India’s favourite camping and music festival, the Bacardi Enchanted Valley Carnival is back this December. So here’s The Sherp ensuring that you have the best camping experience.

For fans of eclectically diverse music, the Bacardi Enchanted Valley Carnival or BEVC proves the quintessential outdoorsy experience; as it immerses music, culture and camping in full gusto. Held at the hilly and picturesque Aamby Valley, a mere two-and-a-half hour drive from  Mumbai; the coming together of music and camping gives birth to a confluence unlike any other amongst the many music festivals in the country.

Since The Sherp has been a regular at BEVC, we think it fit to prep you up for the upcoming edition, held from December 17 to 20. So read on to have your camping game on point.

1. Pick your home

BEVC has a myriad number of options for the camping enthusiast, ranging from camps for twosomes wishing to cozy it up together, to camps that prove to be the best hangout pad for a group of four friends having the perfect musical getaway at BEVC. In addition to this, the festival has a slate of luxury camping options that will have you wish the festival would just never end. A tent that features a private washroom, ready-to-envelope-you beds and a private seater area? We’ll take one!

You can carry your own tent at this festival, here is a guide on how to choose best tent.

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(Source : Enchanted Valley Carnival Facebook)


2. Dress the weather

Aamby Valley fluctuates between weather options that will keep the summer-lover and the winter-lover happy. While the afternoons are bright, sunny and just the right kind of warmth India’s winter season can afford, the evenings descend into a space of breezy coolness that warrant for the warmest of clothes. So, from cotton shorts in the afternoon to overalls for the night, BEVC makes it ideal for both.

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3. Cool the afternoons away

Afternoons can be the recourse for summer-lovers, often getting much hotter than you’d think it will; standing a sharp contrast to the night. While being hustled in the tents can prove really hot, you can find recourse at the festival’s bar arena. From dabbing a veritable amount of sunscreen onto yourself, to heading to the cooler part of BEVC grounds, to donning the lightest garments; keep it chill.

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4. Wear your explorer’s hat

The grounds of Aamby Valley, where BEVC is held, is a green expanse of the most natural getaway making for the perfect walk-around-the-park during the day, especially early mornings. Grab on to some walking shoes and trek around the arena, taking in the sights and sounds of revelers making their way back to their tents, the almost always full food-space, the stages, where the magic would be all set to unfold in a few hours.

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5. It’s a picnic

Truly, and very honestly, the camping experience at BEVC is nothing short of being a picnic, ruminative of the times school outings would have you super excited. Just like those yesteryear experiences, pack in the very best of utilities for an experience that doesn’t end when the last set of the day packs up. From speakers, to games such as monopoly and jenga, the camping space is a time where several speakers parallelly dish out variant music as groups of people indulge in late night revelry.

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6. Be ready to get creative

Last year’s BEVC camping was a time for campers to don their most creative hats, due to the numerous activities around the camping arena. From little venues where mystical seekers could come together for designing dream catchers, to a space where they could try their hand at making instruments, the variety of activities will leave you, truly, spoilt for choice.

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1511853_561450587275772_2131729415_o(Source : Enchanted Valley Carnival Facebook)


7. Get your music on

The BEVC camping jam rooms are notorious for the sounds that emanate when the jam room with a bunch of musical instruments is left open to musical enthusiasts. The most random sounds and words shine through what could be otherwise soundless, post-concert nights. As people, one and all assemble to jam their way through the evening, music is created in the best manner known to one and all. It also makes for a great socialising tool.

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8. Bonfire the cold away

The bonfire in the camping arena is where you are bound to find every camper, huddled with their mates, taking in the warmth of the fire in the chilling cold of the night. People surround the bonfire as a healthy amount of socialising takes over. In between soaking in the sudden warmth of the night, conversations, music and warm hues take over leading to what will be one of the most memorable nights of your life.

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9. Stargaze like a pro

Mumbai nights can be lightless ones. There ain’t no stars enveloping the sky, and stargazing is an activity we’ll all but forgotten. Reclaim your love for the sky at BEVC, where you can stay by your camping arena as you stare at the skies above. From bringing along portable telescopes, to kaleidoscopes that will give you the visual trip you need, BEVC nights are the ones you will gladly spend outside, rolling about on the grass.

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10. One big family

The BEVC Tribe is truly, exclusively special, so much so that it warrants its own community name. While other festivals are spent dancing next to someone in a sea of crowd at the very most, BEVC is spent in unison, right from waking up with someone waking up in the tent next to yours, to gathering for a great, community meal to interacting with one and all while raking in the comfort of the bonfire. Friendships are forged, even as you go from becoming a small unit to a tribe, united by your love for the festival that has been the best experience you can imagine!

IMG_3383(Source : Enchanted Valley Carnival Facebook)