How To Go To A Music Festival With Kids & Teens

Latitude is super family friendly, with something to please even the youngest of guests. There’s everything here from puppetry and drama classes to pond dipping, astronomy and pizza making. Older children of 12 years and over (who want to be slightly ‘cooler’) can explore the ‘Inbetweener’s Area’ hidden away in the woods, where there are exciting assault courses of nets and zip wires high in the trees.

The family area is always quite busy with loads going on. The area is crammed with activities and workshops to make things that children can take away and for parents to get involved in too. You could easily spend a day exploring the area and it's far enough from the big stages that it isn't as loud for little ones. With three separate areas for kids, teens and families, Latitude aims to be the best for families – and has won awards for its family friendly attitude.

We’re very proud to be a family friendly festival. However, there are a few things to note before your family arrives. We don’t allow anyone under 16 to be at the festival over the weekend without an adult of 18 or over. Children under ten must be always accompanied on site by an adult aged 18 or over. If you are happy for your child aged ten to 12 to walk through the arena entrance without you, then you can get an authorised unaccompanied wristband from any wristband exchange. Any children under 13 without one of these wristbands, or any children under 10 found on their own, will be looked after by the welfare team and we will try and get in touch.

The family campsite is our dedicated area for families with children 16 or under at the festival to camp out. The site features dedicated toilets, showers, washing up facilities and food traders.
The campsite is situated right next to the Enchanted Garden area with its busy programme of activities for families to enjoy together. The campsite also has its own arena entrance, meaning you can get into the festival quickly. You’ll also have access to the family car park, located close to the family campsite to minimise your journey from car to tent.

1. Learn the layout of the site – particularly your camping area so you can easily find toilets and stewards. Pick out memorable points near your campsite to help remember where your camping spot is located. Are there landmarks nearby that can help you find it?
2. Decide on a meeting point with your family in case you get separated from each other. Take a photo of your children on your mobile phone in the morning so that you have the most recent photo on you.
3. Get to know the people who are camped around you. It makes for a nicer environment and it means you’ll be familiar with who should be coming and going in your area.
4. Keep your phone charged in case you’re separated from your friends. There will be two charge points, one at the campsite village and the other at the main arena. Power packs will also be on sale or you can bring your own.
5. Stay hydrated. There are drinking water points throughout the arena which are free to use.
6. Carry a torch with you or enable the torch on your phone to use for when it gets dark.
7. Rely on festival stewards to help you. Don’t be worried about asking for help in any situation, whether it’s asking for directions or to report something or someone you’re worried about. There are medics at the festival who are fully equipped to deal with all situations so you don't need to bring a first aid kit, but many people bring a small kit with essentials such as plasters. Latitude can be sunny, so bring sun cream and clothes for a range of weather.
8. Find ear plugs at the Welfare Tent. You may also wish to bring ear defenders for younger children.

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We’ve been doing this for 15 years and are always amazed at how many families have never camped together, so these are real memory making adventures. I promise, it will be the highlight of your year.

We cater for every age at Camp Bestival, from two-days old to 92-year-old grandparents. Our whole show is designed around families, and everyone has at least one child with them, so we don’t segregate the campsites or zones. Everyone mucks in together and the campsites are nice and quiet most of the night. Teens tend to stick around at the Castle Stage for the bigger acts or the Bollywood tent for the DJs. We also have an amazing Textile & Fashion World area and loads of skateboarding and physical hands-on stuff for teens.

A lot of families do tend to set up in front of the main stage so they have a base for the day that everyone will remember how to find. I’m sure there are equally a lot of people who are a bit more freestyle and move from stage to stage or zone to zone. We are careful to try and keep things in roughly the same places each year so kids particularly can find their way about easily and get that sense of familiarity. I even enjoy it at shows like Glastonbury as I can always find my way home! You can take chairs into the main site, but just be careful about carrying more than you want as they are long days. Also remember to be respectful of sitting in a spot where people might want to dance or be able to stand and see the acts.

Making the weekend fun for both kids and adults the magic formula each family has to navigate. If there are two parents or carers that obviously means you can split duties – someone might be able to sneak off for an hour or two for a cheeky dad dance or some mum me-time having a yoga class or some pampering. There are loads of areas that are designed to enjoy as a family like Caravanserai or the Dingly Dell so no one should get bored or feel like they’re missing out.