Going to Latitude Festival with Kids – 9 Tips for Packing and Planning

From what to plan and pack, to how to play it when you’re there – We have done Latitude festival with kids for many years and there has been a lot we have learnt. I’m not not saying we got it all right, far from it, but there were some things that really helped the days run better and also in hindsight, other things we wished we’d done, to make the weekend go more smoothly.

I have to confess this blog is essentially stealing the chat I had with my friend when we got home that first summer taking kids back in 2022. We went together as two families and on our first time seeing each other afterwards, we got to chatting about how great it had been (We’d been before lots, but this was our first experience doing it as families with kids in tow) and how we could make it even better when we returned the next summer. So this blog is pretty much that chat written up, that’s been added to each year as we’ve found more ways to have fun and prepare for Latitude festival with kids 2025!

Glamping at Latitude, Suffolk was my first experience of going away for a weekend festival as a family all together and we absolutely loved it. I used to go to festivals a lot in my teens and twenties and although going now with kids is a completely different pace, there’s still that magical feeling of long days and nights of hedonistic fun, where anything goes, with the new joy of feeling that freedom with your children, dancing and laughing together in the sunshine.

That said, alongside these magical memories, going as a mum now and having to think more of other people and plan ahead, there’s were lots of practical tips we can pass on that worked well for us…

1. Headphones to Keep the Comedy Clean!

Now obviously experiencing a festival is partly about disconnecting digitally and embracing the freedom of a weekend outside, however when it comes to going as a family, we found having screens for the children such a help too – from giving the kids some much needed downtime, for when it was all becoming a bit of a sensory overload, to us adults being able to enjoy different things the kids wouldn’t have been interested in. We had a great afternoon in the comedy tent laughing at Russell Howards very adult comedy set, while the kids were blissfully unaware sat with their headphones on watching their IPads, eating waffles! They were also good for keeping moaning to a minimum when we were waiting for bigger acts to come on.

2. Mark Your Territory

Talking of waiting for acts to come on, we found setting up a base when going to watch bigger performances, or headliners with matching bigger crowds, a good way to mark our territory. Obviously when you are at a festival or concert there’s always a lot of movement in the crowd and often groups come to stand in front of you, that’s just how it goes. Yet when you’ve set up camp to all convene at, with a couple of families its harder then to go with the flow, as I would have pre kids and keep moving around or edging forward. Something we found that minimised this at Latitude festival with kids, was having a huge picnic blanket down. People still walked over it and you have to expect as much when you’re essentially putting it down, as everywhere is a thoroughfare, but it still helped us hold a good amount of space to all sit down, as people walked over it but didn’t remain on it for long.

3. Trolleys For the Win

My biggest packing and carrying concern pre kids, was how to carry enough booze from the car to the tent! and I had no qualms with lugging armfuls of stuff back and forth on the first day. Now though, it pays to be way more organised – especially when it’s hot with over excited kids in tow. Now I know all that sounds pretty obvious and you don’t need me to tell you how to pack and carry for a weekend away, but the thing that helped us the most was a festival trolley. I was surprised at both how far we had to walk to get to our camping area and equally how much we could squeeze into a festival trolley and what a difference it made. Our kids being a bit older (8 &10 last year) were good at carrying some bags, but actually on the long dusty tracks, it was hard enough lugging the trolley along with everything packed in, and the amount of times my daughter dropped her teddys in the dust! I was pleased our other possession’s were safely tucked away and not getting the same treatment! With so much walking back and forth in the heat, wearing comfortable walking trainers really helped keep everyone going for longer without sore feet.

As my children were bigger this wasn’t an option for us, but another brilliant use we saw of the trolleys during the weekend was the amount of people who then pulled them about during the day too with their children having a ride. All stacked up with bedding and even some with lights and all sorts of crazy decorations, we saw a lot of toddlers and preschoolers all tucked up happy in their den on wheels during the evening – a great way to easily keep your little ones content for longer. We got our trolley from Amazon and it was great at fitting loads in and folding down quickly and easily too.

4. Don’t Bother Taking Your Chairs in

They were great for around the tent, but I also thought before going, that camping chairs would be good addition going to Latitude with kids in the arena too. But, actually I’d forgotten how much of the entertainment is in tents and under cover, so for the most part I’d say a blanket is best and easiest to carry around all day. 2025 Edit- This point was shared when my kids were younger, so I’m keeping it in because I think it still stadns when you have younger kids, as you already have so much stuff to carry and never stay in the same spot for long enough. But I’m adding in the caveat that now I go to Latitude with older kids and teens, I’m now back to taking a chair into the main arena – we now tend to set up base somewhere centrally outside, so my kids can have the independence of going off for a bit and then know where to come and find us, so chairs for this are great.

5. Keep Hangry Kids Happy

Of course Latitude festival is full of food vendors, selling the most wonderful array of every type of meal, snacks and treats you can imagine. Yet there were a lot of times, the kids just needed a little something to keep them going throughout the day too (that wouldn’t also put them on a sugar high) That’s not to say we didn’t go pretty sugar crazy at times, with plenty of slushies and sweet breaks and even pancakes ending up a meal choice option at points, but it was also good to have lots of normal snacks to hand for in between. We packed from home lots of dry snacks such as breadsticks, cheddars, little boxes of cereal and biscuits. These were great to keep the kids going, when they were starting to flag walking through the arena. We also found going back to the tent at lunchtimes really handy to get some quiet down time, as well as saving money eating food bought from the CoOp rather than always food venders.

6. When it Gets Too Hot, Head to the Trailor Park

I felt like we discovered this area a little too late on our first year, as we only properly went in on the Sunday. Until we went into the shaded forest trailor park, I had no idea it was so big and there was so much to do with children too. It was a clearing tucked away from the rest of the festival, with so much shade it was much cooler than other areas and also had a calm chilled out atmosphere too, which was a nice break from the busyness of the rest of the festival. In subsequent years we’ve spent lots of time here. The displays, stalls and quirky rides are so much fun whatever your age.

7. Go to the Kids Field Early

There is a huge amount of activities for children to get involved with in the kids field, so as you can imagine it was very popular with families. For some of the organised activities and workshop you need to put your name down, so it’s good to visit that field first up in the morning to then book in what the children wanted to attend later on. Another activity that seemed hugely popular all weekend with kids, was the Green Peace charity area. They had these huge nets set up hanging through the trees that the kids could climb through and we found going to this earlier in the day, minimised how long we had to queue.

8. Afternoon Downtime for the Win

Something we are planning to do more of this summer at Latitude festival with kids, is going back to the tent during the day for a bit of time out on screens or naps. On reflection, we totally got carried away with cramming in as much as possible each day last year (because in our defense there was so much we all wanted to do each day!) But the flip side of this, was how exhausted the kids were, especially with so little shade in the main fields, which meant the late nights, after long days played more of a toll and we also found that we were all done by Sunday night. Whereas this year we’d really like to make the most of it all and stay until Monday. So this years plan is to go back and chill in the tent late afternoon, just for a little while to then recharge ready for the evening fun.

9. Don’t Wear White

I’ve mentioned the dust before, but it really does deserve its own section of this blog as I think Latitude is by far the dustiest festival I’ve ever been to! You pretty much get coated in a thin blanket of it all over within an hour of being in the arena. It almost looks like tan lines by the end of the day, it gets everywhere! So I’d recommend when planning yours and your kids festival wardrobes the darker the clothes the better, as they get filthy very quickly.

If you are looking for other festivals to try further up north, then there are some great ideas over on North West For Kids.