“Glamp” up your festival experience this summer, it’s worth it!
By: Meghan Hudson, Arts & Life Editor
Meghan Hudson/ The Towerlight
Sweaty. Dirty. Hot. Humid. Bland. Worth your money? Maybe not. This is your regular, typical, festival camping experience. Spending an entire weekend, under-prepared, or only with the necessities, can be pretty painful in a festival campground.
Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I love camping. I’ll remember to pack that nylon rope, extra tarp, and rubber mallet before I even think about decorating my campsite. Please, after you somehow manage to squeeze all of your necessities into your car, where would you fit decorations, anyways?
In 2017, I spent my first full weekend camping at a musical festival. Firefly musical festival, to be exact. The list of things we absolutely needed to survive the weekend: exhaustive. The list of decorations: a tapestry.
We lucked out, though, and between the lot of us, ended up with a tent to shade the sun a bit, and four tapestries to block each side.
When I say these tapestries saved our lives, I kid you not. Camping in a crowded makeshift camping ground (which is really just in the middle of a field), you are always sweating. Don’t get me started on the makeup situation. Every morning at 6 a.m. we were greeted by a hot, fiery, viscous morning sun.
On day one, I never loved those tapestries more than at 6 a.m.. Almost as if on instinct, all six of us left our camp tent, to lay under the breezy, shady tent. The privacy of the tapestries allowed us to continue sleeping until a more decent hour. I mean 6 a.m.? That’s only three hours of sleep under our belts at that point.
Anyways, the point is, those decorations were worth it. Fairy lights? So much better than those harsh, bug attracting flood lights of lanterns. I learned that the hard way.
Here are my top five must haves to glamp up your festival camp spot. Trust me, it’s worth it.
- Tapestries – Emphasis on “-ies.” Having a few tapestries to hang around your site will not only provide more shade on those hot summer days, but excellent photo ops prior to heading into the festival! Just remember to bring along a few stakes or clips to attach them down to the ground somewhere. They don’t work so well when they are flying around on windy mornings.
- Fairy Lights – While lanterns are great for inside of your tent, outside of the tent, they tend to be more harsh than necessary. Your light will become a bug hub. Fairy lights provide nice, soft lighting for your whole site, and keep the bugs more dispersed. Plus, they look super cute!
- Outdoor Rugs – A cute outdoor rug not only gives your site more curb appeal, but keeps you off the grass. After a while, sitting in the grass can not only get you dirty and invite bugs, but can leave nasty irritation marks all over your legs. Without rugs, you’ll end up sitting on your towels. It’s best just to bring them.
- Incense – Honestly, the best place to burn some incense is in the great outdoors. Having a nice smelling aroma can boost your mood up a bit when you’re lacking sleep, and cover up that “I haven’t showered in days” festival smell. Just make sure you’re following festival guidelines and, well, don’t burn down your site.
- Portable Speaker – Arguably the most important thing to bring with you, is the portable speaker. Music should be playing 24/7. Practice your moves on site with your friends before breaking it down inside the festival. Yes, I hate that I said that, too. But seriously, bring your speaker, and a good, long lasting charger.
