SUPER IMPORTANT INFO

VCO 2026 - All the info you need!

Most up to date map. Hemp Redemption stage and the Skate Ramp have now switched places.

From tonight we won't be able to reply to emails as we are all now busy at the site building the event, however this is all of the information you need to know for this weekend.

If you can't find your ticket - Please don't email us and instead please search 'Vegan Camp Out' in your emails (including junk/spam) and if you still can't find them - someone will be able to find them on the door don't worry!

Address - Walesby Forest Activity Centre, Brake Rd, Walesby, Newark NG22 9NG

Weekend Tickets, Day Tickets or Families - Gate F (what.3.words reflector.locating.cunning)

Glamping, Pre-Pitched camping, Motorhomes, Accessible, Drop-Off - Gate D (what.3.words finest.limelight.pelt)

Time to arrive - The car park opens at 12.30 midday Thursday or Friday (depending on if you have a Thursday pass) with the campsite opening at 1.30pm and the arena opening at 2.30pm. If you have a VIP add-on then you may come from 11am Thursday or Friday depending on if you have Thursday entry (not just into the car park but into the VIP campsite). Please do not come before these times as this risks causing traffic issues on the roads, which then means everyone has to wait longer to get in than they would have.

Please have just your vehicle/parking pass ready for scanning on arrival. If you haven't bought one online - you can pay on entry for £25 (weekend) or £15 (day ticket) - Card only!

Once you've parked your vehicle, you will be directed to the ticket exchange. Please make sure to have your actual festival tickets up on your phone (or printed) ready for scanning.

The latest time you can arrive to the festival is 10pm on Thursday or Friday and 8pm on Saturday or Sunday. The festival ends at 3pm on Monday which is when everyone needs to have left by (you may also leave on Sunday evening if you need/prefer).

Trains / Shuttle bus - You can get the train to Retford or Newark but Retford is where the shuttle bus goes from, direct to the venue! This is paid for on the day only (£5 each way, free for disabled/blue badge) and is cash only. Times below:

• Thursday - Retford Train Station to VCO - 12.50, 1.40, 2.30, 3.30, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 8pm

• Friday - Retford Train Station to VCO - 12.50, 1.40, 2.30, 3.30, 4.30, 5.30, 6.30, 7.30, 8.30, 9.15

• Monday - VCO to Retford Train Station - 9.30am, 10, 10.30, 11, 11.30, 12, 12.30, 1, 1.30, 2, 3

Thursday / Extra day entry - There are still a few Thursday entry tickets available from this link here. These have to be ordered in additional to your weekend tickets (you can still buy them now even if you already have your weekend tickets). This gives you a whole 24 hours longer at VCO for just £30 + b/f - an extra day to camp,s socialise, eat food and 7 exclusive DJ sets are happening on the Thursday!

Glamping & Pre-Pitched camping - You will be checked in by the specific company you are booked with (Woodville or Circular Camping) and they will be there to help you. There are private showers and toilets in this area. You must also have a regular VCO festival weekend ticket too and not just a Glamping/Pre-Pitched booking (this is purely an accommodation add-on).

Families - In family camping there will be an area with a marquee, inflatables, kids games, your own showers/toilets, facepainting and coffee! If you're in a motorhome, there is a section of the site for family motorhomes which is closer to the family arena (you can still visit the main family area).

Day Tickets - You can come from 10am Saturday or Sunday (Friday Day Tickets is 12.30 midday for the few of you that bought a Friday Day ticket). Latest entry is 6pm on both days. You must leave by midnight on either day and you can't camp. You can buy a day parking pass on arrival for £15. If you're with children, you may still visit the family activities in the family camping field.

VIP Add-On - There are still a few VIP passes left at this link. You can come from 11am Thursday or Friday (depending on if you have the Thursday pass). You must have both a full VCO festival weekend ticket as well as your VIP add-on (the VIP add-on does not grant you entry to the festival, this is purely the VIP add-on). There is a designated VIP camping area also with your own toilets/showers. In the VIP zone there is a private bar, food vendor, seating/beanbags, music/DJ sets and games! VIP is strictly 16+ (however we have told people who have recently had babies that they can still enter - but no young children or teenagers). You also have a 2026 festival T-Shirt included as part of your VIP add-on. Your T-Shirt can be collected from the VCO merch stall (located in front of you as you first enter the arena) any time from when the arena opens at 2.30pm. A reminder that each person in your group must have a VIP add-on in order to have early entry, access to VIP camping/VIP zone or the 2026 T-Shirt.

Merch - We have an official VCO merch stall on site (located in front of you when you first enter the arena). This will have 2026 Festival T-Shirts, previous year T-Shirts and hoodies for sale, as well as beanies, joggers/sweatpants, hats (including some bucket hats), mugs, stickers/car stickers, fridge magnets and badges! If you have pre-ordered a T-Shirt or hoodie - this is where you pick it up from also. Merch is also where you can drop off any lost property (or ask for any lost items). Buying merch massively helps us as a festival to continue, so thank you!

Bars/Drinks - There are bars in the arena, food court, VIP and The Jungle. We work with our bar providers to give you some of the cheapest drinks prices seen at UK festivals this summer! Buying drinks from the bar supports the future of the festival! You can't enter the arena with alcohol (on drinks) you have brought with you (you may fill up your water bottle for free once inside the arena using our water stations!)

Walesby Forest Activity - If you bought an activity pass, please head to VCO merch in the arena to pick it up before it starts (8.30am Saturday or Sunday). At VCO merch, you can see the map of where all the different activities are located on site. You can visit any of these, in any order, as many times as you want between 8.30am and 12 noon). The activities you can do are Indoor Climbing (5+), Assault Course (5+), Archery (7+), Laser Tag (5+), Canoeing (8+), Rafting (5+), Swimming, Wobble Pole (8+), Bushcraft Food (5+), Low Ropes (5+), Cave Maze (5+). You can still buy an activity pass for £35 + b/f here.

Phone signal - Phone signal is non existant on-site for these networks - Vodafone, O2, Tesco, giffgaff, Sky, VOXI, Asda or Lebara. However there is limited signal if you're with EE, Three, Lyca, Smarty, iD, 1p, BT, Ecotalk, Honest, Superdrug, Talk Home, Mozillion, Itility Warehouse or Your Co-op.

Alcohol Allowance - Each person is permitted to bring 12 cans of beer/lager or 70cl/700ml of spirits or 1500ml of wine (2 bottles) with them for the campsite. Glass bottle spirits are allowed but not glass beer bottles. Buying drinks helps to support the festival as this is usually one of the only ways an event makes money. We purposely make sure our drinks prices are some of (if not - the) cheapest festival drink prices in the country. You must bring your alcohol with you when first exchanging your wristband. Once you have entered the campsite, you cannot bring more alcohol with you if you leave and come back (even if it's for someone else).

Access Customers - The access campsite is closest to the arena, and is available for pre-booked guests. In this area there will be accessible showers and toilets, and a sensory hub (there will also be accessible toilets in the arena also). Once you arrive at the campsite, the Access Team will be ready to greet you. Access day customers, and long-stay access customers can use the access car park located opposite the access camp site - please speak to staff for the exact location. Any issues visit the Access Campsite and speak to a member of staff.

BSL - There will be interpreters for the Main stage and Education stage. Information on where to go will be on the booklet handed to everyone on arrival!

Cash/Card - Please bring lots of cash as there aren't any cash machines on-site. Most places take both card or cash.

Coffee - There's more coffee this year than ever before! They are marked on the map in this email. There's coffee in general camping, family camping and three in the arena (one of which is in the food strip).

Toilets/showers - These are all marked on the map at the top of this email. Not only are we one of the cheapest medium sized camping festivals in the country, but we're one of the only festivals that doesn't charge extra for proper/hardstanding toilets. All the hardstanding toilets are in the various campsites (not the arena) but there are many standard portaloos in the arena also! The luxury/hardstanding toilets/showers for general campers are located on the map (near accessible camping).

Dogs - For those that can either leave their dog at home or get a dog sitter, this would be highly appreciated and make things easier for everyone. It may not be an appropriate place for them in the talks which could possibly mean you having to miss out on them. However, if you want to bring them, that's fine, and everywhere outdoors will be fine for them. Please note dogs must be kept on leads at all times and will have to sleep in your tent/caravan with you. Dogs should not be in the music stage or afterparties because of loud noise. Bring a dog bowl in case of hot weather. Cats or Pigs are not allowed because of licensing restrictions.

Weather - As it stands at the time of writing this, it is set to be a hot weekend (especially Thursday!) but please prepare for all weather - hats, sunscreen, umbrella etc!

Lost Property - Please drop off any found items at VCO merch in the area and also enquire here about any lost items!

Quiet Camping - This is located on the map and will be a sign posted area in one of the general camping fields. Just head for the general camping along with everyone else. It isn't something you pre-book, it's just a smaller area that is made for those that want to camp around others that don't want to make noise (once it's full, it's full!)

Solo Campers - This is located on the map also and will be a sign posted area in one of the general camping fields. Just head for the general camping along with everyone else. It isn't marked with anything, it's just a generic area for those who want to camp with others who are going alone.

Open Mic - If you wish to perform at our open mic stage (Hemp Redemption, located on map), please head there at the start of any day to sign up and be given a time slot to play!

IMPORTANT FIRE SAFETY NOTICE FROM WALESBY FOREST

Due to the exceptionally hot, dry conditions and a Red Fire Warning, there is a strict NO-FLAME POLICY across every event at Walesby Forest.

This means - No fires, BBQs, camping stoves, fire pits, charcoal/solid fuel burners or any other naked flames. Solar stoves with no flame are okay.

Smoking and vaping are only permitted in the designated areas. Please report any smoke, fire or fire risk immediately to a member of the VCO or Walesby Forest team.

Thank you for helping us keep everyone safe and protect the beautiful woodland.

Prohibited items - all areas:

- Drones

- Generators

- Illegal substances or legal highs

- Unrecognisable medication without a doctor’s note or prescription

- Barbeques (including single use)

- Glass beer bottles

- Gas cylinders

- Charcoal/solid fuel burners or any other naked flames

- Camping stoves (excluding inside motorhomes). Solar stoves with no flame okay

- Fires

- Aerosols (excluding deodrant/hairspray etc) or pressurised canisters

- Gas canisters (excluding motorhomes)

- Candles

- Flares

- Knives (including locking knives)

- Drugs (including ‘legal highs’)

- Fireworks, flares or smoke canisters

- Markers, paint or spray cans

- Sky or ‘Chinese’ lanterns

- Sound systems

- Weapons or potential weapons

- Airhorns

- Explosives

- Laser devices

- Loudhailers or megaphones

- New psychoactive substances (NPS)

- Paraffin lamps

- Signs, clothing or materials displaying discriminatory derogatory or offensive messages

- Scooters

- Unofficial hi-visibility clothing/tabards

Items prohibited in the arena only:

- Alcohol (not purchased from one of the official VCO bars)

- Flag poles

See you all tomorrow (Thursday) or Friday!