Last weekend in Oxfordshire, Lisa McGarry found out why Wilderness is still one of the most family friendly festivals in the UK.
Wilderness Festival caters for the whole family
The UK’s poshest festival isn’t scared to let its hair down, or get it wet
It may get ribbed for being the UK’s poshest festival (we’re looking at you, Russell Kane and Bill Bailey). But last weekend, with amazing music, feasting, silly games for all ages and a host of festival fun Wilderness showed that when it comes to family friendly festivals, they bring their A game.
From carts so kids and bags could be towed around the festival site in safety, to a Family Field packed with activities, games and workshops right next to the Family Camping area, and a line-up which saw teens and their parents dancing together as the sun went down, this was a festival for everyone, whether you shop in Waitrose or not.
And one of its top USPs is the lakeside location – the family friendly Wilderness Lake was busy all weekend in the glorious sunshine, hosting paddleboard yoga, hot tubs at the Lakeside Spa, and families cooling down with splash time and boat rides.
New for this year, dance music venue The Riddle was also a great spot for chilling out in the daytime, and we saw plenty of families enjoying the space’s blend of mystery, music and inclusivity, set in pretty walled gardens.
Faithless Live
The Wilderness Stage brought families together
The line-up was perfect for a family friendly festival, showing that music does indeed transcend age boundaries.
Friday headliners Faithless made it emotional with the CGI incarnation of singer MaxiJazz through an incredible visual show. Equally emotional, were Saturday pre-headliners The Teskey Brothers, whose raw soul vocals and epic musicianship prompted lots of inter-generational hugging it out. Then came Michael Kiwanuka who kept it blistering with a gorgeous set.
Bill Bailey brought his blend of comedy, insight and multi-instrumental creativity to Saturday afternoon, with highlights including a song about a crab called Salvador. Jessie Ware was on mid-evening Sunday, the perfect slot to get everyone dancing (and hugging some more), followed by Bicep present Chroma finishing things off with some bangers.
The smaller stages were just as lively
Family friendly festival feasting
One of the things Wilderness-goers love is the foodie focus, and hosted dining experiences ran all weekend from culinary legends including Claude Bosi, Richard Corrigan, Meera Sodha, Andi Oliver, and Rohit Ghai.
Elsewhere around the festival, there were plenty of tasty dishes to get stuck into (special mention to the Massaman-style Buddha Bowls), and families enjoyed easy proximity to kid-friendly dining from Family Camping and Family Field, which really helps when it comes to entertaining your brood at a festival.
If you’ve never tried banqueting at a family festival, then you’re missing out. There’s something very satisfying about having a lovely meal with proper tableware in a field, and you don’t have to worry whether your kids’ manners are up to scratch. Even better, there’s space for them to run it all off afterwards.
Smiles at Wilderness
Family-friendly festivals need a Family Field
The Family Field had everything going on for a fun family festival, with workshops including Tootles + Nibs’ theatre skills workshops, hosted storytimes, giant musical instruments made from ordinary objects, classic fairground games and lots of arts and crafts.
The Playing Fields also had its usual line-up of outrageous silliness hosted by the Bearded Kitten, peaking with the spectacle of a Sunday lunchtime cricket match, which was packed on all sides.
Letters Live invited familiar faces to the Atrium stage
The Atrium stage hosted comedy events for the first time this year including Joel Dommett, Rosie Jones, Amy Gledhill and last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Winner Ahir Shah, and on Sunday its popular event Letters Live returned, a compilation of hilarious, poignant, or just plain nutty letters from the ages. Some surprise, very familiar faces, including Olivia Colman, Daisy Ridley, Rob Rinder, and Nabhaan Rizwan, narrated the event.
We recommend locking down your tickets early for next year – if it’s anything like this one, you won’t want to miss out.