Beat the Heat: Music Festival Cooler Packing Tips

Summer and camping festivals go hand in hand, and no item is more important to the campsite than the cooler. Food, water, and (most importantly) beer all live or die by the ice you keep in your cooler. Keeping that ice in a hot, sun-drenched field can be an exercise in futility, however, bordering on maddening. Fear not, though, for we have prepared for you some excellent tips and tricks for packing your cooler during your next festival outing!

Shade? Shade. Shade!

The most basic way to keep you cooler icy longer is to keep it in the shade. Direct sunlight will warm up even the most high-end, roto-molded coolers and melt ice faster than when stored in shade. I know some are tempted to protect their more high-end coolers by storing them in their cars when away from camp, and while shaded this will still bake away your precious frozen water crystals into oblivion. To maximize cooler security, grab a bike lock and run it through a handle or through the lock keeping it closed if your cooler has rope handles, affixing it to whatever’s convenient. In the past I’ve used car wheels, my cot, or just another cooler, literally anything that just makes it harder to carry off inconspicuously.

Drain the Main Vein

If you find yourself needing to add more ice at some point, be sure drain out the excess water. The extra surface area the water creates makes your cooler lose heat through the walls more rapidly!

Cooler, More Like Frozen Tundra.

When in doubt and icy cold refreshment is key, dry ice is the ultimate solution. A couple of pounds of dry ice in the bottom of your cooler will keep everything nice and frosty all weekend long, even in the most punishing of environments. But don’t just throw the dry ice in the bottom and call it a day, because this stuff is so powerful that if you do so you’ll find yourself drinking a beer slush on Sunday afternoon. Instead, wrap the ice in a small towel, and then throw a layer of cardboard on top. This little bit of separation both prevents the ice from over-freezing your precious brews, but also helps keep your dry-ice permafrost running for longer. Be sure if you’re using this tip that you do a little daily maintenance and drain water out of the bottom of the cooler as mentioned above, even if not adding ice.

Divide and Conquer!

One tip we regularly see floating around the internet is to freeze water bottles in place of using ice/dry ice methods. I’ll be the first to admit that I myself have used this method in the past. However, as we move forward and learn more, we have realized the negative impact that these single-use plastics have on our environment, and for that reason we suggest an alternative! We suggest instead investing in a reusable insulated water dispenser à la gym class and construction work sites. Fill this bad boy with ice before you enter your festival and keep it out of the sun for weekend-long icy water refreshment. Throw in your favorite water additives like cucumber, lemon, or lime for bonus points. Then simply keep your other beverages and food items in your dry-ice winter wonderland.