45 year old parents with dc, 5, at a festival

[Leodicaprioshat]

Is it weird?

Used to go to festivals/concerts before Dd came along, haven’t been since…are we too old (don’t feel/look old)
Whats it like with a 5 year old? Enjoyable or annoying?
For context, it would be in the summer, abroad

Sounds great, why ever not?

Not sure how you are setting up the voting, but you sound like the core demographic for festivals like Latitude.

Less so Leeds or Reading.

of course it's fine?! Obv will be a different experience with a DC now, but I think festivals with kids are fun

Also I've been to a lot of festivals abroad in the summer and most acts were on overnight due to cooler weather, so do bear that in mind!

@Daisies12 Yes it’s at night 🌟

I think it would be a nightmare, to be honest. Crowded, people drinking...trying to keep track of a five year old in that atmosphere while trying to enjoy yourself...

I’ve been going to festivals with my child since he was 2.

Went ti beautiful days on my own with him.
you’ll be fine.

Depends on your 5 year old I guess but I can imagine whining, tiredness, getting lost, not liking the food, aching legs and boredom.

Not really sure why age comes into it, surely it should be more is the festival right for a child of that age.

I say yes anyway, I've taken DC to festivals and music events and they love it.

Why would you think this was weird?

We've been taking our kids to festivals since they were tiny, with and without other families with kids.

The key thing is to choose specifically family friendly festivals, I think. Elderflower fields, Camp Bestival, Latitude, as suggested above, but Google will suggest loads of others. You may have to compromise your musical taste slightly (or not depending which ones you choose and what you like), and you need to think about how to manage the evenings and nights, but you can still have a brilliant time, and so can your DD.

Depends massively on the festival - Bestival, Latitude, great.
Download or Hospitality in the woods, not so much.

Depends on weather. Massively. Trust me.

We took ds10 to Electric Picnic for the first time last year. We had a great time and he really enjoyed it. Great memories for all of us. Going again this year! Btw we are 44/45, definitely don’t think it’s weird!

I think it depends a lot on how your DC copes with a late night and lots of noise and sensory overload. One of mine at that age would have loved it and joined the party, but one would have needed to crash out in the tent and take lots of breaks in quieter areas, meaning one of us was stuck there with her.

We've been to family friendly ones.

Kids loved it - lots to do.

We did choose carefully

Oh yes the weather is a very good point!

3 DCs here aged between 3-8, we have been taking them to festivals since they were toddlers - have 3 booked for this year already. They (and We) absolutely love it! All routines out the window for those few days, we just have the best time together. Advice is to bring snacks, all the snacks and then some more

Bestival yes, Gatecrasher not so much. Loads of child suitable festivals

Depends on the festival surely? Some are family-friendly, like Latitude or Cornbury. I wouldn't take a DC to the more hardcore rock festivals though - I wouldn't want them to see a lot of what goes on there!

Latitude is great for families and has a family camping section which is much more pleasant to stay in. We went with DD when she was 3-4 years old and it was fine.
As others have said, not all festivals are suitable for kids so pick carefully

I don't think it's weird, but I also don't think it would be enjoyable (I'm childfree). When you used to go to festivals pre-DC, what did you think when you saw young families? It will depend massively on the festival as everyone says - last time I went to one abroad the crowds were awful, it's like they'd sold too many tickets. Why not try it? But book a one day ticket and hotel accommodation and see how it goes

Definitely depends on the festive. I voted YANBU but changed my mind when you said it was at night. Why not do a family friendly festival in the UK first to see how you all get in with it? My eldest can’t cope with festivals at all so we leave her with grandma and take her younger sister who loves it.

We took our kids to beautiful days when they were 6&8.

They had a fantastic time, and we enjoyed it too, but it was very different from what we wanted/imagined.

Kids don’t want to sit in a field & listen to music they don’t know, so we did the kids’ activities with them and missed discovering any new bands as we had to save their music-watching patience for the bands we really wanted to see.

only you can decide, but we chose to wait for them to be older and more independent before trying again.

Beautiful Days is our favourite festival. Great music, friendly and amazing for children. Loads for them to do included in the ticket price.