Photos by Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

Mikayla Shekle, 4, of Greensboro, N.C., wearing fairy wings, whispers Friday to her new friend, Eliza Harrell, 4, as they watch a puppet show at the Children's Universe. Many of the people attending FloydFest say they enjoy the family-friendly atmosphere of the music event.

Deb Wildman (center) and her daughter Aila Wildman, 5, of Floyd join other festivalgoers in a dance Friday at FloydFest.

FLOYD -- At 4 years old, sharing a tire swing while wearing a set of fairy wings, Mikayla Shekle is already a veteran of music festivals.

Her parents take her to at least two each summer, and she gets upset when there's none in the winter, telling her mom, Sarah Foreman, "But we can wear our coats."

Foreman's parents think she's crazy for taking her young daughter to music events such as FloydFest. But she tells the grandparents they don't understand. Bubbles, glow sticks and a ball are all that's needed to keep Mikayla happy. She meets a friend, the parents befriend other parents, and soon, everyone's dancing.

"They have so much fun," said Foreman, 27.

As bands for the adults rocked on a nearby stage, the Greensboro, N.C., family was among the crowds of parents and children who spent part of Friday at the music festival's Children's Universe.

In its seventh year, the music festival in the rolling green hills off the Blue Ridge Parkway has grown from 3,000 fans the first year to roughly 10,000 last summer. Things are looking even better this year: Organizers say pre-sales of tickets were up 30 percent.

Part of the reason for the growth, said FloydFest Marketing Director Linda DeVito, is that FloydFest is a place where everyone feels welcome -- including families.

The theme this year is "family affair," but DeVito said since the beginning, the event has welcomed little ones. That atmosphere grew from the fact that FloydFest organizers have children, and they wanted to create a summer event for those of all ages.

"There are a lot of kids who have grown up at FloydFest," DeVito said.

Her own kids have come of age on the festival grounds, where the woods become dotted with tents and drum circles thump around bonfire embers until dawn.

DeVito's family is spending the weekend on site in an RV. Her 13-year-old twins were roaming Friday, while 21-year-old son Nick Kuchenbuch -- who was put to work building one of the main stages -- stopped in the site's office for a snack between watching bands.

FloydFest co-founders Erika Johnson and Kris Hodges have a 10- and a 6-year-old who spend the weekend playing on climbing walls, selling glow-in-the-dark hats and necklaces from golf carts after nightfall and filling up on French toast and ice cream from food vendors.

Standing near the festival's food court with a slice of her son's half-eaten pizza in hand, Johnson said the site's landowner has a slogan: "If it weren't family-friendly, it wouldn't be happening."

The Children's Universe is a sure sign of that. The large grassy play area's entrance is marked with flags and is complete with a shaded stage where a band plays tunes kids would hear on a merry-go-round.

The featured instruments are cymbals, a trombone and an accordion. It's less pure than, say, the Wiggles, but there's nothing more threatening among the band mates than a little long hair and dreadlocked beards.

There's face painting and balloons (which advertise a Charlottesville brewery) floating above strollers, large bathrooms and quiet camping spots for families. For nursing moms, there's a lactation area consisting of a tent and chairs. For the first time, baby-sitting is available this year at $7 an hour.

Many parents-- some veterans of big music events such as Bonnaroo -- say FloydFest succeeds at striking a balance between being kid-friendly and fun for adults. It does have a beer garden, after all.

"You can't focus on families solely -- you got to have both," said Barry Garst of Salem, who is camping at FloydFest with his wife and 4-year-old daughter Savannah. "They've been able to walk that line and accommodate the needs of multiple groups."

In a wooded camping area, mom Minouche Holcomb sat Friday in a flannel shirt, fighting the mountain's late morning chill. A sippy cup rested in the arm of her lawn chair. Her son Finn, 2, dressed in a tie-dyed T-shirt, climbed all over her.

The family could have attended a festival at home in Asheville, N.C., this weekend, but they came to FloydFest because, Holcomb said, she thought it was better for families. Here, they found a campsite with other kids Finn's age, and she knows someone will watch out for her son if she turns her head.

"It's a really good family event," she said. "I've seen so many Radio Flyer wagons, it's unreal."

Indeed, kids are as common as a sturdy pair of Birkenstocks. They ride in slings, or atop mom or dad's shoulders, are pushed along mulch paths in strollers, sit on picnic blankets on grass fronting the stages.

The only difference is that, at FloydFest, there's a good chance Dad will be tattooed (or, in one man's case, wearing a long blue skirt and matching toenail polish,) and Mom will sport a nose ring.

But as Richmond mom Annie Snipes learned when she came to FloydFest for the first time last year, this is a place where campers soon form a community. The atmosphere -- and the fact that she missed her daughter Sophia, now 2, when she was here -- prompted her to bring the family this year. Early in the weekend, Sophia was clapping along to the music, loved swinging on tire swings in the Children's Universe and meeting other kids as she climbed a wooden ark.

"It's someplace I feel very comfortable with her," she said of her blond toddler with cubby cheeks.

As Barry Garst learned, there's more than enough at FloydFest to keep kids busy. Thursday night, he pushed Savannah around the site before bed. She stayed up, taking in the music, people twirling hula hoops, the lights. It was well after 10 p.m. before she slept.

By Friday afternoon, at the end of a puppet show that touched on everything from endangered species to the Million Man March, little Savannah was passed out in Mom's lap, fast asleep.