Ruth Campbell looks at the family-friendly festival at Deer Shed next month, while Sophie Stratford catches up with Latitude.

ONE of the UK’s newest and most successful family music festivals, set in beautiful North Yorkshire parkland, is set to double in size this year. The Deer Shed, at Topcliffe near Thirsk, sold out in its first year last year and was recently nominated for best new festival at the UK Festival Awards.

It is the brainchild of parents Kate and Oliver Jones, who love music but had suffered bad experiences when they brought their young children to music festivals.

So they set up the Deer Shed, where adults and youngsters alike can have a great time. “You don’t just stop loving cutting edge stuff because you have a family. But we are very much child-centred too,” says Oliver.

The festival, from July 22 to 24, has grown from two days to three and Kate and Oliver are expecting more than 5,000 festival-goers, double the number from last year. It’s enough for a great atmosphere, but not so many that you can’t get out of the car park, says Oliver.

There are three stages, as well as a Big Top, with more than 35 bands, including headliners I Am Kloot, The Go! Team, Frankie and The Heartstrings and Caitlin Rose, performing. To mark Kloot’s album Sky At Night, the festival has a stargazing theme, with a pop-up planetarium, cosmonaut cabaret and local astronomers on hand.

There is also cabaret, comedy, theatre, circus skills, arts and crafts workshops, birds of prey displays, nature trails and other activities, including swing ball, hula hoop and space hopper games, on offer from early morning.

Camping is free, with a quiet family camping area available away from the main arena. The average distance from the car park to the family camping only 200m and there are even porters with wheelbarrows on hand to help campers transport their bags and keep things as hassle-free as possible.

Kate and Oliver, who are determined to maintain the same chilled-out atmosphere everyone enjoyed so much last year, seem to have thought of everything.

• Deershed Festival, July 22-24, Baldersby Park. deershedfestival.com Adult tickets (16+) £59, child (6+) £15, 5yrs and under free.

SOPHIE Stratford talks to Kate Fox, a poet and writer hailing from Newcastle about the Latitude summer festival, July 14-17. She is performing at the Poetry Arena throughout the weekend at the Suffolk Festival.

Fox tends to perform funny, quirky poetry with a heavy pop culture/news edge and was commissioned to do a poem about Gordon Brown’s first hundred days by BBC2’s Daily Politics.

Who is your must see performance at Latitude this year?

My must see performance at Latitude is Connor Oberst. I love boy singers who sound like they’re about to cry.

Not including items used in your performance, what is your must-have festival item?

Wellies are the essential festival item.

Do you have anything special planned for your performance at Latitude?

I’ll be doing a poetic news bulletin about the festival each day, and getting guests to do topical poems as well.

If you could have anyone (dead or alive) to introduce you onstage who would it be and why?

I would love Leonard Cohen to introduce me onto stage because it would mean he was also playing and I’d get to see his set. Though in reality, I’d be a puddle on the floor if I did get to meet him, so it probably wouldn’t be best for my performance.

If you have been to Latitude before what was your favourite memory, performance or special spot on site?

My happiest memory of Latitude 2009 is the multicoloured sheep. Normal sheep look bare now.

Latitude is...(please complete the sentence)

Latitude is....hopefully going to be dry this year...

View Fox’s website for news, gigs and writing: katefox.co.uk/about.html