How to Have an Affordable Family Festival Experience

Festival fun doesn't have to break the bank. Armed with these tips you'll have an affordable family festival experience without busting your budget.

How to Have an Affordable Family Festival Experience

The very first time we went to a family festival it was all very last minute.

Just two weeks before the festival, I found out I'd won tickets in a competition.

At the time we had not long moved back to the UK and didn’t have any camping equipment.

So, we paid to stay in a hotel for the weekend at a cost equivalent to (if not more) than the tickets themselves. We had no idea what to expect and as we were totally unprepared, we ended up spending far more than we realised.

We had an amazing time and were completely hooked on festivals. But the amount it cost us was shocking - the competition "prize" ended up being very expensive!

These days we're often at festivals as the family of one of the performer’s. Because we are there for work I aim to spend as little as possible, whilst still ensuring my son and I have a great time as daddy works.

So I know for sure that it is possible to have a great time at a family festival on a budget, it just needs a little planning and preparation.

If you want to make sure going to a festival isn't so expensive you can't do anything else for the rest of the summer, read on.

Good Planning is the Key to an Affordable Family Festival

If you’ve ever wondered how some families seem to be able to spend their whole summers at festivals the answer is great planning.

Here are some things you can do before the festival to help make it more affordable:

* Earlybird Festival Tickets are the Cheapest

The best price for next year’s tickets is almost always in the weeks straight after the festival. You’ll get early bird pricing in return for taking a chance on who will be on the line up. And you can split the cost over the months until the festival by taking advantage of payment plans.

You’ll have to get in quick though, early bird offers tend to be for limited numbers of tickets and once they are gone, the price goes up with the next release.

There is of course always the option to volunteer at the festival as well.

* Save a Bigger Budget with A Monthly savings Plan

Setting up a saving plan as early in the year as possible will help ensure you have budget available when it comes to the festival weekend.

Plus it will feel a lot more manageable and stop you from having that last minute "how on earth are we going to pay for this" panic.

* Look After your Camping Equipment

Taking good care of your camping equipment will help make it last season after season.

If you packed it when it was wet, get it out and ensure it thoroughly dries out. Re-waterproof the fabric every winter and check all of your tent poles and pegs are looking strong.

It’s a lot cheaper to replace the odd tent pole before the event, then having to find a way to make it work when you get there as we found out to our (very expensive) cost one year.

We packed the wrong bag and arrived at the festival to find we only had old broken tent poles. After a frantic drive around all the local outdoor shops we finally ended up having to buy a whole new tent because no one had the right poles for our tent.

* Take It With you Or End Up Buying It There

Have a good packing list and ensure you have all of the unseen essentials before you get to the festival so you don’t have to pay inflated prices for things that will help make or break your festival experience.

Using these tactics to prepare well throughout the year will definitely help you reduce costs and stress as the festival weekend approaches. But how on earth do you keep tabs on your spending when you’re at the festival?

Keep a Reign on your Spending at the Festival with these 5 Simple Strategies

So, you’ve made it to the festival with a good budget to spend whilst your there. But then as soon as you arrive, your kids to spot the fairground and threaten to blow all of your money within an hour!

I feel you.

When our son first reached an age where he was able to go off by himself, he and his friend managed to spend £90 within an hour at the fairground. Literally, I blinked, and they were back having spent a day’s worth of money in no time at all.

How on earth do you stop that from happening? Here’s five ways you can stay in control:

* Set boundaries and make sure everyone is clear on them.

If your kids are anything like mine, they’d spend every minute possible on the fairground rides. So, he has a limit of rides per day that he’s allowed to go on. This way the fun can go on for the whole festival not just on the first day.

We discuss it upfront, and it usually involves a negotiation or ways he can get bonus rides for good behaviour – do whatever works well for your child.

* That Budget you set? Stick to It!

Once you’re at the festival it can be really tempting to throw caution to the wind and just spend whatever you want.

If you do, do this, be prepared for some serious buyers remorse after the festival when you tot up exactly how much you’ve spent.

I don't like having to say no all weekend, so I keep a secret slush fund that no one else knows about. Then way once or twice during the weekend I'm able to surprise people and say yes when they ask for something. This way I don't feel like the grinch, I don't burst my budget and every now and then my kid gets a nice suprise when I say yes!

* Make the Most of All the Free Stuff

I mean it’s not really free, is it? It’s activities and entertainment that you’ve already paid for as part of the ticket price. So, make the most of it.

You’ll find there’s so much going on that you really don’t need to do any paid activities at all.

* Take your Own Snacks

The cost of food and drink for a family over 3-4 days can really add up.

Taking snacks with you can have a big impact on your spending and if you take reasonably healthy one, it will mean your kids eat at least some relatively healthy food during the weekend!

For the adults we always pack a little cafetiere and a single stove so that we can make coffee when we wake up. And if we can park next to where we are camping, we’ll pack croissants, bacon and bread rolls to save money on breakfasts too.

Most festivals now have water taps so you can fill your own water bottle up which is a lot cheaper than and better for the environment than using single use plastic bottles so be sure to pack one for each of your family.

Having an Affordable Family Festival means you can book a Second One!

If you’ve been bitten by overspending at family festivals in the past, it can make you nervous about going to one again.

When we go to festivals, its often because my husband is working at them. It wouldn't be great if, instead of him earning money, I managed to spend too much by not budgeting properly. So, trust me every single idea I’ve mentioned in here has been tried and tested by me, many times over.

I hope I’ve managed to show you that with a little planning, a whole lot of control and the use of a few tips and tricks, family festivals can be affordable ways to spend you summer family time.

By using some of these strategies you’ll find your more able to relax and enjoy your family festival weekends knowing that there isn’t going to be a nasty surprise at the end of it.

You might even find you’ve saved yourself enough money to go to a second or third festival!

With a Little Planning, Family Festivals Can Be Affordable Experiences

I hope you find these tips helpful.

I love sharing them with you because I want everyone to fall in love with the family festival experience just like my family has.

If you want even more tips and tricks on having the most amazing family festival experience, I’ve written a collection of 24 Top Tips for First Family Festival Goers.

Covering much more than just money, its packed full of ways to make sure you have a magical time every time you go to a family festival.

Download it here and get ready for your best summer ever.

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If you want more information about Family Festivals you can also read:

Categories: : Family Festivals

Written by Joanna Armah-Kinson (Owner, The Fantabulous Family)

Joanna is the wife of a festival performer, who is lucky enough to spend the majority of her summer weekends at festivals entertaining her (now 11-year-old) son. As a mum who juggles a part-time job and managing two businesses, she knows the importance of good planning, and the need for flexibility and good grace when plans fall through! A lifelong adventure lover, travel, photography and spending time outdoors have always been Joanna's passions.

I love playing with AI, so the images on my blog posts may be real photos or they may be AI-generated.

How to Have an Affordable Family Festival Experience

How to Have an Affordable Family Festival Experience

The very first time we went to a family festival it was all very last minute.

Just two weeks before the festival, I found out I'd won tickets in a competition.

At the time we had not long moved back to the UK and didn’t have any camping equipment.

Good Planning is the Key to an Affordable Family Festival

* Earlybird Festival Tickets are the Cheapest