The Essential Coachella Camping Guide || 2017 Edition

Coachella is still some time away, but that doesn’t mean you should delay in your plans if you’ll be camping this year!

Are you someone who has never camped at Coachella before? Maybe you’re a multi-year veteran of the festival looking for some extra items to make this year’s edition more comfortable? Regardless, we know how many times we’ve forgotten items at home, or simply run out of time to order those last-minute essentials for our camps. Over the past two years, the EDM Identity Team has brought you a guide with what we consider to be essential camping equipment for Coachella. As is tradition, we have done some fresh research and have some new additions for you in 2017. This Essential Coachella Camping Guide intends to not just inform and assist, but also remind you to grab some things you may not think about!

What are your favorite festival camping items? Is there something we should add to this list? Let us know in the comments!

The Essential Coachella Camping Guide – 2017 Edition!

The Main Essentials:

A tent that will comfortably fit you and your campmates!

Don’t fall for the number of people a tent will fit that is stated on the box unless you want to feel like a sardine all weekend. From our personal experience, it’s best to count each person as two for better space and breathing room.

That means if you’re going solo, a 1 or 2 person tent is fine (HERE).

For 2 people, I’d suggest a 4 person tent. (HERE).

A 6 person tent (HERE) will fit 3-4 campers, and probably will be maxing out the rest of your camping space at the same time.

If you have multiple campsites you could probably grab larger tents but remember that each spot is only 10’x30′! You definitely want to check the dimensions, and anything beyond 10×10 is definitely pushing it size-wise.

Also, make sure your tent bag contains extra Plastic Stakes (HERE) and a Rubber Mallet (HERE) to hold your tent down in windy conditions. The support lines of your tents should be drawn taut and away from the tent at a 45-degree angle, and the pegs are pounded in the opposite 45-degree angle. This reduces the chance of getting them pulled out of the ground during wind gusts.

Finally, one of the most important things to keep your tent cool is a portable fan. Look, we know you can open some windows or hope that the heat will travel through the vents, but a fan is far superior to anything else. They aren’t that expensive, and because they are battery powered you don’t have to worry about keeping them charged! You can hang one from your tent (HERE), or place one on the ground (HERE).

At least one 10×10 straight leg canopy for shade!

This will take up a third of your single campsite, the other thirds would be your tent and the car. Straight leg canopies are my personal favorite, but if you can only grab a 12×12 slant leg version, make sure to ask your neighbors if it’s cool to invade their camp space a bit. Most people don’t care, but it’s always polite to ask!

We swear by this 10×10, lighted canopy from Coleman (HERE), or a non-lighted version (HERE). If you want to take a cheaper route you can check out this one (HERE).

Here are the important rules for canopies that you should all abide by:

STAKE DOWN YOUR CANOPY!

New campers who have never experienced the weather in Indio tend to forget this the most. Every canopy I’ve ever purchased has a hole at the feet for reinforcing. PLEASE STAKE THEM DOWN. The plastic pegs are sturdy and will do a great job of keeping that canopy grounded during wind gusts.

TAKE OFF THE CANOPY TOP OR LOWER YOUR CANOPY WHEN YOU LEAVE!

Make sure that whoever is the last to leave the campsite before everyone enters the festival is responsible for taking off or lowering the canopy down. The wind can’t catch the canopy if there’s nothing there to catch it, right? In the very least it’s best to lower it so that your chance of it being picked up by the wind is reduced.

If you have the choice of choosing the color of the canopy top, pick black or the darkest color possible. Lighter colors tend to let a fair amount of light through, enough to not really be considered shade sometimes.

An Electric Power Source!

While a large part of the festival experience is about getting lost in the music, we know that everyone is still constantly using their phones too. Sure, you can jockey with people for positioning at the electrical outlets while at the fest, but why do that when you can charge from your camp? For that reason alone, it’s good to bring an external power source. Of course, many cars are already outfitted with plugs inside the vehicle, and you can grab AC adapters if you need more juice (HERE), but running your car also makes the area you’re living much warmer, and full of fumes too.

We don’t think that your car should take all the brunt of the work, though, and there is nothing worse than having to wait around for AAA to come by and jump your car because you forgot to let the motor run for a bit. Speaking of which, JUMPER CABLES (HERE) are highly important and a must-have item when going to ANY camping festival.

Depending on how much juice you actually need, there are quite a few different solutions to give you power. Don’t forget that portable generators are actually banned at this festival too, so we’ve found some nice alternatives for you! Starting off this year, for those of you looking for the most juice, we would highly suggest the Duracell Powerpack Pro 300 (HERE). It can charge via solar panels and will be able to keep your devices running throughout the weekend. If you don’t want to spring for a generator-like power source and just need to charge your cell phone, I’d suggest grabbing the EC Technology 22,400mAH External Battery (HERE) or if you have a newer device grab the Anker Astro E7 (HERE)!

A portable folding table is more useful than you think!

You really don’t know what you’re missing out on if you don’t have a table at camp. Whether you’re using it to keep things off the ground, placing your cooler underneath it for the shade, or playing some games with friends, this is one of the most forgotten about essentials at Coachella. More than likely there is a folding table at your home to some degree or another, but I would definitely recommend grabbing on if you haven’t already.

We have fallen in love with this Stansport Folding Camp Table (HERE) that is perfect for Coachella. If you’re tight on space, a smaller one (HERE) would work great as well!

Keep yourself chilled with a 5 to 7 Day Cooler.

There is nothing worse than a warm beer or soda while it’s already hot outside. Honestly, cold drinks can become a hot commodity at Coachella so a cooler is a must. Sure, you can grab a regular day cooler if you feel that will work best for you, but why not keep that ice as frozen as possible? That’s why we would suggest springing for a cooler rated at a minimum of 5 days. You can check out a top rated wheeled version from Coleman (HERE) or one without wheels (HERE)!

If you’re looking for some serious cooling, make sure to look into a marine rated cooler! Brands like YETI (HERE) and RTIC (HERE) both make fantastic coolers that will keep things chilled with proper usage. Make sure to keep the lid closed at all times possible, and you’ll make your ice last far longer than with constant usage!

Don’t forget your sleeping bag and pillow!

Getting quality sleep at a festival is hard to come by, and what’s even more difficult is being comfortable while sleeping too. If you are fine sleeping in the grass or on the floor of your tent with no padding, you might not need this, but why do that when you could have a better experience? We suggest grabbing a sleeping bag that fits you comfortably, many list the proper height range for each bag so make sure to check the details before you purchase!

The temperatures won’t get too low, so a summer-rated sleeping bag is more than likely fine. Here is the one that we have used for camping festivals (HERE). If you’re a bigger person, check out this sleeping bag for a better fit (HERE). If you’re a couple looking for some extra space, check out this style that even includes two pillows (HERE)!

Speaking of pillows, that always seems to notoriously be a thing people forget to bring with them, so we’d like to remind you all to bring that too! Bring one from home, or look at stores like Costco or Walmart for some cheap ones to use this season. Of course, if you’re looking for something more compressed you can grab this one (HERE).

Up your game by springing for an Air Mattress, and trust us, your back will thank you later. You can go electric free (HERE) or one that is rechargeable (HERE)!

Relax during the day in a quality folding chair.

Sitting on the ground sucks, really it does. Get off the ground and get your booty in a seat okay? They take up next to no room and will definitely help your back during the weekend. There are plenty of different styles and types you can go with as well.

If you’re looking for a decently priced one that even has a built-in cooler check (HERE)! This “Director’s Chair” style has been popular as well (HERE). Looking for a larger chair? We also loved this one from Kijaro (HERE).

The most important item, a towel (or two)!

There is a reason this was dubbed as one of the most important items to own in A Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Towels are legitimately one of the most useful but forgotten about items to use. You can use it as a blanket, to dry yourself off after a shower, or even use it as shade if need be. I’d suggest picking up at least one or two decent beach towels to use during Coachella (HERE). This style is soft and dries quickly too (HERE).

LED lighting to set the mood.

First and foremost, it can become impossible to find your camp at night so placing these Solar Garden Lights (HERE) towards the street side of your camp will help you find your way home in the dark. We also like to decorate our camps with some colorful lights at night too. It’s a great way to set the mood or keep the party going all night long. These can usually be found pretty cheap at dollar stores, but these LED Christmas Lights (HERE) have done us well over the past couple of years. You can also grab some white lights (HERE)!

At $10 per strand, these (HERE) are cost efficient and can bring some great light to your camp! While the white lights are best, we prefer to color combo with Blue (HERE) or Green (HERE) for some extra flair!

Your back will love you if you grab an air mattress!

If you’re using a 6 person or smaller tent, there is enough space inside to definitely fit one queen size mattress. Gunning for that 8+ person tent? 2 or more queen size mattresses can fit for sure. No one really enjoys sleeping on the ground, and so those who want more support should choose to grab an air mattress or sleeping pad.

You can go electric free (HERE) or one that is rechargeable (HERE)! Looking for more support? Check out this air mattress for a bit more height (HERE)!

Of course, our personal favorite is the convertible couch to bed air mattress (HERE)!

Also, don’t forget to grab an air mattress pump! You definitely don’t want to be lugging a mattress out there and not have a way to fill it up! Click (HERE) for a battery powered one, and (HERE) for a non-electric pump. Coleman air mattresses might need this pump (HERE) which comes with a few different options for power sources. Make sure that you test it out before heading out to the desert!

Chef Cesario Ramirez cooking up some tasty tacos!
Photo Credit: Zachary Nolan Schrey

Cook camp lunch on a portable butane stove!

If you want to cook your own food at Coachella and save some money, you’re going to need to bring a stove with you! A good, portable butane stove (HERE) will serve you and your camp mates anything you can cook on a grill. It is compact, and the butane cans (HERE) are pretty inexpensive too.

Make sure to put the stove and butane cans away in the coolest possible place while you’re gone. If you need to leave the grill in your car, leave it in the trunk!

Find your camp when you’re lost with a flag on a tall flagpole!

This has been one of the best purchases I’ve made in a long time. At 14′ you can see the flagpole (HERE) well from the ground, if you feel you need more height you can always spring for a 20′ version. I have found that the 14′ works well enough, though. You’ll need to attach the flagpole to something, so if you have a strong enough canopy, that can work. We prefer to have our flagpole out of my campground for increased visibility so I use this “Under Da Tire” Flagpole Base (HERE). Definitely make sure to put a piece of foam or fabric between the car and flagpole so you don’t scratch the paint!

Looking for a custom flag? Head over to University Customs to get your favorite unique design printed. Use code “EDMID” for a discount on your purchase!

Headlamps or lanterns are a must for the evening.

Have you ever attempted to use a porta-potty at night without a source of light? Perhaps you’re one of the people who has used their cell phone only to have it drop inside. We all know how disgusting they can get, and you definitely don’t want to be getting any “misses” from others on your clothes or body. We highly suggest grabbing a decent headlamp (HERE) or small lantern (HERE) so that you don’t jump into any gross porta-potties.

Aside from that, lanterns are useful for both inside your tent and also your campground area for extra visibility. This one hangs well from inside your tent and is fairly light (HERE), while the larger lanterns like this one (HERE) or this one (HERE) would be more fitting for outside.

Tarps, sheets, or tapestries give you some privacy!

Before you set up your camp, it’s a good idea to lay a basic tarp (HERE) down underneath to give you an extra layer between the ground and your tent. Additionally, you can also use them as sides to your canopy to keep the sun out with an added bonus of extra privacy. If you do plan on going the shade-only route, we suggest buying a cheap regular sheet to use or get a tapestry with a cool pattern (HERE).

Looking for a way to secure it down? Make sure to grab some zip-ties (HERE) so that you can hang them properly from your canopy!

Looking for our comprehensive Amazon list of essential items featured in our Coachella Camping Guide? Click HERE!