Camping at Blue Skies
Not sure what to pack when coming to Blue Skies?
Take a look at a sample Camping Check List…
Trekking your gear in and out of the festival
To lessen our impact on the Blue Skies site, cars are not allowed on site. When you arrive you will drive into the inner parking lot to unload – using one of our spiffy hand carts to bring your gear to your campsite.
Please make sure to return the cart as quickly as possible. All those people in line behind you are waiting to get their stuff in too.
When packing up on Monday, the same applies only backwards – cart your stuff down to the inner parking lot and pack your car there. No carts are allowed off the festival site!
Blue Skies takes no responsibility for any damage to, or loss from, camping gear or vehicles, in the parking lots, on the site or on the roadways.
Critters and Blue Skies
We gather here for one glorious weekend a year. The rest of the time, it’s home to a huge variety of critters large and small. From dragonflies and butterflies to raccoons and deer, and even bears, the Blue Skies site is a rich and fertile habitat.
This means we have to be a little aware. Critters love to eat, and the easier we make it for them, the more they’ll come to visit. Here are some things that can help:
- keep all food in a sealed cooler or container, especially overnight
- keep your garbage in a sealed container so that it does not attract critters to your campsite
- bring your compost and recycling to the central depot a couple of times a day
- wash your dishes regularly
- make your tent a food free zone, and keep all those lovely smelling toiletries, including toothpaste and shampoo, in a well sealed container outside of your tent
It's not good for us, or the critters, if we let them think of Blue Skies as one big yummy smorgasbord.
Ticks, on the other hand, look at us like life’s blood. Be tick aware and check for them daily. On you.
Cooking/Lighting
Camp stoves and BBQ’s are fine, but fire-pits at your individual campsite are not allowed - there are communal fire-pits for cooking, warmth, and jamming. We will provide firewood. Please don’t bring firewood from home.
Candles and kerosene lanterns are discouraged and may be banned if it is a dry year and a municipal fire ban is in effect. Please, please, no candles inside tents and never leave a lit candle unattended.
Battery lanterns are a better choice for lighting.
Dogs
Please, no dogs! Although many of us are dog lovers and would love to bring Rover, we have found that dogs can be quite disruptive. They bark, run away, get skunked, chase bears, rummage around in other folks’ food, etc. etc. Please leave them at home. Certified service dogs are welcome.
Fire
Please be careful with fire. We have several communal fire-pits sprinkled around the site. Great for cooking on, jamming around and generally getting together and meeting your neighbours.
Fire safety is really important in our lovely natural setting. Please keep fires small and make sure there’s always someone looking after them. The same goes for candles, cook stoves and other flame sources. Never leave any flame unattended or drop a butt on the ground. A fire will ruin everyone’s Blue Skies experience.
Please do not bring your own firewood, as you may be inadvertently helping to spread the invasive Emerald Ash Borer.
Ice
Cubes and blocks are available for purchase, just down from the Cook Shack.
Water
Please conserve water. All the water at Blue Skies comes from a single well and we don’t want it to run dry. We have good drinking water, but it’s not a limitless supply. Please be frugal with your water usage and bring your own from home in a refillable container.
Keep your visits to the cooling stations short … the water is really, really cold so that shouldn’t be a problem.
Poison Ivy
“Leaves of three – Let it be” Be sure to tread carefully, especially along the edges of the roads, fields and meadows. Poison ivy likes the margins, so keep your eyes out for those pesky little three-leafed devils.
Trees
Trees are very important to us at Blue Skies. You can use trees to support tarps at your campsite but please do not break/cut any trees or branches.
Please remember to remove any ropes or strings tied to trees when you leave.
Shhh …
Please be aware that different folks go to sleep at different times of night. Quiet, acoustic late night jamming is fine, but loud voices and instruments, and slamming of the outhouse doors, are discouraged.
