Anyone done a music festival in their bus ?

[crede999]

quite fancy doing a festival next year in the bus with the family , two teens, a toddler and the wife ..........what sort of cost am i looking at ? is there an allotted area for campers ?is it safe ? is it worth the hassle or am i better off tenting it? any help would be great :mrgreen:

chris

 

[andewilson]

i know most festivals charge extra to camp in your camper (£25-50) depending on which one.

bestival is a good festival as it is family orientated or the smaller ones around.

the big ones will do your head in trying to keep your kids away from the mud and carnage.

 

[john the horse]

went to lattitude in the bus this year as go most years but in tent.

cost 35 quid extra.

plus side.

just turn up set up and do what you wanna, no walkin a million times to grab gear from car etc.

down side.

if you are lowered you will have probs , we had the temp gauge go up due to mud on engine.

no tiolets in the camper area

the extra cost.

the walk was miles to the event.

wont be goin there in the bus again, had a good time and all but too much money really.

having said that theat was only lattitude and my opinion and its a real boost just to drive in and set up so, lookin back wasnt too bad really.

just the tiolet thing really i guess for no 2s etc.

john the horse

 

[Barkafer]

I did Glasto in the bus with my eldest two this year. Had to tent it tho, but was glad because the mud was swamp-like..!
Car park was £20.00 and safe enough.
I put the bus undercover tho just in case..? Needn't have worried tho, who'd wanna nick my ratty old thing, eh..!?

I would do a fest in a camper (if I had one, mines a microbus), but I've got 5 kids and the missus would have a miserable time trying to entertain the younger two!

You can always see if the fest you're thinking of will do a family area. I know some do.

Defo doing Glasto '13 again in the bus, if we get tickets 8)

 

[antoine]

went to green man this summer, and was great, didnt take the van though since it had no doors, wimdows, roof... but there were a fair few vans in the 'motor vehicle camping area' couple of splits, a few late bays, and one guy running something in the kids area camping in his EB ambulance.

next year deffo taking the bus

 

[mjknight71]

done end of the road last two years.....only a couple of VWs last year...this year :shock:

much better than a tent.........

...Camp Bestival gets good local reviews too....although never been :msn4:

 

[crede999]

thanks for the replys fellas ........has anyone done v or reading?

chris

 

[Rexer]

Did three years on the trot at reading festival in my old tin top Devon split. It was what that van was made for. Me, the missus and two mates, obviously the lads had to ruff it in the awning haha

One year we forgot the bit of wood that made up the bed, ok for the first night as we propped up the matters with beer crates..... Started to sag somewhat the second night. Third night we just diched it and crashed in the awning using my mates as a mattress lol

I really don't think I cod do a music festival without a camper now though as I have been spoilt.

Money wise, can't remember how much it was as it was 8 years ago.

I say go for it

 

[Haveacamper]

i went to Isle of Wight festival this year. it was my first festival and i did tent it

we arrived quite late on the friday so, admittedly, we were right by the car park, furthest from the music. you may think this was bad, but it had several plusses for us. the venue is relatively small so could get to the two main stages in about 15mins max; not very noisey; toilets were always in reasonable order as least number of people used them.

we were right next to the campervan camping area, which looked pretty good: 1 shower block just for the campervans compared to 1 shower block for all of the tenters. fresh water just for the campervans and toilets just for the campervans.

the down side - apparently, IoW festival doesnt really like having campervans so charge an ADDITIONAL £250 per vehicle. that would mean £175 per person PLUS £250 per Campervan lol. you do the math!!!

 

[Clem]

We did Glasto in the van. It was perfect, further away than tenting but a price worth paying.

 

[easy]

I have done Reading about 5 times in my bus and also Bestival on the Isle of Wight, cannot fault it for comfort and the joy of it being much quieter in the bus when the doors are shut! :lol: plus you dont get the odd drunk student trampling on your head!

(mind you i was backsatge at all of them )

 

[walshy]

isle of wight fest have dropped their prices to £100 this year so not bad if 4 of you go now
roll on next year,just need to find myself a van!!!

 

[LittlestHobo]

Did Bestival in a hired bus, knocking on a bit these days and had the missus for her first festival, so it seemed a more civilised option than knocking around with the hoy paloy (10 years of glastonbury in a tent, sheet, cardboard box or just generally where ever i fell has knocked it out of me...).

Was £60 extra but worth it, the camping at bestival looked insane..almost multi storey camping...

The camper site was quiter, so when the music got too loud I just took my grumpy old bones off to bed...

On the down side...mud everywhere...and things do appear to get broken quite easily..

 

[beef]

Mud everywhere at bestival? You should have seen IOW festival! Bestival was great!

 

[mike202]

Went to the Cambridge Folk Festival this year in our new van. The camp site at Coldhams Common is separate from the actual music but there are free buses there and back. Site was mud free and level . We camped in a tent last year but prefered the van - just put down the roof and drive away :lol:

 

[Padwah]

Wouldn't do the isle of wight festival just because it costs too much to take the van, but we always take the van to the larmer tree festival which has a massive camper van field at no extra cost, musics more folky and not massively mainstream but it's got a great atmosphere and is very family friendly and the beers not to deer. Also did the ynot festival up in Derbyshire in the van and that was excellent, plus it was the longest drive we've done in the van and it didn't miss a beat on the 500 mile round trip. Couldn't do a festival in a tent again, I like my creature comforts!

 

[Marvel]

The family and me did the Shrewsbury folk festival this year and it was ace. My mate had a tent and a very Heath Robinson-esque eating area (think big bit of army surplus canvass and some 2X4 posts!) Didn't pay any more for the van than anyone else and their plots. Great family festival to boot!

 

[crede999]

Thanks for all your think we will give it a go .... Now the hard bit deciding which festival and the harder bit getting tickets :!:

Chris

 

[wiley coyote]

For family festival I cannot recommend enough Camp Bestival, as apposed to Bestival (Bestival is on the isle of wight) it is a new festival but growing fast, they don't have all the big acts but do have a few along with lots of big bands from the past. This year they had primal scream, Blondie, ABC, selector, ed shearan, Newton Faulkner . Not the uber cool lineup that the big ones have but the advantage of this is that it is a FAMILY environment coz these acts do not attract thousands of boozed up youngsters who often do not know how to behave. It's a brilliant weekend in Lulworth Castle in Dorset and is highly recommended

 

[analord]

Glastonbury every year for us, but not next year or course. We are not bothering anywhere else as Isle of Wight is the only other ones fancy and it's too expensive, but you could always try Green Man festival in South Wales which is good. Alternatively, Bestival looks fun...