Hey ya’ll,
We are coming up to Telluride for the first time with our 3 kids. We will be camping at Mary Ilium in a pop-up. I was hoping some of you could share info about things for little ones to do. Our kids are 6, 4 and 2.
What is there for kids to do at the festival?
Any “family friendly” spots at mary E?
Any info or comments are greatly appreciated.
thinkBLUE
I’ve heard that Mary E is a very family friendly camping area, but I don’t know first hand.
Inside the festival there’s a kids tent/area where they can have all kinds of fun doing face painting, watching clowns, and playing games. Adult supervision is required, but well worth it. Sometimes they learn to sing songs and then perform them on the stage. They’ll have a wonderful time. :thumbsup
Mary E is a pretty good place to bring a family, especially if you have a pop-up, people tend to stay out pretty late around the fires, but aren’t generally overly raucous or anything.
petting zoo, too. and the solar guy. kids parade on sunday.
The Telluride Bluegrass Festival is a great place to bring the kids. On the festival grounds there is a “kids area” that’s open all day with all kinds of fun stuff going on. The kids even get to parade thru the festival with the clowns and puppets. The festivarians are kid friendly and lots of families with kids attend the festival because it’s so family friendly. So, bring the kids!
The Kaptain
Did anyone mention that there’s virgin rumballs for kiddies?
Who else will have kids in TP??
Sam will be with us. He’s psyched.
kym
:wave Oh yeah. We’re bringing the kids. Our oldest has been with us to Folks before.
:flower
The kids area is awesome and within it you can find some shade but that’s about it for shade inside the main festival area. The down side is it’s tough (for us at least) to hear what’s happening on the stage. Bring loads of good protecting sunblock and hats. Many families travel with sunshades to set up inside; the kelty sort is extremely popular. We haven’t broken down and bought one but I think we three small people we sure would.
Enjoy!
kym
Kym,
Do you have a link to one of the shade thinggies?
Far and away this type is most popular. We don’t have one but I think they’re popular because they’re relatively light and easy to set up.
And speaking of easy to set up…we have something more like this but much, much smaller and with a poped-up height that doesn’t break the tops of our small chairs, and so no one’s view, and is not so huge to gobble up too much real estate when on the tarp. It was tough to find one with enough room for him to chill/play a little bit and still meet our good neighbor requirements though. We’re also lucky he really does like to check out the action on stage and finds our festival family tarp action interesting and so is happy to hang out for longer than I ever would have expected before he’s ready to roam again. Knowing your kiddo is key to this strategy. If she’s a busy girl and not likely to sit still for long, the family size is probably a better choice.
One baseball fan to another on opening night, :thumbsup
kym
I know I seen it somewhere…but can’t seem to find it. Got a few things to get yet and earplugs for the little one is on the top of the list! What are the best kind to get? …our little one is 2 1/2 if that helps 
Your fast Tom. I actually forgot I wrote about earplugs before and had retyped it. I’ll spare the repetition and just include stuff I didn’t before…
… This is the trick, to get them really soft. Then gently squwish them into the depression inside the ear (not the canal but the part your finger will fill if sticking it into your ear) so that they cover all but the outer ear. One of the docs I’ve talked to back at first aid said he thought them preferable too but for giving away they could only bring foam. I try to bring an extra box or two to leave back there.
One thing though - NEVER forget to take them out. We accidently left one in one of Sam’s ears one night and I thought we were going to have to cut it out of his hair. We didn’t but it wasn’t fun either.
silicone it is :thumbsup I knew i’d posted and read something about that before :lol I think i’ll smoke another now :cheers
Prep as you would for a 4 day visit to Disneyland! Snacks, Activities and NAPS! Long days ahead. Hots and Colds and could rain! PreFestivalIpod bands and casts a must. Have the kiddies choose their favorite bands so they are attentive when the bands play.
Also, participation in the Kiddy Parade is an absolute hoot!
Get on it brother the Kid’s tent is where it’s at. Head on over there and spend your festival with the babies. I wanna make one of those whirly gig noise making things.
can I leave right now???
:cheers
NONONONONO Jerry if you leave now the oysters will go bad!!! And you know how bad that will make Camp Run A Muck smell!!! :sick :sick :sick :sick :sick
Mary E is a good place to camp with families. We camped there several times when the kids were little. There have been several good comments on kid stuff in the festival (we are in the row of Kelty sunshades and have been for years) here are some additional thoughts:
Getting a pop-up into Mary E will be tough if you arrive after Wed AM. Even then choices will be very limited. Consider getting there early.
Do not count on getting your vehicle in and out AT ALL during the festival. With kids, that means some good advance planning for supplies.
The bus to and from the festival is a great service but it takes time. Running back to camp during the day to get something you forgot is a major pain. Bring good packs and a way to carry tired little ones. A long day in the sun followed by a bus ride can mean a sleeping little one that needs to be carried.
The port-o-lets in camp get pretty ripe. Use them early in the AM and use facilities in town before returning to camp.
Showers are at the school on the way into town. The bus will stop there on the way in. They are pretty crowded from about 9-10 AM. If I remember right the price is $3. the grocery store is accross the street from the showers. You can take the bus again from there when you are done or walk about 15 blocks to the festival.
The tram ride to mountain village is a great kid activity as are the Elks park shows. Bear Creek behind the fetival area is a nice cool hike on a hot day.