Want one of those folding festival trolley things to transport your camping gear in and out of a festival? You’re in the right place!
One of the dilemmas you’ll face when physically getting to a festival is how you’ll get your stuff from the car/coach to your campsite. If you’ve never been to a festival before, it can be quite a trek, especially at larger festivals – you could be walking miles!
Most experienced festival-goers will have planned for this: pack as light as possible and if you absolutely must – buy yourself a folding festival trolley for your sins.
But wait! Not all folding festival trolleys are equal, as the graveyard of cheap trolleys found in the car parking fields of any major festival will tell you.
Those cheap luggage bags with tiny plastic wheels ain’t gonna make it through 6 inches of mud after a week of rain and 10,000 others walking through it alongside you.
This guide is for you to decide which is the best folding festival trolley for you.
Tips for Buying a Folding Festival Trolley
Think about it, farmers and gardeners use wheelbarrows for a reason. Fisherman use fishing trolleys for convenience (fishing trolleys are actually one of the best options for a festival!)
You’ll need something sturdy enough to carry your booze, tent, and camping gear for a fairly long distance.
So, when choosing a folding festival trolley, there are certain things you should consider:
Size & Type of wheels
The bigger the wheels, the easier of a task you’ll have to pull it through any mud. Anything with small wheels will get instantly clogged up with mud if the ground is soggy. You’ll be dragging it along until the wheels simply fall off.
Fishing trolleys and sack trucks have wheels large enough to handle most festival mud.
For rough terrain and muddy fields, you’ll want pneumatic rubber tyres as opposed to plastic rolling wheels.
Also, avoid those small wheelie cases at all costs as these are only suitable for use on pavements and roads and they won’t do much good on a farm!
Even rolling wheelie suitcases on pavements causes wear, so imagine what country terrain would do to them. You’d have stones preventing the wheels from turning, so you’d end up dragging it instead of wheeling it.
Maximum weight
How much weight can your festival trolley hold? This is important to know as it will break if it’s overloaded.
You may want to just put your tent, beer, and bedding on the trolley and then carry a backpack with your clothes, etc, spreading the weight evenly.
Handle height
If you have to bend or lean down to pull/push your festival trolley, then you’ll make your back ache worse than it already will!
Make sure you can extend the handle to a comfortable height whilst the trolley is laden as sometimes the fully-extended handle becomes flimsy with heavy loads.
Pro Tip: Use bungee cords to hold everything in place!
Pulling comfort – Foam Handles
Test your festival trolley before you use it! Load it full of what you intend to bring and try it around your garden.
Ideally, your trolley will have a thick foam padded handle for extra comfort and to avoid blisters or calluses on your hands.
Remember, you could be pulling it for many miles, across rugged terrain and up/down hills!
Best Folding Festival Trolleys – All Round best Choices
Other Folding Festival trolleys to Try
Shakespeare Seatbox Trolley
These large pneumatic wheels do very well on rough terrain and they fare pretty well in the mud too.
Feahrzeug collapsible trolley cart
The handle is a little shorter than it could be, and the wheels are plastic so there are only a few situations that you could use this – perhaps a small family festival with level terrain.
Michigan Heavy Duty Folding Compact Fishing Trolley
This is another very popular choice for music festivals. It folds really small so it’s easy to fit in an already packed car. The only negative is that the handle itself can feel a bit flimsy if the trolley is fully-loaded/over-loaded and the handle is at its maximum length.
Tangzon collapsible camping cart
This comes with a cooler bag, 4 cupholders and space for two bottles in dedicated pockets, this cart will help you bring in your stuff and then be used to transport your refreshments!
Oxbridge folding trolley
This budget trolley is great if you have a smaller load to carry; for example if you have everything in a backpack and just need a trolley for booze and extra bits. The large pneumatic wheels make it perfect for rough terrain and mud.
NTG Barrow Trolley
Another great choice for music festivals, this is wider than most folding festival trolleys as it has extra storage space as you can see in the photo. The wheelbarrow dual handle system is especially handy if you want to push the trolley rather than pull it. Also comes with some handy pockets!
Folding Festival Trolleys Comparison Table
Product name |
Picture |
Maximum Load (kg) |
Pros |
Cons |
Price |
| VonHaus Garden Cart |
| 600kg | Extremely heavy duty Pneumatic wheels Fold down sides Comes with a liner | Have not tested with 600kg worth of weight to test this claim! | Click to check |
| SuperHandy Wagon Utility Cart |
| 180kgs | Extremely heavy duty Pneumatic wheels Strongest frame | More expensive than others on this list No liner | Click to check |
| Shakespeare Seatbox Trolley |
 | Not specified | Large pneumatic tyres Foam-padded handle | Basic trolley, best to be cautious about load weight | Click to check |
| FEAHRZEUG Collapsible Trolley Cart |
 | 100kg | Large capacity 140L
Collapsible to 10.6″x 7.5″x 28.7″ | Wheels are plastic
Handle a bit too short for tall people | Click to check |
| Michigan Heavy Duty Folding Compact Fishing Trolley |
 | Not specified | Large pneumatic tyres Folds completely flat | The handle is loose when fully extended | Click to check |
| TANGZON Collapsible Camping Cart |
| 50kg
| Collapsible Canvas cover has 4 cupholders, good for use inside festival | Maximum load is quite low for some campers | Click to check |
| Oxbridge Folding Trolley |
 | 100kg | Large pneumatic tyres
Folds completely flat | The handle is loose when fully extende | Click to check |
| NTG Dynamic Trolley |
 | 70kg | Two handles for easier pushing/pulling
Extra-wide design | Mid rang load capacity | Click to check |
Folding Festival Trolley Alternatives
If you don’t like the thought of pulling a laden cart around at the beginning and end of your festival, there are a few alternatives you may like to try.
A backpack
Backpacks, when packed properly, are an excellent way to transporting things from A-B. It’s important that your backpack fits you properly, it should have adjustable straps at your shoulders and hips to spread the weight around equally.
You’d probably have to carry your tent separately, or clip as much as you can to the outside of the backpack using carabiner clips.
My personal choice is the Osprey FarPoint 70 – I’ve had this backpack for 7 years, taken it to Africa, Asia, Latin America and to at least 20 festivals. It’s still going strong with little signs of wear.
Osprey products often come with a lifetime guarantee – which is awesome!
A standard suitcase (not recommended)
Some people bring a standard suitcase (like you’d bring on a train or plane) to a festival. They’re not ideal, but they can work. I just wouldn’t rely on them!
In wet weather, it would be too muddy to actually pull them, they’re only intended for pulling along the pavement (and even that damages the wheels).
In very dry weather, the ground is hard, unforgiving and rocky. Just wait for one of the wheels to fall off and you’ll soon regret that choice.
A Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is an excellent choice for transporting heavy items across rough terrain. You’ll need plenty of bungee cords to secure everything.
Remember – don’t pile things too high or you won’t be able to see the ground in front of you!
Folding Festival Trolley FAQs
Best Folding Festival trolleys: Conclusion
Buying a folding festival trolley isn’t as simple as you may think – when it comes to actually using the trolley you want to make sure it doesn’t break your back. Also you don’t want to break the bank when buying one either.
As you can tell by the comparison table above, there are plenty of great choices out there. Ultimately, though, it will come down to your individual needs. But, hopefully this article has given you a few things to consider that you can use when making your final decision.
Remember: rubber, pneumatic tyres are the most important thing when taking your trolley to a farm!
If you found this article useful, please share it with a fellow festivalgoer!
