Event Camping Tips

We have decades of experience camping at Vike shows and Events. Here is a big collection of top tips:

• Camp near your group - makes it easier to keep you informed.

• If you get there first, try to pick somewhere on the edge of the campsite near some trees, with plenty of room for other Draum members arriving later.

• Don't pick a spot near the portaloos (the doors bang all night), generators or floodlights, next to a main vehicle roadway or near anywhere people are likely to congregate in the morning. Vike are notorious for getting up at 6 AM and talking loudly right next to your tent where you are enjoying a hangover. It's just what we do.

• Don't camp somewhere too far away from the exit or portaloos - you'll regret that long walk all weekend.

• Avoid camping next to any large fire-pit or fire-box, unless you like drunken singing 10 feet away from your head at 1 AM.

• Quilts are better than sleeping bags if you have room. Bring a double, fold half of it under you.

• April nights can be bloody cold: woolly hats, plenty of layers, plenty of socks, spare blankets all good.

• Bring a chair if you can fit one in.

• Don't use a stove inside your tent without ventilation

• Bring a plastic bag for rubbish and leave your campsite as you found it.

• Find out where the nearest supermarket is and if anyone in the group is doing a general run for supplies / beer. Same for chip-shops.

• Drivers - plan your exit strategy. Try to park right next to a designated roadway through the camp and don't get yourself blocked in by other tents. Stay out of mud. I've seen 4X4s being towed out of fields by tractors before, for £5 a pop. Ignominious.

• Don't block other people's cars in - if they need to leave in an emergency, your tent is coming down.

• Bring your own bog-roll.

• Again, don't camp too near the portaloos. Or caravans.

• If you've got a fire-box make sure you soak the ground underneath it regularly and it should be at least a foot off the ground if you can manage it. Make sure it's plenty far away from your tent - high winds can make a fire horizontal.

• Fire-wood is often easier to obtain than you might think - Messrs Sprason & Sibson can usually supply all your needs from the local environment. Axes and saws are not necessary.

• 'Warm, dry and dirty' is MUCH better than 'cold, wet and clean'. Hypothermia can kill.

• If you get soaked by rain, get changed into dry stuff to sleep.

• Plan on getting up for a wee in the middle of the night.

• Keep your boots inside the inner tent with you, unless you like wet, slug-infested feet.

• Allegedly, plastic camps may be divided into 'quiet' and 'noisy' zones. It sort of works.

• If you spot any obvious non-Vike wandering through plastic, keep an eye on them or warn others. Theft within the Vike is almost unheard of, but theft by members of the public from Vike tents has happened. Unless there's a public footpath through the camp, should be politely invited to fuck off. If in doubt, ask an adult.

• Vike look out for each other, even if they don't know each other. Be kind & considerate to your fellow Society members.

•  Feral children running round with wooden swords and spears are a feature of nearly all Vike camps. Bear this in mind when driving.

• Drivers should have their hazards on and drive slowly around camp. Always feel free to ask for help

• You're often a bit knackered the day after coming back from a show/event. Plan accordingly. I sometimes book a day off.

• Arriving at a campsite after the sun has gone down is a great way to end up camped somewhere inappropriate.

• Always have a camp-bed, air-bed, or (bare minimum) decent insulating mat. The ground can be bloody cold and uncomfortable. Bear in mind air-beds invariably develop a puncture when least convenient. Camp-beds are great, but usually need something insulating on top of them to keep underneath, you like a blanket at least.

• Never leave your shield outside or lying on the grass. The rawhide will go baggy and your boss will rust. Obviously, never leave weapons lying on the grass.

• Never stick your sword in the ground.

• Never touch other people's kit without their permission.

• The portaloos on Sunday morning will probably look like a poop demon conducted an unholy ritual in them. Prepare yourself. Also, the blokes who empty them like to turn up early and wake everyone up.

• Bring a mug, even if you're not bringing a stove: someone else will have a stove and kettle, and plenty of tea and coffee for all.

• Wet wipes and hand sanitiser are a good idea.

• Don't forget meds and headache tablets. Headaches are common in the morning for some reason.

• Bring at least one torch as well. It gets dark on those campsites and you'll need to see the state of the porta loos. Head-torches are very useful. Spare torches are a good idea so you can use them to find the other torch you brought.

• Do not shine your torch in other people's faces. You will be fucking unpopular.

• When approaching a social-looking fire, always turn your torch off before you get there, and greet people politely. Destroying the night vision of drunks willl get you shouted at.

• Being able to stand up inside your tent is wonderful - choose accordingly.

• If you have a porch area in your tent, half-cover it with a ground-sheet so you can 'transition' footwear without standing on wet grass and out of the rain.

• Long grass means bugs by the bucket-load. Keep your inner tent zipped up.

• Don't leave fires or lit stoves unattended

• Tie a boot lace to your key ring. Tie the other end to your belt or belt loop. You will thank me.

• The morning after, pick up your empties.

• Don't burn green wood, or painted wood, MDF, tyres, etc. Fallen wood is all we need. Abandoned or donated pallettes are wonderful - I can break one down into firewood in seconds.

• If you have valuables you don't want to carry with you, lock them in your car or the car of your driver. Like I said, theft within the Vike is incredibly rare, but local scallies and other members of the public have been known to go scrumping tents if they have access to the camping field.

• Food that doesn't need refrigerating is good, pot noodles, cup a soup, squeezy cheese, jam, bread, crackers. Keep milk cold in a pan of cold water with a wet tea towel over it. Bring powdered milk maybe.

• Freeze bacon/sausages and they'll stay cold and defrost for Sunday morning

• Mick sleeps on his good ear, does not waken easily, and is often a little bit grumpy. Approach with caution. The offer of tea usually helps.