Top 10 Camping Essentials for Benicassim 2010
Here’s our top 10 essentials to get you through a week of camping at Benicassim 2010, if you don’t take anything else just make sure you take the items on this list, starting with the more obvious items (some people do forget these things though!), if you’re not sure which campsite to stay on then read our campsite guide:
1) Tent
We found the ASDA £10 “2 man” tent to be perfect for sleeping one grown man, if you want to comfortably fit in 2 people then go for a “3 man” tent. Just remember it’s scorching hot out there so it’s probably not a good idea to cram loads of people into the same tent, all that body heat just isn’t good when the outside temp is 30C+. Remember if you’re flying out to Beni you’ll have to make sure this doesn’t send you over your baggage allowance (especially if you’re flying with Ryanair or another budget airline that is stingy with their baggage allowance). The ASDA 2 man tent only weighs about 3kg so it’s ideal!
Asda 2 Person Tent - small but big enough for one
2) Camping mat
The ground on all the Beni campsites that we saw is rock solid, some of it has small stones and rocks protruding out, definitely not the best surface for a comfortable nights sleep! However, you can fix this minor issue by using a camping mat, we found the Vango self-inflating mat to be the perfect combination of comfort whilst being small and lightweight enough to fit in your backpack.
Vango Self Infalting Mat - A Back Saver
3) Clothing
We’d be shocked if you hadn’t planned on taking this already, but we felt we should emphasize the fact that the temperature is pretty constantly 30C + during the festival, so make sure you take shorts/skirts and plenty of short sleeved t-shirts, much of the time you’ll probably end up wearing very little but make sure you’ve got something thin and long-sleeved in case you get too much sun. Also when it comes to swimwear be careful about wearing board shorts – if you’re doing the daily 2 mile trek back from the beach in wet shorts we found that this can cause serious chaffing issues on the inner thigh area (especially with the longer variety of board shorts).
4) Footwear
Flip flops are an absolute essential otherwise you’ll be living in sweaty feet city. However, we’d also recommend taking 2 pairs of comfy trainers (or one really good pair) as it’s a 2 mile walk to the beach from the festival campsite (CampFIB, BeniCamp is a bit closer), I tried to get away with wearing flip flops and shredded my feet after the first couple of days, luckily I had one pair of old trainers with me but by the end of the week these had to be reinforced with superglue which is never a good luck! Also trainers are a must have when you’re in the festival arena otherwise your toes will suffer!
5) Plasters/Bandages/Disinfectant
You almost definitely will at some point need plasters during the festival. Most likely for blistered feet, but also as a result of cuts and bruises sustained during the solid partying you’ll be doing. You can get plasters for free from the first aid points scattered around the festival site, but for convenience we’d recommend taking at least one box of your own. You might even want to take some pain killers (paracetamol) with you to help tackle the inevitable hangover(s) – although you might find the intense heat helps you sweat out the booze so the hangover’s aren’t as severe as you’d get on a cold UK night out!
6) Travel Towel
This is a must have if you’re camping. You’ll end up having at least 2 shower’s a day, just because it’s so hot, you might even have more than this if you’ve been in the sea etc. The bonus on travel towels is that you don’t have to wait long for them to dry, in fact they’re designed to absorb a load of water then you can wring them out and dry again. They’re also really compact compared to your standard “home towels”. Also, make sure you take a bottle of shower gel for use in the showers, you really need something to soap yourself up with to clean away all the sweat and sand!
7) Euros
Definitely, definitely, definitely take some cash with you. Don’t rely on the cash machines in Benicassim – you’ll find that there’s big queue’s especially for the first few days. You don’t have to worry about taking you full spends with you up front (although I did) but just make sure you’ve got enough for the first day or so. You’ll find the cash point queue’s less severe if you walk along the main street for 500metres or so to the next cash machine (everybody seems to congregate at the very first cash machine they hit after the campsite).
8 ) Nerf ball
You’ll end up spending a lot of time on the beach during the day (especially if you’re camping – too hot in the tents after about 8.30am), having something to play with during the day can boost your enjoyment factor to limitless bounds, we’d recommend the Nerf Vortex Mega Howler.
The Nerf Vortex Howler - Great Fun on the beach!
9) Toilet roll
We should have put this further up the list really, but don’t be surprised if you go to the loo, drop the kids off in the pool then discover that there’s no paper to clean your little botty! The organisers seem way behind on the whole toilet hygiene thing, most of the toilets don’t have anything to clean your hands with (so a small travel bottle of that anti-bacterial stuff can also be a good buy). I took 1x toilet roll and round this to be sufficient for the week (I used the local bar/restaurant loo’s quite extensively during the day so didn’t have to rely on my own stash of loo roll very often).
Loo roll - take at least one
10) A battery operated fan
You know one of those little mini-ones, it’ll only set you back a few quid from your local supermarket (ASDA sell them) but they’re a god send when you’re in your scorcher of a tent trying to get some kip. It can also be a really good idea to take a length of string with you so you can fasten the fan to your tent’s ceiling (some tent’s, i.e. the ASDA cheapo one’s have a bit of material where you’ll be able to fasten this, with other’s you’ll have to thread the string through the tent’s mesh).
There’s probably a ton of other tips from regular Benicassim festival goers out there, so please feel free to add you comments below if you’ve got anything worth sharing. Until then, happy camping!
Hi guys, this is my first year going to beni fest and Im flying into Reus Sunday night from Bristol. I think we land around 9.30pm but as far as I can tell there is no bus/train etc available until Monday morning. anyone got any ideas or suggestions of how else to get to the festival Sunday night or will it be a matter of hanging around the airport until the next morning?
Cheers!
hi going to my first benicassim this year with the other half ,we are camping and just looking to find out whats the best camp site to stay in?or is it worth buying the vip camping tickets ?
also is it easy enough to travel from barcalona el prat airport to the festival ?
kind regards
david clark
Sam, few of our pals go from the north west too. Always found flights to Reus from liverpool with Ryanair to be cheap. once you get there its about a 50euro return train or coach to the festival site. Flights to valencia are more expensive. You can also fly to alicante which is roughly same distance as Reus but from the south of spain.
Never found it necessary to pre book the train from Reus. Half the crack is winging it once you get there!
Heya i’m for the primary time here. I came across this board and I find It truly helpful & it helped me out a lot. I’m hoping to present something again and help others such as you helped me.
Hi, me and friends are planning on coming to 2012 from Manchester, England. We’re all wondering what is the cheapest way on travelling?
Cheers
Thanks for the great list. I have to say that the toilet roll should be on the top of the camping essentials list. On the first trip I went on without my parents packing all the essentials, I completely forgot to take one with me. That was a terrible mistake. That is definitely something you do not want to be without.
Hey there – 6 of us getting to Barcelona on Thursday 14th. Bit concerned about getting from the airport to the Festival!!! Any clues? as the 12:00 trian is apparently full and the festival bus (mediaterraneo holidays) doesn’t leave airport till 4 (5 hour journey) – so we’d miss the start of Thursday’s acts! Cheers.
hi does anyone know where i can get a VillaCamp ticket from. There’s 10 of us going and one of my friends doesn’t have a ticket. thanks a lot for any help you can give x
Hi!
My first Benicassim experience is getting closer.
I’m coming from Switzerland with homies, and I was wondering if camping spots get over-crowded many days before the beginning of the first live performance…(?)
Because camping in festival always requires a nice “chill zone” and Benicassim seems to be more than a sunny place to camp, I was wondering if people take big square festival tents to protect their proper “sleepin” tent?
And I had a last question to ask to the Fibers… Do people bring their own portable dock to put some music on while chillin in the camping before the concerts ?
Look forward to your answers!
Hi I’m a single 20y/o male looking for a ride from Beni to Madrid after the festival. I’m coming back from Benicassim festival to catch a flight in Madrid on Wednesday 21st. I can stay in Madrid so anything Mon, Tues or Weds would be awesome.
bapilkington@gmail.com
I bought a Solar Powered phone charger off eBay for £7, best thing I’ve ever bought for a festival
Does any know if you charge your mobile any where? Sneeking of work for the week
Hi does anybody know if you can camp on the night of the 18th? we’re driving and don’t think we’d be in any state if we don’t finish drinking and dancing till 8am! best festival ever and can’t wait to get there again
such a shallow question BUT, is there anywhere for girls to plug in and straighten and blow dry there hair?
Here in Benicassim we have Lidl and three other same size supermarkets. Medical centre , lots of bars etc . where you can eat and drink , 6 km of beach which is attached to another 6 km of Castellon’s . Castellon about 10 km distance
hi there,this will be my first time at the festivial,,,how much should i be looking at paying for a ticket?and does this price include everything ie camping and festival? thanks richard
im coming from belfast, and flying into barcelona. I was just wondering would i be better buying a tent out there, and how mush they would cost? I dont fancy carting a tent the whole way there.
Hola! I’m going for the first time this year with a couple of friends and was just wondering are things you leave in your tent safe???
I mean obviously we’ll put passports and valuables in the lockers but I mean like your clothes, bag and other stuff you will leave in your tent when you go to the arenas or beach, will they get stolen??
Any reply would be much appreciated! Thanks
For those who are looking for a cheap way to get to Benicassim, I think that you could do like me : buy your plane tickets on spanish websites, like this you can get it much cheaper. As an exemple, by booking today, I pay 70€ the ticket for both paris – barcelona and barcelona paris , with easyjet. Them I’ll have to pay 80€ for bus to the festival. So the total is 150€, much cheaper than what I’d seen before on french websites !
Hey guys !
I’m french and I’m also going to Benicassim for the first time with 7 friends, and we will be 18 when we are at the festival. So don’t worry there will be a looooot of youngs
… and above all many nice french girls I’ll take in my bag lol
See you !
Hey benicassim people!
Just booked friday and omg were the flights expensive!!! Had to book to alicante rather than valencia
to get it at a nice price. The airlines just know to shoot up the prices around festival time lol. Anyway I’m 19 so nooo your not the only young ones.. theres gonna be lots of teens, i know of quite a few groups of people around my age going 
. Anyway, how much are lockers there? I don’t fancy keeping my passport in my tent! And yh thats my only question…….. can’t wait! First time going with my 2 other friends! Will be incredible.. I’m getting there on the 11th (til18th) .. so i have few days to explore nightlife/etc outside the festival if there are gd places around?.. Probs wont have to worry bout that..will just be a big party on the beach,!
Hey! It’s gona be my first year here and I can’t wait!
I was watching a few videos on youtube and noticed that alot of the people there are 25 and above..I’ll be a month away from 18 when I’m there and was wondering if my friends and I will be the only one’s there that age???? haha
And if I arrive on the Wednesday night (13th), will I be gauranteed a camping spot?
About the drink, I’m assuming you can easily buy some in an off-licence yeah? but would ya be better off bringing some of your own? because there is alot of horrible beers in spain/france..?
Thanks!
Cheers Beni….might have to check out those Asda tents? If you could let me know some outdoor suppliers in Spain that would be great!
Thanks again
Marie
hey guys, will be my first benicassim this yr going with a couple of my girls and just unsure about a couple of things:
firstly, is it impossible to get a decent pitch on the campsite if u dont arrive until a couple of days in?
are the lockers as ridiculous as the ones at leeds festival (just big enough to fit a wallet into!)?
and are there decent shops nearby to stock up on alcohol and such?
any advice would be cool, cheers!
hi jane there is 2 free camp sites to choose from benicamp is nearer the town center wich if free also villa camp is down there to which is pay extra!! camp fib is nearest the festival and the one i stayed in 09 also free ,there is talk of campsites filling up but i got there wed afternoon in 09 and found a place ok…..see u there
Hi,
Can anyone or Admin let me know the situation on Campsites.
I’m a little confused as to how many free camp sites there are?
Are the free camp sites Campfib and Benicamp?
Is the charging campsite- Villacamp (65euro) in addition to the two free camp sites? Or is it replacing former Benicamp and therefore there is only 1 free campsite (Campbeni) and 1 charging campsite?
Can someone clarify, please.
Thanks
Jane
Hi Marie,
There are outdoor shops in Spain. However you’d do much better to snap up one of the cheapo festival tents from ASDA, they were £10-£20 last year depending on size and not too heavy at all. Failing that let us know and we’ll look up some outdoor suppliers for you.
Cheers,
Benicassim
Does anyone know if you can buy a tent when you get to spain either in Barcelona, Valencia or Beni?? My friend and I are travelling separately so don’t want one of us to end up lugging the tent across to spain (I know it’ll end up being me!) If anyone can help I’d really appreciate it…!
thanks
M
hi cats! never take your passport into the fesival site or more money than you actually need for that night. if your quite a lightwieght like me who really throws themselves into the spirit of things, the lowlife pickpockets,(and there are plenty of them}, will be right there front of stage with you while your throwin shapes and in a flash will empty even the tightest pockets coz while your bouncing up and down watching the stage ,theyre on there hands and knees below you looking for easy pickings. i kid u not dear fibbers. so take good care of your valuables an use the secure portacabins on site. gud luck all you gud guys an i,ll see you out there in 2011. take care. regards, francis.x
There will be space but it depends what part of the campsite you want to be at…. if its the one closest to the festival good luck but the other one is usually emptier.
The lockers are 2.50 every time you open them and they’re secure.
yes you can bring alcohol into the campsite but not the arena you can sneak it in if you wana try?
Its my first time going this year so i need some advice..
- have i made a major mistake by getting there on the wednesday? will me and my mates have space to camp?
- whats the situation on the lockers? do you book in advance? are the secure? how much are they?
- can you take alcohol into the campsite, but not the actual festival right.. so do they have to be in plastic bottles? are there shops near by to buy it cheap?
Thanks
Hi guys, this will be my first trip, well excited! Does anybody know if we are able to bring in our own alcohol into the arenas? Also, are there any local supermarkets where we can stock up and save money?
Cheers
read the past posts you only need to look up 3