This year for our Festival Kidz Awards, we asked you to vote for your favourite festivals, but also also to vote for the often overlooked side of our family friendly festival experience. Those people who entertain and look after our children. The names you look for in the kids’ field festival line up.
But one stalwart of the festival circuit was not eligible to enter. Because last year, a quiet announcement on a crew page marked the end of Angel Gardens, a kids’ area that was a big part of the festival scene for a long time. Although they may continue to attend some events, they have decided they will no longer run the kids’ field at festivals.
So we would like to give the very first Festival Kidz Lifetime Achievement Award to Angel Gardens.
Eeeww – smelly!Well, it is a festival so normal rules on washing and personal hygiene tend to go out of the window for a few days.
Secrets to enjoying a festival with kids
Every year we get lots of parents asking us how to make a festival with kids fun rather than a weekend of stress.
The reality is that going to a festival with your kids is not such a crazy thing to do any more. There are hundreds of festivals that welcome families of all ages and there’s usually more to do there than at many other holiday destinations so, rather than begrudging being dragged along, chances are your kids will have even more fun than you!
Read more…
A parent wrote to us asking about teenager festivals:
Our 16 year old is off to their first festival this year with some friends. They are all pretty sensible but I can’t help worrying.
Any advice?
Letting our kids spread their wings and explore the world is something all parents will wrestle with at some stage.
Teenage years are tricky – everyone tells you so. We want to give them space to grow and freedom to develop, but most importantly we want to keep them safe. Read more…
All the nominations are in and it’s time to VOTE!
Please use this voting form to vote for your favourite family festivals, entertainers and traders, and tell us what it is that makes these so special to you!
Read more…The friendly and beautiful Nibley Festival utterly charmed us first time visitors. It was a joy waking up to the awesome countryside views, the music was well pitched and accomplished, and the kids’ activities were well thought out, varied and fun. We had a great time!
The Festival Kidz Awards are back, but with a difference!
We asked all our writers to nominate festivals in three categories, to reflect the differing needs of the ages of our children. We have restricted the nominations so that festivals are only nominated in one category. We acknowledge that some of these festivals are excellent in more than one category, but we feel they are particularly good for the nominated age.
Read more…By Natalie Paris (guest reviewer)
It’s the final festival of the season and – if you think you can handle scrubbing all the glitter off the night before your kids go back to school – End of the Road is completely worth it. This compact festival is always hugely popular, selling out months in advance. Now, I always thought this was due to the lineups being full of the need-to-know bands indie music fans love but since our visit this weekend I’ve realised it’s also because it’s just a great, easygoing little festival. Not perfect, of course, but a microcosm of everything you might want in a weekend, with a surprising amount of fun for families alongside the music too.
It has been a long 3 years since our last visit to Towersey. And a lot has changed in that time. As we approached August Bank Holiday I was hopeful that all the wonderfulness of Towersey would remain. And I was also optimistic that their new site at Claydon Estate would bring even more magic to what is already a great festival.
You would be hard pushed to find a more established festival than Towersey. It has been running for almost 60 years and there is no doubt that this team know their stuff. Our last visit, 3 years ago was pretty much perfect. But this year they have moved to a new home. The magnificent Claydon Estate. Would they be able to deliver their usual flawless festival experience at this new site?
Read more…It has been five years since we were last at Deer Shed Festival. Our kids were much smaller then and we were keen to see how the festival has changed. It was heart warming to see that the spirit and ethos remains exactly the same. Great music, great food, happy children.
This was our third visit to this festival and Victorious 2022 did not disappoint. The headline acts and range of performances rival those of the more well established festivals. The backdrop of the English Channel made this already great event idyllic. Victorious is simply amazing for families with an inordinate amount of varied activities in the huge kids’ area THAT ARE ALL FREE!!!! It is so good that they are even making it longer for 2023.
Read more…Like coming home…
As young adults, we spent many happy summers cutting our festival teeth at WOMAD. At the time it was right on our doorstep in Reading and was responsible for our love of the whole festival scene. WOMAD has and always will be the most welcoming and inclusive festival we know. It continues to hold a special place in our hearts ❤
Blow your socks off fun!! What a fantastic family festival. The first Camp Bestival Shropshire was a huge success. Impeccable organisation offering a jam-packed weekend of first-class family festival fun.
Read more…Possibly the friendliest and most relaxed festival I have ever attended.
Beautiful Days 2013 was our first ever family festival. Way back when we were a family of four and still in need of nappies, buggies and all the other paraphernalia of very small children. The fact that I now spend my summers going to multiple festivals and reviewing them here is testament to how much we enjoyed it.
Read more…Skeptic to convert!
We had a wonderful first visit to Camp Bestival in Dorset which far surpassed my expectations.
3 years after its last outing, Festival Kidz were delighted to return to the stunning Piercefield park on the Wales/England border. So with car packed and sun hats adorned, Adam and family attended their first Green Gathering to check out why this award winning, eco-conscious, festival was consistently praised among the festival masses.
My kids have a new favourite thing. It involves a man in a full body chain mail suit, climbing on top of a massive van der graaf generator, and firing lighting from his hands.
I’m not sure how I’m going to top that this summer.
Read more…Folk by the Oak 2022 couldn’t have come at a better moment.
It was our first little toe dip back into festivals after a long pandemic break. We were eased in with soothing songs and a laid back vibe.
Just as well, with the weather building to its record breaking crescendo a chilled out festival was just what we needed. We even got to go home to our own beds afterwards.
Read more…This year for our Festival Kidz Awards, we asked you to vote for your favourite festivals, but also also to vote for the often overlooked side of our family friendly festival experience. Those people who entertain and look after our children. The names you look for in the kids’ field festival line up.
But one stalwart of the festival circuit was not eligible to enter. Because last year, a quiet announcement on a crew page marked the end of Angel Gardens, a kids’ area that was a big part of the festival scene for a long time. Although they may continue to attend some events, they have decided they will no longer run the kids’ field at festivals.
So we would like to give the very first Festival Kidz Lifetime Achievement Award to Angel Gardens.
Eeeww – smelly!Well, it is a festival so normal rules on washing and personal hygiene tend to go out of the window for a few days.
A parent wrote to us asking about teenager festivals:
Our 16 year old is off to their first festival this year with some friends. They are all pretty sensible but I can’t help worrying.
Any advice?
Letting our kids spread their wings and explore the world is something all parents will wrestle with at some stage.
Teenage years are tricky – everyone tells you so. We want to give them space to grow and freedom to develop, but most importantly we want to keep them safe. Read more…
The friendly and beautiful Nibley Festival utterly charmed us first time visitors. It was a joy waking up to the awesome countryside views, the music was well pitched and accomplished, and the kids’ activities were well thought out, varied and fun. We had a great time!
By Natalie Paris (guest reviewer)
It’s the final festival of the season and – if you think you can handle scrubbing all the glitter off the night before your kids go back to school – End of the Road is completely worth it. This compact festival is always hugely popular, selling out months in advance. Now, I always thought this was due to the lineups being full of the need-to-know bands indie music fans love but since our visit this weekend I’ve realised it’s also because it’s just a great, easygoing little festival. Not perfect, of course, but a microcosm of everything you might want in a weekend, with a surprising amount of fun for families alongside the music too.
It has been five years since we were last at Deer Shed Festival. Our kids were much smaller then and we were keen to see how the festival has changed. It was heart warming to see that the spirit and ethos remains exactly the same. Great music, great food, happy children.
Like coming home…
As young adults, we spent many happy summers cutting our festival teeth at WOMAD. At the time it was right on our doorstep in Reading and was responsible for our love of the whole festival scene. WOMAD has and always will be the most welcoming and inclusive festival we know. It continues to hold a special place in our hearts ❤
Possibly the friendliest and most relaxed festival I have ever attended.
Skeptic to convert!
We had a wonderful first visit to Camp Bestival in Dorset which far surpassed my expectations.
My kids have a new favourite thing. It involves a man in a full body chain mail suit, climbing on top of a massive van der graaf generator, and firing lighting from his hands.
I’m not sure how I’m going to top that this summer.
Read more…Secrets to enjoying a festival with kids
Every year we get lots of parents asking us how to make a festival with kids fun rather than a weekend of stress.
The reality is that going to a festival with your kids is not such a crazy thing to do any more. There are hundreds of festivals that welcome families of all ages and there’s usually more to do there than at many other holiday destinations so, rather than begrudging being dragged along, chances are your kids will have even more fun than you!
Read more…
All the nominations are in and it’s time to VOTE!
Please use this voting form to vote for your favourite family festivals, entertainers and traders, and tell us what it is that makes these so special to you!
Read more…The Festival Kidz Awards are back, but with a difference!
We asked all our writers to nominate festivals in three categories, to reflect the differing needs of the ages of our children. We have restricted the nominations so that festivals are only nominated in one category. We acknowledge that some of these festivals are excellent in more than one category, but we feel they are particularly good for the nominated age.
Read more…It has been a long 3 years since our last visit to Towersey. And a lot has changed in that time. As we approached August Bank Holiday I was hopeful that all the wonderfulness of Towersey would remain. And I was also optimistic that their new site at Claydon Estate would bring even more magic to what is already a great festival.
You would be hard pushed to find a more established festival than Towersey. It has been running for almost 60 years and there is no doubt that this team know their stuff. Our last visit, 3 years ago was pretty much perfect. But this year they have moved to a new home. The magnificent Claydon Estate. Would they be able to deliver their usual flawless festival experience at this new site?
Read more…This was our third visit to this festival and Victorious 2022 did not disappoint. The headline acts and range of performances rival those of the more well established festivals. The backdrop of the English Channel made this already great event idyllic. Victorious is simply amazing for families with an inordinate amount of varied activities in the huge kids’ area THAT ARE ALL FREE!!!! It is so good that they are even making it longer for 2023.
Read more…Blow your socks off fun!! What a fantastic family festival. The first Camp Bestival Shropshire was a huge success. Impeccable organisation offering a jam-packed weekend of first-class family festival fun.
Read more…Beautiful Days 2013 was our first ever family festival. Way back when we were a family of four and still in need of nappies, buggies and all the other paraphernalia of very small children. The fact that I now spend my summers going to multiple festivals and reviewing them here is testament to how much we enjoyed it.
Read more…3 years after its last outing, Festival Kidz were delighted to return to the stunning Piercefield park on the Wales/England border. So with car packed and sun hats adorned, Adam and family attended their first Green Gathering to check out why this award winning, eco-conscious, festival was consistently praised among the festival masses.
Folk by the Oak 2022 couldn’t have come at a better moment.
It was our first little toe dip back into festivals after a long pandemic break. We were eased in with soothing songs and a laid back vibe.
Just as well, with the weather building to its record breaking crescendo a chilled out festival was just what we needed. We even got to go home to our own beds afterwards.
Read more…And thanks to the following festivals for their support in the past
