Takin 2 kids with us, any advice?

[crazybird79]

This year we are takin our kids (13 & 8) with with us !! will be a first for them, and we a little nervous about takin them, any advice on wots there for them, best/safest camping ect.. in fact any advice would be grateful . have been lookin on the glastonbury site but think ppl who been there and done it with kids could help me more cheers

[GlastoWatch]

Stinkywitch is your woman, no doubt she'll pop in here shortly to tell you everything you need to know.

[stinkywitch]

hey, let me tell you that no matter where you are on site your kids will be entertained, but the KIDZ FIELD is the most enchanting thing ever. some activities include (get ready for this....) circus skills....tightrope walking, unicycles, jugglers, stilts. the theatre tent has shows on for most of the day with lots of interaction, there are numerous slides, gyroscopes, zipslides, swings.
the music tent is amazing my kids half learned guitar, violin, drumming and flutes saxaphones its all there.
as well as this u have face painting everywhere u turn, tents that are crammed full of sticky painting and cutting a making things and best of all.......ITS ALL FREE.

what we have done each year is let the kids choose whatever they want to do in the mornings, even if they wanted diff things then me and whatme would split up and they could do it it is their festival as well. The afternoons became a grp activity and we all decided what we saw and where we went and then when it got late it was up to the adults about where we went.

on the security bit we get the kids some of the business cards you can get from the kiosk in post offices and we have our name and numbers on them and where we are camping, the 1st yr we had the kids name on it as well but was rightly advised not to do this when a steward returned the daughter we had misplaced. tell the kids that if they get lost to go to the neares stall and tell the stall holder. and then to stand still. it can be very scary when you are getting between stages, if you worry about that then the wrist bands you get toddlers is a valuble tool. good luck trying to get a 13 yr old to wear that though.

oh and if you are not in a campervan then camp in the family camping area, its pretty close to pyramid stage but its not on the way to anywhere so you dont get lots of traffic. we will be in the family field and we have a boy 13 and a girl 10 with us so maybe we can be neighbours

[crazybird79]

awe thanx very ,very much :-) you have helped ease my nerves considerably lol, and the kids think it sounds even more fantastic with all the info u provided for them, will def be camping in the family area so will keep a look out for you, sounds like next year will be unbeatable xxx

[stinkywitch]

you are very welcome. im sure other questions will pop into ur head so feel free to ask.

[gloryboy]

im a glasto virgin ,taking my 11 year old king rocker son(he got better taste in music than me)and i think its possible that glastowatch and stinkywitch are about to be my new best friends .hehe

[stinkywitch]

he will love it lots and i always happy to have new friends x

[gloryboy]

never mind him im so excited at this point i might just wee,rumours abound of led zep ,omg omg omg!
i have so many questions everybody will be really annoyed with me by christmas never mind the end of june...hehe

[stinkywitch]

ask away, i love the enthusiasm and its just the same after several glastos

maybe glastowatch could have a seperate section for taking kids, somebody on another forum had a fantastic thread and I got most of my info from it when I 1st took our kids.

so far it looks like there will be 5 forum kids, crazybirds got 2, whatme and myself are taking our 2 and you have your boy, great fun in the family camping field.

[Mandypants]

I've seen kids with phone numbers written on their arm in marker pen too, that way they can't lose the number and helpers can ring you.

[stinkywitch]

we considered this but decided to print their details on lots of business cards u get printed from the post office machines, 200 for a fiver or something, they both enjoyed designing them and we put 1 in each pocket every day so we knew if 1 bit got wet another would survive. whatme still has 1 from yrs ago in his wallet as a momento
and anyway the whole place is protected with a big big fence and lots and lots of helpful people, im sure if the kids do get lost they would prob have a better time than the adults worrying about them.

[gloryboy]

well......
a lot of this is going to sound relly nieve (?) but ive never been to a festival,plenty of gigs but no festivals.
is it expensive for food and drink?
what time to the bands start/finish?
i want to camp in the family area but i may not be able to arrive until thursday afternoon,would you reccomend coming earlier?
how do you know whos on where and when?
ooh whatever shall i wear?
ive read that mobile reception is dreadful any comments on that one?
what about drinking water is it available or do you have to buy/take it?
will the mighty led zep play?
and probably not finally..
will the mighty led zep play.
i honestly dont think i've ever been this excited about going anywhere in my life !!!!!!

[Buffystar]

Ok

1. I would average it out to if your planning to buy food all the way through £4 for Bacon/Sausage Roll £5 for next meal and anothr £4 for snacks per day. We always take bacon and sausages with us and a loaf of 2 of long lasting bread.
2. On Wednesday and Thursday bands are not normally playing but when they do it is advertised all over the festival or Radio or on Glastoburyfesitivals site before. Also keep an eye on twitter for suprise band performances. Friday bands start abot 11am - 12 pm depending on stage. Saturday and Sunday bands start earlier sometimes as early as 10am
3. If you want to camp in Family area you need to get there early as possible as they get filled up quickly. There are 3 or 4 area's used as "Family Camping" but there are others that are quiet.
4. You will know who is playing where and when as you get given a timetable (goes round your neck) when you go through the ticket entrance as well as a programme. Also keep an eye on twitter and read the Q newspaper which is available every morning from Info points all over the site.
5. What to wear the $64,000 question I alway take 2 pairsof shorts 5-6 Tshirts 2 jumpers/fleece , Jeans, Sandals ,Boots (walking or Wellies) Wetweather stuff (light jacket and trousers) and loads of socks. Hat sunnies suncream (you never know)
6. Mobile coverage is the bane of the iphone users really O2 have never had good coverage there but I am on Vodafone and have never had a problem(twitter,internet, calls and messgaes all worked fine last year)
7. There is drinking water available all over site near the toilets never had any probs with it.
8. Led Zep..........you never know
9. see above

10. yes I am aswell.

[gloryboy]

that just about sums it up for the mo' thanks for taking the time and trouble ,i appreciate it.I may have to get me self on that new fangled twitter thingy(i havent even got a facespace/mytube thing),but owing to the fact that i only started sending texts quite recently i better start now.i shall endeavour to key pie on these pages but im really like a kid on christmas eve at the minute!

[stinkywitch]

i love my twitter, i love my facebooks....i have 2 because my employer checks all the social network sites to see if we are slagging them of, so i have 1 for my work and 1 for the real friends who can look at ALL my glasto pics and read my true status. its an amazing thing for finding old friends, i have got back in touch with some very very dear friends who i havnt seen for 10-15 yrs or so...............go go go get a face book and if it confuses you then get a child to help.

[gloryboy]

i think i may have a facebook thing but never used it ,i got duped into it with "free condoms" offer ! my better more sensible half is never off the ruddy thing ,playing some card game ,gets right on my t**s listening to the laptop click all night.

[crazybird79]

Well i have already started making plans ( and lots of list's) for Glastonbury..
Feel i need to be organised if we taking the kids!!
So once again i come armed with questions, that im hoping Stinkywitch can answer with her great wealth of knowledge :-) (or anybody else that can answer them x)

So here goes...

1) We normally park on yellow route and camp on Hitchen Hill, but nxt year were planning on camping in Cockmill Meadow/kids field. were would be the best place to park?
2)what method of transportation would you recommend for between car and camp ie wheels, sledge ect.. as its only been the 2 of us b4 we just carried wot we could over a couple of trips?
3) Is it ok to have small camp fires in the f-camp area ?
4) Is it ok to use small marque or windbreaker to create a little space around tent?
5) How clean are to toilets within the camping area? do i need to bring my own for the kids?
6) Have seen on the map that theres showers at/near the kidz field, do you know weather or not these are usable ? and if so are they in a usable state after a couple of days lol?


Any help or advice would be very gratefully received =)
many many thanx in advance xx

[stinkywitch]

good morning. we assume you will be coming down the same way as us, (from rochdale, we coming from west yorkshire) if you do then we would recommend going into carpark via the blue route and park in the east. that seems to be the best to get to family camping.

we have never taken anything to transport our stuff but think we will this year as we have bigger tents and bigger kids and a responsible adult. we saw lots of sack trucks but i liked the cage type things with inflatable wheels. somewhere dry for the kids to sit as well.

yeah its fine to have a camp fire but obvious common sense is needed as there can be quite a few ikkle people about.

we have never taken a windbreaker for extra space as we feel its a bit rude, however if there is a group camping then i feel it can be justified to mark out the camp area so people dont tend to tramp through the middle. the place can get very very crowded and unbeleivably many people could erect a tent in the small space a windbreaker takes. we seen it happen.

the toilets are as clean as anywhere else on camp but the ones in the Kidz field (not kids camping) are quite well looked after. we take a bucket with a lid just incase they get taken short, another thing we do is take builders masks (the paper type) and we sprayed them with perfume just to make it a bit easier on the kids.
i did find one benefit of kids and portaloos at glasto, if you have a small girl almost in tears because she needs to go then most people will let you in front. our daughter practiced till she got it right and neither of us had to Q ever for the loo
we didnt use the showers but saw lots of people waiting everyday, they always seemed clean but we just take lots and lots of babywipes and dry shampoo. the showers are only open at certain times as well. im not sure what time but will find out.

we cant blooming wait

[crazybird79]

thanks very much for the info stinkywitch :-) once again you have come up trumps xxxx

[intensify]

excellent info here.

im going to pass it to my mates

[gloryboy]

i told you i'd be back!
ooohwee rumours aplenty floating round getting exciting .
Is anyone familiar with adam and joe as i hear they frequent glasto often,im such a huuuge fan.
anyway back to the matter at hand,Is it feasible then that you can park your car and make a couple of trips for your gear (that came out wrong)
cos my youngest will have all on carrying himself .In the words of the great Jim Royle "hes a bloody lazy bugger that one"

[Mandypants]

Yeah you can return to the car parks, although it's likely to be a trek. Once you have your wristband you can come and go, but there isn't a lot outside the festival and you won't want to leave! You can find pretty much anything you need on site anyway. There's no laziness at Glastonbury if you want to have fun, you've got to get off your bum and go looking for it!

As for Adam and Joe, ooooooo I luv em!

[gloryboy]

thanks for that,dont worry i wont be leaving ,its just that ive not really worked out the logistics yet !
STEPHEN?
heheheheheheheheh

[Dee]

Im dreading the walk from the car to the campsite, (Its my 1st time) not really knowing how much to bring. Is there fire wood around the site for campfires?

[GlastoWatch]

Im dreading the walk from the car to the campsite, (Its my 1st time) not really knowing how much to bring. Is there fire wood around the site for campfires?

Yes, there is wood that can be used for campfires, but you have to be quick because it doesn't last long.

[diddly-dee]

On the subject of firewood, the one single solitary bad thing about Glasto is that it's like a convention for pyromaniacs. (relatively) Ordinary people that you wouldn't think in everyday life give a second thought to setting things afire seem to become possessed by a manic obsession with collecting anything combustible (including plastics, cardboard etc.) and, as soon as the sun sets, setting fire to it several centimetres outside their, highly flammable, tents (which, incidentally, are also only several centimetres away from other people's tents).

[profscooter]

Another Glasto 2010 virgin here, also taking 2 kids 9 and 11, and will be there from the Wednesday on my own with them as the other half can't join us till Friday. So that will be interesting, putting up our family tent with just the 3 of us. Have looked at the various family camping sites on the map, and am torn between Paines Ground which seems miles away from everything, and Cockmill Meadow which looks way too central / busy for the kids (and adults) to have a reasonable night's sleep. One that caught my eye is the part of Spring Ground earmarked for Family Camping, does anyone have any experience of that one? Looks not so far from car parks too.

[whatme]

in my limited experence off familly camping ( now done two with the kids, now 13 and 11. they were 11 an 9 when they 1st went. there not going next year )
i would go for camping in cockmill meadow, its not that loud, but loud enough to hear the pyramid stage in your tent, and the kids field is 5mins walk. i must admit we have only camped here with the kids. but we did meet lots off other familys, and even managed to get rid of the older one for a few hours, while we went of to watch someone different with a neighbouring family
im sure stinkywitch might have more to say on the subject, especialy on money saving hints, Take lots off crap for them to munch, save you a fortune

[whatme]

There's no laziness at Glastonbury if you want to have fun, you've got to get off your bum and go looking for it!

As for Adam and Joe, ooooooo I luv em!

[Xine]

I've got a mature looking 12 year old, will I need ID for him?

[GlastoWatch]

I've got a mature looking 12 year old, will I need ID for him?

I would advise it, otherwise you risk having him turned away at the gate if they think he might be older.
There are bound to be a few parents who try to get their 13 & 14 year olds in for free, so you can understand why they might check his age.

[stinkywitch]

Our son was only 6 weeks away from his 13th birthday last year, we took ID for him but never got asked for it. I would still recommend taking his ID though, would be very very sad if he couldnt get in.
Had to pay full price for his ticket this year..................ouchies

[profscooter]

All I have for my eldest (11) is a passport (now a few years old so his looks have changed a bit) or his birth certificate but don't really fancy taking these valuable documents to Glastonbury. What ID have others taken?

[Xine]

Thats the same for me, having been with them 6 years ago and having everything including our own passports destroyed in the deluge I'm reluctant to take anything of importance we too only have passport and birth cert, his bus pass only has an end date and no dob so what to take!

[stinkywitch]

Take photocopies of several items or buy them a citizen card that can be easily replaced

[muldutch]

I've seen kids with phone numbers written on their arm in marker pen too, that way they can't lose the number and helpers can ring you.

Hello! I bought number beads and coloured beads off Ebay then made my daughter a bracelet with my mobile number on... she knows if she gets lost to find another mum and ask her to ring me.

[stinkywitch]

i dont know if i have already posted this but when our kids where younger we had lots of the business cards you can get printed out at the post office made up with our phone numbers, where we were camping and names on them, a steward rightly advised us against putting the kids names on them so we put our names on and the kids designed the cards themselves. when we went out around the camp we put cards in thier pockets and rucksacks so even i they lost one they had 5 or 6 more on them.

[crazybird79]

Ok, so i decided i would come back and let ya know how far i'm upto with my Glastonbury plans and the kids.
Firstly kid saftey,
well i have been and bought toddler wrist straps !!(13yr not happy) but... my idea was to use them if/when we got caught up in the crowd rush,
have seen plenty ppl not to mention a couple of kids get split up from friends/family.
Also have gone with stinkywitches idea of name cards (many thanks) which also has my mums number on it(easier point ov adult contact) who will know which field we be staying in. didnt want to jump the gun and put cockmill meadow just incase so will take pens and add that later.(hopefully)
Cost ££££
Decided to take some basic food with us ie...pasta, stir in sauces pitta breads for main meals, also takin cereal for kids breakfast(fresh milk daily) then things like pot noodles, cup a soups and lots of munchies ha ha ha, just to take some of the pressure off the budget.
Mode of transport
Well have got ma self a collapsible wheel barrow !!!!
Its quite big and sturdy and will hold most of our stuff(already tested)
so that should take the stain off if we have to walk miles.
well i think thats it so far, oh yeah... had a family decision to set of Tuesday !!! well it is the new Wednesday !!!!
and we dont mind sleeping in the car , do we ??

[stinkywitch]

sounds like your getting sorted then, we havnt even dug our tent out yet, its been packed up for 3 years cos last year we had a friends trailer tent. We have an unsetteling feeling that we lost some poles on our last trip so god knows what we will find. Im also pretty sure there are some knickers in the pocket inside the tent lol.
I dont think you will mind sleeping in your car on tuesday night but I do think you might regrett it come sunday night lol or maybe im just getting old...........

[stinkywitch]

Whatme has now gone and dug out the tent lol