Festival Food Packing List: What to Take to Camp Bestival

Last week I teased you with all the delicious dining experiences available at Camp Bestival.

Of course all this gastro indulgence can get expensive, so you definitely need to bring your own food supplies as back-up. We’ve gone to our last two festivals by train and my biggest concern was not having too much to carry.

So we keep our packing — including food items — as light as possible.

That said, sometimes you need lots of ideas before you can fine-tune your list, so here’s a selection of (partly) nutritious and family friendly food you can take to a camping festival that (mostly) doesn’t require cooking.

Festival Food for Breakfast

Bread, Butter and Jam (the basics)

Cereal (fresh milk is easy to find at festivals, or you can use long life milk or powdered milk and water, which is what I grew up on in Nigeria! My boys also eat dry cereal as snacks)

Porridge in a pot – just add milk and hot water (easy to pick up at festivals), for an extra treat toss in a slab of dark chocolate, some berries and nuts!

Fresh fruit (e.g. apples, pears or any fruit that doesn’t bruise easily)

Tinned fruit

Croissants (with butter and jam, lush)

Muffins e.g. banana or blueberry, very filling and always popular with the kids

Pancakes (the kind you toast although my little one happily eats these untoasted, slap some syrup or Nutella on them and he’s whistling.)

Nutella (or Marmite – if that’s your thing!)

Yoghurt – this can keep for a day or two in a cool box, add some fruit/nuts or muesli for variety

If you have access to a kettle, don’t forget tea bags, coffee, hot chocolate sachets.

Festival Food for Snacking

• Dried fruit and nuts
• Cereal/Energy Bars (useful for breakfast too)
• Flapjacks
• Crisps and/or Popcorn (slightly healthier)
• Tortillas and salsa
• Crackers and/or Bread Sticks
• Babybel (eat early)
• Squeezy tubes of fruit and/or yoghurt
• Rice Cakes
• Chocolate bars (an essential pick-me-up!)
• Lollies (these keep the babes quiet for a while when the hunger monster stirs! You can look for sugar-free lollies.)
• Cakes/cupcakes (sealed in tupperware)

Festival Food for Lunch or Dinner

Bagels/Pitta Bread/Tortilla Wraps – Sandwiches are somehow more exciting in a bagel, wrap or pitta pocket and these packets tend to keep longer than regular loaves. Do remember to reseal tightly and keep out of direct sunlight.

Hard or ripened cheeses (store away from direct sunlight)

Peanut Butter and Jam (that old lunchbox staple, packed with protein)

Cold pies e.g. Sausage rolls, Pork pies etc.

Tins of tuna, sweetcorn and beans — you can make a salad or use for sandwich fillers

Dried/cured meats e.g. salami, Proscuttio or Parma ham and other charcuterie

Pickled veg e.g. Olives/Sundried tomatoes

Avocado (not too ripe)

Carrots, tomatoes, celery sticks, cucumber, onions (any veg that will keep for a few days without spoiling)

Packet noodles, soups and cous cous (you can usually get hot water pretty easily)

Travel size dips e.g. sour cream and chives, hummus (keep at bottom of cool box and eat ASAP)

Sauce and seasoning sachets (ketchup, mayo etc)

Juice cartons

Useful Things to Pack for Eating and Drinking at a Festival

Cool box or bag

Thermos Flask

Ziploc bags

Water bottles (you can usually refill these at taps dotted around the festival)

Plastic containers

Paper plates/picnic cutlery

Kitchen roll

Can opener (or bring ring-pull tins)

Don’t forget bin bags!

 
Want more? Here’s a good list of festival food from Festival Kidz

No Cook Recipe Ideas

Try this Simple Wrap: avocado, can of corn, can of beans, tomatoes, lettuce, grated hard cheese in a tortilla wrap. Check out some more tasty looking No Cook Recipes from Real Simple.

Or why not make stuff ahead? Here are a couple of Fantastic Festival Food Recipes from Great British Chefs.

Cooking at a Festival

If you can find the time, energy and have space for the right equipment, cooking your own food at a festival can save you a lot of money and make you the envy of nearby tents.

Easy foods to cook while camping include sausages, hot dogs, beans, bacon, pancakes, quesadillas, omelettes/frittatas, corn on the cob (yummy roasted) and (if you can store it safely) pre-cooked dishes brought from home and warmed up. Don’t forget marshmallows for toasting!

BBC Food has a collection of Festival Recipes and their Top 10 Foods to Cook when Camping has some nice ideas.

I also found an old but helpful post Cooking at Festivals from the Art of Camping blog.

Have I missed anything? What foods would you take camping or to a family festival?

Linking up with Tasty Tuesdays!

Don’t miss last minute tickets for Camp Bestival at www.campbestival.net

Image credit: Julien Bertrand (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons