Wondering about taking the kids with you to a music festival this summer? We have picked 7 family friendly festivals known for their music but also other things, including art, dance, literature and more. These are all taking place this summer in Ireland, UK and Europe.

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If you haven’t been to a music festival with your kids before, then I would recommend it, with a few tips you can make it the most amazing experience. It is good to choose a more family-friendly festival, so here are 7 taking place in Ireland, UK and Europe to enjoy.

Family Friendly Festivals in Ireland

Body&Soul

This year’s family friendly Body&Soul Festival takes place in Ballinlough Castle, Co. Westmeath from 19th-21st June 2020 with Metronomy, Roisin Murphy and Kojaque amongst the music acts.

Body&Soul invites you and your family to come down to the woods on the summer solstice weekend to dance with the fairies and follow twinkling pathways to secret corners unknown, all with new sights, sounds and stories that will thrill, excite and enchant the spirits of your Soul Kids.

For the wee ones check out the Soul Kids programme with lots of fantastic activities for children, including yoga, creative workshops and wonderful surprises.

“We’ve been to Body and Soul for 4 years and the kids love it! There is a lovely wooded area when you can wander around and you’ll happen upon all kinds of quirky entertainment. The Soul Kids area is great for the younger ones and because it’s contained within a walled garden, it is beautifully sheltered and safe. We’re going again this year and we can’t wait – the count down is on!” – Paul

More info at www.bodyandsoul.ie.

Kaleidoscope Festival

Kaleidoscope is returning to Wicklow’s Russborough House 26th to 28th June 2020, promising magnificent music, terrific theatre, incredible inspiration, super sports, fantastic food, and more.

They will have plenty for kids with specific programs for ages 2-5, 6-11 and 12-17-year olds.

Basement Jaxx and The Divine Comedy are announced at time of writing.

“We had a fabulous time at Kaleidoscope, music, workshops and activities for the kids, it was just great fun” – Katie

Visit www.kaleidoscopefestival.ie.

Related: 20 essential family tips for going to a music festival

Family Friendly Festivals in the UK

Latitude

Latitude Festival takes place at Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolks Thursday 16th – Sunday 19th July 2020. This year’s headline acts include Haim, Liam Gallagher and The Chemical Brothers.

Latitude’s awards for “Best Family Festival” and “Best Major Festival” (UK Festival Awards) are testament to the huge array of family-friendly activities available at Latitude for children and parents alike.

Arranged around the banks of the central Latitude lake you will find the incredibly enticing Kids’ Area, where children are entertained all day and into the night with everything from pond dipping and stargazing to bush-craft skills and French knitting. A real hive of activity, your only problem is how you’ll fit it all in!

“All 4 of us thoroughly enjoyed Latitude, it’s very child-friendly. There were lots of kids activities throughout the day and we loved the library tent where you could borrow kids books from and bring them away with you. There was plenty of wide open space too so you never felt over crowded and you could easily find a good spot at the back where it wasn’t too loud” – Jill

Visit www.latitudefestival.com.

Womad

WOMAD 2019 takes place 23rd – 26th July 2020 at Charlton Park, Malmesbury with a feast of world music. There’s usually a couple of acts you will have heard of, but one of the joys of WOMAD is experiencing all sort of music you haven’t heard of before.

WOMAD is a feast of culture. Apart from experiencing the hottest musicians and inspiring new talent from around the world there is always much more to discover. Children and families have always been a priority at WOMAD so it’s no wonder that festival atmosphere is safe, welcoming and a little bit magical. And with children aged 13 and under free, it’s very child friendly.

“The good thing about Womad and kids is because the acts are not that well-known (but of exceptional quality) you can discover the acts with your children. It’s great to see them respond to “non-pop stars”, as it were. One of our favourite things was the Food & Music workshop where different musicians talked about their life and album while cooks made a dish from their country and we got to taste it at the end” – Ramsay

Visit womad.co.uk.

Camp Bestival

Camp Bestival takes place 30th July – 2nd August 2020 at Lulworth Castle in Dorset. This year top acts include Fat Boy Slim, Groove Armada and Liam Payne.

Kids are king at Camp Bestival. There is are tons of activities for children of all ages; 2 to 62! A large section of the festival site is devoted to the little-uns with the Upper Kids Garden and Lower Kids Garden, separate Toddlers’ Area, Breastival Mother and Baby Chill Out section plus activities, theatre, shows, fairground rides, face painting, Soft Play Tent and Sandpit (for under 5’s) as well as a separate area dedicated to 13-17s.

And inter-mingled amongst all this are plenty of food markets, cafes, bars, talks and music stages to ensure the slightly older clientele don’t stand a chance of getting bored.

Visit www.campbestival.net.

Family Friendly Festivals in Europe

Tollwood Summer Festival

The Tollwood Summer Festival celebrating its 30th year this year, takes place from 24th June – 19th July 2020, at Olympiapark Süd in Munich, at the foot of the Olympic Hill. It’s known for its theatre productions from all over the world, for its concerts with regional, national and international stars of the Rock and Jazz scene, and for its more than one hundred free shows featuring performance groups and bands from the genres of Rock, Pop, Salsa, Reggae and the Blues.

It also has a big ecological and social commitment, with more than 70 percent of all events being free of charge, while the big theatre and concert events are offered at far below the usual local price.

There’s also a special “Market of Ideas”, with hundreds of small stands with handcrafted arts and culinary treats (all certified organic) from all over the world.

This year’s headliners include Lionel Richie, STING, Bonnie Tyler & Chris Norman, Melissa Etheridge.

Visit www.tollwood.de.

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Pohoda

Image by Martina Mlčúchová

Pohoda takes place 9th – 11th July 2020 at Trencin, Slovakia, situated 120km from Bratislava and 190km north-east of Vienna. FKA Twigs, Lykke Li and Stormzy are amongst this year’s acts.

Described as a music and arts festival where alternative, indie, electronica, world music & punk meet classical; alongside literature, dance, visual art, film and theatre, it specialises in putting together interesting combinations of different artists.

The festival is based at a former military airfield in the valley of the river Vah surrounded by three of the Western Carpathian Mountains. From a visitor’s point of view, the festival area is easy to reach and provides an ideal and generously designed area for a limited capacity of 30,000 visitors. Forget about queuing for food or toilets, cramped camping or moving around the site in large crowds – the capacity is set in a way that ensures it is comfortable and open, to match the name of the festival: Pohoda/Slavic/: peace, ease, contentment.

Children up to 12 years of age (and including) have free admission to the festival and there’s a Children’s park available at the festival where you can have your child babysat by a professional service provider. The park has several attractions available, programmes for children, and a changing table as well as a family camping area.

Visit pohodafestival.sk.

Over to you now. Do you plan to take in a music festival this summer with the kids? Which family friendly festivals have you gone to? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.