Only 7 years old, but already our son considers himself a Glastonbury Festival veteran! It’s his 5th visit to the wonderful festival, 5 and a half if you count when I was 6 months pregnant. He’s missed only the fallow and covid years in his lifetime and is in ours and his view, one of the luckiest little boys alive. Now I know not all will agree with this, I am aware that bringing kids to Glastonbury divides opinion, but most that critique ‘dragging your kids to a festival’ have not been or are not aware of what a magical world the Glastonbury Festival is for them.
Glastonbury Festival 2024
We arrive on Wednesday, and after setting up our tent we head in the heat and glorious sunshine into the main site. The first day before the festival starts proper on Friday is what we have come to call ‘crafts day’. It’s a chance to try our hand at new skills in the Kidz Field; Green Kids or in Green Crafts areas. Over the years we’ve made stick men wind chimes; mosaics; glass ornaments; hats; and more. This year, we had a go at pottery, making small pots that would then dry out in the sun and which we could then swing by and collect later in the festival. No festival with kids is complete without parents wondering how they are going to get the driftwood ornament decorated with seaweed and shells safely home.
There is also the wondrous Carhenge to check out over at the Williams Green area, a Stonehenge inspired construction made of old cars that sit alongside a bar and DJ desk in place of the old Williams Green tent stage where many a secret set used to take place on a Thursday following a traditional power ballad DJ set.
I have little guilt about taking our son out of school for a few days, what he gets from the festival far outweighs what he would miss out on during a couple of days at school at this stage of his education. The festival is not just a feast for the senses of little people, it’s educational and creative at every turn. And that is very much the thought as we forgo our usual Wednesday night bonfire and fireworks experience up at The Park and instead go to check out the newly announced drone show taking place above the Pyramid Field.
When the Kidz Field opened on Thursday we were there, our son eagerly awaiting as the gates opened at 12pm (9am on subsequent days). The Kidz Field is like being in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, there is colour and craziness everywhere. Each year as our son gets a year older, there are different attractions he gravitates to. This year at 7, it was the bikes that control the bubble machine that he arrived at first, and which he would return over and over. The faster he pedalled; the more bubbles came….
But it was the Experimakers tent that he firmly and quite literally glued himself to all weekend. Here it was all about science. He made water rockets, which were then fired into the air with a bicycle pump, gaining extra cackles if it hits a grown up on the way back down! Next came out the bicarbonate of soda, which when mixed with vinegar has some exploding effects. The favourite however was the classic Coke and Mentos experiment, which, using the Experimakers special funnel, caused coke to explode in dramatic fashion at whoever happened to be standing in its way. More cackles from the excited children would ensue. But don’t worry about being followed by the wasps if you get covered in coke, it’s diet apparently!
Talking of wasps, the children across the Kidz Field are meanwhile captivated by a lovely woman and her assistant dressed head to toe as those pesky little insects. They are singing a song about the benefits of wasps, and why they shouldn’t be feared.
Elsewhere, children are running excitedly around the bright pink castle, the kidz field anchor and a maze of tunnels, slides and giant monkey puppet which the children can operate to make it dance. It’s easy to lose your child in there, at one point losing mine for half an hour just as I was hoping to hop to watch Michael Kiwanuka over on the Pyramid Stage. He promises he wasn’t hiding but I’m not so sure!
Michael Kiwanuka @ Glastonbury Festival 2024
When half of the festival goers are just making it to bed, the other half are up and ready to go, and the Pilton Palais cinema helpfully lays on kids movies in the mornings to suit. This year, firmly on our line-up was the premier of Despicable Me 4, an opportunity for a sneak preview ahead of its general release later in July. And it didn’t disappoint!
When it comes to food, you don’t go to Glastonbury expecting to achieve your five a day. But there are increasingly plenty of healthy and child friendly options available, even for the fussiest of children (like ours!). The Kidz Field itself has a cafe which specifically caters for young tastes and portions, the chilli and curries are particularly popular and a tad cheaper than food options found elsewhere in the festival site. There are also smoothie and fruit stalls dotted around which allow at least a small intake of vitamins during the extended weekend. It was, however, Fish Finger Heaven that was our son’s firm favourite this year. The ‘Tiddler’ comprised a yummy fish finger sandwich and a generous tub of baked beans, perfect for the 7-year-old that only does beige. For grown-ups, the Fat Belly Cafe at Croissant Neuf, serving high quality home cooked food and salads is a firm favourite if you’ve had enough of burgers and pizzas.
Glastonbury Festival 2024
While some of the smaller stages do start the music on Thursday, it is on Friday that the music kicks off proper, and there’s nothing we’re desperate to see, so we drive our trusty wooden wagon north. There used to be a more limited draw for children in this part of the site, but in recent years with the introduction of the Glastonbury On Sea pier a few years back, this has changed. Further, as well as the new dragonfly (or is a grasshopper!) at Arcadia this year, next to this is the new Alchemists Playground. This wonderful new space you might expect in a more relaxed Scandinavia than in the UK with our more stringent health & safety laws. Help yourselves to some wood, nails and a hammer and feel free to use these to help build the playground. Only if you are 4 or older though and do watch out for splinters! This approach delighted both my son and I and we equally enjoyed helping build. We also made a stool, but unfortunately despite an attempt to add this to all the wondrous objects being pulled along in our wagon, it was just too big and we had to say goodbye. There were tears….
With stunning views across the temporary city that is Glastonbury, the Pier stands atop the site and allows you to escape briefly from farm to seaside. Here traditional British seaside attractions are plenty, with Hook A Duck being our son’s obsession last year. As we arrive, we are instantly recognised by the guys that run it…”it’s YOU again” and they giggle. This year, much to my surprise after 3 failed attempts to hook the right number duck, my son allows us to move on. Instead, this year he is more captivated by the German artist Kugler’s awesome robot punk band.
There is art and play a plenty for children, but we must not forget the music. The main stage in the Kidz Field welcomed CBBC’s Andy And The Odd Socks again this year amongst others, and the field also had a music tent filled with drum sets; keyboards; and guitars for kids to try their hand themselves. Thankfully there was headphones! Whilst being on the main stages in crowds with kids can be a challenge, the illuminating Xylobands, lasers and fireworks alongside Coldplay’s vibrant set had our son captivated.
The Kidz Field is also a place for both kids and adults to try their hand at a variety of circus skills. Our son can now hula hoop for hours and can walk on stilts. Mastering juggling is for next year!
Close by, the Theatre & Circus field with it’s legendary big blue top tent hosts incredible circus acts from across the country. Each doing a short show that helpfully keeps small people’s attention, there are a variety of jaw dropping and hair-raising artists that defy gravity and dice with things thought humanly impossible. Circus Funtasia is a regular at Glastonbury and one that our son eagerly awaited this year. He yelped as they bought out the finale, a giant hamster like ball within which five stunt bikers would race around with roaring noise and speed and somehow manage to avoid each other. Bonkers.
At a mile and a half across, the walk across Glastonbury with children can take time, and be tiring especially if you are pulling a cart. However, centrally located and a place to take that much needed rest is the Green Kids area, located next to the Greenpeace Stage. This is a relatively small area set around Cadmus, a 40-ft pirate ship for kids to climb up and slide down for hours on end. It’s a place where the grown ups can sit down and take a rest, but still keep their children in sight the whole time. For this reason, Green Kids has over the years been a real saviour and a favourite place for us. They even have kid-sized toilets if your child has a fear of the long drops! A great alternative to the Kidz Field, and for families only, it is also lined with craft tents and even includes a library.
Glastonbury Festival 2023
The most anticipated set of our weekend was the breakfast slot on the Acoustic Stage on Sunday morning. Our son met the up-and-coming blues guitarist Toby Lee when Rockshot Magazine interviewed him at the Gibson Garage a few months prior, and Toby became his role model that day advising Kamran that he had started playing guitar at our son’s present age. When Toby was announced to play Glastonbury, our son firmly etched this set in his line-up! He made sure we were there on time before 11am, and quickly found his way to the barrier. It was lovely to see him enjoying his new idol and Toby, who is currently touring with Jools Holland, has a big career ahead.
Overall, another wonderful family experience and a double thumbs up from our son at the end to try for tickets next year.
Feature on bringing children to Glastonbury Festival 2024 by Lauren Patel. Photography by Kalpesh Patel.
Taking Children To Glastonbury Festival – Looking Back At 2023
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