If there’s one thing guaranteed to ruin a festival weekend faster than a flooded tent, it’s waking up at 4am with your hip bone pressed firmly into the cold, hard ground because your cheap air bed has given up the ghost.
We’ve all been there. You buy a generic £10 air bed from a supermarket on the way to the site, pump it up until you’re dizzy, and by the second night it’s completely flat.
Long-time readers might know we used to advise against air beds entirely, usually telling you to buy one of the best self-inflating roll mats instead. While the newer premium air beds we’ve reviewed below avoid all those typical cheap PVC issues, that old advice still holds true in some cases. If you’re after a strict budget buy, want to pack as light as possible for the trek from the car park, or simply don’t want the hassle of pumping something up, you should absolutely consider a self-inflating roll mat rather than settling for a cheap, leaky air bed.
However, the air bed market has actually moved on a lot in the last few years. If you want maximum comfort and don’t mind carrying a bit more weight, you can now get puncture-resistant beds, “hi-rise” beds that don’t require you to crawl around on the floor, and models with built-in pumps that do the hard work for you.
Just remember the golden rule of festival camping: whatever size the box says, ignore it. A “standard double” air bed is often only 137cm wide (barely wider than a single bed at home). If there are two of you, and you actually want to sleep without being shoved into the side of the tent every time your mate rolls over, you need to look at the exact dimensions or buy two singles.
Here are some of the best festival air beds for 2026 that will actually stay inflated until Monday morning.
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The best all-rounder: Coleman Extra Durable Double Airbed
If you’re sick of throwing away cheap PVC air beds every summer because they’ve sprouted a microscopic hole you can’t find, this is the upgrade you need.
Coleman’s “Extra Durable” range is specifically designed to survive the rigours of a festival campsite. It is constructed from a brushed polyester laminated PVC that Coleman claims is 47% more puncture-resistant and 25% stronger than standard air beds. It actually feels like thick fabric rather than shiny plastic, which means you don’t squeak every time you move.
Crucially, it features Coleman’s “Double Lock” valve system. Most cheap air beds leak air directly out of the valve overnight; this one has two sealing points to guarantee the air stays exactly where you put it. It also features a “Wrap ‘N’ Roll” system, meaning the carry bag is physically attached to the bed, so you can’t lose it in your messy tent on Monday morning.
- Premium puncture-resistant fabric designed for rough campsites
- Double Lock valve guarantees it won't deflate overnight
- Wrap 'N' Roll attached carry bag
- Soft-touch brushed polyester surface stops you sliding around
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Sleeping solo?
If you are sleeping alone, there is absolutely no need to lug a massive double bed from the car park. The single version of the Coleman Extra Durable is vastly cheaper, saves a huge amount of tent space, cuts down your packing weight, and takes half the time to pump up. However, if you’ve got a massive tent to yourself and money to spare, you might still prefer the luxury of starfish-ing on a double!
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The luxury “no-hassle” option: JEASONG Double Air Bed with Built-in USB Pump
If you completely despise the physical exertion of manually pumping up an air bed after carrying 40 cans of cider across a field, this is the ultimate luxury.
A lot of premium air beds feature built-in pumps, but they require a mains plug, which is utterly useless at a festival. The JEASONG Double features a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion pump. You charge it up at home before you leave, turn a dial when you get to your tent, and the bed inflates itself. You can even recharge it from your power bank if you really need to.
It is also massive—at 203cm x 152cm it is a genuine Queen size, so two people can actually sleep on it without touching. It even features a built-in headboard/pillow rest so you don’t keep pushing your pillows off the back of the bed in the middle of the night.
- Built-in rechargeable USB pump inflates the bed for you
- Massive 203cm x 152cm Queen size gives you actual sleeping space
- Built-in raised headboard stops pillows falling off
- The ultimate hassle-free festival bed
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The budget option: Milestone Camping Single Flocked Airbed
If you are on a strict budget, or you just want a cheap bed that will get you through the weekend without costing a fortune, Milestone Camping offers the best of the budget bunch.
This is a standard PVC airbed with a flocked (velvet-feel) top to stop your sleeping bag sliding off. It doesn’t have the advanced puncture resistance of the Coleman, so you must make sure you clear your tent floor of twigs and stones before you inflate it, or it will pop.
We’d usually recommend buying two singles rather than one cheap double if you are sharing a tent: it stops you bouncing your tent-mate into the air every time you roll over. However, if you are determined to share, the double version is also available for barely any extra money.
- The best ultra-budget air beds for festivals
- Flocked top stops your sleeping bag sliding around
- Standard PVC construction
- Available in both Single and Double sizes
- The best ultra-budget air beds for festivals
- Flocked top stops your sleeping bag sliding around
- Standard PVC construction
- Available in both Single and Double sizes
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How to inflate your air bed at a festival
If you don’t buy the JEASONG bed with the built-in pump, you are going to be staring at a flat piece of plastic all weekend.
Forget manual foot pumps: they take forever and you’ll be sweating before you’ve even opened your first drink. You need a rechargeable battery pump.
Hillington 3-in-1 Portable Rechargeable Air Pump
This tiny, USB-rechargeable pump is an absolute lifesaver. You charge it at home (or off your power bank in the tent), and it will inflate a double air bed in about 60 seconds flat. Crucially, it also features a deflate function, so you can suck all the air out of your mattress on Monday morning to get it back into its bag easily. As a bonus, it even doubles as a surprisingly bright campsite lantern.
- Inflates a double air bed in seconds without manual pumping
- USB-rechargeable from your festival power bank
- Deflate function makes packing away a breeze
- Doubles as a tent lantern
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