Self Expression
We foster an environment of creative self-expression, where participants feel supported to honestly express their inner selves, through artistic creation, performance, and in their social interactions. With consent of course.
Know Before You Go
Ambient Camping Handbook
Everything you need to know to prepare, participate, and help create the magic we all share.
Welcome
Welcome to Ambient Camping! This may be your first campout, or you may be a lifer, either way, we are thrilled that you are about to embark on your Ambient Camping adventure.
This handbook is designed to help you prepare for the weekend and get the most out of your experience. Inside you'll find practical information about camping, safety, Leave No Trace, event etiquette, community expectations, and the traditions that have shaped Ambient Camping.
About Ambient Camping
Founded in 1995, Ambient Camping is the longest-running evet of it's kind. For more than three decades, it has provided a place where people can step away from the pace of everyday life, reconnect with nature, and share unforgettable experiences beneath the stars.
Whether you come to relax beside the campfire, enjoy immersive music and multimedia experiences, meet new friends, contribute your creativity, or simply spend time beneath an incredible night sky, you are now part of a community built on respect, self-sufficiency, curiosity, creativity, and shared experiences.
Ambient Camping operates under the same guiding principles and ideas inspired by the Burning Man community.
Guiding Principles
Accountability
We foster an environment of personal accountability, where we hold ourselves responsible for our own actions, and take personal responsibility not only for meeting our own needs, but for the event itself, and for the event's impact on the community at large.
Cooperation
We foster an environment of cooperation, where participants work together to resolve potential conflicts between one another, to help mediate conflicts between others, and to create art, performance, and social spaces on a larger scale than one person could alone.
Leave No Trace
Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.
So what does this mean for you? It means to come prepared, pick up your mess, and leave the campsite looking better than it did before you got there. It also means to pack it in, and pack it out. Inspect your campsite and rest areas for trash or spilled foods. Pack out all trash, leftover food, and cigarette butts before you leave.
Tips and Suggestions
- Bring at least one trash bag for every day that you will be camping.
- Reduce your packaging. Bringing less in means having less to bring out. Leave unnecessary packaging at home. Food items, toys, and camping gear often have extra layers of plastic, cardboard, and shrinkwrap that can be unpacked before you arrive.
- Choose cans over bottles, and reusable containers over both.
- Take frequent MOOP sweeps. As you are packing out your camp, have campmates walk repeatedly around your site picking up anything and everything that is not part of the natural landscape. Doing this throughout the weekend makes the final pack-out easier.
- Be aware of very small items, including hair, matches, cigarette butts, feathers, plastic tie wraps, peanut shells, orange peels, and eggshells.
- Pocket trash while walking around the campsite, then empty your pockets into a trash bag later.
- Do a last-minute check under tarps, tents, and vehicles for cigarette butts, gum wrappers, and other hidden trash.
- Do not toss trash in the road on the way home. DUH! Do not leave trash at local businesses or roadside rest stops. They have to pay for trash disposal and should not have to accommodate yours.
- If you have a pickup truck, bring your home trashcan or recycling bin, then roll it to your curbside on trash day.
First-Time Campers
What To Bring
- Positive energy and good vibes.
- Friends!
- Trash bags - one for each day you will be camping.
- Water! Water! And more water!! You should have about a gallon a day per person. BEER IS NOT WATER!
- Bug repellent, sun screen, tiki torches, citronella, and OFF!
- Camping gear: shade structures, camp chairs, tents, EZ-ups, camp stove or BBQ grill, tarps, zip ties, duct tape, bungee cords, hammer or mallet, and other basics.
- Sleeping gear: sleeping bags, air beds, blankets, and pillows.
- Lanterns, flashlights, blinky lights, toys, LED goodness, and batteries.
- Ice chest and ice.
- Food - enough for the whole time.
- Canned drinks - no bottles, please!
- Swimsuit and towels.
- Personal items: toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, hand sanitizer, and other essentials.
- First aid kit and a towel if you plan to use the shower.
- Clothes and shoes, with warm clothes or a hoodie in case it gets cold at night.
- Chargers and phone chargers.
- Baby wipes.
- Baby powder!!
- Fire poi, fire hoops, and fire safety equipment, respective to burn ban restrictions.
- Hula hoops!
- Kites!!
- A small plastic tub to rinse your feet of sand before entering your tent.
- Sun shower.
- Hand broom to brush sand out of your tent.
- Beach parking pass.
- Wet weather gear just in case, such as an umbrella, rain jacket, or galoshes.
- The rain fly to your tent!
- Firewood if you are bringing an above ground firepit.
- Battery powered FM radio if you would like to tune into the broadcast and have the music right at your tent!
What Not To Bring
- Bad energy.
- Drama.
- Bullshit.
- Glass bottles.
- Weapons.
- Illegal drugs.
- Jerk dogs.
- Spray paint or sharpies.
- Jerk people.
- Feral cats.
- Balloons.
Heat
It is hot down here sometimes. Drink lots of fluids. If you have not peed in the last hour, drink until you have to pee. Then drink till you pee clear. Beer is not water. Also, plan a shade structure of some kind as there are no palm trees on this beach.
Critters
There are lots of critters in Texas, so keep an eye out for the kinds that will ruin your campout. Fire ants, mosquitoes, and scorpions are common for this area. You may even run into a snake, not just the trouser snake variety, so be careful out there.