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Home> Life

Published 15:03 16 Jun 2023 GMT+1

Mum who took baby to heavy metal festival says she'll do it again next year despite backlash

Lauren is an avid festivalgoer and didn't want to miss this year's event

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

A mum made clear she has no regrets about taking her 10-month-old baby to a heavy metal festival after being hit with backlash over the move.

Lauren McAuley, 30, is a huge fan of Leicestershire's Download Festival, which this year welcomed Metallica, Bring Me The Horizon and Slipknot.

Lemmy was 'chilled' throughout the whole festival.
Kennedy News

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The mum has been to the festival four times now, including when she was pregnant last year, and Lauren definitely didn't see the arrival of her daughter Lemmy - who is named after Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister - as a reason to break tradition.

This year's Download Festival took place on 8-11 June, and rather than leaving Lemmy behind, Lauren stuck some headphones on her and took her to enjoy the music.

The mum was more than prepared for the trip, explaining: "I had every type of clothing [for Lemmy] that you can imagine, including six or seven bottles of sun cream with me.

"I had thermal clothing, summer clothing, and I even did research on the type of fan we took. You name it, I looked into it."

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But in spite of how prepared she was, Lauren was still hit with backlash after she shared a snap of Lemmy at the event online.

Many people argued the festival - which was hit with noise complaints this year - wasn't child friendly, with one person claiming there were 'too many drunken/drugged up idiots around to risk a child's life'.

Lauren has been to Download four times now.
Kennedy News

Other commenters were more supportive, with one saying they didn't 'understand why there is so much judgement'.

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Lauren, from Coleraine, Northern Ireland, has now hit back at the criticism, saying: "I personally really like spending time with my kid so I don’t have a problem with taking her [to Download Festival].

"Some parents like leaving their kids and getting a break, but not everybody has that option. I could have, but I didn’t want to.

"There were lots of negative comments from people saying the festival's 'not child friendly', but Download Festival has literally created a child friendly area this year called Mini Moshers where they had baby changing facilities."

Lauren admitted there might still be more the festival can do for kids, but said the picture she'd posted had actually been taken at a 'child event where they had music in a tent for the kids and a Pikkachu'.

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Baby Lemmy wore headphones at the festival.
Kennedy News

"How are they not catering to children? The amount of children I’d seen having a good time was just the best," she said.

Lauren said Lemmy was 'completely chilled out' through the festival - so chilled, in fact, that she missed some of the headliners.

She said: "She slept through the Metallica set and Bring Me The Horizon set... Lemmy had ear defenders on for the music and copious amounts of sunscreen. I got a really good pram fan so we had no problem at all.

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"I honestly never had one issue."

In fact, the pair had so much fun together that they're already planning to go to Download Festival again next year.

Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News

Topics: Parenting, Pregnancy, Music

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is the Community Desk Lead at LADbible Group. Emily first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route. She went on to graduate with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University before contributing to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems. She joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features, and now works as Community Desk Lead to commission and write human interest stories from across the globe.

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