Rudolstadt Festival with children – you should pack that

Jens Daniel also confirms that the atmosphere at the Rudolstadt Festival is very special is responsible for the children’s program at the Rudolstadt Festival. Above all, the so-called children’s festival on the Saturday and Sunday of the festival makes the event particularly child-friendly. “There is a craftsmen’s village on the children’s festival meadow. Here you can make ropes, carpenters, glaziers, forges, weave, braid, bake, paint – everything is designed for participation,” says Jens Daniel. The children can also try their hand at tree climbing, build a plank castle and take part in the join-in circus. There is also a large hot tub for water fun.

With all the offers especially for children, one should not forget to visit the concerts with a wide variety of world music with them, reminds Jens Daniel. For Linda, a mother of four and a midwife from Leipzig, that’s exactly the reason why she thinks the festival is important for children: “I mainly go to the festival with my children because I want to show them what’s going on musically and culturally gives to the world.” Having grown up in Saalfeld, she has known the Rudolstadt Festival since her own childhood: “It has always been a festival with lots of young families and children,” she tells me. So it made sense for them to take their own children with them. Before the pandemic, that was one and two years old with her first two children. Taking small children to the festival is also possible, explains Linda, but now she sees the value for older children of primary school age with the age-appropriate offers and getting to know the music.

She also has lots of tips for everyone who is going to a festival with a child for the first time: You should definitely take hearing protection for the children with you, enough drinking water (no glass bottles) and sunscreen. For toddlers, a stroller is of course practical for transporting all the things and always having a shady place to sleep with them. However, Linda emphasizes that not all places at the festival are accessible with prams, for example the high castle – here it is best to have a baby carrier in your luggage.

When she last visited the festival, Anne and her five-year-old daughter already had a slightly older child with her who doesn’t really ride in a pram anymore. But she also has the right tip for this: “We always had everything with us in a handcart so that we didn’t have to keep going back to the tent. We built a roof for shade and my daughter could even sleep in it rolled up.”

So that parents and children can always find each other, some festivals offer extra bracelets for the contact details of the parents. There is no such thing at the Rudolstadt Festival, so the parents have to be creative themselves. Anne, for example, tells me that she wrote her cell phone number on painter’s tape or plastering tape and attached it to her daughter’s shirt. Some parents simply immortalize their cell phone number directly on their child’s arm.

Overall, however, Anne had no major concerns about not finding her child again and felt good about the festival visitors: “I had the impression that the community was also looking after the children.” “I don’t know of any such a big festival that is so relaxed with children,” enthuses Petra Rieß, the festival’s press officer, about the atmosphere on site. “The festival wouldn’t be the same without children,” says Rieß.

I can absolutely understand that many parents would like to enjoy music for days on end, sometimes after years of being away from concerts. But how do the children actually find such a festival? “My daughter thought it was great, she’s such a party picker anyway,” laughs Anne. “Of course, it’s loud, but there are enough places to retreat.” Everyone I spoke to confirms that the Rudolstadt Festival also offers many opportunities to relax. Jens Daniel from the festival team also emphasizes this as a special feature. The festival is a great experience for children of all ages. Camping is also possible in quieter places that are further away from the festival events.

The two mums, Anne and Linda, advise all parents to spend most of their time in Heine Park during the day. It offers a lot of shade and the children’s fairground with the tailor-made offers is also located here.