Best family friendly festivals

Best for the indie experience: Bearded Theory's Spring Gathering

This multi award-winning, sponsorship-free fest is truly independent. With a popular Children's Village the whole family can look forward to party games, hula-hooping, disco, a poetry tent, crafts, a baby tent, puppet shows, family yoga and a teen area with build a band and graffiti workshops. The real highlight for families is the OFSTED-registered Festival School, which offers kids an educational experience alongside forest-school style learning. Think of it as life lessons meets National-Curriculum approved subjects, while you have your own learning experience: discovering new music from Suede, The Wildhearts, Lancashire Hotpots and Doves.

Best for trying something new: Elderflower Fields

Like the sound of doing yoga to power ballads, crafting pompom headbands, listening to trees and trying baby bouldering? All of that combines with delicious local food and lovely music for a weekend away with a bit of magic that's firmly a family-first festival experience. There's even a chill-out tent for bedtime stories manned by nannies.

Best for Americana vibes: Black Deer Festival

Den-building, arts and crafts, country music, guitar lessons and more await at Black Deer Festival, a popular newbie on the UK festival scene. We were sold as soon as we heard about the southern American home cooking on offer.

Best for tree-hugging: Timber, the International Forest Festival

If you want your kids to spend a weekend in nature – and really live and breathe it – then Timber Forest Festival at Feanedock is just the ticket. With woodland games and circus skills, outdoor bushcraft and survival tasks, a giant wooden marble run and wild play where kids learn to whittle and hammer and a wild food kitchen, Timber makes us feel like achieving that digital detox is actually possible, if only for a few blissful days.

Best for a chilled vibe: Latitude Festival

Attendees love Latitude for its relaxed vibe and family-friendly atmosphere, with three dedicated family areas on-site. There is a designated teen space with music, fashion and technology workshops and a chance to try out VR, journalism and more, as well as a Kids' Area with crafting, performances, science and wildlife. There is also an Enchanted Garden family campsite, where you can practise family yoga, try out new circus skills and wake up to morning disco parties. Also, the sheep at Latitude are all different shades of pastel, which is probably worth the trip alone.

Photo: Lauren Maccabee

Best for the family-run atmospher: Nozstock: The Hidden Valley

Nozstock has been around for over two decades, and is renowned for its unpretentious, old-school festival vibes, great mix of music (past highlights include Goldfrapp, The Happy Mondays and Grandmaster Flash) and the impressive Little Wonderland Kids Area, which offers workshops in everything from upcycling clothes to beat boxing and graffiti. This year's event – themed around The Wizard of Oz – promises to be even more family-friendly, with a larger family camping area, more toilets and on-site kids' supplies like plasters and sun cream in case you run out. Under-12s go free.

Photo: Charlie Rimmer

Best for natural beauty: Larmer Tree Festival

Located in the unspoilt area of Cranborne Chase, Salisbury, Larmer Tree Festival is a hit with families, who love the emphasis on craft-based activities for kiddos. Also, one word: Lostwood. This magical, atmospheric woodland has instruments and books suspended from trees, pop-up theatre, chill-out zones and evening music.

Photo: Garry Jones

Best for a bit of magic: Port Eliot Festival

This Cornish festival has it all: a majestic setting in an ancient estate, a woodland haven for children to play in, wood-fired hot tubs and saunas for parents to escape to, costumed treasure hunts, readings from beloved kids' authors and celebs, circus acts and plenty more. There's also a line-up of musical acts, fashion and literary talks, workshops and comedy. Welcome to Narnia.

Photo: Louise Roberts

Best for a day trip out of London: Standon Calling

Located less than an hour's drive from London, Standon Calling boasts an on-site swimming pool, a kids' area that plays host to various family workshops and entertainment including a kids' disco and performances from CBeebies' Mr. Bloom and his band, as well as Dick and Dom. There's also an annual theme to inspire the whole family's fancy dress.

Best for the big festival experience: Camp Bestival

Camp Bestival is a hit with families, many of whom come back year after year. It's also very strong for the under-5 crowd, with a dedicated soft play tent, workshops, crafts, Big Top circus, gigantic bouncy castle, CBeebies performers and family raving from Big Fish Little Fish. Jess Glynne and The Human League are set to headline Bestival's 'little sister' festival this year, with superheroes as the theme. Bonus points if you dress up as a frazzled parent.

Photo: Camp Bestival

Best for a global celebration: WOMAD UK

Bringing contemporary art, literary figures, science and wellness altogether, WOMAD offers 200 workshops for kids, who get to enjoy the whole festival experience (including all activities) for free if they're 13 and under. Zumba? Den building? Circus skills? This festival is their oyster.

Best for reliving the 90s: Kendal Calling

Cumbria's Kendal Calling festival has a popular and eclectic mix of bands including Manic Street Preachers, Noel Gallagher, Catfish and the Bottlemen and The Charlatans. Many festival-goers love the 90s throwback mood set against the glorious Cumbrian backdrop. While you're enjoying your nostalgia trip, the kiddos will be making robots and rockets, boogieing at nightly discos and watching movies.

Best for an eclectic experience: Deer Shed Festival

With cool-kid musical appeal from the likes of singers Anna Calvi, Sunflower Bean and Ezra Furman, Deer Shed is Yorkshire's go-to family festival with science, sport, crafts, outdoor activities, a sensory tent, baby rave and soft play for teeny tots. Ear defenders, bottle sterilisers, high chairs, baby baths and slings are all available for parents to use while at the festival.

Photo: Soundcloud

Best for community spirit: Chilled in a Field

The consensus from parents around non-for-profit enterprise Chilled in a Field is that it's actually a relaxing way to spend a weekend – which isn't what you'd typically expect from a family festival experience. Kids will spend their time jumping on the bouncy castle, playing for hours in the sand pit, chilling in the soft play tent and hanging at the crafts table. Even teens have their own dedicated space, to hide out from parents and younger siblings. There are also workshops and performances and all kids' activities are totally free with the ticket price.

Best for reconnecting with nature : Wilderness Festival

Wilderness is about the holistic festival experience: great music (Nile Rodgers, Bastille and Groove Armada all performed last year), wellness, banquets from the likes of Ottolenghi and Ella Woodward, workshops, performances and plenty of family-friendly fun – naked cricket and wheelbarrow races, craft tents, singalongs, floristry, circus skills and fairground rides for a start. Of course, nothing beats a dip in the idyllic lake, bushcrafts, nature trails and wandering the woods for that outdoor time you've been craving for your little ones.

Photo: Andrew Whitton

Best for active families: Boardmasters

Sure, this Cornish festival has some great musical guests (Florence and the Machine, Dizzee Rascal, Jorja Smith, Franz Ferdinand) to tempt concert-goers, but by day, Boardmasters also combines sea and surf, with opportunities for the pros and lessons for beginners. Boardmasters also prioritises sustainability, working to clean up the Cornish coastline and eliminate single-use plastic at the festival.

Photo: Andrew Whitton

Best for picturesque Wales: Green Man Festival

Nestled in the Brecon Beacons, this festival prides itself on sustainability and the chance for a bit of rustic fun (camp out in Settlers Pass to embrace the communal spirit and make this a week-long part of your summer hols). Add folksy tunes from the likes of Fleet Foxes, delicious fresh food and beer (pizza! dumplings! burgers! vegan sushi! churros!) and a kid's and teen area with workshops, science explorations, T-shirt making, films and wellness sessions, and you've got all of the ingredients for a fab family weekend.

Best for unleashing their creativity: Just So Festival

This Cheshire-based family festival combines music and disco, circus performers, outdoor adventures and shows, campfire stories and outdoor play. This is a great one for kids of all ages, with a jam-packed schedule of activities throughout the day including baby yoga, Maypole dancing and tai chi. Kids also love dressing up and earning points for one of the animal-themed teams (fox, owl, fish, lion, etc).

Best for foodies: The Big Feastival

Sure, The Big Feastival draws top chefs like Marco Pierre White, Mark Hix and Raymond Blanc and music headliners like Craig David and Paloma Faith, but it also gets the kiddos captivated with appearances from Peppa Pig, The Gruffalo and Paddington. In addition to all the usual fab kid's stuff (crafts, circus, farm, etc.) past Feastivals have included all kinds of deliciousness to tempt your budding foodie: kids' cookery classes, a veg patch, a DJ'd cheese hub, pop-up restaurants and street food galore. Cue mouth watering.

Best for folk: Towersey Festival

From family yoga to bush crafting (we so want to whittle a spear), as well as tailored youth programmes for young adults, the Towersey Festival's become renowned for its welcoming vibe and popular folk lineup, which includes The Selecter, Hothouse Flowers, Seth Lakeman, Steve Harley, The Unthanks, Rusty Shackle and Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys this year.

Best for getting back to basics: The Good Life Experience

If you have fantasies of your children roasting marshmallows, unleashing their inner Katniss Everdeen with archery, as well as foraging, spoon carving, dough kneading, enjoying vintage fairground rides and more (all in an idyllic Welsh countryside landscape) then The Good Life Experience is for you. Founded by Cerys Matthews, this intimate festival really caters to children as much as to their parents, with workshops, talks, outdoor cooking sessions and outdoor activities to tempt kids of all ages. Even better? It's free for under-12s.

Photo: Nenad Abramovitch