Truck Festival 2014 Review

funStarting Truck Festival 2014 on the last day of school before the summer holidays was a genius idea. The kids finished early at midday and we made our way straight over to set up camp.

One thing that’s amazing at this festival is you’re allowed to take in your own alcohol. As long as you have no glass, you can take whatever drink you like.

As we made our way through the local village it seemed everyone was making great use of the nearby Co-op to stock up.

Although of course, there was a superb selection of drinks available inside the festival. Roughly £4 would get you a pint of cider/ beer or a glass of wine, and £5 would get you a cocktail at the beach bar – yes a beach bar, with a sand floor and even a surf board!

The walk from the car park to the family camping wasn’t too far. It still felt a bit of a trek with all our bits. You can of course find the trusty trolley to hire, available from Trolley Tots. You can wheel your load and then transform it to a handy carrier for your little people. But this time we decided to give it a go without.

Scorchio!

The afternoon was scorching hot. A whopping 29 degrees, so we were happy to discover free flowing water stations where you could fill up your water bottles. A nice touch Truck, and one I’m sure everyone fully appreciated.

The first thing that really stood out when we arrived was the fab Ferris wheel and helter-skelter which stood proud in the skyline. At night they were lit up with pretty lights and twinkled happily among the hubbub going on around them.

We enjoyed these rides so much, and each time I got butterflies in my tummy! At £2 each a go it wasn’t too expensive either so there were smiles all round.

We spent the afternoon chilling out listening to bands from the various stages and exploring what the festival had to offer.

The stages

It’s set on a working farm, so even one of the barns was transformed to a stage. There was also the main Truck stage, the Market stage, the veterans and virgins stage (for first time performers) and the Great Western Saloon bar. All of which had acts playing, so for a small festival there was plenty to see.

The kids were by no means left out. They enjoyed the wonderful Nick Cope with his songs and stories in the kids tent, circus skills, the tuck shop, joke stall (a plethora of practical jokes to buy for about a £1), glitter tattoos and face paints, all topped off with a gut-busting supply of fresh doughnuts – just £1.50 for five (we may have helped with those).

For parents with babies and younger children, the kid’s tent was shady and cool and when there was no act on it was full of soft blankets and cushions on the floor for little ones to crawl on.

Stormy Night

That night saw a whopping great storm hit us. Huge claps of thunder and bolts of lightning, along with a torrential downpour that lasted the entire night.

Coupled with music from a nearby tent until 5am, you could say my husband and I resembled a couple of zombies in the morning. Of course, our boys who sleep through everything were as fresh as daisies. How cute. Not!

The Saturday soon brightened up and was back to a balmy 27 degrees in no time.

Food, Drink & Facilities

We headed over to the fresh smoothie bar and picked up a cool glass of goodness each. This really was great value and they started from just £1. So we didn’t feel too guilty for the pizza, burgers, chips and onion bargees we’d munched on the day before.

The toilets at Truck were good, with hand wash supplied in each one and disabled loos dotted around. We did have to resort to our trusty roll of toilet paper we’d bought with us as they ran out at this point.

We spent the day enjoying time together. Playing football and volleyball, making loom bands on our picnic blanket, and challenging each other to perfect our circus skills.

Paint fight

At 3pm there was a spectacular arranged paint fight. Everyone throwing (safe) powder paint in the air and covering each other from head to toe. This was a right laugh for everyone.

Families, teenagers, even a stag do! Although loud and raucous, it was controlled and great fun.

While we were there my eldest wanted to write an interview to ask a family about their time at Truck. We met the very lovely Seddon-Kamm family and asked them about their time at the festival:

Who are you here with?
Just ourselves. Myself – Emily, my boyfriend David and our boys Elliot and James.

What is your favourite stall?
The boys love the toy and joke stall – they keep wanting to go back there! And they’re looking forward to the Truck Monster making an appearance.

What are the toilets like?
Very clean and they always have hand gel in them.

Who are your favourite bands?
We love M&A and Catfish and the Bottlemen. The children love Nick Cope.

What would you like to see at Truck that’s not here at the moment?
Definitely showers!

What are the queues like?
Sometimes the food and bar queues are quite long.

Are you camping?
Yes.

What are you camping in?

A tent in the family field.

How does Truck compare to other festivals you’ve been to?
Truck is our favourite. It’s small and family friendly. We’ve been coming ever since the kids were tiny.

The Vibe

We were sad to leave on Sunday. We all had so much fun. The overall vibe of the festival is laid back with a slight hippy feel to it. I might just have got myself a henna tattoo.

There was an emphasis on being green. Most of the stalls were giving their money raised to charity and there were lots of different recycling bins available.

It felt safe and friendly, with plenty for everyone to see and do. If there was just one thing I’d ask for, it would be more shade. I know we were having crazy weather at the time, but it would have been great to have some parasols up. Other than that, I’d certainly recommend to anyone to go.

Bring on Truck 2015 – we can’t wait!


One thought on “Truck Festival 2014 Review

  1. Hi, we went to Truck last weekend (2015) and were disappointed. Truck has changed. Too much alcohol has made it unsuitable for families now. You don’t really want your children to be surrounded by hundreds of drunken teenagers who’re completely losing it. The evenings were particularly bad,and with all the havoc going on around you, trying to go to sleep in a tent is a joke.

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