Here Comes the Rain: Surviving a Rainy Music Festival

by Kelly DayFeb 12, 2016Adulting 101, Tips and Tricks

Surviving a Rainy Festival

I’m sure you’re not thinking about surviving a rainy festival as you picture your next music adventure. Instead you probably have visions of dancing with the grass between your toes and the sweet warmth of the sunshine kissing your face. I hope this is the case because there is nothing like blue skies and bluegrass* (*insert your favorite genre of music here).

Unfortunately, there are times when the weather doesn’t end up as wonderful as you envision it. I have been to a handful of festivals where the rain pours, the mud puddles around the stage and the festival takes on an entirely new personality. I’ve also been to festivals where the heat reaches new astronomical heights, and to ones where the temperatures drop so low the dance floor becomes an icy patch. AND – it’s typically amazing. But it’s all depending on if you took time to learn the tricks to surviving a rainy festival!

At the most recent festival we attended, the rain didn’t let up. Even though the attendance was small (yeah! small festivals!), the dancing bowl turned into a murky, muddy pit of despair. Ehhemmm (clearing throat)….it wasn’t that despairing really. It was actually fun, and everyone just took off their shoes and accepted the mud as part of the experience. After all, festivals should be about music and friends – and you can’t let a little rain and mud bring you down. But you can pack a few extra items and take a few extra steps to make sure you are prepared for whatever blows in.

Rainy Day Essentials

Rainfly

A rainfly helps protect your tent from the elements – rain and sun. Your tent probably came with one, so make sure you pack it and set it up correctly! (If you don’t have one, you can use buy one or use a tarp to set up over your tent.)

Of course, that rainfly doesn’t do you a lick of good if it’s not set up correctly! Here’s a great article from the crew at Outdoors.com on how to secure that tent and rainfly to keep you protected! >>READ THIS!<<

Tarp

Tarps are always handy to have at your campsite and are essential to surviving the rain at a music festival. Should the rain come in suddenly, you can throw them over anything not covered and have instant rain protection. If your rainfly isn’t sufficient, you can set it up to give your tent extra protection. If you are creative and prepare in advance, you can set up large tarps above your camping area to create a large lounge area for your group for shade and rain protection.

Tarp Canopy

Shade Canopy

A pop-up tent or an in-camp shelter are a necessary addition to any camping site. Making a little “lounge area” not only provides protection from the sun and rain, but it also gives you an area to relax in between music. A shelter can also give you extra space to store your cooler and camp kitchen.

Go big or go home! We love the Screened-In Canopies – they give you the ability to zip up all of your belongings if you are leaving the campsite.

Rain Gear

I love frolicking in the rain, jumping in puddles and feeling like a child again!But at a festival, you don’t exactly have a dryer for your wet clothes or a guarantee that the sun is coming out again to warm you up! So – frolic all you want, but you might as well throw in some rain gear to keep you dry when you want to be.

Love these polka-dot rain boots!

Tie it Down

Make sure you have plenty of extra guylines, stakes and rope. The last thing you need is your rainfly blowing away, or your tent ending up in your neighbor’s yard. You’ll need extra rope for just about everything, especially hanging your tarps to keep everything dry! I love the glow-in-the-dark guylines and glow rope – and you will too after you trip over those ropes coming back to your campsite in the dark.