Every June, Glastonbury takes over Somerset with a mix of mud, music, and magic — and while I once thought it was strictly for young adults in wellies, attending in 2023 with my family changed my view entirely. Glastonbury isn’t just a music festival; it’s a cultural village with room for everyone, including curious kids and slow-paced dads like me. We planned carefully: stayed outside the main camping zone, packed enough snacks to survive a week in the wild, and stuck close to the festival’s “Kidzfield” — a vibrant space filled with circus acts, puppet shows, and more glitter than I thought humanly possible.

The real surprise came not from the headline acts, but from the smaller stages scattered across the site. My son discovered Irish folk music at Avalon Café. My daughter learned how to screen-print her own T-shirt in the Green Crafts area. Meanwhile, I found myself talking to a climate activist from Bristol over homemade cider. Glastonbury, in all its organized chaos, somehow makes room for intimate, human moments between the noise — and those are what stuck with us.

Of course, there were meltdowns. We got lost on the way to the Acoustic Stage, and someone (me) dropped a full tray of vegan nachos. But those hiccups added to the adventure. We laughed, problem-solved, and leaned into the flow of it all. Watching my kids learn to navigate a world much bigger and louder than usual made me proud — and a little nostalgic for my own younger festival days.

Since then, our family playlist has expanded to include everything from Punjabi pop to protest folk. Glastonbury opened a door for my kids to see music not just as entertainment, but as expression, identity, and connection. It reminded me that parenting doesn’t always mean teaching — sometimes it just means showing up, listening, and dancing along.