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Family friendly festivals: our picks

 

Thinking taking the kids to a summer festival? Glastonbury and Reading may be possible with children, but the big events can be really hard with a child in tow.

There are plenty of smaller, ‘boutique’ festivals catering to families around the country. Dad Info picks some of summer 2008's best.

In chronological order, we look at: Hop Farm, Latitude, Camp Bestival, Womad, The Big Chill, Surf ReliefBelladrum and Green Man festivals.

Hop Farm Festival

July 6, Hop Farm, near Paddock Wood, Kent

Featuring: Neil Young, Primal Scream, Supergrass, My Morning Jacket, Rufus Wainwright, Guillemots

This new one-day event is the brainchild of veteran festival promoter Vince Power, who wanted to introduce a branding-free festival as an antidote to the corporate nonsense that has proliferated in recent years. Refreshingly, the Hop Farm Festival has no sponsorship, so no brands or elitist VIP areas.

What it does have is a great line-up – perfect for introducing older kids to the delights of live music. There’s only one stage too, so no trekking for miles through the mud to catch your favourite bands (yes, we’re talking to you Glastonbury).

Latitude

July 17-20, Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk

Featuring: Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Ros, Elbow, MIA, Blondie, Julian Cope, the Breeders, Grinderman, Interpol

Located on the lovely Suffolk coast, this boutique festival is one of the best family-oriented festivals around. It’s about one-fifth the size of Glastonbury (thank God), with a far more manageable 25,000 folk wandering around the 120-hectare site.

There are creches and toddler groups for the wee ones, headliners Franz Ferdinand and four music arenas, plus literary, poetry, comedy, cabaret, theatre and music and film arenas for the adults. Kids will love the enchanted woods and Sadlers Wells dancers ushering in sunset at the lake.

  • Tickets: Weekend £130 plus booking fees (includes camping and parking); day tickets (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) £55 plus booking fee; children 12 and under go free. www.latitudefestival.co.uk

Camp Bestival

July 18-20, Lulworth castle, Dorset

Featuring: the Flaming Lips, Chuck Berry, Billy Bragg, King Creosote, the Cuban Brothers

This new event is the little brother of Bestival, the summer-ending Isle of Wight extravaganza. It’s a family-friendly version of Bestival’s 24-hour madness, where parents and kids – including founder and dad-of-two Radio 1 DJ Rob Da Bank – can lap up the music and rolling Dorset hills. Think deckchairs and a glass of rioja, not 5am stumble with pint in hand.

Kids get their own garden and magic meadow, plus the music’s switched off from 6.15pm to 7.15pm (for the castle’s church service!), so you can get your little ’uns off to sleep.

Womad

July 25-27, Charlton Park, Malmesbury, Wiltshire

Featuring: Chic, Squeeze, Eddy Grant, Toumani Diabate, Bedouin Jerry Can Band and more

World music in Wiltshire – and a festival with a long history of attracting families and older folk, not mad-for-it youngsters. Kiddie delights include the children’s parade and arts marquee.

Other attractions include 

  • World of Wellbeing, where weary dads can be massaged back to life or melt in the sauna
  • Taste The World sessions, where you can sample tasty treats cooked by the festival artists
  • Irish Ceilidh; percussion and dance workshops for adults and kids including Flamenco, Salsa, Batchata, Rumba, Egyptian and West African dance.

And, of course, if you’re a world music fan Womad takes some beating, with 70 acts from across the globe.

  • Tickets:  Weekend £125 (includes camping); day (Sunday only) £50; children under 14: two free per adult (additional children £10 per child). www.womad.org

The Big Chill

August 1-3, Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire

Featuring: Alabama 3, Leonard Cohen, the Mighty Boosh, Nitin Sawhney, John Shuttleworth, Fat Freddy's Drop

This mellow, easy-going event definitely lives up to the name. Set in the rolling grounds of Eastnor Castle, it’s long been a hit with festival-loving families. Check out the art trail running through the woods, with sculpture, performances, interactive theatre – and a smattering of fairies.

The organisers are committed to reducing the event’s carbon footprint – hence their hookup with National Express to encourage you to leave the car at home. And the old-school Victorian fair will keep the kids happy for hours.

  • Tickets: £129 plus processing fee (includes camping); National Express combined festival and coach ticket £150 (valid from anywhere in the UK); teens (13-15-year-olds) £60; under-13s free. www.bigchill.net

White Stuff Surf Relief Festival

July 26th, Watergate Bay (home to programme Echo Beach), Newquay

Featuring: A professional surfing competition, Stereo MC’s, The Rumblestrips, Justin Nozuka, The Wonderfuls, Ash Grunwald and Glass Shark.

Set up in the wake of the 2004 tsunami disaster, the Surf Relief Festival is a one-day beach, music and surfing event raising funds for charity Surf Relief UK’s ‘Surfable’ project. This charity provides subsidised surfing lessons for disabled and disadvantaged young people.

Other activities during the day will include skydivers parachuting onto the beach to officially start the event, kitch activities, a barbeque, a packed programme of beach games, surfing and lifesaving competitions and family activities. The sunset band sessions will get underway in the evening.

Belladrum

August 8-9, Phoineas, by Beauly, Inverness-shire, IV4 7BA

Featuring: Scouting for Girls, The Waterboys, Edwyn Collins and Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

As if the heart-stoppingly beautiful Highland scenery wasn’t enough, Belladrum offers a laidback vibe, loads of kids’ entertainment and the lush grounds of a stately home. You also get comedy, literary and theatrical treats in the Verb Garden, an organic food market and street theatre. Oh, did we mention the scenery?

  • Tickets: £80 plus booking fees (includes camping and parking); day (Saturday) £50 plus booking fee (includes camping and parking); children 12 and under go free. www.tartanheartfestival.co.uk

Green Man

August 15-17, Glanusk Park, Brecon Beacons

Folky folk have long headed for the Green Man – it’s the UK’s premier folk festival, set in the wonderful Brecon Beacons. There’s also a kids’ area, singing and bongo-playing workshops, a how-to-make-your-own comic session, and animation lessons. And folk.

Featuring: Pentangle, Super Furry Animals, Richard Thompson, Spiritualized, Laura Marling

Author

Dan RobertsDan Roberts is a feature-writer and columnist with over ten years’ experience of working for The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, Daily Express and Mail on Sunday, as well as numerous national magazines. His areas of expertise include health, wellbeing, relationships, psychology and parenting. Dan also writes two monthly columns, including Diary of a Single Dad, a humorous but affectionate account of raising his ten-year-old son, Ben. The best of Dan’s work can be found on his website at www.dan-roberts.net

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