Remember when music festivals used to be, well, just about the music? Gatherings of the great illiterate have become increasingly elitist in recent years, catering less to stoned college students and more to middle-class families. Polystyrene cups and warm beer have been replaced by eco-friendly glasses and Whispering Angel wine. Tents for two have been eclipsed by yurts and hot tubs, and burger vans by vegan street food. These days, a music festival is more likely to offer a number of bespoke “experiences”—from a private dinner with a top chef to a tai chi lesson and a Wim Hof ice bath—than just a mosh pit.
So if you missed Glastonbury, never fear. We’ve got a cracking 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 (25-28 July 2024)
Tickets from £110 for adults, £18 for children
Latitude has one of the best music line-ups of the summer, with Duran Duran, Kasabian (fresh from a cracking Glastonbury performance), Keane and London Grammar headlining. It’s also going big on stand-up, with Jo Brand, Sara Pascoe and Seann Walsh among those in attendance in the comedy arena this year. Elsewhere there’s dance, poetry, theatre, literature, podcasts and wellness, plus a kids’ area with a packed programme of breakdancing workshops, puppet shows and a science geodome.
Latitudefestival.com
Camp Bestival
Best for: Families looking for fun
Dorset (25-28 July) and Shropshire (15-18 August)
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. As well as an impressively eclectic music line-up, featuring the likes of Paloma Faith, Jake Shears and Rick Astley, there’s a Time Travel Fancy Dress themed costume party, hosted by Radio 2 DJ Sara Cox, where festival-goers are invited to “dress up and get wild”, a dog show, Dick and Dom and Terrible stories on the live stage, a pop bingo disco, family raves and an art lab. And they also cater to more demanding teens with yoga classes, silent retreat meditations and skateboarding lessons.
Kampbestival.net
Wilderness
Ideal for: Yoga-loving moms (and their brood)
Cornbury Park, Cotswolds (1-4 August)
Weekend tickets (non-camping) from £278 per person (£11.20 for children under 5)
Held a stone’s throw from Soho Farmhouse, Wilderness has to be one of the poshest yet coolest festivals in the Cotswolds. Not only does it have a suitably attractive music line-up – Jessie Ware, Michael Kiwanuka and, for us midlifers, De La Soul – it also has an increasingly imaginative range of wellness and fitness “experiences”, 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. And then there’s the wild swimming, the boats and the hot tubs. As for the prep-school offspring, there’s a theatre marquee, pirate school and even a nanny service.
Wildernessfestival.com
Board Masters
Ideal for: beach lovers
Newquay, Cornwall (7-11 August)
Day tickets (currently only available on Fridays and Sundays) 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 the teens, and if they’re not big music fans, there are diversions in the form of surfing 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-goers and surfers alike. It also hosts a number of surfing competitions, including the Boardmasters Junior Open. The festival is so popular that it even offers its own Boardmasters merchandise, including t-shirts, water bottles and hoodies.
Boardmasters.com
Fairport Convention
Best for: Old (and young) hippies
Cropredy, Oxfordshire (8-10 August)
Tickets from £150 per person, children under 11 enter free
Fairport – or Cropredy, as the locals call it – is now in its 45th year, founded and run by the English folk band of the same name. It’s probably Oxfordshire’s least posh festival, a no-nonsense, laid-back affair near the Banbury Canal. Everyone from travellers to deadheads (as Grateful Dead fans are known) is welcome. Regulars are known as Fairporters, and most have been coming for decades. This year’s headliners include Rick Wakeman, The English Rock Ensemble and Tony Christie.
Fairportconvention.com
Just like that
Best for… families with babies and toddlers
Red Hall, Cheshire (16-18 August)
Adult tickets from £80.25, children under 3 enter free
With everything from a magical forest to maypole dancing, Just So, held in the bucolic grounds of Rode Hall, is aimed primarily at families with toddlers. Food-wise, there’s the Spaghetti Sisters, The Corn Cowboys and the plant-based Earthworm Kitchen. There’s also a forest sauna and ice plunge, boutique camping and music from singer-songwriter Lily Lyons, Dana Gavanski and prog-folk band Bonfire Radicals. Best of all, there are no hidden extras, cost-wise. The ticket includes all activities, workshops and theatre shows.
Justsofestival.org.uk
The Great Feast
Best for… Labrador-owning foodies
Cotswolds, Oxfordshire (23-25 August)
Day tickets from £95 for adults, free for children under 5
Is there anything more middle-class than a festival held on the Cotswolds farm of one-time Blur heartthrob Alex James, attended by the likes of Jamie Oliver, David Cameron and Jeremy Clarkson? Oh, and it’s sponsored by M&S too. The Big Feastival is, of course, all about the food, from the live shows from top chefs (including Raymond Blanc, Jack Stein – son of Rick – and Max Le Manna) to the street food. Music-wise, it’s aimed squarely at the parents, with Snow Patrol and Johnny Marr on the main stage, but there’s also a little something for the kids, with a Mr Tumble show, a circus school and a family rave tent.
Thebigfeastival.com
Campers are calling
Best for: Adventurers
Warwickshire (23-25 August)
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 funfair with kids’ club, a fairground and an arcade, Camper Calling certainly has a lot going for it. On the wellness front (for frustrated parents) there’s massage, tai chi and the odd combination of SUP yoga. The festival takes place in the grounds of the historic Ragley Hall and welcomes campers in campervans, caravans and campervans. In a nod to its proximity to Stratford-upon-Avon, the campsites are named after Shakespearean plays – Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet And As you Like It.
Campercalling.com
Carfest
Best for: Petrolheads
Laverstoke Park Farm, Hampshire (23-25 August)
Day tickets from £87, free for children under 5
Carfest isn’t just about cars and music – this year’s event features Richard Ashcroft, Reef and Beverly Knight – but also comedy (Ed Byrne), culture (writers Mike Gayle and Jo Jo Moyes) and food (Angela Hartnett and Theo Randall). The farm where it’s 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, who produce milk and mozzarella for the farm. Carfest is, of course, a celebration of cars – but for the kids there’s an inflatable obstacle course, a STEM science zone and an art club.
Carfest.org
Also Festival
Best for: Culture lovers
Compton Verney, Warwickshire (12-14 July)
Day tickets from £50 per person (£45 for under 30s) 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 it also offers an eclectic line-up of bands and DJs. Then there’s fine dining in a Parisian cabaret, a Sunday lunch curry with River Cottage chef James Whetlor, a cocktail bar and a range of experiential activities, from wild swimming to sound baths and space jumps. For the kids, there are musical theatre workshops, solar system T-shirt painting, raft building and on-site nannies. All set in 300 acres of grounds, including some stunning landscapes designed by Capability Brown.
Also-festival.com