AFTER schools broke up on Friday, it was immediately back to school for thousands of children. This time, not because they’d forgotten their PE kits, but because they were attending a festival with a difference in parklands surrounding Queen Mary’s School, near Thirsk.

You could not mistake the Deer Shed Festival with any other, owing to the proportion of youngsters, and the mix of entertainment and activities appears to be a winning formula, given this was the ninth running of the event.

However, rather sitting on their laurels and counting their cash, the organisers took the risk of reshaping the now familiar festival layout, which gave it a much more compact feel. Brilliant thinking, given how tiring for little legs traipsing round a festival ground for a weekend can be.

TV’s James Acaster was the stand-out performer in the comedy tent, a venue that brings many a stand-up to their knees as they realise their material isn’t suitable for a PG audience. Acaster used a storm of heckling from the children to his advantage, building a hilarious set lampooning both the middle class parents there wanting to relive their youth and the ignorance and inexperience of their offspring.

This year’s music line-up featured the hypnotic pop of Goldfrapp as the main Saturday attraction. Singer Alison said she was nervous doing her first festival headlining slot, but it wasn’t apparent as the band performed with panache before a sea of dancers. Other high notes included Matt Maltese, whose 30-minute lunchtime set ended all too soon, as did that of Public Service Broadcasting.

Science and craft workshops were as popular as ever – finding a space in some proved impossible. Even more workshops, or more places in them, please. Despite the relentless demand and high temperatures in the tents, the volunteers running the activities kept their cool and were on hand to offer advice as children, and tested their at skills ranging from lino-cut prints to computer-programming.

School maybe out, but it was a class event.

Stuart MInting