Things You Never Thought You’d Need at a Summer Festival

I’m all about giving others tips for festivals if it means that they can learn what’s best for them and pass on the advice to future festival goers. I’m not selfish enough to think that I want the best for me and only me, and that’s generally how all festival attendees seem to be. Everyone radiates great vibes and positivity, so I feel it’s only in my nature to pass on good tips and tricks for newbies out there.

So, rather than tell you what’s absolutely essential or what you can’t bring, I’m into letting you know some of the things that you’ll wish you had brought but don’t necessarily need. These items, like common packaging supplies, are just handy, very convenient, and super interesting in general.

Rain boots.

It looks stupid in a fashion sense, but really, what festival outfits aren’t weird and wild? Rain boots will be your best friend if it happens to begin raining, especially at festivals where large patches of mud are inevitable with a little bit of precipitation. These are especially useful for not coming off your feet after every step. While some people think sandals will be fine and they can get around just fine in them, they’ll detach at every possible step in the mud and become quite slippery to walk in, which could mean you are at risk for hurting an ankle.

False sunscreen bottles.

Admittedly, this wasn’t my idea though I’d love to claim it as if it were. We actually saw a group of guys last year inside the festival passing around a bottle of sunscreen and drinking from it. After a few seconds I realized they were drinking liquor and I began to laugh. They told us that they had gotten them online for practically nothing, and lo and behold, we’ve done the same thing for this year’s trip down to Tennessee. The best part is that they come with seals to put on the sunscreen’s opening so that they look legit, closed, and no one can open them to smell the alcohol within.

Clamps and woodclips.

Packaging supplies like clamps and even twine are extremely useful at festivals when camping simply because there’s so much DIY to be done that you’ll need basic items like these. I like woodclips the most for hanging my tapestries to my canopies to allow for a sense of privacy and also shade from the sun.

How to Pack Your Vehicle for Camping Festival

Lately I’ve been writing more and more about camping festivals and the things you need, what to expect, and how to get use out of packaging supplies, cardboard boxes, and other packing materials in general.

Today’s little piece on festivals and packing is dedicated to getting your vehicle packed right. And I mean to say this not just in a Tetris perspective of getting things packed perfectly and preserving as much space as possible, but also as a forewarning of where to pack stuff that may be prohibited within the campgrounds.

While I’m not saying I’m a fan of a lot of those things that shouldn’t be allowed, I’m just being conscious that people are going to bring what they want no matter what, so I’d rather you be safe and smart about it than cocksure that you’ll get in without being searched.

First off, the best advice I can give if loading a truck bed or the back of a van is to put in your big items first. This includes your EZ Up canopies, your tents, your sleeping bags, cots, coolers, and anything else that’s large enough to warrant going in first. This makes it so that you can fit in smaller items like your packaging supplies, toilet paper, chips, clothes, and backpacks where needed after you’ve got the huge things in. You can try to be as perfect as you want piecing things together, but if you don’t account for getting the larger, flatter, square and round objects in on the ground first, it’ll be a hell of a time messing with it later.

The other thing to consider is your beverage stash. Soft drink is a good choice here. It would be even better to have arrangements to extract juice from the pulpy fruits. You can have this arrangement for more than one person, but if you for some reason feel like you must bring more, your friends are not going to mind at all. However, maintaining freshness of the juices is a matter to be taken care of. All I can say is don’t overdo it, buy only plastic or aluminum bottles and cans, and steer clear of glass entirely. If you have glass bottles, you’re sure to have your entire vehicle searched.