2014 was a fantastic year for family friendly festivals – we reviewed more than ever before and visited so many that it made judging the awards extremely difficult. If your favourite festival is missing from this list, please feel free to comment below!
Review by Amy Battle and 3 children, aged between 9 and 12.
There comes a moment at any Festival where the adults want to collapse/drink beer/listen to their type of music/visit their inner hippie and the kids don’t. The younger generation wants to roam and wade in mud and buzz around doing their own thing in their own time. And it’s just this balance that the Larmer Tree Festival has cracked. There’s something for everyone and then there still is somewhere to sit and chill when you just don’t want to be doing any stuff at all. Read more…
Now is a great time to start thinking about buying your festival tickets – most of the festivals offer ‘early bird’ prices, which means they are reduced if you book them early.
Whether a festival is good for you depends on what music you’re into and what other things you like doing at festivals, as well as the age of your kids. If you are new to festivals with kids, you may want to read our guide to Choosing the right Family-Friendly Festival. Read more…
Larmer Tree is a wonderful family friendly festival for all ages
Review and pictures by Naomi Jones – with her girls Eloise (6), Charlotte (3) and Amelie (3)
I have wanted to go to Larmer Tree festival for so long – mainly because of its reputation for being one of the most family friendly and inclusive festivals in the UK. And it didn’t disappoint.
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 Read more…
The toddler stage is possibly the most difficult age to do festivals, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be done!
For really young kids we recommend small festivals, particularly if you are not an experienced festival-goer or camper. For a successful festival experience with toddlers you need space to run around or relax, less crowds, smaller distances between campsite, arena and carpark, a good selection of child-friendly food and a willingness to take things at your toddler’s pace (see also Naomi’s Top Tips for doing Festivals with Toddlers).
After much debate, we reckon this year’s best festivals for Under 5’s are:
Hello, my name is Emma, and I lost my festival virginity at Larmer Tree 2012!
Yes – it is a little bit like the first person I slept with – but I don’t think I am EVER going to forget LT 2012… mainly because there was just an unbelievable amount of mud! It shows how middle class things have become in my house when my daughter Scarlet jumped out the car and said “Mummy it’s just like your Parsnip Soup!” She was dead right – a blended pulp of brownness.
Guest Blogger, Emma Parkes-McQueen and her Family do: Larmer Tree 2012
I have to stand up , raise my hand and admit it:
“Hello, my name is Emma and I am a Festival Virgin.”
Well, I went to Reading once when I was 21 but we camped at a site 5 miles away and only went there to pogo at the Chilli Peppers then went home – so that doesn’t count. Read more…
For really young kids we tend to recommend smaller festivals, particularly if you are not an experienced festival-goer. Smaller festivals have the dual advantage of not being so vast that a trip back to the tent for a forgotten dummy takes half the morning, and the stage areas are usually less crowded meaning you can get closer to the bands without fearing your little one getting accidentally trampled on or lost. That said, smaller festivals often don’t have as much budget for children’s activities, so your choice will also depend a little on the level of laid-on entertainment that your family need.
It really is very hard to choose from all the festivals that take place in the UK each year. But if we have to narrow it down, our short-list of the best festivals to take your really little ones to goes a little like this:
Choosing from the hundreds of excellent family-friendly festivals out there is really really tough.
Many families will place a different importance to different aspects. Personally I don’t like my festivals too crowded, I like quality music but I’m not so bothered by big names, and most importantly I like a good range of workshops and street theatre to keep everyone entertained. But people always ask me which are the best festivals for kids so here is my shortlist – the ones which I think have something extra-special about them: Read more…
2014 was a fantastic year for family friendly festivals – we reviewed more than ever before and visited so many that it made judging the awards extremely difficult. If your favourite festival is missing from this list, please feel free to comment below!
Now is a great time to start thinking about buying your festival tickets – most of the festivals offer ‘early bird’ prices, which means they are reduced if you book them early.
Whether a festival is good for you depends on what music you’re into and what other things you like doing at festivals, as well as the age of your kids. If you are new to festivals with kids, you may want to read our guide to Choosing the right Family-Friendly Festival. Read more…
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 Read more…
Hello, my name is Emma, and I lost my festival virginity at Larmer Tree 2012!
Yes – it is a little bit like the first person I slept with – but I don’t think I am EVER going to forget LT 2012… mainly because there was just an unbelievable amount of mud! It shows how middle class things have become in my house when my daughter Scarlet jumped out the car and said “Mummy it’s just like your Parsnip Soup!” She was dead right – a blended pulp of brownness.
For really young kids we tend to recommend smaller festivals, particularly if you are not an experienced festival-goer. Smaller festivals have the dual advantage of not being so vast that a trip back to the tent for a forgotten dummy takes half the morning, and the stage areas are usually less crowded meaning you can get closer to the bands without fearing your little one getting accidentally trampled on or lost. That said, smaller festivals often don’t have as much budget for children’s activities, so your choice will also depend a little on the level of laid-on entertainment that your family need.
It really is very hard to choose from all the festivals that take place in the UK each year. But if we have to narrow it down, our short-list of the best festivals to take your really little ones to goes a little like this:
Review by Amy Battle and 3 children, aged between 9 and 12.
There comes a moment at any Festival where the adults want to collapse/drink beer/listen to their type of music/visit their inner hippie and the kids don’t. The younger generation wants to roam and wade in mud and buzz around doing their own thing in their own time. And it’s just this balance that the Larmer Tree Festival has cracked. There’s something for everyone and then there still is somewhere to sit and chill when you just don’t want to be doing any stuff at all. Read more…
Larmer Tree is a wonderful family friendly festival for all ages
Review and pictures by Naomi Jones – with her girls Eloise (6), Charlotte (3) and Amelie (3)
I have wanted to go to Larmer Tree festival for so long – mainly because of its reputation for being one of the most family friendly and inclusive festivals in the UK. And it didn’t disappoint.
The toddler stage is possibly the most difficult age to do festivals, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be done!
For really young kids we recommend small festivals, particularly if you are not an experienced festival-goer or camper. For a successful festival experience with toddlers you need space to run around or relax, less crowds, smaller distances between campsite, arena and carpark, a good selection of child-friendly food and a willingness to take things at your toddler’s pace (see also Naomi’s Top Tips for doing Festivals with Toddlers).
After much debate, we reckon this year’s best festivals for Under 5’s are:
Guest Blogger, Emma Parkes-McQueen and her Family do: Larmer Tree 2012
I have to stand up , raise my hand and admit it:
“Hello, my name is Emma and I am a Festival Virgin.”
Well, I went to Reading once when I was 21 but we camped at a site 5 miles away and only went there to pogo at the Chilli Peppers then went home – so that doesn’t count. Read more…
Choosing from the hundreds of excellent family-friendly festivals out there is really really tough.
Many families will place a different importance to different aspects. Personally I don’t like my festivals too crowded, I like quality music but I’m not so bothered by big names, and most importantly I like a good range of workshops and street theatre to keep everyone entertained. But people always ask me which are the best festivals for kids so here is my shortlist – the ones which I think have something extra-special about them: Read more…