Whether it’s confusion over what season we’re in or cider’s surreptitious rise in popularity, the fact that they need to take tents with them to festivals seems to be eluding some people.

While there’s a time and a place for limitless optimism, you could choose better than the middle of the night in a soaking wet field to exercise it, so follow these tips for happy camping.

1) Get a tent organised

Whether you share with a friend or bring your own, get your home from home sorted before you get on the train. Preferably get someone to set it up before you get there. Suddenly remembering you need one four hours before your train is horrifying, as I can testify. Holborn is a truly dreadful place to buy cheap camping equipment.

2) Beware of bargains

There’s cheap and there’s cheap. Argos sells a tent for £7 but silly old Imogen from Big Brother took one to Glastonbury and her penny-pinching backfired spectacularly. My last minute excursion resulted in their £14 version which, while roughly the size and shape of a child’s crossbow, has the ultimate redeeming feature of being totally waterproof. While the rest of my camp got flooded out on Glasto Monday, I slept on, saved from the water, probably because the entry zip was wonkily placed about a foot off the ground.

3) Camp with a parent on day-release

These folk are invariably so delighted to be freed from their children that they’ll have over-prepared on an epic scale. Chances are they’ll have a highly identifiable tent, most likely a Cath Kidson version covered in roses with a boot scraper outside the porch. This will make finding your way back to the group a lot easier than “Um, you know where the flags are?”

4) Don’t trust the adverts

Yes, those round ones you throw up in the air are really easy to put up, but a) they’re a bugger to pack up again and b) they’re about a metre and a half across. Eurohike are easy to put up and last forever. Don’t even get me started on those Orla Kiely ones.

5) Be a grown-up

Give in, bring a gazebo. Even if your tent cost more than £20, never underestimate the joy of being able to stand up, stay dry and drink with your friends. They’re also brilliant for attracting random people with booze last thing at night. Just don’t go overboard. You don’t need a 6 by 3 metre pavilion, nor a camouflage netted performance area.

6) Treat your tent like yourself

When you get home and jump in the shower, give your tent an airing. It’s either that or you’ll be greeted with mould and old spiders next time you get it out. Oh God, that reminds me… [Kat Brown]

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