A tent is for life, not just for a festival

Cheap tents that can be bought for just €20 might seem ideal for the rough and tumble of an outdoor music festival campsite. Such tents can be so cheap, in fact, that you may be inclined to leave it behind come the Monday morning after the show is over.

But environmental campaigners and organisers of events like the Electric Picnic and Body and Soul have once again been urging festival-goers to take their tents home with them because they contribute hugely to the waste left behind that organisers will have to clear up. Research has shown that over 80pc of music festival waste comes from campsites. This waste includes other camping gear, such as chairs, sleeping bags and broken poles.

According to Body and Soul festival director Avril Stanley, tent fibres can clog up recycling machines, and so all tents that are left behind end up in landfill.

Some festivals in the UK have signed up to the Love Your Tent campaign, which encourages festival-goers to invest in high-quality camping gear and to reuse it. Others have facilitated schemes whereby pre-pitched tents can be rented rather than bought.