Make sure you’re Festival-ready with Grangers!

Festival season is here!

The sun is finally starting to shine, there is a national shortage of glitter, and you cannot find a pair of wellies that aren’t at an eye-watering price. This can only mean one thing – festival season is here!

At Grangers, we love all things festival. From music to mud – we can’t get enough! This year seems bigger than ever, with Boomtown just around the corner and Reading and Leeds soon after. With festivals focusing more on their environmental impact than ever before, we wanted to pass on our festival eco tips too.

It all starts with single-use tents. Quite simply, dumping a weekend’s worth of camping gear in a field should be a thing of the past. Our aim is to help you care for your tent, thus saving the economic cost of replacing it and the environmental cost caused by the thousands of tents that are abandoned in UK fields every year.

Here we share our top five suggestions for the best festival tents, how to care for your tent before, during and after the big weekend, and a few little tips and tricks we have picked up over the years to make your festival experience run smoothly!

Our favourite festival tents that will survive beyond the season:

Pop-up tents are quite simply the easiest and quickest type of tent to pitch. You can’t beat that smug look you’ll have when all you need to do is pop your tent out, while others around you struggle with poles and get tangled in fabric. However, if you’re heading to a longer festival, that could mean to up to five nights under canvas, so you will need something more durable and comfortable than a pop-up tent. We’ve compiled our list of the top-five tent choices for this season, with our favourites from each category.

1. Pop-up tent – Eurohike Pop 200 SD Tent.

We love this little pop-up tent, ideal for two people this is the ultimate time saver, simply unzip and watch the tent erect in a matter of seconds. Then, simply peg it in to stop it blowing away. It’s just as easy to take down just simply shake all the dirt out of the inside before flat packing.

2. Spacious group tent – Freedom trail, Colville 5 Family 5 Person Tent.

This dome tent is tried and tested by many festival goers. With a big porch to keep all your muddy kit safe but separate from your sleeping bag, this is ideal for larger groups of friends or families.

3. Bell tent – 4m Luna Weekender.

Fancy something a little bigger? This clever design from Boutique Camping creates a Tardis-like room that’s bright, airy and tall enough to stand up in. Ideal for groups of friends or couples who fancy something a little more sturdy than the traditional pop-up, these bell tents are available in a range of bright patterns to make sure you stand out!

4.The ‘Something-a-little-different’ tent – World’s Smallest Pub Tent.

Can you think of anything more British? This pub-themed tent is brilliant. With enough space for two, robust construction and free personalisation, what more could you ask for? However, for the price, it wouldn’t hurt them to include a few cask ales!

5. Tree tent – Stingray 3-person tree tent.

Admittedly, you aren’t going to be able to rock up to Glastonbury with this, but, if you’re planning on going to a festival that offers woodland camping, there’s no better ‘tent’ than this! Make your friends jealous as you gently rock to sleep, while they struggle with a roll mat. Also, as you’ll be elevated off the ground there’s no risk of your tent flooding, no matter how much it rains.

Making festivals more sustainable.

How many of us are guilty of throwing a plastic pint pot on the floor, or leaving things behind just because they are a little muddy? Every year more than a quarter of a million tents are left behind in UK fields, just from Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, alone. That’s the equivalent of 2.1 billion plastic straws or 62 million plastic pint cups.

If the festival you are planning on attending offers a free water refill station, why not take your own reusable water bottle to help cut down plastic? Why not bring your own reusable cutlery, too? Boomtown has a great green policy and this year they have even started a scheme to reduce the number of cigarette butts being discarded on the floor. If you are heading to Boomtown, make sure you check out their new Eco Campsite – a zero-waste space where everyone helps contribute to a clean camp ethos – undoubtedly making this the best place on site to spend five nights.

So, how do you care for your tent?

Caring for your tent at a festival.

Obviously, the best way to look after your tent is to be mindful throughout the weekend, you can’t prevent somebody from stumbling onto your tent, but you can do your best to help keep it protected. If possible, you should try to pitch your tent in a shaded area. This will help cut down the amount of damage that UV rays may have upon the fabric, while also keeping the inside of the tent a more comfortable temperature. Little things like taking your shoes off, being mindful of guy ropes and pitching in a rock-free spot all have a place in increasing the longevity of your tent. Using a tent footprint underneath the tent adds another layer of protection to the groundsheet, helping to keep dirt away from the fabric. Leave wellies, shoes and mucky clothes in a vestibule separate to your sleeping area. Don’t force a stuck zipper, instead, hold the zipper track with one hand and gently back the slider up, agitating it from side to side until the stuck fabric is free.

When taking down your tent, always go slowly and patiently especially when removing the poles, as you don’t want to tear the fabric. Make sure you shake off any loose dirt from the tent and close all zips, (leaving a small gap so air can escape) before packing it away, to avoid any rips or tears. When removing the poles, you should always start in the middle to avoid any unnecessary stress on the elastic cord. Also, always roll up the tent to avoid applying any tension to the fabric.

Tent care at home & how to store the tent.

First off, you need to be sure the tent has fully dried, inside and out. Pitch the tent inside, in a shaded spot outside or hang out to dry. It’s imperative that the tent is 100% dry before storing, otherwise, mould and mildew will grow and increased exposure to moisture can chemically break down the water-repellent coating.

How to clean and reproof your tent – in three easy steps!

You should give your tent a thorough clean after every festival, the huge exposure to mud and dust will have a serious effect on the performance of the fabric, causing it to no longer repel water.

1. Using the Grangers Tent Care Kit, the first step is to use clean water and the included sponge to wet the surface of the tent and remove the majority of any mud or dust.

2. Next, fill a bucket with fresh, clean water and add 2 caps of Grangers Tent + Gear Cleaner. Agitate the mixture with the sponge to foam up the solution. Liberally apply the cleaner to the surface of the tent, being sure to give the tent a through and tough clean to make sure all the dirt is removed.

3. Give the tent a rinse with clean water and while the surface remains wet, generously apply Tent + Gear Repel onto the surface, ensuring even coverage. Make sure you pay extra attention to the seams of the fabric, to ensure a water-tight finish.

Leave the tent to completely dry before packing away.

You should never put your tent in a washing machine or tumble-dryer.