Every festival camping essential you need for Latitude, Bestival and more
I survived six days at Glastonbury Festival, and these are the items I wouldn't have been without.
Camping has never been my thing. The idea of not having access to a proper flushing toilet or not sleeping in an actual bed just doesn't appeal to me. So the idea of spending five nights in a field amongst hundreds of thousands of people at Glastonbury Festival filled me with trepidation - but, with the hot tickets in hand, I knew I would have no choice but to embrace it.
Mountain Warehouse Apex 250 Square Mid Season Sleeping Bag
Mountain Warehouse Ultimate Self Inflating Mat
Micro Festival Wagon with Removable Sunroof and Cooler Bag
Built For Athletes Large 45L Gym Backpack
Eurohike Cairns 3 DLX Nightfall Tent for 3 People
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Advanced Clean Dry Shampoo
Megababe Bust Dust Sweat Powder
Mini Camping Lantern
Mountain Warehouse Outdoor Shower 40L
Diso Energy Supplement with Vitamin B12
EarHub Sleepwell Soft Premium Silicone Earplugs
Anker Battery Pack with PowerIQ Technology
Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier Electrolyte Powder Mix
No Knot Co Mini Detangler
Regatta Isla Adults' Camping Chair
YETI Camino Carryall
Merry People Tully Ankle Wellington Boot
But just because I had to accept my camping fate didn't mean I couldn't get kitted out with all the gear to make the epic six-day, five-night festival on Worthy Farm as comfortable as possible.
I quickly learned the four most important things you need at a festival are:
There are plenty of other little things that will help give your camping experience a slight touch of luxury, or at the very least, take the edge off the discomfort of feeling filthy most of the time. From much-needed hydration sticks and vitamin strips, to dry shampoo and camping showers, there were several things I took great comfort in throughout the experience.
In terms of non-material must-haves, there was one app I downloaded for the festival and will not be deleting off my phone: What3words. The navigational app helped me numerous times to find friends and my campsite, making it invaluable in such a sprawling festival with tens of thousands of people.
So whether you're planning to head to Glastonbury Festival next year, or you're preparing to camp at upcoming festivals like Latitude, Bestival, Wilderness, and more, here is my definitive guide to festival camping:
💰 Four items you shouldn't skimp on 💰
The sleeping bag I recommend
Cosy, comfortable and warm for the most part, it gets the job done.
- Cosy and comfortable
- Folds up compact
- Designed for warm weather camping trips
Getting a good night's sleep is imperative for me to feel like a functioning human the next day. Unfortunately, I'm a very light sleeper, which means I wake up to the slightest disturbance, so making sure I had a really comfortable sleeping situation was a major priority.
Mountain Warehouse came to the rescue with its Apex 250 Square Mid Season Sleeping Bag and Ultimate Self Inflating Mat. The sleeping bag was cosy, with a large hood to snuggle my head in on the coldest nights or fold up as a makeshift pillow.
This self-inflating mat is reliable and easy to handle, with the added benefit of not having to blow it up yourself.
- Self-inflating
- Keeps you off the ground
- Slippery as there's no grip
While extra clothes layers were required on one particular night, when the temperature dropped suddenly to 7C, the sleeping bag did a great job on the whole. It's fairly compact and squishy, so carrying it around was easy. Meanwhile, the self-inflating roll mat is unfussy and does the job of keeping you from sleeping on the lumpy ground - what more could you ask for?
However, if you really want to add a bit of luxury to your tent, there is one bed that I absolutely adore: the Bundle Bed.
Shop now: Boosted Bundle Bed | £370 from Bundle Beds
Starting from £335 for a single bed, this bed-in-a-bag does not come cheap. However, I found it utterly luxurious to come back to my tent and have a proper duvet and pillow with bedsheets to tuck myself into.
The Bundle Bed has a foam mattress that self-inflates by turning a valve, making it extremely easy to set up. Simply unclip and unzip the bed, roll it out and let it do its thing. Once fully inflated, it can keep you up to 8cm off the ground and does so for hours - I only had to top up the air in my Boosted Bundle Bed twice throughout the five nights at Glastonbury.
However, it is much bulkier than a sleeping bag and roll mat combo, so it wouldn't be suitable for hiking and wild camping. But for a festival, I think it's a hefty but worthy investment.
The trolley I recommend
This robust trolley features chunky wheels that can handle the bumpiest of terrains, and is large and strong enough to handle a large number of items, including tents, sleeping bags, coolers, and more.
- Chunky all-terrain wheels
- Sturdy and strong
- Large capacity
- Handle could be better designed
Glastonbury's dirt roads from the car park to campsite are not kind to trolleys - so inevitably, the road becomes a graveyard of cheap trolleys that fall apart along the way.
A friend of mine fell victim to this when his girlfriend's trolley buckled while we were queuing for the entrance. As we slowly inched our way to the campsite, it lost not one, not two, but three of its wheels and eventually had to be discarded.
But I was fortunate enough to be pulling along the Micro Festival Wagon, which proved more than sturdy enough to handle everything we threw at it. Gravelly tracks? Easy peasy. Tall grass? No problem. A hefty cooler packed with beers? A doddle.
The Micro Festival Wagon's tall, chunky wheels proved tough enough for all bumpy terrains. If it had been muddy (which, thankfully, it was not), I think they could have handled that too. They were also flexible and moved in all directions, which gave the trolley more flexibility around corners and therefore made it less susceptible to buckling or falling over.
My single criticism would be the handle of the Micro Festival Wagon, which is not particularly comfortable or ergonomically designed. The short single-bar handle would be easier to use if it were designed as a loop with a grip instead.
The backpack I recommend
Packing major capacity, this backpack doesn't just hold all your belongings, but it is also really comfortable to wear for long periods of time.
- 45L capacity
- Plenty of compartments
- Comfortable straps
- Sternum strap doesn't sit quite right
- Juts quite far out when completely full
Tall camping rucksacks are usually a reliable festival essential. But I often find them difficult to put on when full, especially as a shorter person.
Although it's billed as a bag for the gym, I found the Built for Athletes Large Gym Backpack to be really impressive in terms of capacity and comfort. When empty, it lays almost completely flat, which initially made me worry it wouldn't be able to fit all my festival outfits, toiletries and other necessities.
However, I was pleasantly surprised when I began packing and realised just how much this backpack can take. At 45L capacity, it expands outwards quite dramatically. The main compartment opens up flat like a suitcase, making it easy to pack because you can see everything going in.
I used packing cubes, which are inexpensive and useful for compressing all your clothes into manageable little cubes that can be organised according to garment type or day. They fitted neatly into the main compartment of the backpack, which further compressed the contents thanks to its reinforced zippers and compression straps.
Even when full to the brim, the bag was a delight to carry. It comes with adjustable sternum and waist straps to give you further support, and the padded shoulder straps are really comfortable. Once inside the tent, it doesn't take up much space and I could easily access all my items without having to root around too much in the dark.
The tent I recommend
Spacious enough for two people and all their things, and comfortable enough to spend five nights in without being cramped. The darkened bedroom area was also great for keeping out bright light in the mornings.
- More spacious than expected
- Darkened bedroom is useful in the mornings
- Porch area is roomy
- Not tall enough to stand up straight in
- Can be a bit of a mission getting in and out of
Your choice of tent can make or break your camping experience, especially at a festival. In a bid to pack light, many people opt for the smallest tent possible - but this isn't always the best choice, unless you're happy being unable to sit up straight in your tent to get dressed, have a wet wipe wash, or do anything at all inside of it.
My husband and I were kindly gifted a second-hand three-man tent, which was a bit small for my liking but better than I expected. A four-person tent would probably have been ideal, as I've learned that you can't stand up straight in a three-man tent - wreaking havoc on my back.
But this particular three-man tent by Eurohike proved to be good enough, and I didn't have much else to complain about. It was enough space for two of us and all our stuff, and the porch area came in really handy for storing things like our folded-up trolley, camping chairs, food, water, and booze.
The Eurohike Cairns 3 DLX Nightfall Tent also came with an inner bedroom that was separate from the porch and darkened so that the tent didn't get too bright in the early mornings. It packed down small and was lightweight enough for us to carry without fuss, and was easy to set up and take down.
🏕️ Essentials I won't go to a festival without 🏕️
As a creature of comfort, I knew I would need to find ways to make my camping stint just a little bit luxurious, to keep the bad moods at bay. These were the items I could not have done without throughout Glastonbury.
I've used numerous dry shampoos in the past that failed to keep my unwashed hair feeling fresh and clean - until now. Living Proof's Advanced Clean Dry Shampoo was a godsend on the third day of the festival, when greasy, yucky hair threatened to ruin my day. All my friends were clamouring for it, too.
I'm a big fan of Megababe, and their Bust Dust Sweat Powder is now a staple in my festival arsenal. It helped me stay dry for longer, even on really hot days, and didn't turn into a pasty mess at all.
Small but mighty, this camping lantern is super bright and perfect for the tent at night. The compact size makes it really easy to carry and I couldn't have done without it when getting back into the tent at 2am!
Although it packs down really small, this huge capacity camping shower is enough for three people to shower with everyday - if you can be organised enough to get up early, fill it up and wait for it to warm up in the sun before heading out for the day. I used it just once during the festival for a much-needed hair wash, and it worked perfectly.
Super lightweight and easy to pack, these vitamin strips that dissolve on the tongue came in extremely handy for a much-needed energy boost at the start of each day. Especially important when you're walking upwards of 30,000 steps each day!
Soft and malleable, these silicone earplugs did a fantastic job of moulding to fit in my ears and stayed put all night long. They drowned out a significant amount of noise from nearby stages and contributed so much to my quality of sleep at the festival. The only downside is that, as a side sleeper, I often woke up to find strands of my hair had stuck to them, and they can be a bit hard to ease out of your ears in the mornings.
An absolute essential for keeping my phone charged up at all times. I love this power bank for its slim and lightweight design, and it holds enough charge for 3.6 full charges for iPhone 15 and 2.9 full charges for Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
After being on my feet for hours, whether it was walking or dancing, I was undoubtedly dehydrated. Liquid IV's electrolyte powder sticks came to the rescue multiple times throughout the festival. I especially enjoyed the passion fruit flavour.
I felt like Barbie whenever I used this super cute detangling hairbrush at the festival. Small and compact, it took up hardly any space in my toiletry bag and managed to get through all the knots in my hair each morning and night. What more can a girl ask for?
A camping chair might not seem necessary, but I assure you it absolutely is. When your back hurts from standing all day at the festival, crouching down inside your tent and sitting on the ground, having a proper chair to sit in is bliss. This one is what3words enabled, which makes it super easy to find - handy for when you can't remember where the campsite is...
I love my YETI Camino Carryall, which is super spacious and durable. It's also completely waterproof, and can be used as a water or ice bucket - we used it to keep our cocktail tins and canned beers nice and cool throughout the festival.
While it wasn't rainy at Glastonbury this year, I brought along my trusty Merry People rain boots, which came in very handy at muddy water stations. These wellies are so incredibly comfortable and come in a wide variety of bright colours - I adore this red and yellow pair, but there's a colour combination to suit everyone!
