It was arguably Rob and ­Josie da Bank, who set up Dorset’s Camp Bestival in 2008, who first decided that big music festivals shouldn’t be reserved for the grown-ups. Why should adults be the only ones allowed to cover themselves in glitter, skip about in the woods and dance all day long?

Once the idea took hold that you could stage a festival where kids’ desires are front and centre, without turning off the adults who pay for the tickets, there was no stopping the rise of the family-friendly weekender.

Now, they’re everywhere and common themes have emerged: from flower crown-making, thrillingly dangerous woodwork and big-name author readings to a recent trend for learning at festivals.

Bearded Theory, a spring event, took place over the last May bank holiday weekend and this year offered actual schooling. Smartly, the organisers encouraged parents to book a place for their child in a festival “class”, thereby offering them a way around the ban on term-time holidays.

The festival organisers provided a “lesson plan” which could be sent to each participant’s head teacher, in the hope that they would feel more relaxed about authorising a few days of “life experience” in the grounds of a country house in Derbyshire.

It’s not just hippies who think that it’s healthy for families to relax the rules and appreciate a simpler life occasionally Credit: SYSTEM

With most festivals taking place over a weekend in the summer, though, time out needn’t be an issue. And learning at a festival is generally very unlike school. At Green Man, held in the scenic Brecon Beacons, there is a science fair each year, with ingenious exhibits that will blow even adult minds.

Last year, assisted by a kindly university student volunteer, we were asked to weave coloured ribbons through a cylindrical frame to create a huge piece of art that represented and sought to explain how scientists ­decoded the human genome. This ­being a festival, at the end we kept our gene strands and turned them into snazzy bracelets.

Family-focused events also tend to boast the most extensive and imaginative arts programmes of any festivals – and with so many to choose from now, there are more reasons to try one out than ever.

It’s not just hippies who think that it’s healthy for families to relax the rules and appreciate a simpler life occasionally. Your children are likely to take home, along with a motley assortment of handmade crafts, a newfound feeling of freedom and spontaneity that is quite special and hard to replicate anywhere else.

Let’s not pretend, though, that there isn’t one thing that will turn even the most magical gathering into hell on earth – rain. Waterproof onesies are the handiest invention until you have to struggle to help your child ease one down while squashed together in a portable loo, all the while begging them to not touch any of the surfaces.

In such cases you just have to inhale deeply (once outside of course) and let it go. If you can’t, it’s nothing that a sunrise yoga class and a packet of anti-bacterial wet wipes can’t cure.

Our music festival experts reveal their tips here.

The 15 best 2017 festivals for families

Maverick

Easton Farm Park, Easton, Woodbridge, Suffolk

June 30-July 2

Lots of festivals are set “down on the farm” but this one, with its pleasantly pastoral setting and emphasis on free roaming, really feels like it. Ducks and goats wander around stages that host foot-tapping American roots music in old barns – this year we’re promised that a new Suffolk Punch foal and baby donkey will join families in the fun. Veteran Grammy winner Albert Lee, Grammy-nominated mandolin player Sierra Hull and current Americana star Justin Townes Earle are all due to play, while woodland walks and an adventure playground will keep younger ones amused.

Adult weekend tickets with camping, £95; under 10s free, maverickfestival.co.uk

Blissfields

Vicarage Farm, Woodmancott, Hampshire

July 6-8

This modish, boutique festival has plenty in store for kids, from fancy dress football to pizza-making, a paint fight and an (early) evening ball. Babies are especially well looked after at the Unicorn’s Nest, where dance and messy play is helpfully accompanied by a dedicated bath time. For adults, music is not just an afterthought, making Blissfields a good choice for lifelong festival fans. The line-up for summer features headliners The Cinematic Orchestra and Metronomy, while DJs play nightly from a double-decker bus.

Adult weekend tickets with camping £110; children 0-9, £15; day tickets available, Blissfields.co.uk

Latitude

Henham Park, Suffolk

July 13-16

The gently rolling landscape at Latitude is perfect for buggies and tumbling tots, while for older children the art, comedy, magic, cabaret, musical theatre and spoken-word tents offer storytelling, drama and laughter as a gentle alternative to an onslaught of loud music. Lake swimming is available, as are woodland strolls and workshops including beatboxing, comic art, wildlife survival skills and a talent studio run by West End performers.

Enjoying the sunshine at Deer Shed Credit: MattStonePhotography

Adult weekend tickets with camping £197.50; children 5-12, £10; day tickets available, latitudefestival.com

Deer Shed

Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, North Yorkshire

July 21-23

Deer Shed’s co-founders Kate and Oliver Jones were fed up with music festivals that purported to be “family-friendly”, but in reality simply penned children in an uninspiring area while parents had all the real fun. The mostly indie line-up gets a lot right – this year acts include Teenage Fanclub, Kate Tempest and The Divine Comedy. Sporty kids can be trained by professional football coaches, plus there’s comedy in the Big Top, virtual reality in the science tent, yoga, crafts and poetry. An area on the edge of the park has been left to grow wild and can be explored.

Adult weekend tickets with camping £135; children £45, deershedfestival.com

Curious Arts Festival

Pylewell Park, New Forest, Hampshire

July 21- 23

Deep in the New Forest, this intimate, eccentric affair has picked the best of quirky Britain and run with it. What small child wouldn’t enjoy snail racing, insect walks and a Jabberwocky Hunt? Making the most of the beautiful forest surrounds, the festival aims to fire up young imaginations and has invited children’s authors, music teachers and puppeteers to brighten the glades. A kids’ film club runs all day, while, for adults, there’s music from Tom Odell and Izzy Bizu.

Camp Bestival is set in the shade of Lulworth Castle Credit: SYSTEM

Adult weekend ticket with camping £128; children 5-13, £23, curiousartsfestival.com

Camp Bestival

Lulworth Castle, Dorset

July 27-30

Younger children are spoilt for choice at Bestival’s little sister, with CBeebies favourites Dick and Dom back once again, plus a performance this year from School of Rock: The Musical. There’s also air guitar championships, woodland activities and an open-air kiddie-disco around what may be the world’s largest disco ball. Music-wise, there’s throwbacks to various eras – from Brian Wilson playing Pet Sounds, to T’Pau and Leftfield.

Adult weekend tickets with camping £197.50; children various prices; day tickets available, campbestival.net

Farmfest

Gilcombe Farm, Somerset

July 28 - 29

Outside the chic, arty village of Bruton - but a snip of the price of Glastonbury - this is a playful gathering with lots to see for those in the know. Children can wear themselves out sampling a programme that includes interactive theatre, magic, jungle-themed dancing and building a giant cardboard castle. Roots Manuva headlines a cornucopia of seven stages, the others of which are dedicated to blues and beats, dub, acoustic, DJs and local bands, among other genres. Organic streetfood and, of course, local cider, feature heavily.

Adult weekend tickets with camping £89; children over 13 £63; Family of four £265; farmfestival.co.uk

WOMAD

Charlton Park, Wiltshire

July 27-30

WOMAD has world music for everyone Credit: Photograph Ã?Â© Copyright Julian/Julian Andrews

I defy anyone not to find something they enjoy at WOMAD. If the bizarre Mongolian throat singing doesn’t get you, there’s always some African drumming going on somewhere, which invariably sets kids off dancing. Big, open fields mean you never feel cramped, while the campsite is only a short walk from the action, which makes for a relaxing atmosphere.

The exotic food on offer is a hit too and it’s easy to fill kids up on reasonably priced samosas. Children 13 and under go free and are catered for in the Children’s World, where there are popular cookery and dance workshops, an adventure playground and a focus on painting and costume-making ready for Sunday’s much-anticipated carnival procession.

Three-day tickets with camping £175; under 13s free; day tickets available, womad.co.uk

Wilderness

Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire

August 3-6

Possibly the first festival to nail the boutique trend, Wilderness always puts arts and crafts first. Taking a dip in the lake is not to be missed but there is also a nice range of ticketed extras for parents. Buy one for the natural spa and you can don a vintage bathing cap and nip in and out of saunas in huts among the bulrushes.

Forever blowing bubbles at Wilderness Credit: Copyright (c) 2013 Rex Features./Andre Camara/REX/Shutterstock

The lavish banquets, meanwhile, serve up feasts from Yotam Ottolenghi and other food luminaries. Children can enjoy floristry, painting and goat cooking classes. Grace Jones and Bonobo headline.

Weekend adult ticket with camping £178; junior tickets £40, wildernessfestival.com

Lake Fest

Eastnor Deer Park, Eastnor, Ledbury

August 10-14

Situated next to Eastnor Castle, the loveliness of LakeFest doesn’t end there. Fans praise the laid-back atmosphere, while for kids there’s a huge array of craft activities, pedal-powered pottery and a tiny tots Ibiza tent. BMX is the biggest draw, though, for kids with energy to burn – some of the world’s best riders will compete on Saturday night, while new for this year is a mini course for festival-goers to try. Bikes and helmets available. Feeder and The Charlatans headline.

Adult weekend ticket with camping £95; children 6-12, £20; day tickets available, Lakefest.co.uk

Beautiful Days

Escot Park, Devon

August 18-20

Beautiful Days was founded by folk-punk band the Levellers 15 years ago as a non-corporate event with the aim of bringing people together with great music. The children’s area is the heart of the pretty site, offering rides, bushcraft and hands-on activities. There are storytelling and play areas dotted about elsewhere and also a seated theatre tent on the edge of the family camping field which has performances for all ages. Songhoy Blues, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott and Public Service Broadcasting are on the roster.

Adult weekend tickets with camping £135; children various prices, Beautifuldays.org

Just So

Rode Hall, Cheshire

August 18-20

Whimsical play, theatre and arts are the order of things at this respected festival that is not-for-profit and claims to cater solely for families, with numbers capped at 5,000. There certainly is a lot on offer for young ones, ranging from literature to dance, music and comedy. Families can pick animal tribes to join and compete in a wacky sports day, take a rowing boat out on the lake, learn about stars at the observatory, hear campfire stories and locate a secret fairy hideaway in the trees. A select number of under-the-radar musical acts complete the programme.

Weekend adult ticket with camping £140; children £50; day tickets available, justsofestival.org.uk

Shambala

Secret country estate, Northamptonshire

August 24-27

For anyone with an eco-heart, Shambala is still owned by its founders, a group of friends who met at Birmingham University and bonded over a shared love of world music. This corporate-free festival has reduced its carbon footprint by 80 per cent and gone meat and fish-free, reaching many of these decisions by inviting those that go each year to provide solutions. Interactive puppet theatre should wow little ones, as should Woodland Tribe – a freestyle, build-your-own adventure playground project. The musical bill looks considered and varied, with brass, guitars and a few MCs all thrown into the mix.

Adult weekend tickets with camping £179; children 5-14, £39, shambalafestival.org

Into the Trees

Pippingford Park, Nutley, East Sussex

September 9-10

A bit less of a festival, more of a weekend getting grubby in the ancient woodland of Ashdown Forest, this two-day event is run by the nice people behind Elderflower Fields festival, held in May. With the goal of getting families outside to enjoy the countryside, activities on offer are all tree-related, from coppicing, trug making workshops, to climbing, foraging, bushcraft and slacklining. Bell tents, tepees and yurts are all available for campers.

Adult day tickets £8; children £5, into-the-trees.co.uk

The Good Life Experience

Hawarden Estate, Flintshire

September 15-17

Founded by singer and BBC 6 Music DJ Cerys Matthews and her friends, and now in its fourth year, the loose mantra for this festival is that if it fits in with their idea of “the good life”, then it’s in. Cue lots of locally-produced food, foraging classes, mass singalongs, a dog show, tree-climbing and a talented line-up of campfire cooking sessions with world-class chefs. Festival-goers camp in the shadow of not one but two castles, while Matthews hand-picks the music bill. Under 12s go free and everything is aimed at adults and children alike.