Camping at a festival

[Tinkerbeth]

Hi,
We're taking our 3year old to her first festival this year - Gloworm. It looks fab as it's all child orientated and we are going to camp there for 3nights. The only thing I'm worried about is food.
Has anyone been before and can give advice on what I should take/what is available or just advice in general for camping with toddlers would be fab!

There was a great range of things to do when we went. The sponsors seemed generous and sensibly minded for a festival with so many children – soft play areas, sand pits, baby changing facilities, rest areas for parents and so on. The fairground part seemed the busiest and there were long queues, probably because all the rides and workshops etc were free and the cost included in the ticket price.
If you're careful, you can find some reasonably priced food options and it's definitely worth visiting the food trucks at least once or twice over the weekend as it's part of the experience. it’s worth asking at food stalls if they’ll do you a children’s portion — they’ll usually say yes, and often charge you very little for it. However, it quickly adds up and so try to take your own snacks and breakfasts at least.
For breakfast I’d normally give each of the dc an instant porridge pot with a pouch of fruit purée (Ella’s) squirted in for extra nutrition and to cool it down! It fills them up and keeps them going for a while. Alternatively you could take cereal bars or sliced malt loaf and little cartons of fruit juice. We normally take cereal bars for snacks though. Satsumas and little boxes of raisins are also good snacks that keep well over the weekend and can be thrown in your day bag without going squishy! Take some food/drink treats which your DC like but don't have very often; makes it easier to say no to the food stalls and avoid the queues. Take endless snacks (mine ate four days’ worth of snacks in 24 hours at Camp Bestival last year).
We often get lunch from the food trucks (saves us carrying stuff around) but always bring our own dinner and eat it back at the tent. Returning to the tent also gives the kids a bit of downtime away from the festival mayhem, and gives you a chance to get their beds ready while it is still daylight. It is a good tip to get their PJs on under their clothes in the early evening too, so they don’t have to fully undress in the cold later on when their batteries are well and truly run out.
We took Tilda Kids pouches for the dc which they happily ate cold.
There are several free water points around the main arenas and campsites. Take the squeezy capsules of dilutable squash (Robinsons Squash'd) if your ds isn’t that fond of water.
From what I’ve found, it’s best to try not to worry too much about adhering to usual bed times — or even meal times for that matter. For a few days, just abandon your usual routine and let them sleep when they’re tired and eat when they’re hungry. You and your DS really will get the most out of it if you go with the flow.

Take glow sticks and bubble mix.
Cut your nails before you go!
The showers are quietest in the afternoons.
Fairy lights for your tent or trolley.
A flag or bunting to identify your tent.
Don't camp at the bottom of a hill, just in case it rains.
Don't forget earplugs for sleeping and perhaps ear defenders for your DS but I don’t think you’ll need them at Gloworm.
Make sure your DS has your mobile number on him, just in case!
Sticks or canes to upend muddy or wet wellies onto so they dry.
A dustpan and brush for the tent.
Some form of lighting - either head torches or a battery powered lantern. We take head torches so that when we come back to the tent after dark, we don’t trip over guy ropes and we can undo the tent zip!
Don't let the programme timings stop you from going off plan and exploring the site. There is so much to see and do. My advice is to have little moments where you just explore and take everything in.

Please leave the bubble mix at home if you want your camping neighbours to like you: bubbles wreck the waterproofing in tents!

Bags of brioche rolls are good for breakfast, or as said instant porridge pots.

BabyBel cheeses keep well not cooled.

Will you take a little stove and pan? The pouches of microwave rice cook really quickly in a pan with a splash of water. You can get pouches of stew / chilli etc in Sainsbury’s, the brand is Look What We Found, it’s good quality.

Sachets of hot choc to mix with water.

I am very lazy at festivals though and don’t want to be washing up so eat from the amazing selection of food vans for main meals.

If you have a good coolbox you can keep stuff cool for 3 days. Freeze some pints of milk before you go and some boxes of juice which will gradually defrost. Means you can have cereals for breakfast (we used to buy the mini boxes as a treat for the kids and pour the milk into the bag so no need for a bowl).

Brioche rolls, cereal bars, yogurts, cheese, crisps, breadsticks, fruit that can withstand getting bashed a bit are all good for snacks. We've generally found portions from the food vans to be pretty generous so might share something for lunch which saves some money.

Take reusable water bottles to fill up as you go (usually there are drinking water points) rather than spending money on bottled water. The Robinson's squirty juices are good to have in a bag.

You may find that washing up facilities aren't great so I wouldn't plan on cooking too much that makes a mess (beans, chillis, curries etc.). We do take a big frying ban to do bacon, sausages, eggs - it's a bit grufty but worst case scenario you can rinse and wipe with kitchen roll.

Thank you so much!!!!! Would love to know what the campsite is like @Ricekrispie22 ? Are spaces allocated out etc for tents? Is it noisy on a night?

Never thought about the porridge pots for breakfast!
We are considering taking a little gas stove with us to do hot water stuff on so that's a good idea regarding the pouch meals too. I think with being there Friday to Monday we want to have as much as we can that doesn't need to stay cool so think it will be pouches for all haha.

We will definitely be lunching from the food stalls as that's all part of the festival fun :).

We haven't booked for camping with power add on however I'm just wondering if it would be worth getting it added on just so we can charge phones etc or is it not that sort of power hahaha. I have been to festivals etc before but never with a toddler and don't normally have to think about all the detail ha.

Good idea about the frozen milk and juice @RomaineCalm even if it just means we can have it the Saturday!

Yeah sharing at food vans could be good too - OH can have one and me and the toddler can share another! (great fo the diet too haha)!

If you are looking for a power bank to charge phones etc. this one isn't cheap but was recommended.

We charge it before we leave home and it's kept both phone charged all weekend as well as an iPad.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07BJZK4KW/ref=ppxyoomobbbinactiveshippo0img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Haven’t been since it moved location from Clumber Park to Thoresby Park last year.