Benicàssim: The Greatest Music Festival in Europe – Camping like a Pro
Camping at Festival Internacional de Benicàssim can be a fantastic experience but it isn’t easy! Whether you are a camping pro or first time camper like I was, camping at FIB can be difficult!
The Tent
If you arrive early to the festival on the Monday or Tuesday before the festival begins then you will more than likely be guaranteed a tarpaulin over your tent.
However if you aren’t so lucky then tinfoil or emergency blankets to cover the top of your tent is essential! The tinfoil will reflect the sunlight away from your tent and will help prevent your tent from overheating!
Like I’ve explained in the first part of this series, always bring a tent that, according to the box, fits at least one more person than will sleep in it! So if you are a group of three get at least a four man tent. My girlfriend and I shared this four man tent and it was bliss!
Look at all the tents!
Once you have your tent setup, see if there is a pole or tree nearby that you can attach one of the guide wires from your tent to, and voila you have yourself a drying line!
Honestly you won’t be spending a lot of time in your tent. The only time I spent in it was to sleep or change. Yes as free as you feel at FIB, I don’t think my neighbours would’ve appreciated my bare ass on show while I changed.
Besides those two uses it just stored my bags and shopping bags whenever we went shopping!
The thing I enjoyed the most about my time spent around my tent was drinking with my friends. At night time before the festival starts, beers after your shower, before that day’s concert begins, and then post-concert beers at 5/6 o’clock in the morning were some of my fondest memories.
Be aware that there is a possibility your tent might be near an ants nest. As it turns out ours was but they genuinely weren’t a problem!
Enhance your camping experience
We put our cooler on top of the nest and they built another one elsewhere so it was fine. Some of them are quite big and you might find one crawling on you the odd time but they’re harmless.
Lawn chairs are essential to have your eyebrows on fleek!
However they do add to the reasoning behind buying a lawn chair from the Camp Shop. They’re €15 and the ability to elevate your butt from the dusty, stony ground and ants is well worth it. Plus if you have makeup to do then they become really handy.
The second item that will add to your camping experience is a cooler! We bought two coolers from the camp shop and filled them up with ice that cost one drink token (€3). They were going well until someone sat on it and smashed it to pieces. While it was quite funny we were down a cooler.
Rather than buy another, we bought a small bin from the supermarket. While we might’ve looked a little crazy, the bin proved to be a super-efficient cooler. We usually bought two bags of ice when we were returning back to our tent after our day at the beach or whatever we did. We’d all throw in a can or bottle, pour the ice in and let it do the business.
The ice would melt quick enough but the coolers and bin did a great job of keeping the water really cold and so we’d empty out half of it the next day and fill it up again with two bags of ice.
Considering how hot Benicàssim can be, having fresh, cold beers within arms reach made you felt like a King or Queen! Also if someone got burnt then ice cold after-sun feels like heaven!
When it does come to eventually sleeping at night time it might take you a day or two to get used to sleeping beside so many people. Most likely unless you stay out until the very last acts of the festival you will be going to sleep with the music from the festival playing in the background.
Either way people around you might be up playing music, chatting, and playing games.
Wouldn’t be the first beer I’d reach for in the fridge but Estrella Damm is quite refreshing in the Beni sun!
That is the atmosphere of camping and that atmosphere made it so special. It is great craic (Irish slang term for fun) being with your friends, listening to some great music, laughing, chatting and enjoying a few beers at the same time.
Everyone around the camp is generally easy going and friendly so enjoy it and make the most of it! Don’t be turned off by however difficult it might seem to get setup or camp in the weather. it genuinely is an awesome experience but I know if I had read these tips then I would’ve been better prepared and I would’ve had an even better time!
Hopefully this guide helps prepare you a little bit more for camping at FIB’s Campfest!
Don’t forget that this article is the third article in a series covering Festival Internacional de Benicàssim, read all about Campfest and what you can expect from the campsite from toilets and showers to places to eat!
In the next part of the series I’ll be looking at what there is to do during the day-time in Benicàssim so be sure to check it out!
