What to Pack & Hacks for Pemberton Music Festival Camping
It's Monday. It really hit me today that I'm going to Pemberton Music Festival this week and to be honest I'm not one bit prepared. Where do I start? LISTS. Lots of lists so I don't forget anything! Grimes is blasting and I'm in the zone. Here goes nothing... I've been to my fair share or festivals and campgrounds and over the years I've learned a few things of what to bring (the lifesavers) and what to leave at home. Here's the list of what I plan to bring. I know the lists seem long and overwhelming but everything on these lists is stuff I've used in the past. Once you get there you'll be drunk and not have a care in the world so it's best to go prepared! Keep in mind if you're camping it's NOT car camping meaning you have to park then walk all your stuff into your camp site. I hope this list helps all your virgin festival goers out there or people just double checking they have everything.
Food & Booze (Check out the Meal Plans Post HERE)
- WATER. Folks, it's going to get up to highs of 38! We don't want to ruin the party with people overheating from dehydration.
- Bring an empty water bottle to bring into the festival. There should be water stations so you can keep hydrated without breaking the bank.
- FREEZE WATER BOTTLESa night before you leave. These will act as ice packs in your cooler until it defrosts and you drink it. KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE! Thank you Mom for teaching me this tip back in the day when we were Canada's Wonderland Season Pass holders!
- Stovetop or portable BBQ & mini propane tanks
- Hot Dogs, burgers & buns
- Canned shit. Alphaghetti, Ravolili, etc. It's disgusting how lazy one can get after drink non-stop and sitting there in the smouldering heat. I'm fine with all these instant foods but I went to Sasquatch last year with my friend Erin and her BF they made homemade guacamole, had coffee every morning, fresh veggies and dip, you get the point. I sat there and drooled as I ate the most depressing thing of my life...canned mac and cheese courtesy of Walmart in Bellingham. To each their own. haha
- Mustard and ketchup
- Instant oatmeal
- Deli Meat, cheese and bread
- Plastic shot glasses
- Paper plates and bowls
- Plastic cutlery
- Granola bars
- Bread & PB & J. Andrew and myself lived off this at Sasquatch last year. To this day the noodles that we splurged on on our last day there were the best I've had noodles of my life...
- CHIPS
- Candies
- If you don't want to be bloated all weekend so you can rock your super fun forever 21 crop tops then I'd suggest bringing hard liquor. It will be lighter to lug to your campsite too I have to laugh out loud when I reread what I just wrote "hard liquor will save you from bloating" after all the food suggestions I just made. Oh well, every bit helps right? haha. MAKE SURE YOUR HARD LIQUOR IS IN A PLASTIC BOTTLE. Security won't allow glass in the campground for obvious reasons and if security is anything like Squamish Music Valley festival last year they will GO THROUGH YOUR TENT and take it from you if you have glass. I literally witnessed this. I hope Pemberton has their shit together and don't go through people's tents. On that note go to #6 in camping.
- Beer Bong
- Juice for mix
- Pop
- Redbull
- Plastic Cups
- Tongs
- Tin foil trays. This is what I cook my canned food in on the BBQ
- Can opener
- UPDATE BOOZE ALLOWANCE Each of the following is the maximum allowed amount of alcohol per person during the weekend: - one (1) 40oz bottle of liquor - two (2) 750mL bottles of wine - one (1) 473mL case of twenty four (24) cans of beer
- BBQ Lighter
Camping
- If you can try to get up as early as possible. If you're like me and have super kind friends that are going up earlier than you ask them to set up your tent for you so you're not left stranded.
- DO NOT for the love of god choose a spot beside the honey buckets AKA the porta potties. This is the one place that is NEVER quiet. So unless you don't plan on sleeping for 1 minute during this 96 hour festival I'd recommend going the extra few sites over to avoid this area. It's also smelly. Porta potties & 38 degree weather. NO THANK YOU.
- Tent
- Sleeping Bag
- Air Mattress
- Duct tape. In case your tent has mystery holes in it like mine :(
- A luggage lock. I always lock up my tent before heading into the festival grounds. My friends and I store our cooler in the tent. It just doesn't feel right abandoning your liquor when there's thousands of drunk people around. Trust issues much? lol
- Headlamp so you can see where your damn Advil is buried in your bag in the middle of the night.
- Pillow
- Shoes. Bring a pair of shitty shoes you don't care about anymore even if they're not your #FestBest. They will get dirty and you'll probably want to throw them out after
- Flip flops for the campsite/ showering
- Plastic bags for garbage & dirty clothes
- A cooler
- Lawn chairs or a Tommy Bahamas beach lounger chair (built in cooler included. Thanks Costco)
- A fold up table
- A Tarp to put under your tent just in case it rains
- Twine. Can come in handy in so many different scenarios
Clothes & Hygiene
- It's going to be HAWWWWT & SUNNY. Bring a HAT(s). Drinking all day in the sun and having your head exposed is asking to get heat stroke and I don't want sound like a grandma over here but I've experience over drinking in the heat before and it is no fun later in the day nor the next morning. The last thing you want is to be waking up in the middle of the night with the cold sweats.
- Shorts. I'm bringing 4 pairs of shorts.
- Tanks & Crop tops
- T Shirts
- Dress. You're not going to a club. You're going to be sitting in grass cross legged, jumping up and and down and possibly crowd surfing. Do you really want to be flashing what your mama gave ya?
- Pyjamas
- Swim suits. DID YOU HEAR THERE'S GOING TO BE A WATER SLIDE?! #STOKED
- Underwear. 4 days. Do the Math.
- Toothbrush & toothpaste
- Hair ties, Head bands, floral head pieces, bobby pins.
- HUGGIES. The more hygienic version of an Italian shower ;)
- Soaps and shampoo if you plan on showering
- deodorant
- Sunblock
- Aloe Vera. If #14 fails you
- Sunglasses
- Birth Control Pills!
- Band-Aids
- Bug Spray
- Hand Sanitizer
- A rain poncho. For under $2 this can act as rain coat and dry seat on the grass Rahshina :)
- Toilet Paper
Fun, Random But Necessary Things to Bring
- As I mentioned under food & booze Beer Bong. LOL
- Download the Pemberton app. It has everything from schedules, maps and vendor info. My friends and I have already "favourited" which artists we plan on attending
- A backpack/ fanny pack. Handy to bring in for the day to carry things like THAT LUGGAGE KEY, an empty water bottle, wallet, camera, phone & charger, sunblock, etc. You're also allowed to bring in sealed bottle of water. If you're super cheap and don't want t spend lots of money on alcohol you should probably check this out.
- HAIR CHALK. Well technically you would need this before. But if you want to temporary dye your hair use pastels from Michaels. I'm going to follow this tutorial :)
- GLOW STICKS
- A helium balloon. This is seriously a life saver. When you're hammered at the end of the night and have to walk through 10,000 camp sites you can easily spot yours if you tie a balloon to it. Hopefully nobody steals it or the sun doesn't melt it! In the past nobody has stolen my balloons
- Portable phone charger if you have one
- Potable speakers for when you're just not ready to go into the festival
DO NOT FORGET YOUR WRISTBAND AND YOUR ID. Hope this list helps you guys! If I'm missing anything comment below and I will add it in! :)
ENDING NOTE
I know most of us live off of the "if you didn't Instagram/Snapchat it, it didn't happen" rule but whatever you do DO NOT be THAT PERSON who is holding up their iPhone or even worse an ipad for the whole concert. As a photographer I'm all about capturing these moments but at some point you need to put the camera/phone down and take it all in. Not to mention how rude it is for all the people behind you.
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