Jo writes:
This year I did something I never thought I’d do. Ever.
I took my two girls away, on my own, in a tent, to a festival.
My ex would never have camped, but as a kid brought up on holidays in South Wales and Cornwall in either a tent or caravan I was more than ready step back under canvas and my two monkeys seemed ready for the challenge. Miss M is four, Miss E about to turn nine. They’re good kids…or as good as most kids anyway. So having invested in a tent to provide future holidays for myself and my small brood, when a friend suggested we test it out by heading for The Big Chill there was no question in my mind. Yes, yes, we could do this.
While I’ve seen other posts about taking kids to festivals there are a few things I’d also like to point out. And they are things that if I’m honest are pretty blumming important to me.
Firstly, the toilets.
How can I describe them? Okay, whatever you can imagine, it’s very possible they will be much, much worse. We’re talking things not necessarily in the, erm, loo, but actually on it. As we head down to Blue Campsite on our first day the scent of sewers is already in the air, so we set up camp near the path at the edge of the field and just over half way up, far far away from the icky pong. We’re also hoping this position will help us to avoid unnecessary foot traffic from drunken neighbours, as well as being easy to find and safer for the kids as they won’t have to step over a million guy ropes in the dark.
That done, and with a lidded bucket to prevent me from having to abandon my children or drag them both out for mine or their late night ablutions, I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself…until I actually take them to the toilet for the first time. Don’t get me wrong, the facilities are as clean as they could be, but with three more nights and a few thousand more campers to arrive it is obvious it is going to get much worse, and I am afraid, VERY afraid.
The I see this emblazoned outside a large tent.
Happy music emanates from its shiny folds and I venture in lured by the promise of a constant supply of loo roll, hand gel and cleaning staff. I’m not disappointed. At £2.50 a go it’s fairly pricey but for £15 I can get a ticket for myself and the girls for the whole weekend in the form of a red wrist band, and they’ll even give me my original £2.50 back. It’s a win-win situation as far as I’m concerned. We get to use the okay toilets, and they get to grow lovely flowers from our waste. Nice.
But don’t rely on my words alone, look, I took pictures for you.
No really, I did.
As you enter, the lovely man or lady on duty hands you a wooden spoon with a number on it. The number matches a door.
You open the door et voila, a lovely, clean mud free cubicle all to yourself, or you plus one small child. Miss E is given the spoon for next door while Miss M and I take turns as at four and a half she likes to be all independent.
Nothing at all to do with the fact she refers to each wooden chamber as her ‘cottage’ and thoroughly enjoys locking Mummy out by shoving the aforementioned wooden spoon through the holes in the door like so…
Seriously people, this place is a godsend. I’m not saying it’s chic or anything and I would advise you not to look down, and the smell is still undoubtedly a toilet smell, but it is sprinkled with wood shavings, the seats are fresh and clean and you dare to put your bag down, which is always a good sign in my opinion. They also supply other toiletry items as listed on their site and are constantly smiling which is quite weird when you consider their line of work.
Extremely important point number 2, PACK LIGHTLY. While it is very possible you will get rivers of mud as well as burning sunshine as we did, you still need to consider that unlike your usual camping expedition you will not be parking beside your car. In fact, you may have to trek a half a mile or more with your luggage, and while wagons can be hired at £5 per half hour with a £50 deposit, it is still pretty rough going carting your tent, clothing for wet and dry weather, long socks to avoid welly burn, wind break, stove, water carrier, chairs, table, rugs, bucket, food, sleeping bags, air beds, pump, toys (colouring books, a few favourites, and teddies), rugs, suntan cream, baby wipes, loo roll, camera, phone, and possibly a toddler or two, over uneven ground that has been churned into muddy grooves and is scattered with hills, dips and potholes.
It took me two hours to load our car back up and that included two trips on foot, resembling a sweaty mule with a lop sided straw hat and oversized wellies. In fact those wellies would have probably fit a mule but I’m still glad I borrowed them.
A third point, you will need cash. It is likely there will be card machines on the actual entertainments field and many places do cash back, but if its a small festival take plenty. You will need it, whether to buy the essential festival hat, or alcohol ice cream.
And ear plugs for yourself and the kids. The noise doesn’t stop at night people, but kids have to stop at some point or it would all go very very wrong. The latest mine stayed up was about 11.30pm as we wanted to give them the experience of seeing the festival in darkness with all the lights and music and a bit of a boogie, but otherwise night time isn’t really for them as you need to be over 18 to get into the comedy tents and bars, and also the atmosphere does change once alcohol takes over and people’s inhibitions leave, that’s not to say daytime equals normality. You are at a festival after all and it’s amazing how quickly kids can get used to men in tutus, superheroes, zombies and lego people wandering around, in fact after a while it’s likely they’ll want to join in.
Perhaps the most important thing to do is actually before you attend a festival. or even before you buy your tickets. Because aside from learning how to put up your tent, you need to ask yourself the question, ‘Will a festival actually suit my kids?’ My two, especially Miss E, were a little overwhelmed by the noise and bustle. They struggled to sleep, didn’t always like the food choices available, and found the amount of walking and carrying hard going at times. In fact it actually took them a full day and a half to relax and learn to ‘chill.’ Before you go find out what is actually there for them to do.
If we’d booked earlier we could have been on the family field where there was apparently a playground and space for them to run around freely. If you can, start them off with a one nighter to see how they react to the experience, afterall you won’t them to enjoy it too right? Pick a family friendly festival such as The Big Chill, The Green Gathering, Camp Bestival Go with a friend/partner.
It’s easier to manage if you are not alone with your kids it’s and a whole lot more fun for you all. I learned a lot about myself and my girls at the Big Chill, mainly that I shouldn’t underestimate their different reactions to challenging situations, that they will pull together and adapt amazingly well when necessary, and that I am a lot stronger than I realised, both physically and mentally.
Will I take them again?
If they want to go then yes, but we’ll do a smaller one next time or just go for a couple of nights. There was a ton of good stuff they took away from this experience, but it was tough at times too.
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