Festival Tent Guide: How We Pick One for Camping Fests

Dustproof Supply: gear that survives the festival.

Your festival tent is home base for the weekend. You crash in it after late sets, hide from the sun in it, and hope it stays put when the wind kicks up. Here's how we pick one, plus the real tents we list in our tents collection.

Rules first. Every festival sets its own camping rules and they change from year to year. That covers plot sizes, canopies, stakes and car camping versus walk-in. Check the official festival FAQ for the current year before you buy anything on this page. Where our list and the official rules disagree, go with the official rules.

What matters in a festival tent

• Dark fabric for late nights. Sunrise turns a normal tent into an oven and an alarm clock. Dark Room, BlockOut and Dark Rest fabrics are made to cut daylight. See sleep past sunrise: blackout tents.
• Fast pitch. Instant cabins with pre-attached poles go up quickly after a long load-in. Domes take a little longer but pack smaller.
• Car camp or walk in. If you carry gear a long way from the car, weight matters more than headroom.
• Wind and ground. The stakes that come in the bag often lose to hard desert ground. Read how to stake a tent in hard ground or sand.
• Heat. Shade over the tent does more than any tent feature. See how to keep a tent cool at a festival.

Our picks by crew size

Two people

Coleman Sundome 2-Person

A simple, classic dome you can pitch after a long drive.

Naturehike Cloud-Up 2-Person

A lightweight freestanding tent for when you carry your camp in.

Coleman Sundome Dark Room 4-Person

Our usual pick for two adults who want to sleep past sunrise and have room for bags. The Skydome has more headroom. Also see the Skydome Dark Room 4-Person.

Small crew

CORE 6-Person Instant Cabin

Standing height and a fast cabin pitch from the car.

CORE BlockOut Instant Cabin 6

The same idea with BlockOut fabric for dark mornings.

Whole crew

Ozark Trail 10-Person Dark Rest Instant Cabin

One dark cabin for the crew on a budget.

Coleman Skydome Dark Room 10-Person

Dark Room fabric at full crew size.

Check the floor size, peak height and packed weight on each listing against your plot and how far you'll carry it.

Tent or RV?

Some fests sell RV passes and some don't. If you're weighing it up, read RV vs tent at a festival and confirm RV passes for your year with the fest.

Rain and mud

If the forecast turns wet, a rainfly and a groundsheet tucked under the tent edges matter more than size. See festival camping in the rain.

Packing the rest of camp? Start with our printable festival camping checklist or the first festival camping checklist.

Want it pre-packed? See our festival essentials kits, built by fest type and climate.

Some links are affiliate links. We earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.