Get yourself and the kids familiarised with some of the songs of artists you might not know who will be playing at the festival and make up your very own family festival playlist on Spotify to listen to in the car or at home in the run up to the festival. Camp Bestival brought out a brand new app recently where you can link your Spotify account to find their playlist such a good idea!
We used our beach trolley to cart all our stuff to and from the car and it was a godsend so if you do have one bring it or even borrow one if not there is a Charity Concierge Taxi which costs £35 each way. You can also hire some pretty sturdy metal trolleys from Mr. Trolley which you either prebook for the whole weekend (Fr-Sun) or they also hire them out hourly (Deposit + £6 for 30 minutes) on the Thursday.
Its pretty handy to have a trolley or a offroad buggy with you at the festival side if you have little ones but ours (9&13yrs) are old enough so we decided to give them both a bum bag with snacks, a bag of pic n mix & hand steriliser to carry around and we used our backpacks for rainjackets, drinks & snacks.
Festival Food is expensive thats a fact and if you are on a budget here is what we brought along to keep the costs down.
Snacks – I packed crisps (Pringles are great because of the lid), party rings, raisins, mini cookies, salt sticks, apples, dried fruit, cereal bars, breadsticks, nuts, jellies, etc so the kids could choose their snacks each day which we took to the festival site in our backpacks. Let the kids make up their very own pic n mix bags at home and label their names and days on the bag.
Drinks -Freeze everything!! Instead of freezer ice blocks who take up space we frozen capri sun, small milk bottles and small water bottles with a lid I also brought mini squash to put in the backpack so they could mix it with the water. For us adults we packed coke, wine & beer in between the frozen drinks and it kept it cool in the cool boxes for all of the 3 days.
Food – This time we only brought along some cereal for the children and frozen milk but you could also bring some sandwiches for the first day for lunch or fill your hot food flasks with boiling water, add hotdogs take some rolls & some sauce sachets (can be collected from places like McDonalds etc). For the following days easy lunch options would be nutella/jam/peanut butter sandwiches once again you could collect those little sachets you get from hotel breakfast etc.
Cooking – Next time we go to a festival we probably would consider bringing a small one hob camping stove with us and predominantly used that to make hot water to make; instant porridge pots, pot noodles, pasta and stir in sauce and noodles. Plus cups of tea and coffee in the morning (yes, there were coffee vans on site but the morning queues were rather long). You could also consider for the first/second days taking pre-made frozen family meals (pasta bolognese, chilli concarne etc). Keep them in your cool bag and they should have nicely defrosted for you to eat on the first/ second day. Other easy to to cook dinners would be bacon, baked beans, hot dogs, eggs, saussages in wraps or rolls.
Bubble Guns are all the range at festivals for all the kids but they cost a fortune at festival stalls so get your own beforehand and don’t forget to pack a spare bubble mixture too. I have to admit though don’t go too cheap I got a £3.99 bubble gun of Temu and it was rubbish so if I am ever in London I will be visiting the Bubble Inc Shop to get a proper one (the same company also has a stall at CB and other festivals in the UK).
Diablos – 2023 was the year of bring your Diabolo to a festival and learn some new tricks! Maybe you have one in the garage or see if you can find one pre loved!
Capes/Wings – Have a look on Vinted, Ebay or Facebook Marketplace for some second hand fairy wings or even the angel wing capes who have metal poles at the end so you can throw some shapes. I manage to find a cape on Vinted for £15 and Mini Mumbler absolutely loved wearing it most of the weekend.
Festival Hair – Mini Mumbler desperately wanted her hair braided with some colourful fake hair after seeing so many kids around the festival but it was £30+ for kids and £50 for adults thankfully my lovely friend Mel came to the rescue she bought some rainbow festival hair on Ebay and braided it in for MM to enjoy! Another idea would be to go to a local hairdresser to have it done professionally before you heading to the festival.
Ear Defenders – Don’t forget to bring some good ear defenders for the kids. We saw lots of young babies and children with ear defenders at Camp Bestival the music can get very loud in some areas and lot’s of the little ones we saw in the evening where sound asleep in their trolleys or baby carrier wearing them. We took some for our 9 year old just in case we did not end up using them but we loaned them out to our friends daughter who was happy to have them.
Fancy Dress – Saturday’s at Camp Bestival is Family Fancy Dress Competition time and its a pure joy to walk through the crowds and see so many families in coordinated costumes anything goes from home made masks, DIY costumes or even the very popular blow up costumes! Go and source preloved bargains on Vinted, Facebook Marketplace or Ebay.
All the Sparkle & Tassle – Festival attire means you can wear your brightest and funkiest clothes as well as all the glitter, sparkle and tassels there is! My friend recommended to check all the charity shops and second hand inline websites after the festival season thats when people sell their stuff and you can manage to bag some bargains!
Glitter/Stick on Gems – I guarantee you will be wearing something sparkly by the end of the weekend. Lots and lots of glitter stations, henna tattoos, places to get nails done etc. If you want to save a bit of cash, take some face glitter with you or some stick on gems or even some hair chalk. The best thing which keeps the glitter on your face is aloe vera gel.
Neon Glow in the Dark Face Paint – I didn’t want to bring all the tubes with me so I refilled them in small pots with lids and took some brushes with me too.
Glow Sticks – Which child doesn’t like a glow stick, armband or even glow glasses when it gets dark at a festival! Buy a tube from a store and bring them along to share them amongst new made festival friends.
At Camp Bestival you can hire a charger locker starting from £25+ for the weekend but other festivals might not have this facility so get a decent powerbank from Anker around the £30 mark will last you just as well I manage to charge 3 Iphones on both the Friday and Saturday night & in the morning.
Camp Bestival had a very handy new app but most of the time it did not load because the signal was shocking at Lulworth Castle (might be better at Shropshire fingers crossed!) so next time I would definitely spend the £10 for the program which is attached to a lanyard and it doubles up as a great memorbilia! A programme will help you plan your weekend as well as helping you to find out where all the main action is on site. But don’t let the programme timings stop you from going off plan and just explore and find things who where not on your list of wanting to see.
Do not forget to bring along some entertainment for some downtime in the tent or when its rainy. We had the nerf guns which where amazing to keep the kids occupied and where also enjoyed by our tent neighbours kids and I also packed UNO and Dobble which was a godsend on the rainy morning.
There are a lot of people at the event. Make sure that your child has your contact details on them at all times. Many children wore wristbands (Camp Bestival provided them for free), or you could write your number on your wrist with permanent marker. You could also consider a digital locator/ wristband we bought a bracelet for the air tag and my 9 yr old daughter wore it the whole weekend just in case.
On arrival at the festival we spoke to both the 9 & 13yr old very clearly about what to do if they became lost. Read guidance from the festival information before you arrive about lost child procedures. Take a picture every morning of your child and the clothing that they are wearing. Familiarise yourself with the location of the first aid tents/ site hospital. Take a small first aid kit with essentials. Remember prevention basics in all the fun – wear a hat and suncream, encourage lots of drinking and try and stick to the shade.
Here are some of the items we packed which was pretty handy to have at the festival & campside:
Baby wipes – which has so many uses
1 spare loo roll – we didn’t need it in Dorset but just in case come Sunday there are all gone
hand sanitiser
head torches to find the tent/hang up in the tent as a nightlight etc
1 towel to use as a carpet to put your dirty shoes on
1 portable foldable potty & liners for the girls and a plastic bottle with a wide opening for the boys so you do not have to go out the tent at night if you need to use the toilet.
Comfy shoes – you will be walking a lot so comfort is key!
Clothes – Clothes, spare clothes (you will need them especially for the kids), Festival Clothes, Fancy Dress Clothes & do not forget all weather gear we had all 4 seasons at Camp Bestival Dorset so wellies & rainjacket came in very handy!
Nerf Guns/Bullets & Protective Glasses – Oh yes! If you are heading to Camp Bestival Dorset or Shropshire don’t forget to bring a Nerf Guns lots of bullets (who will be lost forever but you might be able to pick up some bullets at the end) and of course do not forget your safety goggles to prepare for a EPIC Nerf Gun fight at the festival site Saturday morning it’s not organised by CB but by some longtime avid CB festival goers and officially it lasts 30 minutes this year at Camp Bestival Dorset there where over 300 children and adults and it lastet well over 90 minutes and everyone had such a blast!!
Food Budgeting – You can always ask for kids portions to reduce the meal cost but do check out the WI (Woman’s Institution) Tea Tent they have really reasonable priced FRESH food like bacon sandwiches in the morning as well as sandwiches, delicious homemade cake and a cup of tea/coffee which will make you feel right at home and gives you some respite from the busy chaos outside. And if you happen to celebrate someones birthday that weekend you can even book a birthday cake to collect from as little as £15.
Festival Taxi – If you have a trolley and lots of helping hands great you can pull all your belongings to the campside which most likely mean a have a few hills between your car and the tent but if you have some spare cash it is well worth booking a Festival taxi on the taxi rank (which is based on each campside) which will take you and all your stuff back to your car at the end of the festival for a £35 donation to charity. It was definitly a Life changer for us after a rainy last day at CP and bonus the kids had a whale of a time cruising in the front of the jeep style taxi.
Toilets – Main rule is ‘Don’t Look Down!’ We were quite impressed at the amount of toilets – no queueing, but be warned they are eco friendly, water saving toilets so no flushing, do your business then cover it with sawdust and leave it for the next person. The kids were a bit freaked out by someone else’s big poo staring up at them but by the second day they were absolute pro’s at not looking down, just getting on with it. We took advantage of the #GoodLoos on a few occasions, making a donation of £2 to charity for the luxury of having someone wipe down the toilet before you went in and they threw the sawdust in (it was the same kind of toilet, but felt so much nicer knowing it had been wiped down). I have to say they weren’t so smelly as normal portaloos, and we all got used to them.
Showers – The hot showers where great at CP what a luxury BUT the queues were long – especially in the morning so I showered late in the evening instead.
Refill Water Stations – Camp Bestival has plenty of FREE refill station so you and your family can stay hydrated. Bring your own waterbottles from home and take one of those small squash bottles to make some flavoured water for the kids to encourage them to drink lots throughout the day!
Pre-book Activities – Do some light planning ahead of the festival! There were some lovely activities that provided a bit of calm and a change when you’re all danced out. Also some shade as it was really hot when we were there and an opportunity for the kids to do something crafty. But do plan ahead and make those places first on your list to go and book a slot as they booked up really quickly. Plan your days ahead if you can – the festival covers such a huge area, it’s great to explore but having a plan is a good idea. Check the app for any programme changes/updates to line-up when you get there as there were a few last minute changes when we went.
Our favourite was the Woodland Tribe Big Build – this was a ‘build it yourself’ play area. It was absolutely brilliant with children and their parents building the play area with wood and nails. We manage to book a slot Sunday early morning to go and hammer & saw at midday for 1 hour and help extend the play area all the kids & adults created so far. My eldest made a wooden frame and wrote with chalk on it. Take a pic and SMILE! Despite the awful rain they absolutely loved it.
Refill Cups – When you buy some drinks at CP you will receive a refill cup (for £2) which comes in 2 sizes (adult/kids) which you can exchange on the Sunday throughout the day with a pretty cool coloured Camp Bestival Cup to take home with you.
NO GLASS – Just a word of warning- the festival has a no glass rule that also includes a mirror in any of your make up and do not forget to decant all the wine into plastic bottles!
Don’t take Cash – the site is cashless. If your teens have a Go Henry card or similar this is ideal to allow them a bit of freedom and give them some spending money.
EXPLORE the smaller zones and tents – the main arena & stages are great, but you get to discover the hidden gems in the smaller tents. Our personal favourite was the Caravanserai area – this was a mini festival within the festival. I was great during the day, but it really came alive during the night with some fantastic acts.
And lastly ENJOY YOURSELF – Family festivals are there for you to have fun and enjoy yourself. Try not to worry about routines and itineraries. Enjoy the moment and have fun. Rules went out the window with our kids and what they ate, bedtimes and activities. They were absolutely shattered at the end of it but we all had an incredible time!
A friend of mine also told me about this great FB group called Camp Bestival Facebook Group which was super useful to ask any kind of question for Dorset & Shropshire CB’s!
