I’ll hold my hands up and confess; I was always one of those festival-goers who wasn’t sure why people would bring their kids to a music festival. Until I brought my own to Body&Soul last year.
To say a week has not gone by that my four-year-old (then aged three) has not brought up Body&Soul in conversation is an understatement. To her, in her excitable little bubble of a world, it was the best holiday Of. Her. Life.
Now we’re talking, better than Santa, better than the best ice-cream she has ever let dribble down her sticky fingers, better than the really expensive kids’ club holiday we splashed out on. Because through a child’s eyes – dancing, blowing bubbles, playing with other kids, and wandering around for two days watching people kitted out in the whackiest dress-up-box clothes, and sleeping in a tent after a midnight feast – this is utopia.
Of course, a festival for parents without kids is sort of utopia too. I am a bonafide festival lover from the rave generation after-all, it is not lost on me that music festivals are a place to go and get, well, lost or lost in music, at least. Some of the most memorable weekends of my life have been at festivals – a rainforest in Australia and the first ever Electric Picnic being stand-outs. Then kids came along, and we got all responsible and stuff. And in an effort to escape away from the first born, we spent our first weekend away without her glamping at Electric Picnic. We had the time of our throwback lives. So, it’s safe to say; we approached the bringing-your-kids-to-a-festival idea with a teensy bit of caution.
But we were wrong; because when you become a parent, nothing beats having the craic with your kids. The Beirne/O’Brien clan, together with hundreds of other families had our own little mini festival in the ‘Soul Kids’ area at Body&Soul. It’s a family only walled garden with non-stop fun and activities organised for the whole weekend: kiddie’s discos, crafts, face-painting, giant bubbles, puppet shows, all in the safety of one area to base yourselves for the day. Then, tag-teaming with the other half meant we could each steal away for a few hours, have a beer, soak up the vibes, meet up with pals, and have a dance of our own. It was a win-win.
Sure, we might not get to dance all night, carefree and intoxicated as we did pre-kids, but you can spend a leisurely and super-fun day with your little groupies, strolling through the woods, listening to all sorts of different music styles, popping into the Soul Kids area, decamping for impromptu picnics near stages, trying out new foods, gazing at the crazy installations hanging from the trees, watching other people being really happy, dancing and laughing as a family. Together, it’s less music festival, more cultural event. And it’s so much fun.
At Body&Soul 2015, something magical happened; our kids joined our tradition of music festivals. Now we’re all counting down the how-many-sleeps to our next Body&Soul experience, June 17th. Maybe next time we’ll go without the kids, maybe they won’t want to go, but right now, if we love it, and they love it, we’re grabbing this little piece of utopia. Are you?
bodyandsoul.ie for more info on tickets, family camping, and the line-up.
Here’s a little snapshot of our experience last year
Watch out for our festival with kids survival guide next week.
