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The first festival I ever went to was Leeds Festival in 2004 – we got day tickets because we lived in a fancy flat in Leeds city centre at the time so it was easy to get there and back on the bus. The weather was glorious, we saw some amazing acts and I knew I wanted to do it again but to stay for the whole weekend the next time!
Almost ten years later, we took the kids to a small day festival in Blackpool called Alfresco (which sadly, after several successful years in Kent, has no joined the ever growing ranks of festivals which have fallen by the wayside). Ben and Chloe would have been nearly 4 and 2; I was pregnant with Amy. The kids wore protective headphones all day, had their faces painted, watched break dancing and generally had a really lovely day out with Aunty Custard, Uncle Chris and Uncle Will.
Since then we’ve become increasingly ambitious with our festival attendance from our very first day trip to family festival; Just So Festival through to Y Not Festival in summer 2019 – their first proper music festival and now we tend to do a couple of festivals a year. Of course we’ve picked up some tips and tricks along the way and wanted to share those with you today:
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Check out our list of recommendations for Family Friendly Festivals 2024
Tips for attending festivals with children
Take time to make plans, but prepare to be flexible
Take time to look at the line ups and work out who or what you want to see: figure out what time they are on and where and then look at how long it will take you to get between stages. You will need to be flexible around this – your little one might surprise you and be quite happy to stay up till midnight or might even have a sleep in your festival trolley! Ben and Chloe were out and about with Dave until the fireworks on the first night of Y Not festival a few years ago whereas Amy managed about two songs from Elbow and had to be taken back to our tent – meaning Kirst and I missed the main performance. Such is life at music festivals with kids – you win some, you lose some.
Make sure you have plenty of snacks
Eating at festivals can be expensive – and the food can be hit and miss, it’s definitely cheaper to take your own food with you. Make sure you’ve got plenty of snacks to hand, even if you just keep them at your tent! Most festivals don’t mind you taking food onto the main festival site but you might find drinks are more of an issue for obvious reasons – it’s worth checking individual policies on this. Increasingly we’ve noticed in an attempt to reduce plastic waste on site, you are encouraged to bring reusable bottles and to take advantage of the free drinking water points. Timber did this really well when we went a few years ago, Y Not festival not so much.
Check out our tips for saving money at festivals
Remember it gets much colder at night so you will want extra layers if you’re staying out to watch performers
We got really caught out on this one the first time we took the kids to Y Not festival – having previously spent festival evenings tucked away in woodland at Just So Festival or generally roasting at Timber Festival in a heatwave, we hadn’t been prepared for just how cold it can be to be standing in an open space at night – we should definitely have had extra layers and hats in our rucksacks to layer up as the temperature dropped! Lesson learned.
I’ve shared some thoughts on what to wear for a festival here
Be prepared for all weathers – sun cream / waterproofs
As Brits we all know that they only thing we can rely on in terms of the weather is unpredictability. You might hit a pocket of glorious sunshine in May, or torrential downpours in late August who knows. When you book your festival tickets, you take your chances.
Keep a close eye on the weather forecast in the run up to the festival and be prepared – you’re going to be spending a lot of time outside so you need to be ready with sun cream and hats as well as waterproofs and wellies – even if the weather itself is dry, the ground could still end up pretty muddy.
If you fancy more guaranteed sunshine, check out this list of European music festivals
Try not to over pack – you’ve got to carry it all and the kids won’t be much use!
Of course whilst I do encourage you to be well prepared for the weather, it’s also really important to try not to over pack! Whatever you take with you, you’re going to need to transport from your car to the campsite – and this is almost always further and harder than you expect! For this reason, we tend to try and set up camp nearer the car than the festival entrance. Our kids are pretty good walkers so a bit of a walk from the tent to the festival isn’t a big deal – but carrying all your equipment back and forth from the car is killer. (Camping nearer the car park also has the added bonus of being a little bit quieter! The best family camping festivals will ensure that their family campsites are well away from the main arena!)
For more tips on camping at a festival with kids click through here!
Consider investing in a festival trolley
It took me a really long time to convince Dave that we really did need a festival trolley. The main reason for purchasing it was so that the little ones had somewhere to sit and rest their legs – you can cover a lot of ground wandering around a festival all day. It also meant we could put our bags (with those snacks / drinks / extra layers in) into the trolley instead of having to carry them about all day. As it is, the kids quickly became too big & heavy to drag around a muddy field in a trolley – and the main benefit of the festival trolley is actually carting everything from your car to the campsite! (Lots of festivals will offer you the opportunity to hire a trolley onsite, often at great expense!)
Think about where you will sit
Standing all day at a festival is exhausting enough as an adult, so you can guarantee that your kids are going to want to sit down too. Again, the festival trolley comes into it’s own here (though at YNot Festival we just left it at our tent as it was too much faff to weave it in and out of the campsite each day).
Consider whether you can squeeze a plastic backed picnic blanket or individual sit mats into your rucksack when you’re heading on to site for the day, or even fold up stools? It all depends how much your prepared to carry around but I know that having somewhere to sit and chill can make a big difference to the day!
Do make sure you check the rules for the festival you’re heading to – some ban camping chairs in the main arenas as they can become a bit of a hazard. At The Big Feastival for example, they do allow camping chairs but not right in front of the main stage – which means there’s always plenty of room to get up and dance, but you do have to pick your way through a full on village of picnic mats and camping chairs when you try to get back out again. I hate it.
Make a festival play list
Whilst I do love listening to new music and discovering bands I’ve not seen before, I’ve always felt a gig is improved ten fold if you already know a track or two and can join in! A festival is a great way to try out new bands – with shorter sets and plenty to choose from, you’re bound to get good value for money!
Just So Festival used to send out a CD of performers with their programme which we absolutely loved and always listened to it in the car on the way there – before making a quick list of who we might like to see perform.
Ahead of going to YNot Festival last year, we made sure that we listened to lots of our favourite bands who were performing whenever we were in the car – and created a “YNot Festival” playlist on Spotify to make sure that the kids were familiar with lots of the different bands and could help us to choose who to go and watch.
You’ll often find an official festival playlist on Spotify feature some of the biggest tracks from artists performing at the event – definitely a great way to warm up your ears!
Relax
Going to a festival with kids is definitely a time to relax the rules and expectations a bit. Bed times don’t count, eating churros or spaghetti bolognese for every meal over the course of a weekend won’t kill you and singing the swear words in your favourite song when you’re ten is hilarious. What happens at the festival stays at the festival!
Mud and glitter gets everywhere
Being at a festival with kids can be a bit of a messy experience – spilled food, mud and face paint all come together to create a pretty special grubby mess! Some festivals have amazing shower facilities (we’re looking at you Just So Festival and Timber) others not so much (£10 for a hot shower at YNot Festival!) – so do be prepared for a wet wipe wash and make sure you’ve got some hand gel in your bad! At the end of the day, its all part of the fun and will all wash off when you get home! Don’t wear your best clothes, expect to get filthy and just accessorise it all with plenty of glitter and a smile!
(As an aside, remember that mobile reception is often rubbish at festivals – we use personalised festival wristbands with our phone number on for each child in case we get separated but we also agree a meeting point and remind them to look out for staff who can help)
Read our Guide to Festivals next or find out why we chose to stay off site for Y Not Festival this year.
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Thank you! So helpful!
No problem! Glad it was useful 🙂