Washing kids at a festival

Eeeww – smelly!

Well, it is a festival so normal rules on washing and personal hygiene tend to go out of the window for a few days.

A pack of wet-wipes and a relaxed attitude will be enough for most people.  Sometimes though, annoying as it may be, the kids will need a wash. Either because they are caked in mud (or worse), or because they develop an allergy to the emergency sunscreen you just bought for £20 at the festival stall.  Or maybe it’s just that you’re a family who would just, you know, have a wash?

Most festivals with camping offer showers, most little children HATE showers.

Apart from the problems of water getting in their eyes, cramped cubicles, muddy floors, lack of constant water temperature and not enough hooks to keep your stuff off the manky floor… the queues are likely to be pretty long too – and children and queues are never a great combination. Always avoid mornings if you are going to try and shower at a festival.

Very few family-friendly festivals go so far as to offer baby baths in an NCT tent, so if there are no bathing facilities at the festival you’re going to, you might want to take a bucket for a quick emergency wash.

The flexible laundry/garden tub or trug are perfect, and pretty handy for transporting things too.  Or if you want to splash your cash and need something that folds flat then have a look at the Flexibath – you may even find it useful for a strip wash for yourself too!

Solar Shower from Amazon

A great way of getting warm water if there is a little bit of sun is a solar shower.  These are relatively cheap from most camping shops or get one online.

These thick black PVC bags soak up the heat from the sun and warm all the water inside.  Fill it in the morning so in the afternoon it will be ready for use whenever you go back to your tent for a break.

The water can get surprisingly toasty (often over 40 degrees), so do check it’s not scalding if it’s been very sunny.

Now the trick with all your camping gear at a festival is to make everything dual purpose… and guess what?

Cold water in a bucket / tub does a pretty good job of keeping your beers cool too!! 🙂

Alternatively, you could hire yourself a lovely motorhome for the weekend with the best intentions in the world of using your own private luxury show – and just not bother!

Happy camping all.


6 thoughts on “Washing kids at a festival

  1. Wash hair and shower the day we arrive, then I have kept my top and tail bowl from when I had babies as our festival wash station….one side for washing faces, the other side for everywhere else! I also pack a stack of reusable fleece wipes so we’ve got a clean one each every day to have a quick wash. Also take flip flops for festival showers, we go in early evening and then put kids straight into thermals/Pjs for the night before heading out to play.

    Lush shampoo and body bars are great.

  2. At Camp Bestival last year with a 2 & 4 year old we used a £5 plastic garden trug packed with children’s bits & bobs to carry onto the campsite then every morning a kettle full of hot water, cold water & shower gel – quick slosh down head to toe for everyone! Cheap & cheery & fresh for the day ahead!

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