Once the weather gets nicer, people will start traveling far and wide to attend all kinds of outdoor festivals. With tickets in hand, they’ll need a way to get there—and according to our data, they’re seeking out RV rentals for their trips. “Festival friendly” is one of our most popular search filters, with 1 in 20 renters looking for rigs they can take to festival grounds.
Before images of Burning Man pop into your head, let us quell your fears. There are all sorts of festivals, from balloon fests to food fests, chill music fests to film fests, that attract perfectly reasonable and respectable attendees. Many of these events allow overnight parking in RV-designated lots, appealing to those who want the convenience of staying on the property.
If you’re looking to reach the festival-attending audience, this guide is for you. We’ll offer a few different ways to make your rig festival-friendly while keeping you and your renters safe.
The Benefits Of Offering A Festival-Friendly Rig
We love that festivals gather people together around shared interests, whether that includes music, crafts, hobbies, or other niche interests. Here are a few reasons to offer your rig to festival folks:
-You’ll connect with interesting renters with neat interests
-Festivals are typically multiple days, meaning you get more nights of rent
-These kinds of events are predictable—they happen at the same time every year, sometimes when you might otherwise be in a slower season
-Your rig usually won’t move (in fact, offering delivery and set up at festivals is a MUST if you want to make the most of festival demand)
-You’re optimizing your booking by being searchable under the “festival friendly” filter – we also created these pages to give festival-friendly rigs an extra marketing boost
Check Where Your RV Is Allowed
The types of RVs allowed vary from festival to festival. Some events have limits on classification and length, and oftentimes there are partial hookups or none at all. To give your guests as much information as possible, come up with a list of festivals where your specific rig is allowed and not allowed, along with suggested campgrounds as alternatives. This will help prospective renters decide whether your rental is right for them.
You can even offer delivery and set up so guests don’t have to stress when they arrive.
Optimize Space
Life on the road is expectedly compact. When your living room does triple duty as your bedroom and your dining room, you want a foolproof organization system. Clutter and tchotchkes have no place. To ensure your renters have room for their belongings as well as space to spread out, remove any items or add-ons that they won’t be needing during their festival visit. Things like bikes and racks, kayaks, and other items that might be filling storage spaces.
Limit Restricted Items
Expect a list of restricted items from every kind of festival—with weapons being on the top of every list. Coachella doesn’t allow aerosol products, air horns, audio recording devices, vape refills, or animals that aren’t service animals. The World Series of Barbecue prohibits motorized coolers and other wheels, drones, and alcohol. Do a sweep of your rig to make sure you’ve removed some of these common items.
Offer Festival-Friendly Essentials
Now that we’ve recommended clearing the clutter and unnecessary stuff, we’re going to suggest providing just a few small essentials to elevate the rental experience for any festival goer. Since they won’t be staying at a typical campsite, it won’t be as feasible for them to leave their spot if they lose or forget some of these crucial items. Provide a survival kit for those 5-star reviews:
–Festival-friendly seating or an outdoor blanket
–Non-aerosol sunscreen and bug spray
–Flashlights or other portable lighting
-Cheap extra sunglasses and/or brimmed hats
–Portable fire pit (where allowed)
Pack Stabilizers and Cones
Festival grounds are notoriously unlevel with potholes, stumps, mounds, etc. Ensure your renters get a good night’s sleep by packing levels, stabilizers, jacks, etc. (as well as instructions or tutorials for how to use them). You know what your RV needs.
Oh, and cones are helpful to tuck into the back, just in case they need to mark out their spot.
Empty or Top Off Fluids
As a seasoned host, you’re probably already doing routine cleaning and maintenance checks between renters. But especially ahead of a festival, where power, water, and sewer facilities are inconsistent and often limited, make sure to empty gray and black water tanks, and top off propane and freshwater tanks before your renter gets the keys. You don’t want your renter running out of water or filling up the tanks halfway through the first day.
Stock for Boondocking
There are very few festivals offering on-site camping with hookups, so renters have to be self-sufficient and depend on the on-board systems during their stay—aka boondocking. If you’re not sure whether your rig is ready for boondocking, take a spin through this guide we put together. It includes everything from electricity and water basics to internet options and safety checks.
Provide for Power Needs
Electrical hookups are rarely available at festival camp spots. That’s why offering a generator and/or a solar kit is an important option for festival-minded renters. You could even list these as an add-on to create an extra revenue stream for your rental.
If power happens to be available, lots of people will be pulling from the same source at festivals. Protect your RV’s electrical system by providing a surge protector and instructing your renter how to use it.
Prevent Damage
Just like with allowing pets, you want to keep your renters safe and your rental protected. Here are a few main ways to ensure safety and prevent damage:
1. Communication is key: Communicating with your renters is even more crucial with a festival-friendly rig. Ask lots of questions of your guest beforehand to get an understanding of their schedule and intentions at the festival. Have they been before? Do they have camping details? Don’t be afraid to be clear about your expectations and what they can and cannot do.
Important note on this: Burning Man, the annual festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, remains an unauthorized festival in Outdoorsy’s terms of service. Insurance does not cover your RV on the festival grounds nor does it cover festival-related damage. If you’re in driving range of Burning Man and a renter wants to rent toward the end of August – ask them to confirm that Burning Man isn’t on their itinerary.
2. Signage is your best friend: No matter how many convos you have with your guests, it’ll only help to have additional messages that they see in the moment where it matters. Adhere signs inside your rig, and consider providing a guidebook with additional information.
3. Check your security deposit: Deposits are designed to protect both of you in the event of damage to your rig. That’s why it’s a good idea to check your security deposit settings before going festival-friendly. Make sure it’s set to an amount that’ll protect you in the unlikely event of a mishap. See what other festival-friendly rigs in your area are charging for security deposits to ensure you don’t price it so high that you turn people away.
4. Provide cleaning materials: Drinks spill, food splatters. Pack some cleaning supplies in your rig and show your guests where they’re at so they can clean up in a flash. This’ll keep things clean while your rig is in their hands so that you have less mess to pick up when your rig returns.
If you weren’t already convinced that not all festivals are wild and rowdy, we hope you are now. Rather, they’re full of like-minded folks who want to enjoy the outdoors around a shared interest. Music. Food. Films. Or all of them combined. By expanding your offerings to festival goers, you’ll naturally increase your bookings. Happy hosting!
