Is it possible to still have it at a festival when you have a toddler?
Spoiler: yes, but pick your festival wisely. We chose Standon Calling in the rolling hills of Hertfordshire.
There's no getting away from it: your festival experience will change massively when you have a toddler in tow. While we still saw 5am, this time it was because it's our toddler's wake-up call, rather than because we hadn't been to bed yet.
But is there a better hangover cure than a little boy who's just so EXCITED to be alive and in a tent with mummy and daddy? Maybe. But this is the one we've got, so it's best to embrace it.
Standon Calling was our boy's first festival at the grand age of 20 months.
It's a great festival to take a little one to as it's fairly, well, little. This meant that the site wasn't too big to traipse across with a pram, and the stagger from the carpark to our tent was manageable, despite all the snacks we'd packed plus the other essential items for going to a festival with a child.
As well as amazing artists like Britpop hero Gaz Coombes (above), Standon also had acts specifically aimed at kids, plus a dedicated children's area complete with a soft play bus and circus tent - a Godsend when the heavens opened.
Standon Calling 2018 review
Closer - Standon Calling review
1 of 5Horrible Histories
Horrible AND educational? Who ever would have thought it? Horrible Histories brought the turd to Richard III and the bromance to the Romans on the main stage.
2 of 5Shame
And kids' band Shame played too.(NB, Shame is not a PG band, this is an hilarious joke based on their age. We feel old. But not too old to love Shame).
3 of 5Zorb
Fancy a zorb? We didn't but plenty of older kids and teens were into it. We'd have lost our cider if we got stuck in, so we stayed out.
4 of 5Swimming
There was a small but HEATED pool up by the Lawn stage. Queues were long but lots of fun was to be had.
5 of 5Dog show
Standon Calling is a dog friendly festival, probably the only one we've ever been to. This meant there were lots of friendly pooches around, adding to the festival joy.
Also, a big THANK YOU to Camplight who put us up in a pre-erected (lol) home at the festival.
They take tents that have been abandoned at previous festivals, clean them up and present you with a canvas palace all ready for the weekend. You don't need to take it down at the end either. Bliss.
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Would we go back to Standon Calling? Try and stop us.
See you down the front (of the soft play bus) next year.