2014
Festival reviews from the year 2014
Shambala 2014 Review
21-25 August 2014
Shambala deservedly won Festival of the Year in our awards last year. Could they deliver another award winning performance?
The answer as far as our family goes is – yes!
Another truly wonderful weekend from the festival that keeps on getting better and better!
The Real Halloween 2014 Review
25-26th October 2014
W
hen the heady days of summer festivals are over for the year I always look forward to the truly magical event that is the real halloween.
From the creators of the annual Fairy Fair, The Fairyland trust, created the real Halloween in 2010. The main aim to teach the real meaning of Halloween not the plastic horror show we are so commonly exposed to in this day in age.
Deer Shed 2014 Review
Review by Sam O’Brien
Having researched Deer Shed Festival beforehand I was very impressed with their principle: easy access, easy camping, reasonable prices, child focussed whilst still remembering the parents. Unfortunately, a lot of festivals make a lot of claims and don’t necessarily live up to them, so, the question is was I still impressed upon arrival? Simply put, yes, from the moment I arrived it was the simple things that made the difference, everything was straight forward. Obvious, simple direction signs on the lead in, easy, close parking, simple access straight into the camping area without having to queue through check-in with frustrated children and arms full of luggage, plus due to the nature of this festival no need to struggle to find family camping, it was all family camping.
The Big Feastival 2014 Review
29-31 August, Alex’s Farm, The Cotswolds
Reviewed by Nikki Payne and family
We love food. And we love music. And we love spending the weekend together as a family in a field. So we thought The Big Feastival would be the perfect combo. And indeed if you fancy a weekend of watching celebrity chefs, in a field, with a side serving of live music and a huge dollop of fete then this is the perfect festival for you.
Festival No 6 2014 Review
by Vashti Zarach and family
It was looking like 2014 was going to be a festival free year for us. I’d had to settle for following Glastonbury via Twitter and the BBC, and wistfully wondering if I could afford a day at Festival No 6, a new festival in its third year, and relatively local to us in one of our favourite places.
Bounce Festival 2014 Review
Review by Ellie Allen and family
Held at Old Deer Park in Richmond is this little gem of a festival. Slightly different than most, as you won’t find the usual camping field, beer tent or live bands. This festival is totally devoted to the little ones, and instead you’ll find a huge array of delights to keep even the most active child entertained all day.
My family and I eagerly arrived at the gates just before they opened at 10am and luckily for us there were no queues! We anticipated parking problems too but we just rocked up at the car park opposite to the festival and had almost the whole car park to choose from. It was £11.50 for 24 hours, so we were very happy with that, especially being so close to central London.
Read more…
Beautiful Days 2014 Review
As a Levellers fan I have wanted to go to Beautiful Days for many years, and have heard only good things about it. So maybe my expectations were a bit too high, or maybe the festival has grown a bit too large, as although we enjoyed ourselves we didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped we would. I would value other people’s feedback on whether this year differed to previous years – please do comment below.
Green Man Festival 2014 Review
Come for a Cwtch
Come for a CwtchWe fell in love with Green Man Festival last year and I have to admit to being worried about how it could possibly meet the expectations we had from it being so wonderful. I need not have worried because yet again this beautiful festival filled my heart with happiness. I did not think it would be possible for us to love it even more than we already did.
Just So 2014 Review
15-17th August
A perfect little celebration of the arts and the glorious outdoors all wrapped up in a weekend of family fun.
This was our first Just So festival and we would happily return every year. The festival is only in its 5th year but it is now a firm favourite on the festival calendar for families, and it’s easy to see why.
Lakefest 2014 Review
Lakefest is a true family festival held in the grounds of Croft Farm Waterpark near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire.
The music takes place over the three days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but for a small extra charge you can buy a ticket that also allows you to camp on the Thursday night.
We opted to travel up on Friday afternoon and after a short journey from Bristol (there’s something to be said for local festivals!) and just a five minute queue to get into the car park, we were good to go.
Shambala 2014 Review
21-25 August 2014
Shambala deservedly won Festival of the Year in our awards last year. Could they deliver another award winning performance?
The answer as far as our family goes is – yes!
Another truly wonderful weekend from the festival that keeps on getting better and better!
Deer Shed 2014 Review
Review by Sam O’Brien
Having researched Deer Shed Festival beforehand I was very impressed with their principle: easy access, easy camping, reasonable prices, child focussed whilst still remembering the parents. Unfortunately, a lot of festivals make a lot of claims and don’t necessarily live up to them, so, the question is was I still impressed upon arrival? Simply put, yes, from the moment I arrived it was the simple things that made the difference, everything was straight forward. Obvious, simple direction signs on the lead in, easy, close parking, simple access straight into the camping area without having to queue through check-in with frustrated children and arms full of luggage, plus due to the nature of this festival no need to struggle to find family camping, it was all family camping.
Festival No 6 2014 Review
by Vashti Zarach and family
It was looking like 2014 was going to be a festival free year for us. I’d had to settle for following Glastonbury via Twitter and the BBC, and wistfully wondering if I could afford a day at Festival No 6, a new festival in its third year, and relatively local to us in one of our favourite places.
Beautiful Days 2014 Review
As a Levellers fan I have wanted to go to Beautiful Days for many years, and have heard only good things about it. So maybe my expectations were a bit too high, or maybe the festival has grown a bit too large, as although we enjoyed ourselves we didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped we would. I would value other people’s feedback on whether this year differed to previous years – please do comment below.
Just So 2014 Review
15-17th August
A perfect little celebration of the arts and the glorious outdoors all wrapped up in a weekend of family fun.
This was our first Just So festival and we would happily return every year. The festival is only in its 5th year but it is now a firm favourite on the festival calendar for families, and it’s easy to see why.
The Real Halloween 2014 Review
25-26th October 2014
When the heady days of summer festivals are over for the year I always look forward to the truly magical event that is the real halloween.
From the creators of the annual Fairy Fair, The Fairyland trust, created the real Halloween in 2010. The main aim to teach the real meaning of Halloween not the plastic horror show we are so commonly exposed to in this day in age.
The Big Feastival 2014 Review
29-31 August, Alex’s Farm, The Cotswolds
Reviewed by Nikki Payne and family
We love food. And we love music. And we love spending the weekend together as a family in a field. So we thought The Big Feastival would be the perfect combo. And indeed if you fancy a weekend of watching celebrity chefs, in a field, with a side serving of live music and a huge dollop of fete then this is the perfect festival for you.
Bounce Festival 2014 Review
Review by Ellie Allen and family
Held at Old Deer Park in Richmond is this little gem of a festival. Slightly different than most, as you won’t find the usual camping field, beer tent or live bands. This festival is totally devoted to the little ones, and instead you’ll find a huge array of delights to keep even the most active child entertained all day.
My family and I eagerly arrived at the gates just before they opened at 10am and luckily for us there were no queues! We anticipated parking problems too but we just rocked up at the car park opposite to the festival and had almost the whole car park to choose from. It was £11.50 for 24 hours, so we were very happy with that, especially being so close to central London.
Read more…
Green Man Festival 2014 Review
Come for a Cwtch
We fell in love with Green Man Festival last year and I have to admit to being worried about how it could possibly meet the expectations we had from it being so wonderful. I need not have worried because yet again this beautiful festival filled my heart with happiness. I did not think it would be possible for us to love it even more than we already did.
Lakefest 2014 Review
Lakefest is a true family festival held in the grounds of Croft Farm Waterpark near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire.
The music takes place over the three days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but for a small extra charge you can buy a ticket that also allows you to camp on the Thursday night.
We opted to travel up on Friday afternoon and after a short journey from Bristol (there’s something to be said for local festivals!) and just a five minute queue to get into the car park, we were good to go.