Newbie Camp Setup Guide Part 3 – FOOD
When it comes to my summer festival planning, I also plan my food and bring my own drinks since I always plan to hit a few each Summer. Festival food and beer are not nutritious and can’t sustain me for multiple days – I eat like it is a marathon. I drink that way too…I alternate my alcoholic beverages with a bottle of water or electrolytes throughout the day and drink even more water at night before I go to bed. For me, that is about a gallon a day and I try to never buy bottled water from the venue. So I am definitely prepared by bringing several gallons of water per person for each day and I also plan ahead to BYOA!
Two of my favorite recipes for refreshing and seriously buzz-worthy ways to transport my alcohol into my festival camp in other containers is SPIKED WATERMELON and My high vitamin C content PARTY NECTAR – that I usually put into recycled plastic bottles at the bottom of my cooler (pre-frozen), under the ice. Both recipes are really refreshing, will help keep you hydrated and will help you stumble into the venue.
The spiked watermelon is easy – before you go, cut it in half, cut it into small bite-sized pieces or use a melon baller, soak in your favorite liquor and add to an airtight container that is not glass.
The watermelon shots will do the trick for breakfast by starting your day with complex carbs and sugars mixed with your favorite white liquor, premium tequila, rum, or vodka and at the end, someone gets to drink the “juice”. Also, who said margaritas are not for breakfast or that classic hair of the dog – pre-made bloody Mary’s. I premix my liquor drinks, put them in recycled bottles almost full and put them in the freezer before transferring the bottles to my cooler before I go. I think everyone has some version of Hippie Juice, Jerry Juice or The Hunch Punch, and it will save you a ton of money in the end. And Don’t forget the BOX WINE – leave the box and SLAP the BAG!
Here is the recipe for my high vitamin C content PARTY NECTAR which includes sliced strawberries and lime juice, it is always worth the walk back for a nice cold cup full.
You will need a one-liter container for this recipe ( I use a Nalgene). One hand full of chopped strawberries and the juice of one 1/2 lemon and one lime. This makes one serving.
1 cup Smirnoff Watermelon Vodka
1/3 cup Triple Sec
1/3 cup Malibu Coconut Rum
4 scoops Country Time Pink Lemonade Mix
1/3 cup Water
Add the juice of the 1/2 the lemon, lime, and chopped strawberries. Freeze and enjoy cold from the cooler! All that vitamin C will help keep you healthy and could play well with your system if you partake in certain recreational substances.
Also, when you know you are not going to be eating right you can also add some Gatorade, Pedialyte and some Ensure Nutritional Shakes to your list to help keep you hydrated and energized. Something you can grab on the go for some extra hydration and nutrition. And especially if you are like me and don’t always feel like eating when it is hot and/or after a night of raging.
Camp Kitchen
Unfortunately, open fires are not allowed at any festival so there will be no fire-grilled burgers at your camp, however, with a little prep you can still eat well with no running water or electricity. Food prep for a festival is not like your normal camping trip. There are several challenges of keeping food cold, cooking your food, having a place to prepare your food and these are my suggestions for the BEST festival camp kitchen and a few of my recipes for easy, nutritious snacks that will keep me energized and ready for that late-night set.
First thing I do is I use recycled water bottles and I fill them almost full of drinking water and then I freeze them about a week before I go. I have a small cooler that I double insulated with Reflectix and I put the water bottles in the bottom. Usually, this will keep any perishable food cold for about 3 days and on the last day, there is usually still one cold bottle of drinking water to help with my recovery at the end of the festival. I have found you can really spend a lot of money trying to keep perishable foods cold at a music festival, so I pre-make stuff so I don’t end up with a cooler full of spoiled stuff in the melt-off water.
Second, after my alcohol prep is done, then I pre-make some food that will be quick and easy to grab. I am a big fan of wraps with peanut butter, ok almond butter for you sensitive types. Ham, various veggies, hummus, chips, guacamole, anything I can cram in a wrap. I like to pre-make wraps and sandwiches and keep them in a separate food cooler. If you toast the bread and then make the sandwich, it won’t be soggy. Wrap them up and it is egg salad, chicken salad, ham on rye on the move.
I definitely bring trail mix in little individual baggies, mixed nuts, apples, bananas, bagels, olives, or any little individual packets I can find and I have food instantly when I am impaired. I always take a snack in my in-venue bag. An apple in your bag and a few almonds can really save you if you get super thirsty or start feeling run down. An apple keeps you going because it contains calories and carbohydrates, as well as vitamins and minerals, but don’t just take my word for it you can read more here on Livestrong.com.
Pre-making my food like a pasta salad, other side dishes, or breakfasts saves me time. So along with wraps, sandwiches and individual snacks, two of my favorite side dishes are hummus and pasta salad that I like to pre-make and all will keep well sealed in a plastic container in a cold cooler for a few days. I also cut up carrots, and celery for the hummus and bring along some cherry tomatoes.
Then I make a serious Breakfast Burrito mix that is quick and easy to warm up and really provides all the protein and extra carbs I need for the 10,000+ steps every day.
Click here for a PDF of my pasta salad, hummus and breakfast burrito recipes I love to make and take in my cooler for quick, protein and energy-packed snacks any time I can make it back to my camp.
To warm anything up, I use my Coleman 2-burner camp stove. This two-burner runs on the smaller propane canisters and is perfect for making coffee and cooking eggs and bacon in the morning or frying up some burgers or grilled cheese. Perfect for warming up any pre-made food. It is super easy to operate, easy to clean and the fuel is not that expensive. I actually bought a 4-pack of fuel and it lasted for several years of camping and festivals.
For the rest of my kitchen set-up, I like to bring a couple of those 2.5-gallon jugs with the spouts and a regular gallon or two. I bought a cheap oil pan at the discount store that I use as a dishpan and I have a small 10-piece cookware mess kit. I always fill up my Coleman 5-Gallon Solar Shower and use the hot water to wash dishes or myself.
So there you have it my 3-part series about how I plan and set up my festival camp. Here are the links for Part 1 – Part 2, if you have not read them. I don’t know about you but my schedule is packed and my “festival corner” that stores my gear is almost ready to go. If you are still packin, or looking for a tent, check out the BEST camp gear I found on Amazon and take advantage of 2-day shipping for students and Prime members.
Hopefully, these tips will help you to have the BEST festival experience and I hope to see you out there this Summer!
~Wren
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