9 tips to taking kids to a music festival

Festival season is here! For many parents, the idea of attending a music festival with kids can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. It’s natural to feel a bit anxious about the logistics and potential challenges of navigating a festival with children, especially if it’s your first time. Here to ease your worries and help you fully embrace the festival spirit, Josie da Bank (co-founder of Camp Bestival) shares these tips to ensure your weekend is an unforgettable adventure for the whole family! 

Camp Bestival was created by families especially for families, so I like to think we know a thing or two about making magical memories with your kids at a music festival. Looking after your children’s physical and emotional wellness is of the utmost importance, so 100% high-octane excitement all weekend long isn’t the way (although there’s always plenty of excitement when you want it). There are so many gentler, more reflective experiences you can have together as a family that give children the opportunity to stretch their creativity, regain focus and calm, encourage self-expression and boost confidence. These adventurous explorations are hugely beneficial to our little ones.

Here are some tips to make help parents make their family festival experience as fun and enjoyable as possible with their kids.

1. Feel at ease with like-minded people – While parents might find the idea of going to a festival with the family quite stressful, attending family festivals is a game changer. You soon realise that everyone is in the same boat and that you’re surrounded by like-minded parents who are going through the same things as you and looking for a few days of fun with the family to unwind.
2. Don’t feel tied to a routine – late nights for the entire family are a certainty, so it’s important to let your little one’s nap when they need to and tag team tent trips and naps with someone if needs be. Factor in break times, so there’s enough energy for the late-night headliners.
3. Break from the screens – we pride ourselves on the sheer number of different screen free activities we have at Camp Bestival. They’re the perfect excuse to switch off, become one with the surroundings and introduce the kids to mindfulness techniques in a causal and fun way. At Camp Bestival Dorset for example, families can experience the Inner Sunshine Garden’s unique blend of natural beauty, mindfulness activities and quiet space to relax. There’s MiniMe Mindfulness too, whose Interactive activities teach children to feel more love, happiness, resilience, internal calm, focus and confidence.
4. Prepare for the sunshine and rain! – it’s glorious when the sun is shining but it can’t always be guaranteed… so bring sun cream, even when the sun isn’t blazing, you’re outside all day so this is a must! And bring sun hats, shades and shorts but also wellies, and ponchos, which are easy to carry and pack away, and most importantly…. wipes (they’re multi-purpose marvels). You don’t need to bring absolutely everything along for the whole family, but a little bit of careful planning can help ease the worry of being unprepared.
5. It’s not all about the music – get ready for a chilled atmosphere, lots of delicious food and drink, and unexpected entertainment and activities at every corner of the festival to get stuck into! Don’t feel tied down to the musical line-up, explore the site for everything it offers – it’s these moments that create ever-lasting family memories.
6. Go all out on the fancy dress – Fancy Dress Day is one of the centrepieces of what Robby and I created when setting up Camp Bestival. Fancy dress is a chance for the whole family to become someone or even something else for the day, and everyone can get involved! Plan ahead, get creative with your outfits and most importantly, keep it fun! For those coming to Camp Bestival this year, Dorset is sporting an out of this world ‘Intergalactic, Aliens and Space’ theme, while Shropshire has a ‘Time Travel’ theme, so look up to the cosmos for some inspiration or showcase your favourite era!
7. Invest in a festival trolley! – You’ll do a lot of walking over the weekend, so it is important to consider either hiring or bringing a festival trolley so babies and toddlers can easily jump in and sleep if needed. Plus, children can use the trolley to relax late at night while the parents (and grandparents!) dance to their childhood heroes!
8. Look out for the baby zones! The Baby Den provides a quiet, comfortable space for parents and babies to chill. Come and freshen up your baby, feed or take a moment to relax. It can be an area of true tranquillity and no judgement, which is perfect for parents especially with young children.
9. Get into nature – As always, our magical, woodland refuge, the Dingly Dell is the gateway to the nurturing bosom of nature’s playground where Wild Ones offer kids craft, wild workshops and messy activities like mud kitchens and wildcrafts. The Rig is a musical playground for all the family built from recycled objects turned into instruments and sound experiments, plus there’s a host of tooting, whistling, plinking and parping gizmos inspired by a wasteland of unwanted industrial bits and bobs with the Orchestra of Objects – exploring these areas helps to stretch kids’ imaginations and grow their confidence.

Biography

Josie da Bank is an artist, illustrator and co-founder of the UK’s most acclaimed family festival, Camp Bestival. She is best known for her unique artistic style – think post-acid house meets hippy. She has designed sleeves for her husband Rob’s Sunday Best Recordings compilations, curated one of Shoreditch’s first stylish bars, Cocomo, and produced two of the best-loved festivals of this century – Bestival and Camp Bestival. Oh, and not forgetting the small matter of raising four sons. Her recent projects include designing bars and restaurants on the Isle of Wight, one of the few benefits of taking an enforced break from the event industry during the pandemic. Josie and Rob have also established Slow Motion Wellness – a site with luxury accommodation for cold water therapy retreats, meditation workshops, yoga (which Josie sometimes teaches) and more.

In May 2024, Josie and Rob da Bank released ‘Camp Bestival at Home’, the perfect handbook for parents who want to bring the magical ethos of the festival home. Created by families, for families. We Are Family!

Arranged by season and packed with activities, recipes and ideas to keep the whole family inspired all year round, why not get back to nature, have campfire singalongs and stargaze. For kids with endless energy, you could organise a kitchen disco or put on a family show. Go foraging, learn circus skills and face painting, or make festive decorations. And relax after all the activity with a family feast, plus some yoga and meditation for the grown-ups.

The book also contains contributions from celebrity friends and festival regulars including Fatboy Slim, Sara Cox, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Fearne Cotton and Jo Whiley. The book is illustrated throughout by Josie and is filled with vibrant festival photography and imagery guiding you step-by-step through each activity.