Latitude

We took our two to Latitude in 2010 (aged 18 months and 3 years) and in 2011. We live it and will go again in 2012. The festival is very relaxed and there is an enormous range of things to see: high brow theatre; rock, pop and country acts; avant garde installations; literature talks; poetry; cabaret... Everything.

For us the highlight is the kids area which us lovely. The children are never bored and can take part in craft activities, processions, face painting, theatre etc. It's just perfect for little ones.

There is also a great range of food on offer and the toilets (in the family camping area) are normal flushable portaloos that actually stay quite clean.

We have been in sun and rain and loved it both times.

We decided to start going to festivals again in 2009 after a 5 year break and picked Latitude due to its location (we live in Norfolk). We used to go to Glastonbury every year (about 10 times in total) and have also sampled various other smaller festivals so I would consider myself a fairly experienced festival-goer but that was all before we had kids!
Pros: I had seen pictures of the dyed sheep and kids area at Latitude so I knew what to expect and these didn't disappoint. Overall it was a very safe place and a good place to be with children (ours were 4 and nearly 2) with very little rowdy drunkenness etc and virtually no drugs. The carnival procession was great too.
Cons:
Our pitch in the family camping area was a good 15 minute walk from the entrance. We had to walk through other non-family campsite areas to get there and then queue for 10 mins at the gates with everyone else with some already fractious and impatient children. I felt they could have arranged this a bit better so that the families had their own entrance nearer to the site.
2) The shop was poorly stocked and ran out of milk by Saturday afternoon and didn't re-stock again for the rest of the festival so take your own UHT.
3) The queues for the showers were ENORMOUS and they were only open for a short period each day so don't bother.
4) For me personally the music lacked any alternatives to the rock/ pop bands. There was no reggae, world music, jazz, dance or folk. Compared with Glasto, this was its main shortcoming for me. But if that's not your thing then it's great! They had a really beautiful gladed area decked out with fairy lights where I had expected there might be a more alternative scene later on but when I investigated at ca 11pm on Sat night I found them playing, guess what....cheesy disco!!! What a shame.....

We took our three year old and our one year old to Latitude in 2010. We had an amazing time and will take the kids again this year.

The family camping area is large and packed but has decent toilets (proper flush type) and entertainment for the kids in the morning. It's close to the main arenas and a very short walk to the childrens' area of the festival itself.

The childrens' entertainment area is fab. Theatre, music, an amazing array of craft workshops, face painting, sand pits, hay bales to play on, an NCT cafe for a quiet sit down. Even free nappies!

Loads of Latitude Festival goers have kids and even at night they blend in easily. There are loads of food stalls with stuff they love and the dyed sheep amused our toddler for hour upon hour.