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The past several years has brought
about the emergence of “festival
campers” or, possibly more accurate,
“event campers.” This includes fans
and participants of music and sports
festivals and competitions who make
overnight camping a part of their
experience at a
multi-day concert,
run or competition.
Again, not exactly a
new phenomenon,
but today this
demographic
of camping
participants
has access to
unprecedented
numbers of festivals,
mud runs, climbing competitions,
triathlons, bike and trail races, and
cultural gatherings and ritual burnings
– almost on a weekly basis.
And it’s not just large, public
events driving the trend, says Matt
Powell, vice president and sports
industry analyst for The NPD Group.
Event camping also includes an
increasing number of family and social
gatherings, says Powell. In these
cases, camping can be a central part
of a wedding or family reunion or
simply an affordable accommodation
option for a kids’ club sports
team traveling to an out-of-state
tournament. Of course, “these are
hardly Spartan activities,” says Powell.
Event campers are not necessarily
looking for the “outdoor experience,”
and are not willing to sacrifice for the
sake of roughing it. Their days are
likely long and filled with activity, so
they want camping to be relatively
comfortable and convenient, and
there’s as good a chance the night
entails cocktails under the stars as it
does smores.
This more-practical, more-
social style of camping is important
to another emerging group of
users. It’s no secret, since the late
2000s, camping has had some
trouble attracting younger adults.
Between 2007 and 2012, the 18- to
24-year-old camping market (car,
backyard, backcountry and RV)
was down nearly 900,000 potential
customers, according to participation
estimates from the Outdoor Industry
Association. The 6- to 24-year-old
segment went from 17.2 million
participants in 2007 down to 15.7
million in 2013.
The compact
two-burner Onja stove
from Primus speaks to the social element
of campfire cooking and has a sleek,
retro design that speaks to Millennial and
urban campers. Once unfolded the body
becomes a stable cooking unit.
Inside
Outdoor
|
Spring
2016
32