.

Loads of small bands playing rock, blues, folk, reggae, world, all sorts ... dodgy trousers a risk admittedly ... also an ace dance area ...

AND FREE

With excellent beer at pub prices in 2 well stocked tents ...

 

[William of Walworth]

Headlinin (I predict) on the East (Main) Stage this year : The Broken Family Band!

FREE! In Cambridge, Saturday June 3rd .. see you there Orang!

 

[pootle]

Fuck accusations of being lightweight etc. Camping IS crap.

Tents get fucking freezing at night, and just as you are dropping off to sleep, the merest hint of the sun turns your tent in to a boil in the bag horror show.

Also, they aren't terribly effective when there are rains of biblical porportions.

If I could afford it, I'd be all winnebago'd or hotel'd for every festival, and no mistake

 

[Orang Utan]

You cannae soundproof tents either.

 

[Orang Utan]

Headlinin (I predict) on the East (Main) Stage this year : The Broken Family Band!

FREE! In Cambridge, Saturday June 3rd .. see you there Orang!

No chance mate.

 

[William of Walworth]

You're all so WRONG!!!!

We'll be (unofficially, unlicencedly) camping at Strawberry Fair this year, so as to get there early on the Friday, and to be with our mates for longer on the Saturday night ...

Said mates sleep in hippy trucks, parked up by the side of the road flyover nearby, at the end of the SF site, a truck of a hippy nature is what we hope to upgrade to from next year.

But I've paid my tent-festival dues. I started doing so at Stonehenge Peoples Free Festival, 1984 ...

ETA : Correction! My first tent based festival experience was in August 1983, at Fairport Convention's Cropredy Festival in Oxfordshire (still going, but 2006 may be the last one). The excessively folky nature of this, and the fact that I had to share a tent with my brother was made up for by the quality of the ale and the friendliness of the atmosphere.

The next summer, I went to Stonehenge and Glastonbury (and I cycled from London with tent, etc. on the back!) in one trip and became really hardcore ......

Now, it's 23 years later than my first experience of camping at a Festival. And in Oxfordshire that year (at Cropredy) it was hot as fuck and I didn't give a shit!!! ...

 

[Riff]

You're all so WRONG!!!!

We'll be (unofficially, unlicencedly) camping at Strawberry Fair this year, so as to get there early on the Friday, and to be with our mates for longer on the Saturday night ...

Said mates sleep in hippy trucks, parked up by the side of the road flyover nearby, at the end of the SF site, a truck of a hippy nature is what we hope to upgrade to from next year.

But I've paid my tent-festival dues. I started doing so at Stonehenge Peoples Free Festival, 1984 ...

ETA : Correction! My first tent based festival experience was in August 1983, at Fairport Convention's Cropredy Festival in Oxfordshire (still going, but 2006 may be the last one). The excessively folky nature of this, and the fact that I had to share a tent with my brother was made up for by the quality of the ale and the friendliness of the atmosphere.

The next summer, I went to Stonehenge and Glastonbury (and I cycled from London with tent, etc. on the back!) in one trip and became really hardcore ......

Now, it's 23 years later than my first experience of camping at a Festival. And in Oxfordshire that year (at Cropredy) it was hot as fuck and I didn't give a shit!!! ...

Quality post!

I have tented at festivals since 1993 and I think I would feel odd (and a bit left out) if I wasn't in a tent.

I've also done wild camping (way back in 1984 for my D of E), but that's another story!

 

[moose]

Every year I thank the festival gods that my tent days are over

I do sometimes use a tent, if I'm going somewhere in the car rather than the campervan, but I hate that early morning swelter. Tents are only civilised between September and April.