North Yorkshire’s Deer Shed Festival continues to offer the perfect, family-friendly blend of music, comedy, arts and activities as it welcomed 8,000 people to a sunny Baldersby Park this weekend.
Now in its 14th year, the festival’s impressive musical bill saw indie icons The Coral, exquisite indie band Bombay Bicycle Club, and Mercury-nominated CMAT headline the main stage and wow the crowds; while across the festival there were stella performances from the likes of BC Camplight, The Go! Team, Los Bitchos, and Fat Dog and many others.
The family-owned event also boasted a cutting-edge cultural programme; with highlights including packed-out talks from the Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham, award-winning slam poet Vanessa Kisuule, and poet laureate Simon Armitage.
Their comedy line up showcased household names, including the Taskmaster’s assistant (and the show’s creator) Alex Horne who performed with his brass band The Horne Section, who entertained a busy Big Top on Saturday evening, while Saturday and Sunday’s comedy stylings saw panel show regulars Mark Watson (Saturday) and Shaparak Khorsandi (Sunday) headline the night to huge enjoyment and massive crowds!
Part of Deer Shed’s unique appeal is its ability to merge its uncompromised music and comedy line up with a haven for children to play, explore and enjoy. The young festival goers had so much to keep them entertained across the three- day event; including a Kielder observatory takeover, Rubik’s cube workshops, and retro gaming in the science tent – bush crafts in the Wilderwild, tree climbing, kayaking, feral farm, wrestling, city of play and Jedi masterclasses. The dedicated Sports Arena also provided a hugely popular skateboarding workshops and nerf guns, and booked-out wild swimming and sauna sessions provided a nourishing interlude by the River Swale.
No matter how you choose to spend your time at Deer Shed, you are sure of a great time for the whole family; set to the backdrop of a stunning North Yorkshire parkland and the sound of glorious live music. It really is a festival for everyone; family, friends & fans!
Deer Shed Festival Director, Oliver Jones, said: “It’s always a pleasure to see a year’s worth of hard work come together for the festival weekend. To see so many people enjoying themselves makes it all worthwhile. When we started Deer Shed, we did it with the intention of creating the kind of festival we would want to attend – a combination of great music and great family entertainment with neither detracting from the other – and we’re always delighted to see so many other families enjoy this kind of festival too.”
A limited number of Early Bird Tickets for Deer Shed Festival 2025 are now on sale at Deer Shed – tickets (deershedfestival.com)
