Buying a campervan for festival season sounds appealing until you do the numbers. Here’s why most festival-goers are better off renting every time.
For someone attending two to five festivals a year, hiring from an operator like Britz, Apollo, or Cruise America works out significantly cheaper than owning, with none of the ongoing responsibilities between events.
The idea is easy to understand. You do two or three festivals a year, you spend money on hire fees each time, and at some point it starts to feel like that money could be going toward something you actually own. A campervan sitting in the driveway between events feels like an asset. A hire invoice feels like money gone.
This reasoning makes intuitive sense, and it’s wrong in almost every case. The numbers don’t support it, and neither does the lifestyle reality of ownership for a vehicle used only a handful of times a year. Here is why.
When people compare buying versus renting, they usually compare the purchase price of a second-hand campervan against a hire invoice. That comparison misses most of what ownership actually costs.
Purchase price:
A roadworthy, mechanically sound campervan suitable for festival camping starts at around AUD 25,000-35,000 for a basic two-berth in Australia, or NZD 28,000-40,000 in New Zealand. A mid-range motorhome with a proper bed, bathroom, and kitchen runs AUD 50,000-80,000. In Canada and the USA, the equivalent range in a used Class C motorhome starts at around CAD 40,000-60,000 or USD 35,000-55,000.
Registration and insurance:
Annual registration costs vary by state and province, but budget AUD 800-1,200 per year in Australia for a motorhome. Comprehensive insurance for a motorhome used for private travel and occasional events runs AUD 1,500-2,500 per year depending on the vehicle value and driver history. In Canada, motorhome insurance for seasonal use starts at around CAD 1,200-1,800 per year.
Maintenance and servicing:
An older campervan bought at the lower end of the price range will need regular mechanical attention. Budget at minimum AUD 1,500-2,500 per year for servicing, tyres, and incidental repairs on a vehicle doing 10,000-15,000 km per year. Older vehicles with gas systems, water pumps, and 12V electrics have more components to fail than a standard car, and specialist repairs cost accordingly.
Storage:
Most people who buy a campervan for occasional use can’t park it at home. Secure storage for a motorhome in an Australian capital city runs AUD 150-350 per month, or AUD 1,800-4,200 per year. In Canadian cities, expect CAD 150-300 per month.
Depreciation:
A campervan or motorhome bought for AUD 40,000 and sold five years later typically returns AUD 25,000-30,000 in the current used market, depending on condition and mileage. That is a real cash loss of AUD 10,000-15,000 spread across five years, or AUD 2,000-3,000 per year before you’ve paid for a single festival.
Total annual cost of ownership (rough estimate, mid-range Australian campervan):
| Cost item | Annual estimate (AUD) |
|---|---|
| Depreciation | 2,500-3,000 |
| Insurance | 1,500-2,500 |
| Registration | 800-1,200 |
| Servicing and maintenance | 1,500-2,500 |
| Storage (if applicable) | 1,800-4,200 |
| Total | 8,100-13,400 |
That is the annual cost before you drive to a single festival. For someone doing three festivals a year, that works out to AUD 2,700-4,500 per festival just in ownership costs, not counting fuel.
By contrast, a hired two-berth campervan for a four-day festival weekend from Apollo or Britz typically runs AUD 800-1,400 depending on season and vehicle type. For three festivals a year, that’s AUD 2,400-4,200 total in hire fees, with no ongoing costs in between.
A hired campervan costs money for the days you have it. An owned campervan costs money every day of the year.
Most festival-goers who buy a campervan with the intention of using it regularly end up using it four to eight weekends a year. The rest of the time it sits in storage or on the street, accumulating registration costs, losing value, and waiting for something to need fixing.
With a hire vehicle, you pay for four days and use it for four days. The fridge, the gas system, the water pump, and the 12V electrics are someone else’s responsibility for the other 361 days of the year.
Hire fleets are turned over on a regular cycle. Operators like Britz, Maui, and Apollo run modern vehicles serviced to a commercial standard between every hire. The gas system has been checked. The fridge is working. The roof seal is intact.
A second-hand campervan bought privately offers none of those guarantees. The previous owner’s idea of “well maintained” and a mechanic’s assessment are often very different things, and a gas or electrical fault in a vehicle you’re sleeping in at a festival is not a minor inconvenience.
Hiring also means you can choose the vehicle that suits each specific festival. A long-distance event in a remote location might call for a larger motorhome with a bigger water tank and better off-road clearance. A city-adjacent festival with tight campervan bays might call for a compact two-berth. Owning one vehicle means making that compromise every time.
The worst time for a campervan to develop a problem is on the drive to a festival. When you own the vehicle, a breakdown or mechanical issue on a Friday afternoon before a weekend event is your problem to resolve: tow truck, mechanic, and the real possibility of missing the event entirely.
When you hire, every major operator includes 24-hour roadside assistance in the hire agreement. If the vehicle breaks down en route, you call the number and the operator handles it. In most cases they will get you to the event, and if the fault is with the vehicle rather than driver-caused, the cost is covered.
This matters most at remote Australian and New Zealand festival locations, where breakdown recovery can take hours and the nearest town may be a long way back down the road.
Owning a motorhome for festival season means ten months of the year managing a large vehicle you’re not using. Registration renewals, insurance renewals, the annual check that the battery is still holding a charge, the water tank that needs draining over winter, the roof seal inspection before the wet season. None of this is particularly difficult, but all of it takes time and money.
When festival season is over, a hired vehicle goes back to the depot. The next hire starts from a freshly serviced baseline. There is no off-season maintenance list.
AUD 40,000 tied up in a campervan is AUD 40,000 that isn’t earning anything else. Put that money in an offset account against a mortgage and it reduces your interest payments continuously. Put it in an index fund and the historical long-run return is meaningfully positive. Park it in a campervan in a storage facility and it slowly loses value while generating storage invoices.
This is not an argument that renting is always right for every person. If you are genuinely using a campervan forty or fifty nights a year for road trips, extended travel, and regular camping as well as festivals, ownership starts to make more economic sense. The break-even point for most people in Australia and New Zealand, accounting for all ownership costs, sits somewhere around sixty to eighty nights of use per year.
For someone doing four to six festival weekends a year with the occasional road trip, that break-even is rarely reached.
One of the genuine advantages of hiring that ownership cannot replicate: you can attend festivals in different countries without transporting a vehicle.
Event Campers compares hire vehicles across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. An Australian hirer can attend Boots and Hearts in Ontario in August, pick up from CanaDream in Toronto, return the vehicle, and fly home without owning a single vehicle in Canada. The same hirer can attend Coachella in California the following April and pick up from Cruise America in Los Angeles.
Ownership locks you into one vehicle in one country. Hiring opens every market.
This guide is not arguing that ownership never makes sense. There are situations where it does:
Outside of these situations, the numbers favour hiring for the majority of Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, and American festival-goers.
If you’ve decided hiring is the right call, a few things to confirm when you book:
Vehicle length: Check the festival’s campervan zone rules for maximum vehicle length before choosing a vehicle class. Many Australian festival sites cap vehicles at 7-8 metres.
Linen and kit: Confirm whether linen, towels, and a kitchen kit are included or an add-on. For a weekend hire, an operator kit add-on is usually simpler than sourcing everything yourself.
Insurance excess: Standard hire insurance has an excess of AUD 2,500-5,000 in Australia and NZD 2,500-4,000 in New Zealand. Excess reduction products bring this down significantly and are worth the cost for a festival hire where the vehicle is in a busy, tight campsite.
Generator policy: Confirm whether the vehicle has a generator and whether the festival allows it. See Generator Rules at Australian Music Festivals for AU event-specific rules.
Pickup city: Choose a pickup city close to the festival rather than your home city if the two are different. Driving a large motorhome an extra 500km each way adds fuel cost, wear on the hire vehicle, and time. Operators like Britz and Apollo have depots in most major Australian cities, and most events have at least one operator depot within a reasonable drive of the site.
For a full checklist of what to bring, see the Festival Campervan Packing List. For first-timers, the First-Timer’s Guide to Festival Camping in a Motorhome covers every stage from depot pickup to return.
Australia: Britz, Apollo, Maui, JUCY, Mighty
New Zealand: Britz, Maui, Apollo, JUCY, Happy Campers, Waka Campa
Canada: CanaDream, Cruise Canada
USA: Cruise America, Road Bear RV, El Monte RV
How many festivals a year do you need to attend before buying a campervan makes financial sense?
For most people in Australia and New Zealand, the break-even point sits at roughly sixty to eighty nights of use per year when you account for all ownership costs including depreciation, storage, insurance, registration, and maintenance. At four to six festival weekends a year (roughly twelve to twenty-four nights), hiring is almost always cheaper.
Is it cheaper to hire a campervan or stay in a nearby motel for a festival?
It depends on the location and the festival. For remote events where motel accommodation in the nearest town is limited and expensive, and where the event runs across three to five days, a campervan hire often compares favourably per night while keeping you on-site. For single-night or city-adjacent events, a motel or hotel is usually cheaper overall. The non-financial advantage of a campervan is being on-site rather than commuting in each day.
Can I hire a campervan one-way to a festival and return it in a different city?
Some operators offer one-way hire between depots, sometimes with a repositioning fee. Britz and Apollo both offer one-way options across their Australian and New Zealand depot networks. Check availability at the time of booking, since one-way hires between specific cities can be limited in peak season.
What is the minimum hire period for a festival weekend?
Most operators have a minimum hire period of three to five days. For a festival running Thursday to Sunday, a four or five-day hire from Thursday pickup to Monday or Tuesday return covers the event with enough buffer for travel to and from the site.
Does hiring a campervan include roadside assistance?
Yes, all major operators include 24-hour roadside assistance in the hire agreement. Save the number in your phone at depot pickup and also write it on paper as a backup. If the fault is with the vehicle rather than driver-caused, the operator covers the callout cost.
What insurance do I need when hiring a campervan for a festival?
The hire agreement includes a standard insurance product covering the vehicle for collision, theft, and third-party liability, subject to an excess that typically runs AUD 2,500-5,000 in Australia. An excess reduction product reduces this to AUD 0-500 for an additional daily fee, usually AUD 25-45 per day. For a festival hire where the vehicle will be parked in a busy, tight campervan zone, excess reduction is worth considering.
What happens to the security deposit if there is minor damage to the vehicle?
The operator assesses the damage against the return condition report. If the damage is covered by the insurance product and within the excess, the cost comes out of the security deposit up to the excess amount. If the damage is pre-existing and noted on the original condition report, no charge applies. This is why taking photos at pickup is important.
Can two families share one large motorhome at a festival?
The vehicle’s rated berth number is the maximum it is legally and safely set up to sleep. Two families sharing a six-berth motorhome is within the hire terms if the total number of occupants doesn’t exceed the berth rating. Confirm the specific vehicle’s berth number and any maximum occupant restrictions in the hire agreement before booking.
Are there age restrictions on hiring a campervan?
Most Australian and New Zealand operators require the primary driver to be at least 21 years old, and some charge a young driver surcharge for drivers under 25. In Canada and the USA, the minimum age is typically 25. Additional drivers can usually be added at the depot for a small fee.
What is the best campervan size for a couple attending festivals?
A two or three-berth campervan is the most practical choice for a couple. It fits into standard festival campervan bays without difficulty, is easier to manoeuvre on site, uses less fuel, and costs less per day to hire than a larger motorhome. Unless you specifically need the extra space of a larger vehicle, a compact two-berth from JUCY, Britz, or Apollo is the right starting point.
Event Campers compares campervans and motorhomes from leading operators across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. Search by event, pickup city, and vehicle size to find the right vehicle for your festival season.
