Four days, two Radfords motorhomes parked side by side in a field, a wood-fired sauna, immersive Italian wine tasting, cherry moonshine at midnight, and a Blüetti Elite 300 running everything from scrambled eggs to Lyndsay’s hairdyer. Vanlife Festival 2026 did not disappoint.
The Old Van Comes Home
One of the best bits of this whole weekend was having our old Kon-Tiki pitched right next to us. James, Emma, and their family bought it from us, and since then they’ve been busy — new solar, upgraded batteries, new inverter. The whole lot. Honestly, seeing what they’ve done with her was brilliant, and slightly emotional if I’m being straight with you. They mentioned they might want to buy our current van down the line when the kids grow up. We’ll see — right now this one feels very much like a keeper.
We’re going to do a proper comparison video between the two vans, so make sure you’re subscribed for that one. It’s a cracking watch.
Power, Pizza, and Holistic Treatments
Lyndsay kicked the weekend off with a 90-minute bespoke treatment from Cali in the holistic area — crystal balls, tarot, Reiki, massage, the works. She came back a new woman, which I fully support. I, meanwhile, sat outside with a beer. Equal and opposite relaxation.
The big test of the weekend for me was the Blüetti Elite 300 — Blüetti reached out after watching us run out of juice on the Stonehenge trip, and sent this over to give it a proper go. We ran everything off it: induction hob, air fryer, hairdyer on full heat, hair straighteners, the coffee machine. At peak we were pulling nearly 1,600W on the induction and it didn’t even blink. Lyndsay dried her hair and curled it — we lost about 5% battery total. When the sun was out we were pulling 240–250W back in from the 350W solar panel, so on a good day this thing basically runs itself. We got down to 29% by the end of four days of heavy use. For anyone asking what power bank to get — link and discount code are in the description.
Mark Van Life Eats was in the food area doing Ridge Monkey workshops, Roman pasta, Moroccan kebabs, pizza from scratch. We went to his immersive Italian wine tasting on Saturday night — £22 each, five wines, stories from his trip around Italy, handmade focaccia from the pizza oven, and a cannoli at the end. Everyone agreed it was well worth it. The nachos from the food vendors were a bit dry, I’ll be honest, but the yellow Thai curry from the Banana Leaf? That’s always the winner.
The Bits You Can’t Plan For
The weekend was full of those unscripted moments that make a festival like this what it is. George got his Bluetooth knocked off his computer by his mate Declan and spent an hour unable to use his keyboard. A couple of subscribers 3D-printed us a custom drip tray for the coffee machine with the Roaming Radfords logo on it — so I can finally get a proper mug under there. How thoughtful is that? Jensen had the fire pit going each evening and Conrad was pulling shots to round off Saturday night. Even Roger turned up at some point. The wine tasting had us all in brilliant spirits, which made Sunday morning slightly more challenging than planned.
We also had a good look round the field — an Arctic Fox overland build that blew us away (eight months of work, 450-litre water tank, full-size oven, washing machine, the lot), a tiny smart car with a rooftop tent, and a solar tracker that rotates to follow the sun across the sky. Every day at this festival is a school day.
If you’ve never been to Vanlife Festival, book it for next year. It’s family-friendly, the vibe is brilliant, and the community that comes together in that field is something else. Full video is up now — give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it, and drop a comment below if you spotted us or came and said hello. We’d love to hear from you.
Watch the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reBTGxRvaqY