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Is anyone else personally offended by the idea of sleeping on the ground during festival season, worried about the state of your tents and the noise of drunken gangs of lads all night?

Well, if you're feeling the diva vibe like we are, you'll be delighted with these Airbnb gems we've found.

After camping at Electric Picnic last year with intensely bad back issues, never again will I twist my spine in such a way. Only a bed will do for my demands.

The properties are near enough to the festivals that you can stroll on in any time of the day or night, but far enough away to get some peace, quiet and good sleep. We're sold, honestly.

Image credit: Flickr/Tim Callaghan

Our top music and arts festivals are fast approaching this summer, and hosts on Airbnb are expanding accommodations options beyond camping fields…Thank the Lord.

Putting a roof over your head this festival season has never been so easy. From Waterford, Westmeath, Bundoran's surf town in Donegal, Stradbally or Meath, Airbnb has a host for everyone.

Check out these fabulous homes near the key Irish music festivals; whether it's floating pods, stunning homes or earth houses; round off your summer season with style.

21 – 23 June: Kilrush, Co. Westmeath

Image: Kilrush Marina glamping pods

These adorable floating glamping pods would be ideal to stay in, as they're moored in the sheltered waters of Kilrush Marina along with the boats.

Each pod in this Clare hideaway has an outdoor seating area, a double and single bed, a kitchen and use of Marina Centre facilities like showers, laundry, Wi-Fi, toilets and free parking.

Kilrush town centre is also in close proximity, so you're not too far away from all the fun.

21- 23 June: Bundoran, Co. Donegal (Sea Sessions)

Image: Bundoran home in County Donegal 

Bundoran is the ultimate Irish seaside town, and a massively popular surfing area with some of the best waves on the east coast.

Staying on the beach at Sea Sessions can be a tricky one with all that Atlantic wind, trust us. This cool and comfortable coastal home is located in a quiet suburb, but is walking distance away from the town and river.

The house can fit over seven guests, with three bedrooms and an open plan kitchen. The true seaside feel with views of Tullaghan would be a great option, rather than getting blown away in your tent.

19-21 July: Blessington, Co. Wicklow

Image: Blessington house in County Wicklow

Ballymore Eustace is a stunning town in Wicklow, and who wouldn't want such a comfortable home to stay in for a weekend of music, losing your friends in crowds and getting covered in mud?

This modern, comfy house is located on the outskirts of the town, and is the ideal place for exploring the county as well as the festival. It's also near the direct route to Dublin, the 65.

The Angler's Rest can house seven guests easily, with three bedrooms and seven beds. Zero tents: Zero problems.

16-18 August: Killyon Manor, Co. Westmeath

The Cottage in Co. Westmeath

This hidden little gem is located in the picturesque town of Killucan, and the place is just a one minute walk from shops and local pubs, and 15 minutes drive from Mullingar town.

It can house four guests, and has two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. The private garden would be perfect for festival pre-drinks, and the rooms are all warm, sparkling clean and spacious.

2-4 August: Curraghmore Estate, Co. Waterford

Image: Riverside apartment, Waterford city

Why stay in a tent that's about five seconds from blowing away with a light breeze when you can have a whole apartment?

This airy, spacious apartment on the Waterford river is seriously impressive. Situated in the centre of the city, it's in a great location for all the key tourist sites and shopping areas.

The balcony has some unreal views of the river and boats, and the space itself has a king/twin bedroom and a comfy sofa bed.

Imagine, you have a kitchen, dishwasher, and a shower? For a festival? WOW.

30 August – 1 September: Stradbally, Co. Laois

Image: Earth House in Stradbally

Anyone who has camped at Electric Picnic and lived to tell the tale will tell you that it's a little too close to nature. This earth house allows you to feel relaxed while having a truly eco experience.

Located on two acres of rural bliss near Ballintubbert and Stradbally, it's equipped with underfloor heating, a green roof, Mexican clay tilted floor, three double bedrooms and a beautiful vaulted ceiling.

We're blown away by the round earth house, with the windows running across the south side of the house to provide passive solar heating. A masonry stove will also keep you warm.

The home has two double bedrooms, and the beautiful garden yurt also can also fit two double beds inside, so the place can house a big group of music lovers. Enjoy your back not being sore this year.

camping ozzy osbourne GIF by History UK

Feature image: Flickr/Stanislav Halcin

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Sea Sessions Surf and Music Festival has managed to get EVEN BIGGER this year; already boasting Norwegian pop sensation Sigrid, Two Door Cinema Club and Clean Bandit as headliners.

The festival takes place in Donegal's Bundoran every year; a uniquely Irish haunt which has sold-out tickets weeks before the festival over the last four years.

Now they've added major names like Jax Jones, The Magician, Wild Youth, Hermitage Green, The Sugarhill Gang with Grandmaster Melle Mel & Scorpio, Le Boom, Jerry Fish, Bitch Falcon, Trojan Sound System, Kormac and Inhaler to the lineup.

The festival has seen major artists grace their stages, like luminaries Dizzee Rascal, Paul Weller, Tinie Tempah, Rudimental, Bastille and Seasick Steve.

It began way back in 2008 as an after-party for a big surfing competition, and now hosts a range of the world's top skateboarders, BMX bikers and beach sporting heroes.

Festival director Ray O’Donoghue couldn't contain his excitement about 2019's eclectic line-up, and we don't blame him.

He said: "We’re delighted with this year’s lineup and with our new additions. We think it is by far our strongest lineup yet! There’s something for everyone there, from Sigrid to The Sugarhill Gang, Two Door Cinema Club to Jax Jones  and everything else in between."

He continued;

"We’ve sold out the last 4 years so we expect this year to be no different. We’ve even got a surprise or two still left up our sleeves. We literally can’t wait until the summer."

The summer festival will take place from June 21 until June 23 in 2019, and early bird tickets have already been snapped up.

Day and weekend tickets are still available now from Ticketmaster outlets, priced at €119.90 for three days non-campsite and €149.90 to include four nights of camping banter.

Limited single day tickets are available from€54.90 + VIP Upgrades for €50, if you head to the Sea Sessions website you can catch them now before they're gone.

Feature image: Instagram/@sea_sessions

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It's T minus 24 hours until we'll be heading off, backpack loaded down with cheaps cans and glitter, to Electric Picnic and we're sick with excitement.

Bring on three days of camping, dancing, and soaking up everything that the Stradbally festival has to offer.

If you're anything like us, you'll be up at the crack of dawn buzzing to go and get on the road.

If not, you might wanna reconsider your travel plans for tomorrow morning, EP organisers have warned.

They have told the expected 50,000 revellers to to give themselves a bit more time than usual to get to the campsite due to major roadworks. 

"We are urging everyone heading to Electric Picnic this Friday to give themselves plenty of time as roadworks are likely to considerably add to journey times," a spokesperson said.

"We would strongly recommend people to leave as early as possible and also to car pool if possible."

Sounds doable, right?

The on-going roadworks on the M7 are to blame for this as they have reduced junctions 8-11 to just two lanes with a 60km/hr speed limit on this stretch of road. 

Annoying as it may be, who wants to get held up in traffic when they could be chilling out in the Jimi Hendrix campsite?

 

Where it all begins. #ElectricPicnic

A post shared by Electric Picnic (@epfestival) on

If you're wondering what kind of clothes to pack, it looks like the weekend is set to be mainly dry with a mix of cloud and sunshine – we'll take that!

Sunday, bowever, might get a bit rainy so chuck in a raincoat just in case. 

While we want to have fun at EP, we can't forget that safety should always come first. 

Festival boss Melvin Benn has said to "behave safely and behave well but come and have the craic".

Sounds good to us – now roll on tomorrow! 

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So, if you've ever camped at a music festival you'll be familiar with the farcical struggle of trying to find your tent at 3:00am.

You try your best to remember the directions you made up only hours ago, but alas, the sea of green and blue nylon is just too vast.

Left at the green gazebo, right at the group of lads who haven't ventured into the arena all weekend, and straight on till morning.

Well, this problem may well be a thing of the past.

Tent Finder is a new app that lets you mark where you pitch your tent using GPS and save the location as a pin on your phone map.

The genius app was created by outdoors company Boutique Camping, and also lets you pin other handy locations such as your mate's tent, the cleanest toilets and your favourite ice-cream stall.

It also includes a compass, which would probably be handy for those of you who actually know what to do with a compass (not us though).

Tent Finder is only available for iPhone at the moment, but it is hoped that the company will develop an Android version in the near.  

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It’s that time of year again.

The evenings are getting longer, there’s magic in the air and festival season is just around the corner.

So, it’s time to start thinking about getting that all important camping gear sorted.

Aldi have got you sorted with a whole range of Insta worthy camping equipment hitting stores next month.

From pop-up tents to air loungers, the supermarket’s latest Specialbuys range features all your camping essentials at incredible prices.

Here’s a little sneak peek at what you can expect in store but don’t forget you can also heat your tent too.

Festival Pop-up Tent €24.99

Tipi Tent €69.99

Air Lounger €24.99

Festival Throw €7.99

Inflatable Chair €19.99

Ladies’ Festival Wellingtons €16.99

All products will be on sale in all 129 Aldi stores nationwide from Sunday, 4th June while stocks last.

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The always wonderful Body & Soul music festival kicks off tomorrow in Westmeath and no doubt attendees will right now be contemplating what to pack, what to leave behind – and what is frankly totally unnecessary but needs to brought along anyway (we're thinking clip-in hair extensions, wedges and instant tan).

But if you adhere to only one piece of advice, it's this: avoid playsuits and jumpsuits at all costs – because they won’t seem as stylish when you’re bursting for a wee.

Packing up on Monday morning can also be an absolute nightmare, so please make sure you don’t bring too much stuff (easier said than done, we know).

By now, most folk are fully aware of the essentials that will be needed to survive the weekend: wellies, baby wipes, loo roll, bin bags, tent, bum bag and sun cream should be thrown into your bag before all else.

But then there are those things that, although not quite essentials per say, will nevertheless definitely enhance your festival experience…

Megaphone
Make it easier to find your friends/embarrass your friends

 

Face paint
No festival look is complete without a few illuminous swirls and dots

 

Deck chair
Make sitting around drinking cans more comfortable but make sure you put it back in your tent when heading to the main arena as these things are like gold dust in a campsite!

 

Clothes that you would never get away with on a normal day 
Now is your chance to wear the bright green dungarees and that native American headpiece you haven’t gotten around to wearing yet.

 

A waterproof pouch for your phone
This is v handy, even if your phone is dead, just to make sure you don’t lose this at the festival, along with your, ahem… voice.

A flag for your tent  
Put a flat at the top of the tent so it’s easier to find in the dark. Nothing worse than being greeted by a sea of the same camouflage Tesco tent that was on offer for a tener the day before. Anything glow in the dark – just for the craic

 

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With Body and Soul starting this weekend, it won’t be long until the summer festivals are well and truly in full swing.

If you are heading to any festivals this summer, you will do well to read these tips to ensure you leave the festival healthy!

Don’t forget your vitamins
Spending the weekend eating burgers, chips and crisps won’t give you a hell of a lot of vitamins, so make sure you stock up on them before and during the weekend.

Bring some fruit
We know, we know, the last thing you want taking away any limited alcohol space in your bag is fruit, but you will thank yourself if you bring it. A couple of apples and orange are great and the juice content is perfect for when you are feeling, shall we say, hungover?!

Granola bars
We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day and no a day old pizza does not count as brekkie. Pop a few granola bars in your backpack and munch on them in the morning and throughout the day for energy.

Water
Make sure you drink lots and lots of water, especially if it is exceptionally hot outside. If you don’t fancy spending a fortune on bottled water bring your own – you will definitely thank us for this tip.

Hand sanitizer
And finally, don’t whatever you do go to a festival without bringing your hand sanitizer – have you ever seen a port-a-loo after three days of use by thousands of people…

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Camping is so much fun, seriously! If you have never done it, it should definitely be on your to do list. Yes, at times it can be cold and more than likely it will rain but there is something about sleeping out under the stars.

Checklist time:

Sleeping bag
Do not, we repeat do not, attempt to go camping without one. No matter how much you may hate sleeping in them a giant duvet won’t keep you warm.

Tent
Well, if you forget this, you should probably either head home now or brace yourself for the elements!

Lots of spare batteries
The last thing you want is for the batteries in your torch to die – it can get pretty dark out there.

Lighter
Unless you plan on making fire Bear Grylls style we suggest you bring a lighter.

First aid kit
No doubt there will be a few mishaps, so make sure you pop a first aid kit into your bag.

Insect repellent
You will need this – don’t attempt to think you won’t.

Camping stove and kettle
Because your craving for tea won’t disappear because you are roughing it.

Baby wipes
There won’t be a shower for miles so this may be your only way to clean yourself.

Deodorant
See above. You don’t want people to think of you as the smelly one, do you?

Dry shampoo
Even though you are in the wild it doesn’t mean you have to let your appearance go.

 

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