Deer Shed Festival, Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, Thirsk

2:51pm Wednesday 21st July 2010

By Ruth Campbell

WHEN we arrived at the Deer Shed Festival site, laden with tents, overnight bags and an array of camping equipment, we didn’t know quite what to expect.

This was the first year for this ambitious music, art and kids’ festival, a day and night of family fun held in the grounds of Baldersby Park outside Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

The Deer Shed lived up to our expectations, and more. This was a mini-Glastonbury, without the hassle, queues and crowds. And, while we met festival-goers who had travelled many hours to get here, for us it was just a short drive.

With children ranging from seven to 18, I have always struggled to find a family activity to suit everyone. But the Deer Shed, with 13 top bands, three music venues, a family comedy stage and a range of creative workshops, ticked all the boxes.

The strange creatures on stilts wandering around the park, the incredible fire-eater, bizarre Gothic morris dancers and artists creating a huge, constantly changing mural throughout the day and night just added to the fun-filled, but refreshingly laid-back, atmosphere.

The teenagers – I had two 14-year-olds and two 17-yearolds with me – were happy to do their own thing – in fact I hardly saw them.

They enjoyed the alternative, up-and-coming unknowns playing on the Busk Stop stage, and were very impressed with Serious Sam Barrett and the Young Knives on the main stages.

Seven-year-old Albert had a ball, making and decorating swords and shields, as well as creating a windmill and a beautiful mosaic tile, with his mate, Alfie, at the free craft workshops. Meanwhile, his 11- year-old brother, Roscoe, was busy learning circus skills, drumming, making T-shirts, clay models and creating works of art in the animation and doodle wall tents.

As if this wasn’t enough to keep them busy, they all also enjoyed the impressive comedy, poetry and music acts aimed at pre-teenagers on the family stage.

Most mums and dads will agree that, if the children are happy, we’re happy. But the added bonus with the Deer Shed was that there was lots for us, too. It was mainly 30 and 40-somethings dancing and singing along to The Wedding Present and Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls of The Wonderstuff.

But that didn’t stop sevenyear- old Albert and Alfie bopping along down at the front, while cool teenagers, no doubt keen to distance themselves from embarrassing parents, nodded their heads and tapped their feet at the back.

Most of us rushed away from the highly-entertaining adult stand-up comedy at 9.30pm because we wanted to see The Wedding Present. Poor Andrew Clover, of TV’s My Almost Famous Family, was left playing to an almost empty house.

I would have enjoyed sitting down to a bit of stand-up comedy at the end of the night, after the bands had finished.

And a “lost child” or “meeting point” venue would have helped when we were trying to help a small boy who had lost his dad.

Otherwise, the organisation of the event was faultless. The spacious campsite, a short walking distance from both our cars and the arena, was quiet and pleasant. Food was good, toilets, including the eco loos, were immaculate and, unlike so many big festivals, there wasn’t much queuing.

I have been at other festivals where drunkenness and occasional outbursts of threatening behaviour spoiled the atmosphere, which wasn’t ideal for youngsters. There was none of that here.

We joined a few friends for a drink and a chat round a campsite table once we had got the children settled in their tents.

But, just before he went to sleep, my 11-year-old had a question which summed up the mood perfectly: “Mum, can we do this again next year?”