Bestival / kids at festivals in general ....

[rainbowbadger]

Hi - going to Dorset on holiday anyway and was thinking of going to Bestival too with DH and girls aged 9 and 3. Hubby and me went to Glastonbury etc a million years ago before kids so fine with festival, festival loos etc but never done it with kids. Anyone got any tips for bringing kids to festivals and anyone with any thoughts on Bestival??? Cheers

How exciting! i shall be watching this thread with interest as we are going to Shambala this year with a 3 and 1 year old!! I think we should buy shares in baby wipes!

Camp Bestival is great we did it last year with 2.5 and 4 week old (we weren't camping are local) but they had so much to do for children and adults alike and is still small.

Thanks! Crikey, one year and 4 weeks old are very brave!!!!! Three year old is beyond excitement that Mr Tumble will be there and wants to start making our way tonight! FGMID - was it really horrid in the mud from your non-camping viewpoint? Wet wipes on list - any other tips?

Camp Bestival is great

Went last yr with dds who were 4.6 and nearly 2 at the time

IMO and E festivals with dc are great until it rains (prob ok with older dc but babies/crawlers/toddlers is a bit of a mare, I have found)

We had a great weekend the sun shone and there was no mud.

Where is Mr Tumble going to be? I must book now!

Sorry, just realised that it is Bestival. Boo, too much of a schlep for us - even for Mr T.

I think it depends on which festival you go to (eg Reading, Leeds and Download are not kid-friendly), but there's an excellent thread with practical advice here

the weather at Bestival last year was ideal

WOMAD the year before was dire

too muddy to use a buggy, up-to-the-knee schlop type affair

Not Good with a pre-schooler at your heels and a babe strapped to your hip

leave a bag of dry clean clothes in the bvehicle as if it DOES pour down, the whole time, it means you have something stashed away/Amd if it is the type of festival where you cannot get back to your car, it means yu at least ahev some clean dry clothes to travel home in.

Most family friendly festivals have special areas for toddlers - find those and familiarise yourself with what's avaialble. Many have nappy change tent etc or an NCT presence.

Hook up with other parents camping nearby - it is always worth having an extra pair of eyes and ears/someone to play with etc.

Get one of those £10 sunshelter tents and you can park up at the back of the main field, and put blankets etc down as a crawl hole for tired kids to allow you an extra hour or so of music watching time.

Buy glowsticks BEFORE you get there, much cheaper and invaluable for nightlights, and child spotting when it gets darker.

do not stress if they don't eat their normal diet for the weekend - it won't kill them if all they eat all weekend is bread and biscuits

If you have to camp away from your car, think about a foldup wheel barrow to help transport your kit to camping area.

Baby wipes/babywipes/babaywipes!

Brilliant advice on the link - thanks - especially bulk buying glowsticks beforehand!! Im getting v excited now ....

Take hot water bottles for night time - even when it is very warm during the day, it can get really cold at night. If you can't manage to heat up kettle yourself, I have usually managed to find a friendly te-stall holder happy to do it for us (especially if you have been a good custmer during the day )

Went to Big Chill with my 9 year olds last year and they really loved it. Can see mud and babes in arms/toddlers could be hard though.

molly - you are quite correct, all they eat is bread and biscuits (and chips)

You have to Let It Go

How m/c class is this but - Lakeland sell packets of 20 chunky glowsticks (the ones of strings) for around a tenner. (they are ''garden glowsticks'' for 'ambience') but the same sort of thing usually sell for £2 each at the festival, so well worth stocking up on now! As I said, they provide enough of a glow to reassure children in dark tent at night.

Take a bucket with a lid! (Asda used to sell guiant buckets of popcorn for around £3 - those buckets are ideal!)
This is obviously useful for children to pee in if they need a wee before bedtime or the minute they wake up. but also can be used by you in n emergency. Then you empty it in the portaloos at a more convenient and less pressing time

You can't bring enough blankets!

And bin bags! I have used these as welly mats at mud-fests, filled them with grass as impromptu cushions to sit on and fashioned them into extra rainwear when we lost ds1's raincoat...

Bring duct tape too - great for making aforementioned mats and cushions and useful for tent pole repairs.

can you tell I have done one or two festivals with children over the years?

Bestivale last year had a dedicated area for children. On the Castle lawn they had a circus top bouncy castles, disco, fancy dress, things to play on, changing tent and feeding tent plus food, bar and music stage for adults.