The Festival Camping Checklist — Print or Save
Here's your checklist.
SUMMIT & SILKThe Festival Camping Checklist · 71 items · summitandsilk.com
Shelter & shade
- Tent — blackout-lined if possible, fast to pitch
- Shade structure or awning — non-negotiable
- Ground cover or outdoor rug for the living area
- Extra stakes and guy line — double what the tent came with
- A mallet
- Duct or gaffer tape
Your sleep system
- Sleeping pad or cot — off the ground beats thick padding
- Sleeping bag rated for the overnight low, not the daytime high
- Pillow, packable
- Earplugs and sleep mask — plus spares
- A tent fan if it will be hot
Light
- Headlamp
- Area light for the campsite
- Ambient light you can find your camp by
- Tent marker — a flag, a totem, or a distinct color
Power
- Power bank, bigger than you think
- Every cable, plus one spare
- Solar charging if you're off grid more than two days
- Battery pouch so electronics aren't loose in the dust
Water & hygiene
- Water — one gallon per person per day is the floor
- Reusable bottle and insulated mug
- Camp shower
- Privacy shelter for showering and changing
- Quick-dry towel — cotton never dries again
- Baby wipes and dry shampoo
- Hand sanitizer and lip balm
- Sunscreen — reapply, then reapply again
- First aid kit: blister care, ibuprofen, antihistamine
- Electrolyte packets
The bathroom situation
- Portable toilet if allowed and you're staying more than two nights
- Waste bags and liners — more than you think
- Your own toilet paper, sealed dry
- Trash bags, and somewhere to put them that isn't the ground
Camp kitchen & coffee
- Stove and fuel
- Cookware and utensils
- Cooler that holds ice the whole weekend, plus a plan to top it up
- A surface to cook on — table or camp kitchen
- Coffee setup: grinder, brewer, and the beans
- Salty snacks
Comfort & the hang
- A real chair, one per person
- Somewhere to lie down that isn't your tent
- Blanket for the cold hours
- Speaker, at a volume your neighbors can live with
- Something to do between sets
Hauling & organization
- Wagon or cart — the most borrowed item in any campground
- Dry bag for electronics and documents
- Day pack for the field
- Small-item organizer so headlamp, keys, and lighter have one home
- Tote for the grocery run
Clothing
- Wide-brim hat and real sunglasses
- One warm layer more than you think you need
- Rain shell, even in a dry forecast
- Closed-toe shoes you can stand in for twelve hours, plus camp sandals
- More socks than days
- Bandana or dust mask
The things everyone forgets
- Ticket, ID, and cash in small bills — service will fail
- Printed or offline map of the grounds
- A meeting spot and time, agreed before anyone loses signal
- Mesh bag for wet or dirty clothes
- A lighter, and a second lighter
- Zip ties, carabiners, and paracord
- Medications in their labeled containers
- Drive-home kit: snacks, water, caffeine for the driver
Dust, rain & contingency
- Sealed bins or dry bags for anything electronic
- Tarp big enough to cover the shade structure or the car
- Spare dry socks and shoes, sealed and unopened until needed
- Goggles if the site is known for dust
- Pitch out of the low spot — know where water will flow
Teardown
- Pack the car before the final set, not after
- Take everything you brought — stakes, tape, and the tent you were tempted to abandon
- Walk the site twice: once for gear, once for trash. Leave it cleaner than the camp beside you