Reading Festival or Not?

[MrsOriginalBear]

My son will have just turned 16 in June - he's hardworking and responsible - but has anaphylaxis - which complicates things. His mate who would be going with him is also pretty responsible - my question is do I let him go? I feel really worried about him being a couple of hours away in the event of an allergic reaction. I also know we have to let go ... any advice?

I would be tempted to let him go. Would a compromise be you stay somewhere a bit closer so are nearer to hand if needed?

Hmmm - could be. We're worried about them getting sloshed or worse and then him eating something which could be fatal. It would be his first experience of anything like this and my husband reckons we should take a smaller leap to start with ...

Tricky. If he is usually sensible I would feel inclined to trust him, maybe talk over your concerns with him and the friend?

I think they realky want to camp - they do the DofE so are seasoned campers - it's just the fact that DS is pretty naive where partying is concerned. Doing a day-pass is a good compromise - like that idea ... Will float the idea with DS and see if he's on board.

He could camp near the medical centre? See the maps on the festival web site for the location. He should make himself known to the medical staff there too and of course carry his adrenalin with him.

If he has anaphylaxis with food then he does need to be careful, some food stalls claim to be peanut free but aren't.

Day pass is a good compromise. It seems to me that there are responsible teens but lots of teens are drunk pretty much all of the time while they are there. It can get pretty messy.

As I'm also naive in terms of festivals (never been) - I didn't know about the medical centre - which helps with my concern. Thx. It's the drunk teens, as you say, that worry me (I'd imagine he'd join in at some stage), so a day pass plus medical centre sounds like a compromise I can live with.