Every year we face the same dilemmas – Do we go to our favourites, the ones we know and love, where the kids feel at home?
Or do we try out some new ones, potentially discover something amazing, and widen our knowledge of great festivals to recommend to all you lovely families out there?
We’re very lucky in that we get invited to far more than we can manage to attend… but the reality is that with kids (or even without kids) it’s just too tiring (and expensive!) so we’ve had to learn to pick and choose.
Here are the festivals we’ve picked this year and why:
Naomi says: “We’re very excited about this one. It’s a day event, so no camping, but it definitely feels like a festival. There are some fabulous activities on offer and I’m especially excited about getting involved in Punchdrunk’s exploits (I even wrote about this in my Immersive Theatre for Kids blog). Weather is looking fab too – what a great way to start the season!”
Romany says: “We’ve never been to WOOD before but friends have, and they raved about it. The non-corporate eco-aware ethos really appeals to me. Wonderful workshops, great music, gorgeous site and it’s perfect for free-roaming kids. We’ve been banging on about it, but it’s about time we actually got some first hand knowledge!”
Sunrise – The Ethical One (Somerset: May 30 – 2 June)
Vicky says: “A new one for us but the line up looks great and we couldn’t pass on the opportunity to see Bill Bailey! I think my son is going to really enjoy the Children’s Authors and I’m looking forward to being able to drive to the campsite to set up – a rare luxury at a festival! Oh, and they have Hot Tubs…!”
Naomi says: “Blissfields has a great lineup, including Bastille, and I’m looking forward to being able to chill a bit more at this one as it’s fairly small. It also has the fantastic Angel Gardens running the kids’ area and I’m excited to be able to finally meet them!”
Nibley – The Village-Fete-y One (Gloucestershire: 6th July)
Romany says: “To us, Larmer Tree is almost the perfect festival. We’ve been going for years and it has become the one that we HAVE to do. There’s such a wide variety of music and workshops there that something appeals to each of us and we all end up happy. Very excited about KT Tunstall and Van Morrison, but we’ve always seen incredible performances from bands we’d never heard of before and come back each year with new favourites and enduring memories.”
Latitude – Sam’s Family Favourite (Suffolk: 18-21 July)
Karon says: “Last year was incredibly muddy, but we still had a great time! There are some really big names from the 80/90s on the bill to ensure lots of kids laughing at embarrassing parent dancing and plenty of feel good vibes. It’s small, manageable with kids, friendly and fun, and in a beautiful countryside location. Really hoping to do this festival without all the mud this time though! 😉
Sam says: “World of Music, Arts and Dance bringing together artists from all over the globe. Their aim to bring you family orientated, diverse & active musical event, promising to excite, inform and create awareness of the worth and potential of a multicultural society. Activities for children include both educational and entertaining workshops. Looking forward to the procession on Sunday with the children’s creations on show for all to see: 2013 theme is Floating & Flying!”
Secret Garden Party – The Party Till You Drop One (Cambridgeshire: 25 – 28 July)
Vicky says: “I’ve always wanted to check this one out. Over the last 15 years it’s grown from a tiny gathering of friends into a proper little festival intriguingly described as a ‘curious amalgamation of performance, art, electronic supersounds and good old-fashioned guitar-strumming and drum-bashing’! Kid’s stuff looks fun too…”
Standon Calling – The ‘All About the Vibe’ One (Hertfordshire: 2-4 Aug)
Boomtown Fair – The Crazy One (Hampshire: 8-11 August)
Naomi says: “My favourite part of Glastonbury has always been the circus and alternative fields. Croissant Neuf have run circus tents at many festivals I’ve been to, and their own festival looks like a perfect blend of circus, entertainment and kids activities. I love that it’s solar powered too – they’ve won the Greenest Festival Award no less than 3 times.”
Vicky says: “I cannot begin to explain in just a few lines how much we loved this festival last year. Without a doubt it was the highlight of the year and I couldn’t imagine not going again this year and probably forever from now on. The line up is a great one but to be honest Wilderness is so much more than that. Everything from the facilities, children’s area, food options, the layout, even the dreaded festival toilets are great at Wilderness. I LOVE it!”
Lakefest – The Water Fun One (Gloucestershire: 9-11 August)
*WIN Lakefest Tickets*
Vicky says: “We live only a stones throw from Green Man so have heard a lot about it. I’m really interested to find out what its like we have heard lots of wonderful things about it and it will be lovely being able to review a local festival.I understand it is in beautiful surroundings and we plan to make this one a relaxing one and spend lots of time in the little folk area that looks great.”
Romany says: “This festival is a feast of the Arts for families. So much hands-on participation and opportunities to indulge your imagination… we really can’t wait to experience such an immersion in creativity and have fun together as a family. This one feels like a real treat for us.”
Naomi says: “I’ve always wanted to go to this one! I’ve loved the Levellers since I was 16 and I’ve been to see them live so many times (the most recent being last year!). I have heard such great things about this festival, especially the fact that it’s done for the love of it and not for the commercial world. I would really love to get the chance to go this year.”
Naomi says: “We went last year and we loved it so much I don’t think we can imagine another year without it. They’ve got the vibe exactly right – a mixture of good music, arts and activities, with just enough to do without it being too big. There’s also a real family feel for a medium sized festival. But for us it’s the family yurt that is so special – it provides a hub for those with children, an oasis of calm away from the main site and a centre of friendliness and belonging. My eldest daughter made friends there that she’s quite likely to see every year and when the festival became too much for my toddlers it was somewhere special to go where they could calm down and feel safe.”
Louise says: “This is another new one for our family. It looks like a great way to wind down the holidays… very spacious and relaxed but with some really great bands on the line-up there’s sure to be a whole lot of dancing too!
End Of The Road – The ‘Always Wanted To Do’ One (North Dorset: Aug 30 – 3 Sept)
Which ones are you going to and why did you pick them?
Tell us by commenting below!…
Which ones are you going to and why did you pick them?
Tell us by commenting below!…
(If you have very young children read our special Best Festivals for Toddlers list)