Kids' events: festivals for kids

After our recent blog on festivals for mature campers , we thought it was only fair to do one on festivals for kids as well. There are plenty around the country at different times of the year, with enough festivals for children to run around to and get nicely tired, but also enough stuff to do for parents as well. Here's our pick of five coming up this autumn and next year, and of campsites nearby.

Bath Festival of Children's Literature , 23 September – 2 October: Ah, to be a child again, and growing up in Bath as well. There are events here for children and young people of all ages, from meeting Spot for the under 3s to a talk by Roddy Doyle for over 10s and teenagers. There are loads of events on at various places throughout the city, all reasonably priced and with plenty of detail on each on the website. For camping, Newton Mill Holiday Park is just over a mile away, bookable on Pitchup.com and has pitches for motorhomes, touring caravans and tents, a children’s play area, bar, restaurant and shop.

Juice Festival , 19—30 October: This award-winning festival in Newcastle Gateshead is for children, young people and families and has tons of events all over the city including many for free. There’s graffiti spraying, films and print workshops for teenagers, monster parade, bug-making and pumpkin carving for the under 7s, and flight workshops, mini book making and dance for families. For camping, you can’t go too far wrong with the family-friendly Whitley Bay Holiday Park eight miles away, also bookable on Pitchup.com and with an indoor play area, children’s clubs, indoor amusements centre, pool and on-site entertainment.

Discovery Film Festival , 22 October – 6 November: Discovery is Scotland’s International Film Festival for Children and Young People, held every autumn in Dundee. There are dozens of films for kids, young adults and families as well as exhibitions and interactive gallery tours. We have several sites within ten miles of the festival – you can hire a caravan at Tayport Links Caravan Park four miles away, or try Tayview Caravan and Camping Park seven miles away, with pitches for tents, motorhomes and tourers as well as caravans for hire.

SFX Weekender , 2-5 February 2012: You’ll get brownie points forever with your teenagers if you take them to this, a weekend sci-fi festival of comics, books, TV, films and games in Denbighshire, North Wales. (Of course you’ll want to go anyway, but don’t let them know that.) Confirmed guests for 2012 include Gwen Cooper of Torchwood, authors Juliet E McKenna and Paul Cornell and Doctor Who artist Mark Buckingham. For camping nearby, we have around 150 sites in the area – try Heron's Lake Retreat eight miles away with pitches for tents, tourers and motorhomes, or go a bit further afield and book a family camping pod at Abbey Farm Caravan Park .

The Spark Festival , 28 May – 10 June 2012: The Spark is a major arts festival covering dance, opera for babies, digital art, puppetry, theatre, family events and more. It’s for children and young people aged up to 13 and takes place in several venues in Leicester and Leicestershire. We’ve over 100 sites in the area, such as Whatoff Lodge Farm seven miles away or Hill Top Caravan and Leisure Park within eight miles of the main festival sites.

Looking ahead to summer 2012,  there’s the Reading Children’s Festival, the International Children’s Theatre Festival in Nottingham, Kids Fun Idea Show in Manchester, Tesco Children’s Festival in Cardiff, Liverpool Children’s Festival, Glastonbury Children’s Festival, Bristol Children’s Festival, Kids’ Week in London – watch this space or search our sites near festivals for more info...