Just So Festival
by Claire, March 6th 2012
(http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk)Just So Festival:
17th to 19th August 2012
Where: Rode Hall, near scholar’s Green, Staffs (note this is a new venue for 2012)
Size of festival : 4,000 people
Website: www.justsofestival.org.uk (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/)
Just So (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/) is a small, weekend-long festival of creativity aimed at children, young people and their families. It’s an opportunity for families to share in the most fundamental of life’s pleasures: good old-fashioned fun!
All of the bands are specially chosen because the organisers think families will love to dance to them.
The programme for 2012 (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/programme-list/) is now available, and is sure to be just as fun as previous years. There’s a new area called ‘All the world’s a stage (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/category/all-the-worlds-a-stage/)’ where you need to be prepared to tread the boards, smell the greasepaint and see your name in lights – think choirs, dress up, face paint and lots of ways to get involved. Other activities to note include jazz and swing dancing, the midnight feast, trapeze lessons, circus tricks, big pottery (modelling with mud!), bedtime stories, pillow fights, lantern making and loads more.
The landscape will be transformed by large scale art installations, quirky characters and magical decoration, broken down into different areas for families to explore, from Wild Things to The High Seas to Away with the Fairies, each bursting with workshops, performance and surprises. Families will be invited to enter the jaws of a giant metal whale to be serenaded by a lovesick submariner, taken on a surreal journey on a fantastical flying machine and charged with saving the world from being gobbled up by the all-devouring piggy bank of doom by theatre companies Talking Birds, Pif Paf and Teatro-saurus. Each evening, Forty Winks will celebrate bedtime with aerial dance performance Fly by Night by the Baretoed Dance Company. The Telling Tales programme includes authors such as Elen Caldecott, Professor Mark Brake and Michael Buckley who will take to the woods and the parkland and share their stories. Storytellers in gypsy caravans and on story tricycles will be weaving tall tales around every corner, along with the Gruffalo and Babar. Families will Walk the Lines and make the festival ring with poetry on our amazing trail, and read, swap and borrow books at the Bouquiniste Book swap.
From wild barn dancing with Cut a Shine, to Russian Folk with Mazaika, the festival’s music programme will be an eclectic mix to keep tiny feet tapping from dawn til’ the retro discos fade into quiet. Bands include Sheelanagig, Louis Barabas and the Bedlam Six, The Robbie Boyd Band, Fiona Bevan and the Bonfire Band. Families will be singing and dancing their socks off too, with Familyoke, jive, swing and belly dancing workshops and the annual participatory opera.
Early Bird tickets for the event sold out in September and with the festival directors confirming they have no plan to increase the capacity of the festival; families will need to be quick if they want to join in the festivities.
What makes Just So Festival (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/) unique?
The festival is all about families, where the whole family gets painty and messy and sings and plays instruments and dances in the woods, where everyone gets involved in the arts on their own terms, with the beetles and the leaves and the birds.
The family festival experience includes family camping, nice loos, baby changing tents with changing mats and wipes, a breast-feeding boudoir, an area with electricity points for bottle warmers and sterilisers, baby bathtime, a bedtime tent and more.
Accessibility and Facilities
The site is buggy friendly but a sling will come in handy for anyone wanting to explore the woods in depth.
2012 Weekend Tickets
Early Bird Weekend Adult Ticket with camping (16+) :: £85 Buy now (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/tickets/)
Weekend Child Ticket with camping (3-15) :: £35 Buy now (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/tickets/)
Weekend under-3s with camping :: FREE but you need to let them know how many little ones you are bringing.
There’s lot more information on the Just So Festival website (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/category/information/) including info about camping, campervans and pre-erected accommodation. Don’t forget to check out the FAQ area too (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/faqs/).
2012 Day Tickets
Adult Day Ticket (16+) :: £25 Buy now (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/tickets/)
Child Day Ticket (3-15) :: £12.50 Buy now (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/tickets/)
Under 3s Day Ticket :: FREE
Under 18s must be accompanied to the festival by a responsible adult.
New Location for 2012
Just So Festival (http://www NULL.justsofestival NULL.org NULL.uk/) will be moving away from Barnswood in 2012 to the wonderful woods and parkland of Rode Park, near Scholar Green (just 10 miles from Barnswood).
Rode Park is a beautiful, natural environment, with lots of mysterious woodland to explore, beautiful parkland for camping, and a great lake. There are tons of secret and enchanting nooks, crannies and corners just waiting to be turned into a fantastical playground for the whole family to explore and enjoy together.
Camping at Rode Hall certainly won’t be on anonymous fields! There is plenty of beautiful parkland for camping, where you will be able to spread out and camp with your friends as at Barnswood. One great bonus of the parkland camping (especially for small legs and weary armed parents), is that campers will be able to drive round and drop their gear by the camping areas before parking.
It was generally felt that in 2011 the numbers of families were just right for the festival to feel exciting, but still very safe for young families and for older children to have some freedom. There are no plans to increase capacity now or in the future.
Click HERE for 2011 Just So Festival REVIEWS
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