When you go to a festival, getting a good night's sleep possibly isn't your top priority and thoughts will be undoubtedly be on the music. However, unless you're planning on staying awake for three or four days solid, setting out equipped with one of the best festival tents is paramount.
When shopping for a festival tent, there are a few things you should have on your checklist. Obviously, you’ll want a tent that can protect you from the elements (not just wind and rain but excessive heat, too). It’s important there’s enough space to sleep comfortably and stash all your festival gear like a change of clothes, wash bag, camping stove, etc. And it would also be useful to have something that can be erected easily – after all, you don’t want to spend hours working out where all the poles and lines go when you should be watching your favourite bands on stage.
To help you make the right buying choice, I've put together my pick of the best festival tents for 2024, factoring in the things mentioned above, along with a number of other important considerations. I've also catered for a range of budgets, meaning you should be able to find something here no matter how healthy your bank balance is.
If you are planning to attend a festival in the near future, you might also want to take a look at our feature 5 reasons why it’s time to start wearing earplugs at gigs and if you want our top picks, head over to our comprehensive guide to the best earplugs for concerts.
Don't forget to mark Black Friday in your diary as it falls on November 29 this year. Myself and the Louder team will be posting all the best deals in our Black Friday music deals hub, along with awesome deals on turntables, CDs, vinyl, Lego sets and more.
During her tenure as a Total Guitar staffer and later as a freelance music journalist, Claire has attended her fair share of festivals and has camped out at most (there may have been the odd hotel stay). Claire was also the Outdoors Editor for Louder’s sister site T3, where she was in charge of hunting down the best tents for all camping scenarios, from festivals to sub-zero adventures.
Quick list
The Decathlon Quechua 2 Seconds XL Tent has been around for a few years yet it’s still the best festival tent for most people. Blackout material diffuses early-morning sunlight, so you can sleep off that hangover until the headliner hits the stage.
If you want a cheap pop-up tent for hitting a music-fuelled long weekender, this is a great option. There are two ways to play the Regatta Malawi Pop Up Tent: share it and get cosy with your significant other, or sleep solo and have more room for your festival kit.
This is a fantastic festival tent for the price and the best choice for anyone looking to camp long after the festivals have called last orders. We think it’s more durable and waterproof than the Decathlon Tent at the no.1 spot on our list, but it’s heavier and pricier, though spacious for three people.
The Coleman Blackout Octagon Tent is one of the heaviest picks in our best festival tents guide because it’s also one of the biggest. Courtesy of flysheet curtains, it also transforms from blackout tent to one with 360 views of the bogroll-strewn campsite.
The Heimplanet Original Cave is an icon in the world of camping and one of the first inflatable tents to hit the market. It has since transitioned to the world of luxury festival tents thanks to its sheer ease of use – it has a one-pump system, meaning the entire tent is inflated from one valve.
Eurohike is another big name in the camping world and we have spotted many of its inflatable tents dotted around UK campsites. The Eurohike Genus 400 Air Tent is a festival tent favourite because its cheap in relation to the air tech, the quality of features and the spaciousness.
The Louder choice
The Decathlon Quechua 2 Seconds XL Tent has been around for a few years yet it’s still the best festival tent for most people. Blackout material diffuses early-morning sunlight, so you can sleep off that hangover until the headliner hits the stage.
Decathlon’s festival tent is also waterproof and wind-resistant, with air vents for fresh airflow. The Vango and Heimplanet options further down this list handle weather better, but this festival tent punches above its weight for the price.
While it takes longer than two seconds to erect, the Quechua 2 Seconds XL Tent is fast to set up. Dump your boots and beer in the porch, and stash your earplugs in the bedroom’s mesh storage pockets. No earplugs? Tsk! Get protected with the best earplugs for concerts.
Best small pop up tent
If you want a cheap pop-up tent for hitting a music-fuelled long weekender, this is a great option. There are two ways to play the Regatta Malawi Pop Up Tent: share it and get cosy with your significant other, or sleep solo and have more room for your festival kit.
It’s easy to pop open and comes with bright guy lines so you shouldn’t trip over them, unless you’ve been downing more Jäger than Tommy Lee. Peg out that base too, otherwise you’ll see it flying merrily down the field.
As a single-layer tent, you can expect some condensation in the mornings, but it’s waterproof enough to keep the heavens out. Overall, if you have a small budget and short fuse for camping gear, the Regatta Malawi Pop Up Tent makes festival camping easier on you and your bank balance.
Best for bad weather
This is a fantastic festival tent for the price and the best choice for anyone looking to camp long after the festivals have called last orders. We think it’s more durable and waterproof than the Decathlon Tent at the n.1 spot on our list, but it’s heavier and pricier, though spacious for three people.
If you tend to feel claustrophobic in tents, definitely go with the Coleman 3+ Coastline. It has three doors, large mesh windows and roof vents to maximise airflow. The storage area doubles as a porch for setting up chairs and your loudest Bluetooth speaker.
There’s a great waterproof rating here too, matching the Vango below, with a ‘dry-setup’ structure ensuring the inner section stays dry if you have the misfortune of pitching up in the rain. In short, the Coleman 3+ Coastline Tent is an excellent festival tent to see you through many summers.
Best for big groups
The Coleman Blackout Octagon Tent is one of the heaviest picks in our best festival tents guide because it’s also one of the biggest. Courtesy of flysheet curtains, it also transforms from blackout tent to one with 360 views of the bogroll-strewn campsite.
Blackout material sees off the worst of the sun and keeps the tent up to five degrees cooler, with room for six people to crash down the middle and one on each side.
You may have a tough time storing lots of bags in the Coleman Blackout Octagon Tent when at max sleeping capacity though, so either pack light or strip back your crew to gain more in-tent storage. When it’s time to pack down, stuff the tent into the wheeled carry bag and roll it off-site.
Best for easy pitching
The Heimplanet Original Cave is an icon in the world of camping and one of the first inflatable tents to hit the market. It has since transitioned to the world of luxury festival tents thanks to its sheer ease of use – it has a one-pump system, meaning the entire tent is inflated from one valve.
The waterproofing is excellent, and the Heimplanet Original Cave is also the best festival tent for withstanding wind speeds of up to 110mph. The only bugbear is that the five vents can’t be closed from the inside.
Five rain drains in the roof ensure good water run-off, with several sewn-in pockets and a tent vestibule serving up storage space for up to three people. Two would sleep the comfiest in here though.
Best inflatable tent for families
Eurohike is another big name in the camping world and we have spotted many of its inflatable tents dotted around UK campsites. The Eurohike Genus 400 Air Tent is a festival tent favourite because its cheap in relation to the air tech, the quality of features and the spaciousness.
Check the camping guidelines of the festival you plan on attending first to make sure you can pitch a tent of this size. Get the green light and you’ll be staying in a home-from-home with the Genus 400 Air Tent. It has separate bedroom, living and porch areas, with lantern hanging points throughout.
It doesn’t offer the panoramic views you get with the Coleman Octagon festival tent, but it does have large windows to give the tent an airy feel. And like the Heimplanet Cave, it’s easy to inflate in around 15 minutes.
Best Festival tents: FAQ
How to buy the best festival tent for your budget
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What essential features should I look for when buying a tent?
When shopping for a festival tent, it’s tempting to go straight for the cheapest option – and in our current cost of living crisis, some of us have no choice on that front. But you can still get decent features from a cheaper tent, as the waterproof Regatta Malawi Pop Up tent proves.
Think about how many people will be sleeping in the tent and how much baggage everyone will have, especially if you’re taking lots of kit with you. If there are two of you plus bags, beer coolers and more, for example, consider a two-person-plus or a three-person tent. That way you get ample sleep and storage space.
When choosing the best festival tent for you, we’d recommend looking out for the following features:
* Blackout bedrooms to diffuse early morning sunlight
* A 3000mm hydrostatic head - fully waterproof
* In-built storage pockets to keep things tidy
* At least one window to let in light
* Ventilation for adequate airflow
* Bright guy lines that'll be easy to spot in a festival field
* A small vestibule for stashing your festival kit
If you have budget for a mid-range festival tent, you’ll have plenty of choice from top-rated brands including Vango, Decathlon and Coleman. There are some great tunnel and dome tents available this year, and you can expect to pay around $140/£120 for one of the best festival tents in this price bracket.
For luxury festival camping or a no-nonsense approach to pitching a tent, choose an inflatable festival tent. These take around 15-20 minutes to inflate on average, and all the hard work is done for you – just peg out the base. Rolling them up again to fit in the carry bag can be tricky though.
How we choose the best festival tents
Here at Louder, we are music lovers and experts in our field, with many years of music listening and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything music related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products when selecting the recommendations for our guides.
When choosing what we believe to be the best festival tents available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products in any given category.
First and foremost, we are music fans, and we want others to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set and ease of use to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best festival tents on the market right now.
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