As a music review website we attend very many festivals and have so far, avoided camping each and every time! However, staying in hotels at each festival was starting to become too expensive so we had to give some serious thought into camping at them. As someone who despises camping, I wasn’t very pleased about this so made the decision that “if we are going to camp, we are going to Glamp”.

Glamping at festivals isn’t cheap so this also wasn’t an option for us. So, after a lot of research, we made the relatively expensive decision to buy a Bell Tent. There are so many places that sell Bell Tents and I found it very overwhelming and really couldn’t make my mind up!

Having contacted many places, Bell Tent Sussex actually rang us up and gave us so much detail over the phone! They asked our budget, what we wanted, how many were going to be in the tent and answered all the ridiculous amount of questions that I had! One thing that was very important to me was the fact that sleeping in a regular tent often sets off my asthma, especially with the condensation in the morning! We were advised to go for one that was 100% Cotton Canvas. Given that there are four of us in the family, 5m was also advised. The Bell Tent recommended specifications are as follows:

• 100% Cotton Canvas 285gsm & 540gsm PVC Flooring
• Packing Size 1m x 30cm x 30cm
• 36kg pack weight
• Floor space needed 7m
• Full double mesh mosquito door
• Extra thick and robust ropes with reinforced pegs for extra support
• High-quality waterproof material
• Access points for electrical appliances, such as phone chargers, with EHU sections
• Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) lined bags and pegs for canvas tents
• Mould, water, and rot repellant for all weathers
• A-frame loaded with springs at 22mm
• Additional lighting options provided by a pole hook
• The entire sidewall can be rolled up on hot sunny days

Despite purchasing this last winter, we hadn’t actually used it yet so last week was our very first time. We actually used it for a holiday in France at a camp site and not a festival. This was a holiday for 7 days so if anything was going to be a good test to whether I had made a good investment or not then it was this trip!

I wasn’t looking forward to it, I won’t lie but the booking had been made and it was happening! My children were very excited though!

Putting up the tent was easy! We laid it out and then put in the large pole to hold up the tent, the pole for the doorway and then pegged all the ropes in and that was pretty much it, so much easier than a regular tent! We also bought a Poly Propylene Mat (Grey – Fire Retardant ) this can be bought as a half moon or full moon and is fit for purpose in the bell tents. This was a brilliant decision. The mat covered the whole floor and just made the set up look more homely and comfortable! It also made cleaning the tent from trodden in grass a lot easier too as it was easy to sweep out. But really it just made the place so much cosier. I wouldn’t be without the mat. I do recommend a welcome mat too to wipe your feet!

We took with us two double (inflated) mattresses and one single! We still had plenty of space after these for us to put in a camping table, space for chairs and our bags. It was just so wonderfully cosy and spacious. What made it even better was the fact that we could stand up in it fully which made getting dressed easier and not falling over. It was nice for the kids to play games in there and for us to make tea and food without crawling around and getting stressed.

We plan to add to this tent. We will benefit from a porch arc awning (see here) . We feel this will be nice to sit under whatever the weather but from being in the blazing sun for seven days, we wished we had actually got this before so hopefully we can get it soon! Our aim is so the set up is even more appealing than Glamping packages.

D.I.Y Glamping is fun! You can add what you want, when you want. We are going to add to it all the time. We also had a chandelier with battery operated t- lights hanging from the pole which was really beneficial. Everything that we had looked to be the same as some packages at glamping sites so we have definitely already achieved so much! Yes part of the beauty of a glamping package is not having to put up and take down your tent but a Bell Tent is actually significantly easier than a regular tent. It’s just heavier!

We are now confident to camp/glamp at festivals and even have the toilet situation sorted with our eco-friendly Popaloo see here

Already we have purchased a brand new King Mattress which is from high street tv. The mattress is called a Yawn Mattress and it is absolutely fantastic! See it here. This mattress is self inflated and you can use a battery operated pump if you don’t have an electric hook up!

The mattress is high enough off the ground to make you feel that you are in a real bed! It comes with a headboard and you can purchase a purpose fit sheet for it too which goes around the headboard!

It deflates down into a size small enough to place into the carry bag that is provided with the mattress.

It features a 2-in-1 built-in motor that inflates and deflates the bed in just 5 minutes.

Our kids both shared this bed for a few nights (we were demoted to the original mattresses) and they slept incredibly well! It didn’t deflate at any point like some mattresses do a bit after use! It was easy to get on to and off and truly feels as close to a real bed as you can probably get!

As this mattress fits so well into a small carry bag, it really is great for camping if you want to upgrade to D.I.Y Glamping. It just makes me even more excited to camp and trust me before, I said I would never do it again!!

It is also a great mattress for having guests over at home! Often do we panic friends and family have nowhere to sleep but this solves that issue. Obviously you need floor space but we can fit in in the lounge (just) and as it is so fast to inflate and deflate it won’t get in the way of your daily activities as you can just deflate and inflate again if they are there for more than one night.

Measurements:

King
Full Product Size: 216 x 152 x 45 cm
Sleep Surface Size: 191 x 152 cm
Maximum Weight: 250kg (King), 200kg (Double), 125kg (Single)

Check out other products we have reviewed for our D.I.Y Glamping here