Family festival tips?

[mumra]

Well, the mumras are off to Glasto this week, and although the adult contingent has been before, we have never taken the children. Have to say I am very excited, but slightly nervous with two in tow for 4 days to traipse around, (ages 2 and 5) and I keep thinking of more items to pack (lucklily we have a camper van to load up endless supplies of suncream and babywipes) Knowing there are a few EDFers who do a festival or two each year, I wondered if anyone had any good tips they could post for making the most of a family festival experience.

[prdarling]

We are off to Camp Bestival in July with a 4 year old and a 2 and a half year old so would also welcome any pearls of wisdom please!

[redjam]

We went to Camp Bestival last year with our (then) four- and just-turned-two-year-old. Knackering but great fun. The worst problem for us was that we were parked about a million miles away from the campsite so trekking from the car laden with bags and hyper kids was no joke. So my main advice is to take something with wheels to help cart stuff about. We'd thought we wouldn't need our Maclaren so left it at home but thank God our friends had theirs as it was invaluable as a general-purpose 'trolley' as well as somewhere for tired children to crawl into when they wanted to opt out of it all for a bit. Obviously this might not be such good advice if it's rainy and muddy...

Otherwise just take all the usual stuff - loads of snacks, wetwipes, colouring books and pens for when they want to do something quiet (it's hugely overstimulating so we found that sometimes the kids just wanted to do something calm while we sat around watching the bands). A big water container is useful so you can stock up without having to face the huge water queues too often. One other tip - avoid the ginormous early morning queues for the showers and go in the afternoon when they reopen after the lunch break - they are nice and clean and no wait, bliss!

It was twice as exhausting going with kids, no doubt about it, and the logistics of it all meant that we ended up missing some bands we'd wanted to see, so I think you have to go into it with much more relaxed expectations than you would normally. But overall it was really worth it and the kids absolutely LOVED it - the dressing-up aspect was hugely popular, and seeing them having such fun out in the fresh air for four days (no computer! no TV!) was amazing. So I'm sure you'll all have a brilliant time - let us know how you get on!

[prdarling]

Thnaks redjam great advice especially re the wheels! Mr Tumble is there all 3 days this year so I'm hoping that will keep them amused!

We re regular campers so my boys are great with that side of things but I think they won't know what's hit them when they hear the bands.

I'll let you know how we get on and please do PM me if you think of anything else!

PRD

[mumra]

Yes, that's great advice. Bizarrely had forgotten to pack lots of kids activities, as assumed they would be busy- but you're right Glasto will be hugely stimulating (especially when cbeebies Andy is in the kids field -though slightly jealous of Mr Tumble I admit!) Am trying not to get too excited at the prospect of seeing any bands, think will be a bonus (though have tried to convince 5yo that Mumford and Sons are their favourite band by overplaying CD at home!)

[prdarling]

When we go camping we always take loads of books, favourite fire engines, football, cricket set, puzzles etc - basically a whole bag of toys. Made the mistake before of thinking they would be constantly entertained and had to drive to local town and spend a fortune in a toy shop!

[redjam]

Ooh, one other thing. Take loads of plain but nutritious food, e.g. fruit, cereal, milk, bread, ham, cheese etc for sandwiches, as we found our kids turned their nose up at a lot of the festival food on offer and in any case you don't want to be giving them chips/noodles three times a day. I know this sounds blindingly obvious but I didn't think about food at all other than snacks, as I just assumed we'd buy what we needed from the various kiosks. However, luckily my partner shoved in some basics at the last minute and they were invaluable for the kids. Also I think it's nice for kids to have something 'easy' and familiar to eat for at least one or two meals a day, then you can throw them a veggie curry curveball later on...

Mr Tumble was ace at Camp Bestival last year - it was like the Second Coming. I've never seen so many hyperventilating children. Hope you've got your fancy dress outfits sorted!

[prdarling]

More excellent tips thanks redjam

Mine haven't quite grasped that Mr Tumble will actually be there in person and not on TV. I'm so excited at the prospect of how excited they'll be!!

[Keef]

Anyone been with a younger kid (15 months)? We're going to WOMAD with our daughter this year, and I am wondering what it will be like.

My previous festival experiences (Glasto / Reading and so on) have basically involved lots of drink and naughtier things, and coming home to sleep it off for a couple of days.

I suspect this uyear may be somewhat more sedate...

[CC001]

Hi everyone,

Camp Bestival are currently running a competition to win tickets for all the family (2 x adults and up to 3 x children weekend camping passes).

For more information and to enter the competition click the Camp Bestival logo below

http://www.campaignassets.co.uk/1859.jpg

[CC001]

Heads up for anyone on here who entered this competition, the winners of the family ticket are drawn today so good luck! The winner of the runner up prize of 2 Camp Bestival T-Shirts is announced Friday 30th of July. If anyone is yet to enter the competition, they still can and be in with a chance of winning the T-Shirts.

[Chippy Minton]

Keef - how did you get on with a very young one at a festival? Would you recommend it? We're thinking about doing Camp Bestival next month, but much as I admire Mr Tumble's work, I not sure if I should be forking out ?170 if he and his colleagues will dominate our weekend!

Anyone else got any advice on taking a very young one? I think Junior Minton will have a great time, but I'm not too sure about Mini Minton who'll only be 18 months.

[StraferJack]

I'll be taking an 8 month to end of the road festival in sept

Not too worried about it. I've been several times before and seen many a pre-one year old sprite. Plus she loves music and is pretty chilled

I may post again after the fact, a broken man but no dramas so far

[prdarling]

Chippy Minton if it's of any use, we are doing Camp Bestival again last year as it was such a resounding success last year. Mr Tumble was brilliant but only on once a day so I wouldn't say he dominates the weeekend...and unless your kids can read the programme you only really need to see him once if that's all you can cope with!

We went with friends who had a 13 month old and she got along fine. The only downside to taking a really small fry is that unless they will sleep anywhere in all sorts of noise, then you probably need to be back at base camp for bedtime so you end up missing out on the evening fun - obviously depends on your baby. You can always rotate babysitting with friends.

Agree that ?170 is a lot of dollar but based on my experience last year it was worth it

[Dave C. Waddell]

Hi,

One more important thing to do in festive season for preparation of a special festival like Christmas, is to clean crawl space in your house. Sometimes most of the people clean their homes but forget to clean the crawl space of their house. To celebrate the festival, it is also important to make a total home improvement. I think it is a good festive tip.

Thanks & goodbye