Tips for using a campervan at a festival

With festival season in full swing and Glastonbury taking place over the weekend, we decided to get some genuine user feedback and ask our owners group, Club CamperKing, for their top tips for camping in a campervan at a festival.

Jump to discover what they had to say...

Why take your campervan to a festival?

Because it's the perfect halfway house between admitting you’re not rock and roll and staying in a hotel, and fully embracing the full festival experience and roughing it in a tent! Taking your campervan will keep you close to the action at the campsite but will give you all of those nice home-from-home comforts!

Which festivals can you take your campervan to?

Most of the major UK festivals that permit camping will allow you to bring your campervan along, with some of the most popular of these including:

• Download
• Isle of Wight Festival 
• Strawberries & Creem Festival
• Glastonbury 
• NASS Festival
• Latitude 
• Standon Calling
• Camp Bestival
• Wilderness
• Y Not Festival
• Boardmasters
• Reading and Leeds Festival

Of course, the festival calendar is rammed and there are new festivals cropping up all of the time, so the above list in no way reflects all of the UK festivals that allow campervans, it is merely a selection of the most popular. 

It should also be noted that there are all kinds of inner-city festivals and other festivals that don’t permit camping. However, that shouldn’t stop you from using your campervan to stay in whilst attending them, whilst you won’t be able to bring your campervan on-site, the likes of BST Hyde Park, Forwards, TRNSMT, Sounds of the City, and All Points East, all have campsites not too far away.

Tips for camping at a festival from Club CamperKing members

So what tips do our Club CamperKing members have for camping at a festival? Well, they have tips for everything from getting the best night’s sleep to considering the slope of your pitch. Read on to discover the best of them…

Have your loo primed and ready

“Make sure you have your loo primed & ready to go because festival loos (even on the campsites) are usually awful.”

“If you have a porta potti - take it. There won’t usually be facilities for them, but you can empty them into a portaloo.”

Ensure you’ve got the right tickets

“Bear in mind that you will need to purchase a live-in vehicle pass in addition to your admission ticket for some festivals.”

Make sure your campervan meets the festival’s definition of a campervan

“If you have a CamperKing campervan conversion you have absolutely nothing to worry about but if you are planning on taking a self-build campervan then this could be a whole different story. Reading and Leeds are examples of festivals that have strict terms and conditions relating to campervans, these include campervan must-haves such as a door to the living accommodation, a water storage tank, a fixed means of storage, and at least one side window.”

Take your own shower

“If you want a shower a lot of places get you to prebook slots - don’t leave it till you get there as they’ll most likely all be gone. Alternatively, take your own shower (something like a Hoselock or a USB charged Liberrway one like ours) with a big bucket for the warm water & a toddlers paddling pool or bendy bucket to stand in - plus a toilet type tent for privacy (not one with built in groundsheet!”

Bring plenty of water

“Make sure that you have plenty of water on board at all times, especially if it’s hot. There’s nothing worse than returning weary & thirsty late at night & having no water.”

Use your campervan’s solar panel

“A solar panel on your van will mean that you should be able to run the fridge & lights the whole time you’re there for optimum comfort.”

“If you do a lot of festivals get a solar panel and double leisure battery.”

Sleep downstairs with the roof down

“For extra peace inside the van, sleep downstairs with the roof down.”

Reduce the demand on your leisure batteries 

“Freeze a couple of 1l bottles of water and put them in the fridge to help keep the temperature down and reduce the demand on your leisure batteries.”

Take your boots off at the door 

“Leave your muddy boots either under the van, or in an IKEA bag in the boot, and pootle around the campsite in flip-flops to avoid getting your van filthy inside.”

Check whether you can take your awning 

“You often won’t be allowed an awning, due to space restrictions, so bear that in mind.”

Take levelling ramps/blocks 

“Pitches are unlikely to be flat, so take levelling ramps/blocks.”

Do you have a tip that we haven't included here?

Let us know by emailing us at communications@camperking.co.uk or by getting in touch with us via Facebook. 

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