Family-Friendly Festivals 2010

August 2, 2010

My favourite one is Just So Festival, Barnswood, Nr Leek, Staffordshire on August 20-22. The Just So Festival is a family arts festival, which has been dreamt up by two Macclesfield couples who’ve spent years visiting traditional festivals with their children and finding much of the entertainment to be off-limits. They’ve set up a camping weekend in 65 acres of unspoilt Staffordshire woodland where everything – from traditional fairground to artificial beach, from gypsy bands to top name authors – is aimed at giving children and their parents a magical experience.

Highlights from the programme will include music workshops from Manchester Camerata, Parkour training sessions from some of the UK’s top free-runners, following the Fairy Queen trail with the Fairyland Trust, and one of the organisers’ favourites, a party with the Moomins. Families will be able to go on this amazing journey of the imagination, participating in a medley of art, craft, music and theatre within a beautiful natural landscape. The experience of families going along to the Just So Festival will be a far cry from your average festival. Camping is in small woodland glades. There will be a bedtime noise curfew (though the local rabbits and hedgehogs may not comply), and a large and comfy nappy changing area with changing mats and wipes laid on. The loos will, of course, be lovely.

Here are some other family-friendly festivals:

JULY 14-18 Larmer Tree Festival, Wiltshire/Dorset Turning 20 in 2010, this small festival has won both “Best Family Festival”, giving families an opportunity to choose from fantastic programmes for Comedy, Film, Street Theatre, Adults, YouthZone, Kids, Spoken Word, or Everything together!

JULY 15-18 Latitude, Suffolk. Cute festival with mini-glasto overtones. With just two weeks to go, Latitude still pulls more names out of the bag. Unlike any other festival, Latitude has built its sterling reputation as a brave and pioneering event with a line-up like no other. Four arenas are dedicated to an exciting selection of musical talent from emerging bands, international stars and homegrown heroes, whilst the arts onsite command no less than thirteen arenas providing something for everybody.

JULY 22-25 The Secret Garden Party, East Anglia A weird and wonderful selection of artists will fill the Great Stage, Where the Wild Things Are stage and various other amusingly named venues. They provide the Garden and plant the seeds, but you nurture its life and allow it to blossom. It is your party – your creative participation allows the festival to rejuvenate & regenerate. The Secret Garden Party brings people together by removing all barriers – you will do things you never thought you had the nerve or bombast to do.

JULY 23-25 Womad, Wiltshire This festival offers a world of music with performers from as far afield as Ethiopia, India and New Zealand. Meanwhile, the World of Kids and the Children’s Parade will be one of the festival highlights. Enjoy children’s craft workshops, global market villages, an old-fashioned steam fair and food from around the world. Take WOMAD at a comfortable pace and spend a night camping in one of the ready-pitched tents that sleep up to 8 people and include airbeds and sleeping bags.

JULY 24-26 Camp Bestival, Dorset Winner of the Best Family Festival in the UK Festival Awards 2009, this baby sibling to the Isle of Wight’s Bestival takes place at the idyllic Lulworth Castle in Dorset. With 53 sleeps before Camp Bestival throws open its gates it’s not long until we can enjoy three full days of partying with Madness, Friendly Fires, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, The Human League, Calvin Harris, Stornoway and many ugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his River Cottage Cafe, enlightened and erudite entertainment at the East Lulworth Literary Institute, Fairy Tale fancy dress, Zippos Circus, The House of Fairy Tales and much, much more.

AUGUST 6-7 Belladrum, Inverness-shire The Editors will headline the event, which takes place on Friday and Saturday. Other acts include Toploader, Peatbog Faeries and Ocean Colour Scene. A new one-man play, tackling the life of occultist Aleister Crowley, and Mr Methane “king of farts” have also been lined-up.

AUGUST 20-22 The Green Man, Brecon Beacons There’s a film tent, a campfire more musical pleasures.  Plus there will be literally 100s of free things for kids to do, amazing food from the likes of Hfield, a science tent as well as Joanna Newsom, Laura Marling and Mumford and Sons. This year there’s a boutique babysitting service. If you need a well-earned break from the kids you can always use our new ground breaking Boutique Babysitting service, offering a bespoke and friendly babysitting run by fully qualified childcare professionals. For anyone who’s ever considered taking children to a festival – or for those that already do – The Boutique Babysitters are a new childcare company that has entered the festival scene to provide a bespoke, festival-friendly babysitting service. For the first time, parents can enjoy a care-free festival experience; content in the knowledge that their children are safe and professionally cared for, whilst the kids enjoy a fun-packed “mini festival” of their own at the Boutique Babysitting kids club.

AUGUST 27-29 Solfest, Cumbria There are only 5,000 tickets for this three-day festival that has a line up including James and the Magic Numbers. There are also plenty of children’s activities and the festival takes pride that tiny babies and many generations of the same family come back every year. Solfest is enjoyed by babies under and hundreds of toddlers, older children and teenagers – so it’s an experience for the whole family! Forget the music; this is the stuff that memories are made of!

Filed under: Baby,Family-Friendly

Tags: camping, entertainment, families, Family-Friendly, festivals, kids, summer