A mum has shared her best tips for taking a baby to a festival after bringing her own nine-month-old son to Download Festival last weekend. Anne Shirley, 36, and her partner Andrew Harris, 37, began planning to take their baby Ziggy to a festival when Anne was still pregnant and organised tickets for Download Festival when Ziggy was six months old.
Ready for a challenge, the pair did all they could to prepare for a weekend camping with a baby and headed to Download Festival last weekend. Maths teacher Anne has no regrets about taking young rocker Ziggy along and is now offering her best tips to other music-loving parents for taking babies to festivals.
Anne said: "It was something we always talked about doing while I was pregnant - we couldn't wait to take him to a festival with us. We're both super passionate about music so wanted to get him started young, plus tickets are even free for children under four years old.
"We had a big chat about whether or not it was realistically a possibility to take him and would he actually get any enjoyment out of it, but it turned out that he loved it. Before the festival, we played him some of the bands that were on so he might recognise some of the music - we even found lullaby renditions of Kiss for him to fall asleep to.
"I'd advise bringing plenty of snacks and pre-made bottles of formula as it's much less of a faff than making up bottles. Bring suncream if you're lucky, rain suit if you're not. We took him plenty of musical instruments - tambourine, maracas, drum, bells - so we could encourage him to play along.
"We set up camp at the back of the main stage and second stage where there was space for a picnic blanket and for him to crawl, bounce and dance and we brought a tiny baby pop up tent for shade and shelter. I think it's fair to say Ziggy had a blast! I'd definitely recommend it for anyone thinking about taking their baby to a festival!"
Anne and Andrew had initially planned on going to Download Festival in the day and returning home to sleep but brought a tent in case Ziggy needed any downtime during the day. Amazingly, Ziggy even managed to nap in the arena and had no issues falling asleep at his normal bedtime so the family ended up camping the whole weekend amongst other festival-goers.
Many festivals, including Download and Glastonbury, have quiet camping areas which Anne advises camping in if taking a baby or young child to the festival for peaceful sleep. Anne added: "We decided we'd set up the tent so we'd have somewhere quiet to bring him if we felt he needed some quiet time or if the weather was horrific, we'd have somewhere clean and dry to change him and throw in some camping stuff on the off-chance.
"He slept way better in a tent than he does at home! You can get a quiet camping pass and it doesn't cost any extra.
"We tried to keep his routine as normal as possible, popping him in his pushchair for nap time. At bedtime, we put him in his sleepsuit and sleeping bag, gave him a cuddle and a bottle as usual then put him to bed in his pushchair with the hood down and he managed to sleep through all the headline acts!
"We just wheeled him into the tent when we were ready to head back and he slept right through!"
Anne covered Ziggy's pram in fairy lights so that people would be able to see him and not trip over or fall onto the pram and advises other parents to do the same. She said: "We took his pushchair as the forecast was dry but made sure we had a backpack baby carrier too just in case it still became muddy, although he much preferred sitting on shoulders.
"I'd also advise always asking the security staff if there's an easier route - pretty much every one of them was happy to open gates or direct us through easier access routes that weren't open to the public."
She also bought baby ear defenders for Ziggy which he kept on most of the time and meant he could still enjoy the music without it all being too loud for him. There are a wide selection of baby earmuffs available online with prices averaging between £10 and £20 on Amazon and Anne advises that parents buy them for their babies for festivals after having such a success with Ziggy.
Anne added: "He seemed pretty comfortable in the ear defenders too - it's normally a real battle to keep anything on his head, hence no sun hat! They were really good and he even managed to leave them on most of the time!"
Dressed in a denim jacket covered in rock band patches just like his dad, Ziggy looked the part as a festival-goer and could be seen happily dancing to the music throughout the weekend. Anne said: "I think it's fair to say Ziggy had a blast!
"Before the festival, we played him some of the bands that were on so he might recognise some of the music - we even found lullaby renditions of Kiss for him to fall asleep to! We had a brilliant time - very different from the usual festival experience of running from stage to stage with a beer in hand, altogether more laid back and it was awesome to see Ziggy having so much fun.
"The staff and the crowd were so friendly and helpful and showered him with fuss and attention, which he loved! We would 100% recommend it to anyone thinking about taking their child to a festival. We will definitely be taking him next year and are currently looking at taking him to Bloodstock if we can get tickets!"
