It is that time of year again when everyone is getting excited about going to festivals, with Glastonbury topping the list, closely followed by the likes of Leeds, Reading, Bestival and the Isle of White. But planning what gear to take can be tricky if you are on a budget after shelling out for expensive festival tickets and already spent most of your spare cash on crates of beer. The best way to overcome a cash flow problem is to prioritise what you want to spend the most money on and decide to buy the rest as cheap as possible. It makes sense to spend a little more on the important things like a tent and a sleeping bag as the quality of these increases with price; however that’s not to say you have to spend a small fortune.
A combination of mud, rain and inebriated festival goers means that festival gear is more than likely going to be ruined by the time you have finished with it. It is better to stick to the non branded stuff which may be better quality at a cheaper price as when you come to throw it away you won’t feel quite as ill for wasting £15 compared to £100!
If there is a large group of you going to a festival, it makes sense to buy a tent between you that you can all use. Not only will it work out cheaper to buy an 8 man tent than 8 individual one man tents, but it will also add to the spirit and enjoyment of the event to be around friends throughout the festival. The tent can be used as a regular festival tent each year and if you are lucky enough to be going to more than one festival, it can be used several times a year. Tents do tend to be a little optimistic on their specification of how many people they will sleep so it may be worth opting for a slightly larger than needed tent if you want to store all your other bulky stuff like alcohol and wellington boots!
Sleeping bags are another thing that you really can’t go to a festival without. Synthetic filled sleeping bags are the best option for a festival because not only are they considerably cheaper than a down sleeping bag, but if they get wet (more than likely in British weather) they dry back to normal unlike a down which would most probably be ruined. Be sure to opt for no less than a 1-2 season sleeping bag though, or you may be left cold at night time when temperatures do drop. If you can find a sleeping bag with pockets then this may be useful for storing phones, mp3 players and wallets when you’d rather have your belongings close to hand. It may also be best to get a sleeping bag with a hood or invest in a small travel pillow so that you get at least a few hours sleep without a sore head! Other things to accompany the sleeping bag but aren’t essential include a camping mat to provide a little padding on the hard floor and a sleeping bag liner which will add a couple of degrees warmth onto your sleeping bag, but also will make life easier in that you can wash the liner instead of the sleeping bag.
Picnic accessories aren’t essential because there will be numerous places at a festival to buy food and drink from, but if you want to save money by bringing your own then plastic picnic plates etc and camping cookware would be a good idea. Other things you may want but not need are an inexpensive camping stove, a cool box for storing food and drink, a picnic rug for chilling outside the tent, a camping lantern and a rucksack for carrying it all in.
Sleeping Bag Shop has some great deals on cheap sleeping bags ideal for festivals.
