We enjoyed our first trip to Camp Kindling over the summer and had an amazing time. Camp Kindling is a Summer Camp for families based in a forest just outside Sevenoaks, Kent. It’s an activity camp by day and a festival by night. Think ‘American Summer Camp’ or something out of a Wes Anderson movie and you get the drift.
Camping Options
There are lots of camping options to suit all budgets. You can camp in a tent (general camping) or a live-in vehicle or in pre-pitched tents. There is also a boutique field with pre-pitched bell tents complete with beds and bed linen plus towels and toiletries, (some even have power and fridges!) ‘luxury’ loos and showers nearby, a grooming tent with hair dryers and mirrors, a baby changing/feeding tent, a 24hr concierge and its own bar and communal fire pit.
Each camping field has designated areas for cooking and fire pits, due to the strict fire safety protocols these are supervised and checked. The covered cooking areas have running water, sinks, kettles and had tables to eat at, but with so many food options in the festival, we ate out a lot.
Boutique Camping
We enjoyed Boutique Camping on our first trip to Camp Kindling – it was a real luxury and as seasoned campers we’d never experienced it before (check out our video at the end of this post to see what we thought). The bell-tent facilities were excellent, however on a couple of occasions we had no running water for showers or wash basins which was a shame considering the luxe element of boutique. I think this was probably something to do with the water pressure on site and hopefully can be remedied for 2025. The boutique camping cafe also needed more trained staff (as ours were flustered and overly vocal to each other) in the mornings to cope with the demand of the early risers, hungry for breakfast and coffee to jet fuel their day.
Camp Kindling is a no single-use plastic site. We brought our own refillable water bottles to use at the drinking taps, plus no glass was allowed on site. Again we experienced water issues at times on-site, but the staff were on hand to try and rectify the problem with free water hand-outs. At the bar we used re-usable cups (for £1) that you had to bring back for the next drink, which is what a lot of festivals do up and down the country. We loved the cocktail vendor on-site who sold drinks in pineapples and melons!
There were two music venues on site: The Discotheque and The Clubhouse, plus an auditorium for comedy and shows. However, we mainly spent our time at the Disco, as there was more space to spill out on the surrounding grassy area.
Experience
After we decamped on Friday Night (probably the quickest at any festival we have visited) we headed into the Intrepid Forest to explore the main camp called ‘Centre Camp’. Centre Camp is the hub of the festival, with all the main events happening around it. The Discotheque and the games arena was here along with the street food vendors.
It’s a lovely safe environment with picnic benches and plenty of green space surrounded by trees and small paths leading off into the open woods where the activities took place. There were plenty of toilets and I didn’t have to queue once!!
‘Base Camp’ another area was further through the trees towards General Camping and we explored there to see more stalls, food vendors and facilities. So plenty of options for everyone. We were spoilt for choice when it came to food at the festival with loads of street food vendors, from plant-based dishes to burgers, Indian cuisine to pizza and everything inbetween!
We loved the site with tall pine trees and festoon lights illuminating the path ways, which gave it a very magical feel. We even saw the bright lights of London glistening on the horizon at night. Camp Kindling is situated on a large hill, however the site is fairly flat apart from Adventure Valley (on the outskirts) where the Giant Water Slide and Quad Biking takes place.
Theme
The spirit of Camp Kindling revolves around the ‘Patrol Games’ and frantic token collection for the four teams, Badgers, Foxes, Squirrel, Hawks. It’s a great incentive for families to get involved in the 100s of activities on-site and gives the weekend an competitive edge for festival goers. The moment we arrived at Camp Kindling we were welcomed with animal flags and an opening parade alongside a walking brass band. Each attendee had the opportunity to join a Patrol Team, collect tokens and join in the banter around the ‘night games’ and cheer on fellow patrol members as we wandered around the site.
We definitely felt part of our Patrol as we sat on the bleachers cheering Team Fox on to win the cup! We loved the competition angle and dressed up in our chosen Fox colours. There’s also the option to buy Patrol ‘merch’ at the stalls dotted around site. All of the Patrol Leaders were welcoming and made you feel part of the experience, we loved getting to meet them and bumping into them at various points over the weekend. It was definitely and immersive experience.
Activities
Over Saturday and Sunday we had so much fun at the festival participating in lots of activities that we wouldn’t normally try. That’s the aim of Camp Kindling to help you learn, grow and take away something special from the weekend.
The events run on a timetable from 8am to 5pm, with music/comedy/talks/story-time starting from 5pm on a drop-in basis. We went full pelt for our first time booking loads of cool stuff to do! Check out our 2024 Camp Kindling Story Highlights to see more action from our weekend! https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18037140245010269/
Along with creating some fantastic core memories with my family, we learnt some military survival and rescue skills like Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE). Trap making and foraging tips from survivalist and military expert @southwestsurvival
We made some natural herbal lotions to treat stings, grazes and cuts with @naturallyuntamedltd and created some beautiful dried flower crowns in the Intripid Forest. It was lovely to be surrounded by nature and take time out from the pace of the festival.
I spent an hour tree climbing and making flags for the grand finale of Camp Kindling – The Patrol Games Finals. I tried some DJing with Radio Wildkind, and gave Team Fox a LIVE shout out! Along with Rifle shooting where we were all given instruction on how to fire an air rifle safely and had a go at target shooting, with lots of help from the instructors.
We also participated in Quad Biking and Archery, Aerial Bungee Jumping and loads of ‘drop-in’ activities. A personal highlight for my daddy was learning British Sign Language something he has always wanted to try.
The beauty of this festival is that the majority of the activities are pre-bookable ahead of the festival through the Camp Kindling Website. There are 3 levels of tickets: Elementary, Standard and Dynamo. Each level of ticket allows for a certain number of credits that can be used to ‘pay’ for activities. This allows you to enjoy the festival at your own pace and you can do as little or as much as you want.
You enrol for activities before the weekend starts. So you can pay before you stay and plan your days before the weekend. Payment plans are also available. They also have a supporting app, which is great for scheduling and planning if needed. Not all activities need to be paid for, there are many activities that are free and run on a drop-in basis.
It’s also means that while you are at the festival there are minimal queues at activity stations, everyone just gets an allocated time and you turn up when it’s your turn.
There are early-bird offers and veteran discounts for those who attended last year’s festival. Every member of the family needs a ticket and there are age-group tickets for kids and youths. Babies are free of charge as most of the activities are not suitable for them, however there is a nanny service/creche and areas around the site for them to play in.
The Finale of Camp Kindling was awesome and unlike anything we have ever experienced before. Centre Camp was particularly electric! Camp Kindling ended with the group photo and as we gathered at the Patrol games arena the excitement grew to find out who would win the Cup! The patrol leaders did such a good job of ramping up the excitement.
Yes, there were flag-waving crowds, children cheering at the top of their lungs and buckets of gunge being tipped over patrol leaders. It was like I was transported back to the 90s – think Fun House.
There was pure joy on my face with the red confetti falling when Foxes won! (check out my video recap below) Afterwards we celebrated at the Discotheque dancing to live music @kestoncobblersclub @soniqueclarkedgo and it was the perfect ending to our first experience of this fantastic Summer Camp.
Camp Kindling was such a fun and unique festival and we enjoyed our time here. Everyone should definitely check it out at least once! Visit @campkindling to see how you can join in with the pack at next year’s festival. It’s their 5th Anniversary Spectacular!
Visit https://campkindling.co.uk/summer-2025/ and register for more details on tickets.
Bella, Dawn and Alex x
Disclosure:
We were gifted press tickets in order to review, all photos, footage and thoughts are our own.
Want to see some videos of Camp Kindling 2024? Check out the below!
dearmummyblog.com 
Camp Kindling Festival sounds like an incredible experience for families! I love how it blends the fun of a summer camp with activities for both kids and adults to enjoy together. Your review really captures the essence of the event, and it’s great to hear that there’s something for everyone. Thank you for sharing your experience—it’s definitely on my list for next summer!