Festivals with Kids: Wilderness, Oxfordshire

by Take The Family

Not having been to a festival since my more hedonistic 20s, I found it hard to imagine a grown-up boutique affair with kids, as the Wilderness Festival – new for summer 2011 but organised by the same people as the relatively long-standing Secret Garden Party – was sold.

Wilderness takes place on the beautiful Cornbury estate a few miles from Woodstock just north of Oxford, previously home to a different festival that has now moved venues. You camp within the stunning grounds, either in the boutique section with its yurts, tipis and an onsite butler service, or the family camping area, which is far enough from the noise of the main stage but still in good reach of the action, and boasts a ‘cubby hole’ providing early-morning and bedtime activities.

A ‘Celebration of the arts and outdoors in the wilds of England’, Wilderness is divided into six sections: Live Music & Dancing, Banquets, Talks & Debates, Outdoors & Wellbeing, Theatre & Art, and Kids’ Activities. Especially worthy of a mention are the daily seated ‘banquets’ prepared by renowned chefs – in 2011, Thomas Hunt, Moro’s Sam and Sam Clarke, and Skye Gyngell. Very reasonably priced at £27 for an awesome dining experience, they’re just what you need when you’ve been dancing all day and night. They book up quickly though, so plan ahead. The same goes for the day spa, costing £10 an hour for access to hot tubs, sauna and loungers beside the swimming lake (infinitely better than the usual festival cold shower).

The kids’ section was full of bleary-eyed parents thankful for some entertainment for their offspring. My girls were in awe of the magical tents full of crafts and activities, including face-painting, fairy-crown making, Womble hut decoration, sock puppet making, pizza-making, stories, songs, and wildlife exploration – enough to keep children busy for the whole weekend. As the music got louder and the children got weary, we headed for the Boutique Babysitting tent, where we found toddlers actually trying to break in under the fence! My girls were chomping at the bit to get inside too. A festival must-have for families with small children, Boutique Babysitting is run by two seasoned family festival-goers who saw a huge gap in the market and are providing their services at six festivals in 2011, including Camp Bestival and the new Alex James Presents Harvest (see our Family-Friendly Festivals for more info).

Costing from £10pp an hour, Boutique Babysitting gives you a valuable afternoon or night off to enjoy the evening entertainment. Unbelievably, the team can get all 30 children to sleep by 9pm so you can scoop them up and put them straight to bed when the music has stopped! Again, it’s worth booking this service in advance to make sure of a place.

And the kids’ verdict?

“That was the best babysitting ever. I loved the dancing, that was amazing, and then I snuggled down next to my sister Iris and listened to lots of stories. The carers were really lovely.” Tess, aged 5.

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