Festival season is upon us and because of the pandemic, lots of us will have tickets we bought many years ago, when our circumstances were very different.
If you’re feeling like all your fun festival times are over now you have children to think about, let me change your mind. I’ve been to Glastonbury loads of times and thought I knew all there was to know about that magical farm.
I knew that kids were allowed to go to Glastonbury, but I don’t remember ever noticing children. And until I took mine, I had no idea that Glastonbury’s actually a really good kids holiday.
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In June 2012 my son was only five years old when I took him to Glastonbury. I worried I was being selfish and if he’d even have a good time. He was too little to be able to carry anything, or be helpful, and it would be just us two.
So, I planned. And I planned hard. I bought a large tent, which fitted a big, double, self-inflating airbed in, with a porch big enough to store a trailer trolley (the type you buy for doing bits around the garden). Best thing I’ve ever bought in my life. I also bought a huge top of the range cool box, on wheels!
I bought bungie cords with hooks so I could pile our trolley high, with fab clothes and comfy bedding. I bought a Sharpie to write my phone number on his arm and a little pop up plastic cup, that he could do a quick wee in.
I froze Capri Suns to use as ice packs and filled the cool box with packets of ham, wraps, sandwich fillers and a bottle of survival gin. I also packed bags of marshmallows, Nutella and digestive biscuits, in case we built a fire.
Off we went! We set off at 3am to avoid the queues and he slept all the way. I won’t pretend it was a easy task getting in and setting up. It takes some multi-tasking, keeping an eye on a child and loading bags onto a trailer trolley, while really really needing a wee. I left emergency clothes and underwear in the car in case of bad weather, or the inevitable toilet catastrophe. But we were off.
Dragging that trailer trolley up the muddy hill to the family camping area, while constantly encouraging my son to walk somewhere within my eye line, was a test of physical, mental and emotional stability. But I soon found space to put up our tent. My son played with two kids from a nearby tent while I did the hard work. And we’d done it! It was time to have fun.
First we walked to up the circus field, bought two fruit salads and sat on the sun scorched grass watching the world go by. We wandered towards the Green Peace field and found a little sand pit and paddling pool, to play and dance in.
We discovered a skate park in the Green Fields (where we would spend most of our time). We made mates with the lads who ran it and they would charge my phone for me and give us ice cubes and cold drinks.
At 10pm every night we climbed up a giant metal cockroach to get a good view of the car show, complete with stunts and flames. All the kids were thrilled! And I must admit it was pretty spectacular. One night, as we were sat up high and could see lights from the festival for miles, my son turned to me and said “This is the best day ever, I love you Mummy”.
Five days is a long time. There’s not much sleep to be had, between staying up late, the uncomfortable set up, and the kids camping field bouncing to life at 6am. We walked around a lot and enjoyed exploring in the early mornings, when very few people were about.
He didn’t like the crowds and so we spent most of the busy day time in the children's field. A glorious place with climbing frames, face painting, woodwork and circus skills lessons. The best thing about the children's field is that there is absolutely nothing available to buy. A rare thing in any child entertainment space.
Of an evening we’d make our way from the family camping area to the back of the pyramid stage crowd, with a bag of wood and our marshmallows. There was loads of space up there for us to build a small fire and make friends. It was glorious! He was so happy living in the same clothes and face-paint for days. Living on frozen Capri Suns and toasted marshmallows.
The best thing we learned to do at Glastonbury was bunk the queue for the loo. I would give my son the signal to start acting desperate, while I said “I know babe, just try and hold it a tiny bit longer” really loud, in my best “mummy” voice until everyone in front of us offered to let us go first. Honestly, this saved us hours and hours over the five days.
So don’t leave the kids at home. I would encourage everyone to take small children to Glastonbury and immerse themselves in this fabulous alternate world.
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