Rain and Mud Festival Camping Packing List

From the pros at Dustproof Supply: rain is the weather people pack for least, and it's the one that ends weekends early. A soaked sleeping bag, a phone that died in a pocket, shoes that never dried. None of that takes a hurricane. One afternoon storm cell and a camp with no plan is enough. This is the checklist we use when the forecast says rain, or when it says nothing useful at all.

This page is the packing list. The sequence, meaning where to pitch, what to do when thunder shows up and how to dry out, is in festival camping in the rain. If the weekend is also cold, use the fall festival camping packing list for the warm-sleep side. The gear we carry for wet weekends is in one place: Rain & Mud.

The short version

• Decide what is never allowed to get wet (sleep clothes, socks for tomorrow, phone, power bank), and give it a sealed home before you leave.
• A tent with a real rain fly, guyed out, on a spot that drains.
• Stakes that hold in soft ground, and a mallet to set them.
• Rain gear for people, plus shoes you don't mind ruining.
• A wet side and a dry side at the tent door.
• Lightning is not a packing problem. When you hear thunder, leave the tent and the canopy. The details are in the rain guide.

The dry set

Pack this first, while everything is still dry at home. It's the whole strategy.

Sealed 62-quart bin

For sleep clothes, the sleeping bag on wet weekends, and spare layers. The gasket keeps out rain and splash. It isn't made to sit in standing water, so set it on something.

20-liter roll-top dry bag

For the dry set you carry between the car and the tent.

Gallon slider bags

To split clean socks from used ones, and to keep the phone and power bank dry the moment drops start.

Contractor bags

As a pack cover, an emergency ground liner, and the sack for muddy clothes on the drive home.

Shelter and anchors

• A tent with a full rain fly. Look for a fly that reaches close to the ground and guy-out points you'll actually use. Two we carry: the Coleman Sundome 2-person and, for a crew with car access, the CORE 6-person instant cabin.
• Screw-in stakes. Wet ground lets thin stock pins pull out, and a spiral grabs more soil.
• Rubber mallet to drive stakes without mushrooming the tops.
• Ball bungees and ratchet straps for tarps and canopy legs. Recheck them after every storm, because wet fabric and soft ground make tie-downs creep.
• Flagging tape on every guy line before dark. Orange still shows on a muddy line.
• A footprint or tarp under the tent, folded so no edge sticks out past the floor. We carry the Clostnature heavy-duty tent footprint and, for a bigger groundsheet or rain roof, the AquaQuest Defender tarp.
• Older tent? Seal the seams at home a few days before you leave, with something like Gear Aid Seam Grip FC, so it has time to cure.

A pop-up canopy is a good rain roof at a milder fest if it's anchored like you mean it. Sidewalls stop driving rain and also catch wind, so they come off when gusts rise. Read how to secure a pop-up canopy in wind before you put walls up.

Rain gear for people

• A real rain jacket with a hood. A cotton hoodie becomes a cold sponge. For light and packable we like the FROGG TOGGS Ultra-Lite2 (men's, women's). For something sturdier, the Marmot PreCip Eco.
• Packable ponchos for the walk to the stage and for the friend who said the sky looked fine. They're for people, not a tent fly, and they tear in wind.
• Shoes or boots you can hose off, and more dry socks than you think. Rain boots are worth it on a muddy site. Our picks include the Muck Boot Chore Mid, the XTRATUF ankle deck boot and the Crocs Classic Rain Boot. More in Rain & Mud.
• Quick-dry towels. A cotton bath towel in a wet tent stays heavy all weekend.

Sitting down without getting soaked

Waterproof-backed ground blanket

For wet grass between sets.

Soft waterproof-backed sit blanket

If comfort matters more than packing size.

The wet side of the tent door

Muddy shoes stay outside or in the vestibule. Wet clothes go in a contractor bag, not on the sleeping pad "for a minute." Let tracked-in mud dry, then sweep it. Brushing wet mud just smears it.

When you get home

Don't leave a wet tent rolled up in the trunk. Set it up or hang it to dry within a day or two, or it will mildew. Inflatables and blankets need the same treatment.

Or sleep under a hard roof

If the forecast looks grim and your festival sells RV camping, a rig takes most of this list off the table: a dry bed, a real door, and somewhere to peel off muddy layers that isn't your tent vestibule. Electric Forest, Lost Lands, Bonnaroo and Hulaween all sell RV camping. Shambhala allows camperized vehicles but bans every generator, including the one built into your RV. Start with our guide to renting an RV for a music festival, then check the festival pages: Electric Forest, Lost Lands, Bonnaroo, Hulaween and Shambhala.

Festival guides that plan for rain

• Electric Forest camping packing essentials: forest camping with possible rain and cool nights.
• Lost Lands packing list: mud, rain and cold overnight lows.
• Bass Canyon packing list: mostly a heat-and-dust weekend, but one storm still soaks a camp that packed nothing for it.
• Fall festival camping packing list: cold nights, rain and mud.
• Bonnaroo camping packing list: heat that also knows how to dump rain.
• Forest festival camping guide: woods camps, roots, damp and dark paths.

Build the rest of your list in the free Pack Planner. Not affiliated with any festival.

Shop the kit: our Rain & Mud Fest Kit pulls this list into one page, with an Upgrade tier too. See all Festival Kits.

If your tent is the weak spot, our festival tent guide covers rainflies, floor size and which styles hold up when the weather turns.