Deer Shed 6 Festival, Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, North Yorkshire

THE sold out event was most definitely a family affair. Young families abounded. Even one of the performers commented he’d never seen so many children at a festival. Rock’n’Roll here means rock the cradle and roll the ball.

The amount of workshops and activities for the young ones was staggering: didgeridoo making, den building, football coaching and magic workshop to name just a few.

The science tent was spectacular, with enough in there to keep the children (and the adults) occupied for a week let alone a weekend.

Headline performers were Billy Bragg, John Grant and The Unthanks, with great sets from Black Rivers, Villagers and The Wedding Present. A well-planned timetable meant you could drift from one stage to the next without missing much. Almost 50 bands entertained throughout the weekend.

The spoken word tent played host to Billy Bragg, Rick Buckler from The Jam and the extremely entertaining former Radio 1 DJ Andy Kershaw. There was comedy, cabaret, literature and storytelling.

Camping for the 8,000 visitors was on a perfectly flat field separate from the car park. You could hire a trolley for £5 for 30 minutes to cart your stuff from car to campsite. Yurts and tepees are also available. The toilets were cleaned regularly, but a few more wouldn’t go amiss, there was almost always a queue.

A pint cost £3.70 and there was a cocktail bar for the more sophisticated. You could charge your phone for £4, use the cash machine for £2.75 and have an hour-long massage for £30. All the workshops, activities and entertainment come included in the ticket price, which ranged from £89 to £129 for adults, children 6-15 £35, 3 to 5-year-olds £5 and free entry for 0-2 year olds, for the whole weekend. There were no day tickets available.

Stuart Boulton