Imagine being in a place where all the food and drinks are vegan and you are surrounded by thousands of likeminded individuals. Sounds like vegan paradise right? You aren’t wrong! Thankfully, this paradise exists, just a shame it only happens once a year!
Vegan Camp Out started in 2016 as a small meet up of 400 people in a field with one food vendor and a DJ. Year on year it has grown in size and outgrown multiple venues. Despite knowing of its existence since the very beginning, it took me until 2024 to attend and I wish I’d gone sooner!
After a few weeks of recovery from this year’s event, I decided to write this extensive Vegan Camp Out review so you can get a better understanding of what this festival is all about. This is my experience and I understand other people will have different opinions, but I have been completely honest about my time there. If you love camping and/or festivals and you also love the idea of being in vegan paradise for the weekend, then read on!
My experience
Vegan Camp Out 2024 was my first VCO experience but I know for certain that I will be back next year. No festival is 100% perfect, but the organisers have created something incredible! I will now go into detail about the space (and the facilities), food, drinks, music, stalls, events, and the ambience.
The space
Vegan Camp Out 2024 was held at Bicester Heritage in Oxfordshire, where they held their 2023 event. The site is large and full of big open spaces, but no shaded areas. The only shade you got was in your own tent or in one of the stages. Thankfully, next year they will be moving venues to a space that has a woodland as well as large open fields. As always, they ensure the venue has no ties to animal agriculture or hunting.
I found entering and leaving the event space to be really quick and easy, plus the walk from the car to the campsite was extremely short, not at all like festivals I am used to! I hope this is the case for 2025.
They had a variety of different stages and areas to hang out in, including a large area with food and drinks, a few music stages, an education tent, a mind and body tent, and the main stage where the key talks are held. I enjoyed being able to dip into each stage or area, enjoying a mixture of music and educational talks. They will maintain this set up for 2025.
The facilities
Festivals aren’t typically known for being the most hygienic places and you will have to get used to slumming it. Thankfully, Vegan Camp Out’s toilet situation was much better than what I’ve experienced at large festivals like Boomtown. That being said, if you aren’t used to festivals, then you may find them gross and offputting. It really depends on your starting point!
Even when the toilets did get gross they were regularly cleaned and there were even fancy flushing loos in the camping area (and VIP area) which came with a running tap and hand dryer. This was a real luxury and is typically something I would have to pay for at other festivals.
Vegan Camp Out even offer luxury shower blocks for all campers, which is usually unheard of at festivals. They struggled with water supply throughout the weekend but this was because a vehicle burst a water pipe by driving over it on the first day. I still managed to get a shower in every day, which was amazing!
Could the facilities be improved? Well, yes. But honestly they are the best I’ve experienced at any festival.
The camping
The campsites were right next to the car park and the wristband exchange. This meant there was very little walking to do. If this is also the case next year I will consider bringing more stuff so I can create a more luxury camping experience! I saw people bring portable showers, tables, blow up sofas, and more. This wouldn’t be possible at many festivals in the UK, unless you are willing to break your back carrying it all.
There was plenty of space to camp and the site didn’t fill up properly until Saturday. Even then, there were still pockets of space dotted around. I hope they have a similar space for 2025!
I didn’t visit the family, glamping, or VIP camping sites, but they were all pretty close to eachother. Each had its own coffee spot, but I do hope they introduce even more next year. The queues were often super long. This has been addressed by the Vegan Camp Out team, so fingers crossed!
The food
Probably one of the main reasons many people attend Vegan Camp Out is for the food. It isn’t everyday that you get to be surrounded by 50+ fully vegan food stalls, spanning a variety of cuisines, including plenty of sweet and savoury options. I thoroughly enjoyed making my way through the stalls but would have loved another day to be able to try out even more – great news, next year they are offering an extra day!
I’ve attended a fair few festivals over the years and understand the food is never as good as it is from a well established kitchen, but you often still find plenty of tasty food. Unfortunately, I found most of the vegan food at Vegan Camp Out 2024 lacked seasoning. It was as if the food stalls were sent out a memo before the event to avoid salt. Near enough everything we tried needed a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Even the salted caramel chocolate pastry we bought lacked salt. Obviously this isn’t Vegan Camp Out’s fault, but I was expecting a lot better from a fully vegan festival with this quantity of food stalls.
Salt aside, there was a lot of tasty food to try. From ice cream, churros, and doughnuts, to roast dinners, Portuguese food, and tacos.
My Vegan Camp Out food highlights were: The No Catch Co‘s Cod & Chips, Hogless Roast‘s Hogless Burger (with vegan pork crackling), and Purezza‘s Breakfast Pizza.
The drinks
Usually at festivals, bars, or pubs, you have to be careful about the drinks you order just incase they aren’t vegan. I didn’t realise just how nice it would be to go to the bar and order absolutely any drink they had on offer. It definitely took a weight off my shoulders and required zero awkward Googling!
I really enjoyed their drink selection and found the prices to be pretty reasonable for a festival. Most of the pints of beer were around £6, including a yuzu lager and an IPA. You could also order Panther Milk (a really tasty oat-milk liqueur) from all the bars, plus they had their own stall next to one of the music stages. Although, one Panther Milk did set you back a whopping £10. On top of this, they had a good selection of alcohol-free drinks, including Impossibrew.
The music
The music at Vegan Camp Out 2024 was incredibly varied which is to be expected since they mostly book vegan artists. I believe the main music stage starred only vegan artists but areas like Slipshod Faire (playing dub, reggae, and dnb) did have a few non-vegan artists playing. How do I know this? Well, one of my friends was playing a set and I can say for certain that he isn’t vegan. Although, I do believe a few of the people who were organising the Slipshod Faire stage were vegan.
I really enjoyed the variation of the music, but personally found myself drawn to Slipshod Faire most weekend. Mostly because this is the kind of music I enjoy listening to and typically go to festivals for. It was a pleasant surprise having this stage and this sort of music at Vegan Camp Out! But I did also enjoy visiting the main music stage and hearing P Money, Macka B, and Earthling Ed’s techno set (my favourite sets of the weekend).
The great thing about the music line up is that I didn’t get too much FOMO. There were a few people I definitely wanted to see and I was able to mix these inbetween visits to the education tent and main stage. Usually at music festivals I am running around trying to see multiple artists at once.
The stalls
The middle of the arena contained a variety of stalls, including clothing, Vegan Camp Out merchandise, toiletries, food products, and stands for activist groups. I particularly enjoyed seeing Elwood’s Organic Dog Meat stall which recently made its way into the press.
I bought myself an organic cotton crop top from IDEA, Earthling Ed’s clothing brand, but there were tonnes of other clothing stalls that also took my fancy. So if you need to do any clothes shopping then maybe save some of it for Vegan Camp Out 2025, when you can support a variety of different vegan clothing brands.
The events
On top of the music there are a variety of events held throughout the weekend. Most notable are the talks held at the main stage and in the education tent. I particularly enjoyed the Animal Rising talk about uncovering the RSPCA, the vegan doctors panel, and Earthling Ed’s talk.
There were so many incredible talks being held by inspiring people and organisations. Earthling Ed’s talk touched on the hefty weight that us vegans carry. Not only do we understand the atrocities going on towards animals but we are also constantly having to justify our decisions to protect them. It can be incredibly tiring, but hearing all of these talks was just the pick me up I needed! You could tell others felt the same with a fair few tears being shed.
The ambience
The ambience at Vegan Camp Out was second to none. It isn’t everyday you are surrounded by quite so many likeminded individuals in a safe space, set up with fully vegan food stalls and bars. The vibe was amazing. You could tell everyone was happy and loving it too.
I heard someone refer to it as “vegan paradise” and I have to agree with them. I have been using this term ever since! Whether or not you enjoy the festival itself, it feels so good to be part of something so large and to see how far veganism has come. The Vegan Camp Out team created an inviting environment that I long to be back in!
There was such a welcoming feel to the festival that I found it really easy to chat to complete strangers. I have made some awesome vegan friends and have Vegan Camp Out to thank for this!
Attend Vegan Camp Out
If you want to attend Vegan Camp Out 2025 then I recommend you buy a ticket ahead of schedule. They sold out of 33% of tickets within just a few weeks and they have reduced the size of the event from 12,000 to 7,500. Buy your tickets here – I hope to see you there!
- Website: vegancampout.co.uk
- Socials: Instagram & Facebook
- Location (2025): Bygrave Woods, Hertfordshire
- Ticket cost: Weekend passes for £130 (£65 for children), day passes also available and the extra day costs £20
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