We were lucky enough to catch up with Deer Shed Festival Organiser to discuss this years festival

This is the 2nd year for Deer Shed what have you learnt from last year?

It’s an organic thing, we are more organised with more people.  We have also doubled the size of the festival and already nearly sold out of tickets. We tried to do the food and refreshments ourselves last year but we have brought in vendors to do the food and a company who runs a mobile bar. We are also opening longer from Friday to Sunday lunchtime. We are scaling things up but there’s a sense of calm.

This really is a family friendly  event, does this give parents more time to watch the bands?

Yes and no there is plenty for everyone, we walk a line with a contemporary line up. We want have loads of great kids stuff but we have to get the balance right. Our audience has about 43% under the age of 16 so it is family orientated.  It’s also a cultural event and we have a cabaret to start things off on the Friday.

What was it like to be nominated for best new Festival 2010?

To be nominated was absolutely brilliant and we had really great feedback and lots of heart warming comments on our Facebook page. This year we are not as stressed firstly you need to be mad but it’s all about keeping money coming in when you have a family and 3 children and a love of music.

Tell us about your theme Sky at Night?

Well we are hoping that it’s going to be a clear night, it helps to have a theme to focus on and to tie everything up. We want to have a weather balloon, that is if the weather is good and if we get permission from the Civil Aviation Authority.

Do you have a special memory from last year?

The weird thing is that I did not get to see many bands as it was full on and when it finished  I was in the tent with what  felt like 3rd degree exhaustion.  I felt lucky to have survived it and it’s not a good memory being so stressed out but then you have the marvellous moments when we saw all those heartfelt comments about the festival.

Can you sum up the ethos of Deer Shed in a sentence?

Great hospitality regardless of age, good value, looking after everyone and not skimping of the quality of any aspect of the festival.

What else can you tell us about the festival?

Over the last 3 weeks we have seen tickets selling on a daily basis and even though we have doubled the size of the festival we are getting close to selling out. We have no capacity as such so we can keep on selling tickets but we would stop at 5,000. That’s because we want to stand out as good value for money and we are in it for the long haul.

The Deer Shed Festival takes place from 22nd – 24th July at Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, Thirsk, North Yorkshire

An adult weekend ticket (including 3 nights camping) is priced at £59.

Tickets available from  Ticketline