Where to Live for Top Festivals and Events: Part 4
Posted 20 February 2020 by
Keith OsborneThe most recent national research statistics, in 2018, revealed that some 41% of adults who attended a festival considered spend more time with friends and family the top reason for being there.
Outdoor festivals are particularly popular and many of them welcome visitors of all ages, with activities and facilities especially focused on youngsters.
There are many such festivals throughout the UK every year and if you live not far away, they can be the perfect way to spend a day or weekend together watching and doing a huge range of activities.
Underneath the Stars, 31 July-2 August, Cawthorne, South Yorkshire
Taking place on Cinderhill Farm in Cawthorne, near Barnsley, his is a music and arts festival that welcomes people of all ages and has four campsites for guests who want to stay a while. Glampers are also well catered for. The event has a history of having first-class performers across every night, and this year’s list includes Paul Carrack, Suzanne Vega and Eddi Reader. There’s no charge for bringing the kids. This part of the South Yorkshire countryside is well under an hour from Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield.
Set on Lion Green in this delightful town on the edge of the South Downs, this is three days of music and dance where the family, and their hounds, are welcome. Sophie Ellis Bexter has already been signed up for this year, underlining the kind of quality visitors can expect. With this year’s still to confirm, other features have included dancing, a samba workshop, pottery classes and a fun fair. There are numerous popular small towns and villages within just a few miles of Haslemere itself, while larger places on mainline commuter railways such as Guildford, Aldershot and Basingstoke are all less than 60 minutes away in the car.
This is a weekend that celebrates centuries of seafaring at this harbour town, and the award-winning restaurants. There are opportunities to see the work done on boats and take a tour offshore, as well as lots of music, ‘kitchen theatre’ with celebrity chefs, street entertainment, children’s entertainers and the chance to savour arguably the best fish and chips in the world! Whitby itself is a characterful place to live and it’s easy to get to from places like Middlesbrough and Scarborough along the coast, and an hour’s drive from the city of York.
The Kaiser Chiefs are already confirmed as this year’s headliners but there’s much more going on for old and young, with local artists, storytellers, stilt walkers and circus acts entertaining for the day, all fuelled by a host of street food options. And enjoying sunset over the castle might add a little magic too. Cardiff is getting lots of new homes of its own, but historic Monmouth is an alternative under an hour away, and thanks to great road and rail links, the likes of Bristol and the growing community of Yate in Gloucestershire are also commutable to the Welsh capital in less than 60 minutes.
From its modest start in 1947, this has grown into one of the best-known festivals in the world, offering thousands of shows in comedy, theatre, music, spoken word, circus, cabaret – you name it, chances are it’s there in one of the hundreds of venues, large and small. And that includes many things aimed specifically at children too. If you live immediately in or around Edinburgh, all this is right on the doorstep of course, but even just for the day, it’s only around 75 minutes on a train from central Glasgow.
Chagstock, 24-25 July, Whiddon Down, Devon
Located on the northern edge of Dartmoor, this combines music and much else for people of all ages. Scouting For Girls and Seasick Steve have already been named as headliners on the big stage this year. There’s a whole load of activities for children to get involved with, such as inflatables, circus skills, crazy golf, a Lego tent – even yoga. In addition to the numerous lovely villages dotted around this part of Devon, Chagstock is well under an hour away from larger towns such as Exeter, Taunton, Barnstaple and Ivybridge.
Geronimo, 22-25 May, Arley Hall, Cheshire
It’s hard to think of something not offered to youngsters here! A very family-centric Bank Holiday weekend, the range of activities is very impressive, whatever the weather may be, with things like rock climbing, parkour, arts & crafts, a beach, storytelling and a silent disco just a few. Arley Hall is around 20 minutes north of Northwich and well under an hour from the likes of Chester, Stoke-on-Trent and central Manchester.
Greenbelt, Kettering, Northamptonshire, 28-31 August
As the name suggests, the environment is a big focus of this long-weekend event, but it combines its activism and politics with comedy and music performances, galleries and talks. There is a brilliant range of activities here, from old favourites like sport, storytelling and clay modelling to things like comedy magic, salsa and belly dancing. The Boughton House Estate is only a few miles from Kettering and easily reached from towns and cities such as Cambridge, Huntingdon and Milton Keynes.