How Family Friendly is Fuji Rock?

A Fuji Rockin' Family Tells All

We Fujirockers like to think we’re pretty clued in on Fuji Rock and what it’s all aboutーand in a lot of ways, we are. It’s what we do. But there’s one area that none of us are familiar withーor rather, can’t speak from personal experienceーand that is, having kids at the festival. Every year, we see families from all over gather at Kids’ Land and other areas, playing and watching live performances. And yet, we don’t know much about their overall experiences at the festival.

To remedy this, we had a chat with father and Fuji Rock veteran of 11 years, Ian Withers. His wife actually has more seniority in terms of the festival’s historyーan impressive 18 years! And their daughter has been coming here before she was even bornーgoing on 4 years. A true Fuji Rockin’ family if there ever was one.

Points for Improvement:

*Ian commented that in general, the festival is very family friendly: it’s clean, it’s safe, and there are many activities and child-friendly areas. However, there’s always room for improvement. One of the main areas of frustration is the camping areas. After traveling a long way with child(ren) in tow, families have to join long lines to get their things in order and find a camping spot. Even if they arrive on the thursday, the camping spots close to the entrance are snapped up quicklyーthese are prime real estate as they’re close to the toilets and other facilities, and obviously the shortest distance between the festival venue and your tent. For families, having a spot close to the entrance means the difference between a quick, easy trip “home” and a long, painful journey uphill while carrying a sleeping child. (That may wake up in the process!)

*Ian proposes a separate family camping areaーjust as there is a females only and camping clinic, for those who need additional support. After a long day of trekking around, kids will be worn out and fall asleep soonerーhaving a family area with a curfew would avoid having to deal with drunken revelry in the tent next door and not so many people passing through, at the very least.

*He also suggested having more disabled toiletsーyoung children need to be accompanied, and there is more space for both parent and child in there. On the same note, more family-friendly rest areas in the shade, as well as changing rooms wouldn’t hurt either.

What Fuji Rock does well:

*The Kids’ Land area is great. There are plenty of facilities there, the face painting is a big hit, and Ian’s daughter (as well as many other kids, I’m sure) could easily spend the whole day just in that area.

*The performances for kids at the festival are great fun, too!

*The festival as a whole is fantastic! Otherwise they wouldn’t keep coming back every year. (Definitely agree with that!)