How to throw your own garden festival

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If you can’t get to a festival this year then there’s nothing stopping you from having your own at home. Inspired by the Caravan and Motorhome Club’s Big Little Tent Festival, which we were blog ambassadors for in the past, here is our guide to throwing your own garden festival.

*This post contains affiliate links*

What you need to throw your own garden festival

We have taken part in the Big Little Tent Festival in previous years so we are old hands. But I’ve also taken inspiration from our pre-children music festival experiences and camping holidays.

Read on for our ingredients for a great garden festival and some inspiration for your own. 

A tent

It’s been a while since we’ve had our own tent, but this four man Aventura is the perfect size for family festivals.

Here’s a video of Mr Tin Box pitching it:

Camping chairs

We love our  Lafuma folding chairs*. They are so comfortable and extremely light for taking away with us in the caravan.

Sleeping bag

Tin Box Tot loves her Hi Gear Boom Sleeping Pod which we bought from Go Outdoors.

Also take a look at our review of the Vango Roar Double and Vango Roar Double.

A barbecue

Mr Tin Box collects barbecues like I do handbags. OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but we do have three of them. We’re going to be cooking up a festival feast on our well used and reliable Weber barbecue*.

We can also recommend the Campingaz Party Grill* as a really portable and versatile barbecue for camping trips.

Picnic mat

Fingers crossed there will be plenty of sunshine during our Big Little Tent Festival and I’ll be able to sit down and relax on our snazzy new picnic blanket*.

Decorations

No garden festival would be complete without a few decorations. I love bunting! We were sent this handy pack by The Caravan Club, along with festival wrist bands, flags and tent stickers. It’s ideal for decorating your garden and it’s free! You can apply for your own pack or download one.

Or if you’re feeling crafty, why not make your own bunting?

Flag pole

If you want a proper festival vibe you need a flag pole so you can find your friends and tent in the crowds. OK, so your garden may not be full of revellers but it’s great fun to hoist your own festival flag.

Fairy lights

We love adding a bit of sparkle to our caravan awning when we are away, so it makes sense to do the same with our garden festival. These LED solar lights from LEDHut are perfect camping accessories as they don’t need batteries.

Paddling pool

Our girls love splashing around in water so getting the paddling pool out is their idea of perfect garden festival fun.

Bubbles

We saw loads of these super-sized bubble wands during our short break in Barcelona. After a little searching online I’ve found one* so we can make enormous bubbles at our garden festival. It’s going to be just like this…honest!

Stories by torch light

If our girls last long enough (bedtime is usually 7pm) we’ll read a few stories by torch light in our tent.

Music

Mr Tin Box is in charge of the play list and has mainly selected 80s rock tunes. We’ll also be listening to a few from our pre-children festival days like the Manic Street Preachers, Mumford & Sons, and the Foo Fighters. There’s a Big Little Tent Festival Spotify account if you want to rock along with us.

Food

Camping wouldn’t be camping without barbecue food and maybe even a barbecued cooked breakfast – one of Mr Tin Box’s specialities! Check out more of our easy camping food suggestions.

We’re planning on a trip to our local butchers for West Country sausages (Tin Box Tot’s favourite), chicken and maybe some burgers. This will be accompanied by corn on the cob, salad and some boiled new potatoes.

We might cheat and cook the potatoes in the kitchen – there are no rules saying we can’t!

If barbecues aren’t you’re thing then why not plan a picnic or try out some of the no-cook recipes in camping pro Martin Dorey’s The Camper Van Bible*.

Hold your own Big Little Tent Festival

If you’d like to hold your own garden festival, The Caravan Club’s Big Little Tent Festival is a great place to start. It’s runs every year and there’s often some great prizes up for grabs for sharing your festival pictures. 

Find out about the latest Big Little Tent Festival.

Are you planning your own garden festival? I’d love to hear about it!

*Disclosure: this post contains Amazon affiliate links which means I may earn some advertising fees if you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase. You will not be charged extra for this. I’ve written this post as part of my previous role as a Big Little Tent Festival ambassador. I was sent the LED lights featured here by LEDHut. All views are my own.  

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