I survived the mud with children!

[stiff]

I agree Glasto is for everyone!

We took our 2 boys - Alfie 22 months and Finlay 2.5 week old.

If you go prepared in terms of equipment and attitude then it a brilliant experience.

This was Alfie's second Glasto and he handled it like he'd been going for the previous 41 years!!!

[ethelmeaker]

I did 07 with my lad who was then nearly 2 and he loved it! The last few years has been my weekend 'off' and this year he twigged where me and the hubby were going and threw a strop that he wasn't coming too, so 2013 will be his return to Glasto. We do plenty of other festivals with him but he knows Glastonbury is something special and he can't wait to go back.

I stopped to help a few parents over the weekend, especially those with buggies as I remember only too well how much hard work it is pushing one in that mud!

[grhm]

First time at Glasto, took our 12 yr old boy & 14 yr old girl. Had a great time, they were the reason we went this time rather than watch it on the TV! Only shame was that my boy had to miss a lot of his choices in East Dance cause either they clashed with stuff we parents wanted to see (and as we paid for the tickets...), or it was too bl**dy far to fight to through the mud.

Oh, and I recommend taking chairs for them to stand on so they can see the stage. (Sorry to those who hate us chair users!)

Edited July 7, 2011 by grhm

[fred quimby]

Took my 12yr old Daughter and 10 yr old son this year, been promising for years. Strange with them (I've been going since 82) but we had a blast. did the late night areas (early) with them which I saw in a different light, some parts are more scary now due to their imagination reading parts of shangri la which might have past me by (yes there are now human eating things that lurk in the alley ways. Was great to just relax with them and let them have complete freedom.

Highlight probably was Sunday going to the outdoor silent disco with my daughter then back to camp where a friend had a remote helicopter that we flew over peoples tents and then up to the stone circle to watch the Sun rise, she is still chuffed she stayed awake all night and the next day.

Mrs Q found it a bit harder, although she did have them all day Thursady while I worked.

My son so gets festivals and what they are about.

Now they can return the favour when I'm old and they can look after me

[formed a band]

Taking children out of school , to a kingdom of mud , drunk loons, drugs, late nights and noise. Glasto caters well for children but possibly because they have to.. personally I think its idiotic. Especially really tiny people .

[Josie's Cat]

Taking children to a kingdom of mud , drunk loons, drugs, late nights and noise. Glasto caters well for children .

[abdoujaparov]

Taking children out of school , to a kingdom of mud , drunk loons, drugs, late nights and noise. Glasto caters well for children but possibly because they have to.. personally I think its idiotic. Especially really tiny people .

[indisguise]

The only down side for me is that I would so much prefer to be in the other family camping field near to the kids and cababret areas, but I only arrived late on thursday evening and was led to believe it is full by mid-day on Wednesday.

[swede]

Took my two for the first time this year, they are 2 and 4, we got put in at gate C but ended up camping in Wicket Ground. That being the case we had to do some serious leg work each day to get them to the kidz field and pyramid stage but it was worth all the effort as they had an amazing time. They absolutely loved the kidz field, which was magical, they got to see Rastamouse and they actually enjoyed watching the bands and wouldnt wear their ear defenders. They thought Coldplay was magic, what with the light show and the balloons and the look of shear wonder in their eyes when the balloons finally git to the back of the pyramid field was def worth all the effort.

We had to take them back to the tent on the Friday to get them in their pjs and wetsuits and getting back for Morrissey my eldest had to walk through the thick mud while I had to tip our Phil and Teds buggy onto its back wheels just to plough it through the mud, it was certainly an experience to remember.

Since we've got back the kids keep asking me when we're going back and keep making tents in the living room saying they're at Glastonbury.

My only complaint, even though I had prepared myself for the fact I might have a large walk to get camped, is that there is not enough family camping near the kidz fields, we got into the festival early Wednesday morning and it was already full. It would have made the experience a whole lot better if we were camped closer to the kidz field/pyramid stage, as my in-laws came with me and due to the ammount of walking to and from camp they did not enjoy the glastonbury experience. There should be a part on the ticket registration were you can let the festival know how many children you are bringing because at the minute the dont have a clue. Then if they could increase the family camping around the kidz field they could allocate you either of the family camping sites and also allocate you the closest gate. It took me and my father-in-law two more trips to and from the car to bring our families things to camp and that was time I would have rather spent with my family showing them the wonders of glastonbury.

Edited July 8, 2011 by swede

[swede]

It was, we just about manage to find a space at 12.30ish

Unfortunately Cockmill family camping was yet again full of groups of adults young and old who did not have any children. I appreciate that many adults (including the group of 6 polite young lads that camped near us) head for family camping as it is probably the safest place to camp, but annoyingly it does mean families with children are unable to camp there :angry:

Edited July 8, 2011 by swede

[indisguise]

Its strange that because the camping crew at Wicket Ground were quite strict with who they let in to camp. Me and my father-in-law are punks with full sleeve tattoos and we got stopped on Saturday morning, probably due to apprearance going back into camp and told "Families only" as we didnt have the kids with us, to which we had to explain where our family was camped. I didnt have a problem with it as it showed they were doing their jobs.

[Cheesey]

Its strange that because the camping crew at Wicket Ground were quite strict with who they let in to camp. Me and my father-in-law are punks with full sleeve tattoos and we got stopped on Saturday morning, probably due to apprearance going back into camp and told "Families only" as we didnt have the kids with us, to which we had to explain where our family was camped. I didnt have a problem with it as it showed they were doing their jobs.

Edited July 8, 2011 by Cheesey

[acidstorm523]

Taking children out of school , to a kingdom of mud , drunk loons, drugs, late nights and noise. Glasto caters well for children but possibly because they have to.. personally I think its idiotic. Especially really tiny people .

[swede]

Did not see any evidence of the camping crews doing this in Cockmill

Edited July 8, 2011 by swede

[abdoujaparov]

I thought it was strange how Cockmill Meadow could be that full that early Wednesday morning, now I know. Next time I take the kids if Cockmill is full I will be asking the camping crews if all the people on the camp are families, I know its a bit of a shitty thing to do but OP have the rest of the festival to camp in so why should they take the family camping spots.

[bigbilly]

I got into Cockmill meadow by about 9000am Weds after getting into the q in the carpark at 2am!. There was already tents set up in there but there was still a lot of room to set up and we could take our pick (2 large tents and a med tent). The group next to us got their freinds who were working there to put the tents up on the Tuesday so I am afraid to say that tents were already set up in public spaces before the festival opened.

There seemed to be room at the top of the field but ground was already really badly cut up and muddy. It did fill up though by the end of Weds.

I did not notice many people without families in the kids field. There was a small group of lads camped in front of us but they must have been no older then 16. I think their parents may have been camped elsewhere. On the Friday 2 teenage girls set up not far from us, they said they were with family but I am not sure. I think one problme is that Kydeny Mead was rammed and people arriving later in the week tried their luck in Cockmill. My friend in KM did not even have enough room to sit in a chair outside their tent it was that full.

I took my 1 year old and our friend took their 7 month old. We had a great time but once the rain and mud came we decided to not drag the kids around the site to see in effect bands that we wanted to see. We spent most of the time in the kids field and the adults took turn having nights out and babysitting.

In all honesty I would not take a baby again. Our 1 year old was fine and probably had the best time out of any of us including adults. Our friends baby however was teething and cannot even sit up yet. It does seem a bit unfair carrying them around the site in those conditions - it was just as bad when it was sunny. I do struggle to see what a really young baby would get out of it. Each to their own though!

What I thought was disgusting was the parents dragging their kids around Shangri La at 2 in the morning. Also parents with young children right near the front of stages with no ear protection. When I was near the back of the pyramid field the volume level was still really high for young people. I am a sound engineer and was measuring how loud the sound was (geeky i know)I am sorry but if the kids wont wear the ear defenders then you really should not stay there.

Finnalky the kids field was amazing and the NCT tent was like paradise for us! It really made our festival more enjoyable. I was chatting to the guy who runs the kids field and he was saying how many parents had commented on the facilities for babys and how well they were looked after

Edited July 8, 2011 by bigbilly

[swede]

I got into Cockmill meadow by about 9000am Weds after getting into the q in the carpark at 2am!. There was already tents set up in there but there was still a lot of room to set up and we could take our pick (2 large tents and a med tent). The group next to us got their freinds who were working there to put the tents up on the Tuesday so I am afraid to say that tents were already set up in public spaces before the festival opened.

There seemed to be room at the top of the field but ground was already really badly cut up and muddy. It did fill up though by the end of Weds.

I did not notice many people without families in the kids field. There was a small group of lads camped in front of us but they must have been no older then 16. I think their parents may have been camped elsewhere. On the Friday 2 teenage girls set up not far from us, they said they were with family but I am not sure. I think one problme is that Kydeny Mead was rammed and people arriving later in the week tried their luck in Cockmill. My friend in KM did not even have enough room to sit in a chair outside their tent it was that full.

I took my 1 year old and our friend took their 7 month old. We had a great time but once the rain and mud came we decided to not drag the kids around the site to see in effect bands that we wanted to see. We spent most of the time in the kids field and the adults took turn having nights out and babysitting.

In all honesty I would not take a baby again. Our 1 year old was fine and probably had the best time out of any of us including adults. Our friends baby however was teething and cannot even sit up yet. It does seem a bit unfair carrying them around the site in those conditions - it was just as bad when it was sunny. I do struggle to see what a really young baby would get out of it. Each to their own though!

What I thought was disgusting was the parents dragging their kids around Shangri La at 2 in the morning. Also parents with young children right near the front of stages with no ear protection. When I was near the back of the pyramid field the volume level was still really high for young people. I am a sound engineer and was measuring how loud the sound was (geeky i know)I am sorry but if the kids wont wear the ear defenders then you really should not stay there.

Finnalky the kids field was amazing and the NCT tent was like paradise for us! It really made our festival more enjoyable. I was chatting to the guy who runs the kids field and he was saying how many parents had commented on the facilities for babys and how well they were looked after

[bigbilly]

Just to add I did not see at any time the campsite crew questioning people coming into the camping field. However they did a good job imo and always watched you on a night entering the field. However I did see stewards stopping people entering the kids field on a few occasions. They were on the look out for people using the field as a shorcut to the showers. The were also stopping peolpel who looked intoxicated I beleive.

[LondonTom]

I thought it was strange how Cockmill Meadow could be that full that early Wednesday morning, now I know. Next time I take the kids if Cockmill is full I will be asking the camping crews if all the people on the camp are families, I know its a bit of a shitty thing to do but OP have the rest of the festival to camp in so why should they take the family camping spots.

[swede]

Not that I don't think there shouldn't be bit set aside for families, but by all accounts your paying less per person than other people so you can't really complain. Plenty of the normal campsites were packed full and people had to walk miles....

Edited July 9, 2011 by swede

[Josie's Cat]

It's no argument to say "you paid less per person so you should put up with groups of adults taking up space meant for children"

Would you sit at a kids table in a restaurant on the basis that their meals cost less?

I would be embarrassed to camp in the family camping without kids, just because I couldn't be bothered to walk any further.

[Josie's Cat]

*imagines LondonTom gleefully taking the last seat on a lifeboat - "screw you rugrats and your free child places, this seat is mine!"*

Edited July 9, 2011 by Josie's Cat

[LondonTom]

*imagines LondonTom gleefully taking the last seat on a lifeboat - "screw you rugrats and your free child places, this seat is mine!"*

[abdoujaparov]

Hell yes Survival instinct and all that

Its not so much the setting aside, its the moaning about it filling and having to walk far away when the loads of people for campsite proper had to give up their usual spots anyway this year. I am not saying its bad thing what the festival does, but your technically paying less and getting better treatment with reserved fields close to certain areas.

[Filthy]

To make it worse, one of those fields (pennards)hill was significantly smaller this year cos a chunk of it went to crew camping. The other fields are a hefty trek away from the late night area exit. If you,like late nights at some point you're going to end up in the late night areas and it's fair enough, I think, to have a minor gripe about the distance you have to trek if you weren't lucky enough to get into pennards... ;-)