"HAVE you been to T in the Park?" asks Suse, of Glasgow power pop duo Tuff Love before the band’s closing number on Saturday afternoon, "Deer Shed is the complete opposite. It is nice."

She's not wrong.

Now in its seventh year this North Yorkshire event has built a reputation as Britain’s most family-friendly summer spectacular.    

If your idea of an outdoor festival is mud, endless queues and tasteless food then Deer Shed, which took place this weekend at Baldersby Park, between Ripon and Thirsk, would have turned those preconceptions on their head.

Some people came solely for the bands. Hipsters’ favourites Everything, Everything, indie folk star Beth Orton, and crooner Richard Hawley, whose Saturday night headline set went down a storm with the mums and dads, were among the bigger names on a staggeringly eclectic bill. But you could have had an amazing time here and not heard a note being played, such was the vast array of attractions on offer.

A lot of festivals have woken up to the fact that families with young kids want to sample a Glastonbury-style experience without the hassle. Deer Shed’s organisers have gone much further by creating a safe, friendly, beautifully-run event that has family fun at the heart of everything it does.

"When we were kids we were lucky if we got taken to the cinema once a year, this place is amazing," says an incredulous David Brewis, of Sunderland band Field Music who headlined the Dock stage on Friday night, as he looked out on audience filled with young faces.   

A quick flick through this year’s 90-odd page programme revealed that two thirds of the entertainment on offer had nothing to do with music at all. There was theatre, a Q&A with cast and crew members of the recent Dad's Army reboot, a film tent and you could even co-star in a movie that was being filmed over the weekend. The big top was packed for performances by top notch comedians such as Justin Moorhouse and Mark Watson, The Undertone's Michael Bradley spoke about his book Teenage Kicks at one of the literary events, and there were talk-ins to stimulate the mind, although Labour's Andy Burnham failed to show up for a panel discussion that posed the question: The North Will Rise Again? His empty seat on the stage was filled by a blank-faced carboard cut out sporting a red tie, which given Labour's current woes seemed rather apt. 

With more than 80 workshops across 4 tents there was no risk that even the most demanding child – or parent for that matter - was short of something to do. Everywhere you looked there were beaming faces. The only screams I heard were of the ‘make it go faster’ variety on the fun fair rides and the biggest queue I saw was on Saturday morning as parents and their offspring waited patiently outside the Science Tent eager to learn the secrets of forensics and virtual reality. 

Over in the vast Sports Arena a skate park had been constructed and there were myriad activities that helped youngsters burn off energy in the balmy July heat.    

Even the loos were clean. Now that is nice.  

After seven years the people who run Deer Shed clearly know their market and they have created a real gem of an event that, according to people I spoke to who who have attended previously, keeps getting better every year. My only suggestion to improve things would be that it could do with being a bit longer. The festival opened on Friday morning and began to wind up late Sunday afternoon just as the brollies were raised when it turned showery. 

Perhaps next year it could start on the Thursday or drift into the following week so there was time to sample even more of Deer Shed's many delights.

Now that really would be nice.