Remember when music festivals used to be, well, just about music? Gatherings of the great unwashed have become increasingly high-brow in recent years, aimed less at stoned students and more at middle-class families. Polystyrene cups and warm beer have been replaced by eco-friendly glasses and Whispering Angel wine. Two-man tents have been eclipsed by yurts and hot tubs, and burger vans by vegan street food. Nowadays, a music festival is most likely to offer a number of bespoke “experiences”, from a private dinner with a top chef to a tai-chi class and a Wim Hof ice bath, rather than just a mosh pit.
So if you missed Glastonbury, fret not. We’ve got a great line-up of the best upcoming family-friendly festivals – all of which still have tickets available. Which one is right for you? Read on.
Latitude
Best for: Great bands and giggles
Henham Park, Suffolk (July 25-28, 2024)
Tickets from £110 for adults, £18 for children
Latitude has one of the summer’s best music line-ups with Duran Duran, Kasabian (fresh from a stellar performance at Glastonbury), Keane and London Grammar headlining. It also goes big on stand-up and this year Jo Brand, Sara Pascoe and Seann Walsh will be among those holding forth in the comedy arena. Elsewhere you’ll find dance, poetry, theatre, literature, podcasts and wellness, plus a kids’ area with a packed programme including breakdancing workshops, puppet shows and a science geodome.
Camp Bestival
Best for: Fun-seeking families
Dorset (July 25-28) and Shropshire (August 15-18)
Day tickets from £85 for adults or £198 for a family of four
Camp Bestival claims to be the UK’s favourite family festival, and there’s certainly no shortage of kid-friendly activities. Alongside an impressively eclectic music line-up, including Paloma Faith, Jake Shears and Rick Astley, there’s a costume party with a Time Travel Fancy Dress theme, presided over by Radio 2 DJ Sara Cox, where festival goers are invited to “dress up to get down”, a dog show, Dick and Dom and Horrible Histories on the live stage, a pop bingo disco, family raves and an art lab. And they cater for more discerning teens too with yoga classes, silent retreat meditations and skateboard lessons.
Wilderness
Best for: Yoga-loving mums (and their brood)
Cornbury Park, Cotswolds (August 1-4)
Weekend (non-camping) tickets from £278 per person (£11.20 for under-5s)
Wilderness, held a stone’s throw from Soho Farmhouse, has to be one of the poshest but coolest festivals in the Cotswolds. Not only does it have a pretty appealing music line-up – Jessie Ware, Michael Kiwanuka and, for us midlifers, De La Soul – it also has an increasingly imaginative array of wellness and fitness “experiences”: everything from “aerial yoga” (something to do with hammocks, apparently) to “hot girl boxing” and one-on-one sessions with the “High Priestess of Sacred Feminine Mysteries”, where you can learn more about how to tap into your sensuality. Then there’s the wild swimming, boats and hot tubs. As for the prep school progeny, there’s a theatre tent, pirate school and even a nanny service.
Boardmasters
Best for: Beach lovers
Newquay, Cornwall (August 7-11)
Day tickets (currently only Friday and Sunday available) from £85 including coach travel
With Tom Odell, Sam Fender and Stormzy headlining this summer, Boardmasters in Cornwall is sure to be a hit with teens, and if they are not big music lovers then there are diversions in the form of surf lessons, coasteering, snorkelling and kayaking. The festival has teamed up with a number of local Cornish surf schools to offer a range of activities, perfect for beach bums and surfers. It also runs a number of surfing competitions including the Boardmasters Junior Open. The festival is so popular it even offers its own Boardmasters merch including T-shirts, water bottles and hoodies.
Fairport Convention
Best for: Old (and young) hippies
Cropredy, Oxfordshire (August 8-10)
Tickets from £150 per person, under-11s go free
Fairport – or Cropredy, as it’s known to locals – now in its 45th year and founded and headed by the English folk band of the same name, is probably the least posh festival in Oxfordshire, a no-frills gathering with a relaxed vibe near the Banbury Canal. Everyone from travellers to deadheads (as Grateful Dead fans are known) are welcome. Regulars are known as Fairporters and most of them have been coming here for decades. This year Rick Wakeman, The English Rock Ensemble and Tony Christie are also headlining.
Just So
Best for… families with babies and toddlers
Rode Hall, Cheshire (August 16-18)
Adult tickets from £80.25, under-3s go free
With everything from a magic forest to maypole dancing, Just So, which takes place in the bucolic grounds of Rode Hall, is very much geared towards families with pre-schoolers. Food wise, there’s the Spaghetti Sisters, The Corn Cowboys and the plant-based Earthworm Kitchen. There’s also a woodland sauna and ice plunge, boutique camping and music from singer-songwriter Lily Lyons, Dana Gavanski and prog-folk outfit Bonfire Radicals. Best of all, there are no hidden extras, cost wise. The ticket includes all activities, workshops and theatre shows.
The Big Feastival
Best for… Labrador-owning foodies
Cotswolds, Oxfordshire (August 23-25)
Day tickets from £95 for adults, free for under-5s
Is there anything more middle class than a festival on the Cotswolds farm of Alex James, one-time Blur heartthrob, frequented by the likes of Jamie Oliver, David Cameron and Jeremy Clarkson? Oh, and it’s also sponsored by M&S. The Big Feastival is, of course, all about the food, from its live shows by top chefs (including Raymond Blanc, Jack Stein – son of Rick – and Max Le Manna) to its street food. Music-wise, it’s mostly geared towards the parents with Snow Patrol and Johnny Marr on the main stage, but kids are also catered for with a show from Mr Tumble, a circus school and a family rave tent.
Camper Calling
Best for: Adventure seekers
Warwickshire (August 23-25)
Tickets from £150 for adults and £5 for young children
With four stages and music from Groove Armada, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Jessie J, plus tree climbing, slacklining, bushcraft adventures, a carnival field with a kids’ club, a fairground and an arcade, Camper Calling certainly has plenty to offer. On the wellness side (for frazzled parents), there’s massage, tai-chi and the curious combination of SUP yoga. Set in the grounds of the historic Ragley Hall, the festival welcomes campers in motorhomes, caravans or campervans. As a nod to its proximity to Stratford-upon-Avon, camping areas are named after Shakespearian plays – Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet and As You Like It.
Carfest
Best for: Petrol heads
Laverstoke Park Farm, Hampshire (August 23-25)
Day tickets from £87, free for under-5s
Carfest encompasses not just cars and music – with Richard Ashcroft, Reef and Beverly Knight lined up this year – but also comedy (Ed Byrne) culture (authors Mike Gayle and Jo Jo Moyes) and food (Angela Hartnett and Theo Randall). The farm on which it is held is owned by former Formula 1 world champion Jody Scheckter and at the heart of the 2,500-acre site is a herd of Asian water buffalo, which produce milk and mozzarella for the farm. Carfest is, of course, a celebration of cars – but for kids there’s an inflatable assault course, a STEM science zone and an art club.
Also Festival
Best for: Culture vultures
Compton Verney, Warwickshire (July 12-14)
Day tickets from £50 per person (£45 for those under 30) and from £30 per child
With talks from authors and academics – including Philippa Perry, Adam Kay and Natalie Haynes – Also is a literary festival, but also hosts an eclectic array of bands and DJs. Then there’s fine dining in a Parisian cabaret marquee, a Sunday lunch curry feast with River Cottage chef James Whetlor, a co*cktail bar and a range of experiential activities, from wild swimming to sound baths and space hoppers. For children, there’s musical theatre workshops, solar system T-shirt painting, raft building and on-site nannies. All set within 120 acres, including some glorious Capability Brown-designed landscape.
