Would you have sex in a tent?

Jasmine Gardner
11 Aug 2009

Judging by the number of sites dedicated to safe sex at festivals, (and the fact that glow-in-the-dark condom packets have been developed for the specific purpose of copulating under canvas), it's clear that most festival-goers think tents are the ideal venue for a bit of romance.

Online festival guide MyTentOrYours.org even has an etiquette guide to tent-based frolics with advice such as “think twice about leaving that torch or lamp on” and “athletic sexual positons are, of course, out of the question”. I decided to find out from Londoners at the Big Chill festival in Herefordshire whether they would consider having sex in their two-man.

Yes
Catherine, 23, barmaid
Yes, but only penetration. Hands are also OK because you have that sanitiser stuff, but we were just saying that no oral should ever happen at a festival because you're just not clean enough.

Yes
Paul, 23, trainee teacher
I'm actually a sex-in-a-tent virgin, but as long as I was with my girlfriend, I'd do it. If you're in a small tent it's not going to work very well, though.

Yes
Megan, 21, student
In student halls you hear people having sex all the time so it would be nothing new. Unfortunately so far there hasn't been the right guy or the right moment for it to happen.

Yes
Adam, 26, banker
Definitely. I've had lots of sex at festivals. At the last one my friends were really close in the tent next door so it made it that bit more satisfying because I knew they weren't getting any.

No
Thomas, 19, student
If it is like most festivals you'd wake up at about 8am in a sweat and it's hot and muggy and there's no comfortable bed, just a foamy mat. They're not the best conditions for sex. I haven't avoided it, but for those reasons I wouldn't go looking for it.

Yes
Vicky, 21, charity worker
I had sex in a tiny pop-up tent in the sweltering heat a couple of years ago at the Exit festival in Serbia — and actually, it wasn't so bad.

Yes
Johnny, 35, recruitment consultant
It's not as though you're having sex in an open field with nothing around you. I've done it before and you just keep the noise down and work with your surroundings.

Yes
Joe, 22, student
I had sex last night in my tent and I actually met one of my girlfriends at Climate Camp and we did it in a tent quite often. It's really nice. I don't see why it makes a difference being in a tent.

No
Dan, 33, carpenter
It's not that I would mind, but I don't think my wife would be up for it. She's not into the festival thing and she'd want a bit more privacy.