Blog
Competitions, product reviews, opinions, and awards; welcome to the Festival Kidz blog!
Festival Kidz Award Winners 2014
Announcing the 2nd annual Festival Kidz Awards!
2014 was a fantastic year for family friendly festivals – we reviewed more than ever before and visited so many that it made judging the awards extremely difficult. If your favourite festival is missing from this list, please feel free to comment below!
Christmas gift ideas for festival families and beyond
Struggling with Christmas ideas for your family?
Socks are great for festival goers of any age but we think you can be a little more creative than that.
Here are just a few ideas from us.
Levellers on Tour
The Levellers are currently touring, and Festival Kidz have been invited!
Do you have any questions you want to ask them? Please let us know and we’ll ask them for you!
Read more…
Festival Kidz Awards 2014
The Festival Kidz Awards are Back for 2014!
Voting has now closed
Festival Kidz is run by parents for parents. We want to be able to recommend the best festivals for people to take their children to.
To this end, all our reviewers have submitted their recommendations and we are now compiling the results. Our coveted Festival Kidz Gold and Silver Award winners will be announced soon.
We are rating them in more categories this year – activities, camping, facilities, value for money, entertainment, accessibility and green credentials.
SG#22 Our last festival of the season
The last festival of this year’s season for us was to be one that we knew the least about. In fact, we knew virtually nothing.
My husband has been a long time fan of the band Embrace, and this wasn’t to be the first time I’ve been dragged off on an Embrace related adventure.
Read more…
Levellers Greatest Hits
On Monday, the Levellers Greatest Hits will be released!
The 2CD/DVD set includes all the Levellers’ singles and videos together on one album for the first time.
They kindly let me have an advance copy to review – and as a Levellers fan I love that I can listen to all their best hits on one album. There are also a few new remixes – I particularly liked Imelda May singing on Beautiful Day, and the restyling of Frank Turner on the track Julie… although as a fan it’s great that there are also the original versions on the album too.
My favourites are all there – Far From Home being my absolute favourite festival track – we listened to it on the way to Beautiful Days this year and the children loved singing along to Beautiful Day before the festival!
You can also buy a Digital Box Set containing a 5 volume digital LP containing B-Sides, Covers, Remixes and live versions.
In November, Levellers embark on a European wide Greatest Hits tour, and Festival Kidz will be at the London date – there’s only one thing better than a Levellers album and that’s seeing them live!
We’re all going on a Camp Bestie holiday!
Preview of Camp Bestival 31st July -3rd August 2014
We are so so excited about Camp Bestival 2014! There is so much going on for all the family that I don’t know how we are going to fit it in!
Firstly the music, as usual for Sunday Best Productions there is a stellar line up including Bassment Jaxx, De La Soul, James, Johhny Marr, Laura Mvula, Pop Will Eat Itself, Chas and Dave and many, many others as well as the obligatory DJ Sets from Rob Da Bank and friends.
Its not just the music though, there is comedy from Milton Jones, Pajama Men and Comedy 4 Kids to name a few, Theatre and shows from Horrible Histories, the legend that is Mr Tumble, the ever popular insect circus plus so many more I won’t be able to fit onto this page.
For the children there is something for every age and stage. From the Breastival Mother and Baby chill out and under fives soft play area for the tinies, along with a bouncy castle, circus skills, bikes and go carts in the Upper Kids Garden and lots of space to charge around in, the tinies are well catered for.
For older children the Lower Kids garden has the Insect Circus, Art Town, fairground rides and facepainting.
But thats not all! As part of Camp Bestival’s passion to get everyone connected with Mother Nature and the wonders of the great outdoors, the National Trust will be bringing the 50 things meadow to Lulworth Castle, giving kids a brilliant taster of their amazing ’50 things to do before you’re 11¾’ initiative. As part of the wider Project Wild Thing Camp Bestival takeover*, the meadow will introduce kids to the kind of exciting challenges and carefree adventures they can have throughout the summer holidays. Being huge fans of the great outdoors this will definitely be on our list of must dos!
Disney will be attending the festival with an interactive fire truck to celebrate the launch of Planes 2: Fire and Rescue, and will be demo’ing a brand new augmented reality game that will be located within it for guests to see themselves simulated on screen as their favourite characters Dusty and Dipper.
Parents want to relive their raving days? Look no further, Big Fish Little Fish are hosting their raves for big kids and little kids, we can’t wait for that!
For ages 13-17 a brand new area called The Den will be the place to be! Think of a festival within a festival, new and emerging talent in the form of DJS, artists, comedians and authors and talks.
Day tickets and limited weekend tickets are still available at TicketLine
Glamping up the festival experience with boutique camping
A few years ago I wrote about “Glamping” and how much the word (much like Jedward) annoyed me. Also I couldn’t understand why you couldn’t have a bit of luxury in your own tent with a few extras. However as the years have gone on I’ve finally seen the appeal…
Levellers on Tour!
As Beautiful Days is now sold out, if you want to catch Levellers playing this year they have announced a Greatest Hits tour!
Tickets go on sale at 9am tomorrow!
I’m really excited about this as they’re one of my favourite bands, and to me they are festivals – whenever I hear Far From Home I’m instantly transported to my first Glastonbury…
They are also bringing out a 2 CD/DVD/Digital bundle of all 31 of their singles and videos to date in September. The album also features four unique collaborations with Imelda May (Beautiful Day), Frank Turner (Julie), Bellowhead (Just The One) and Billy Bragg (Hope Street), which are all brand new re-recordings.
Volunteering at Festivals – The ‘Oxfamily’
Impossible with kids? Not so.
In fact, the fabulous team at Oxfam, who organise stewards at some of the UK’s biggest festivals welcome families and have many who return year after year. It’s also a fabulous opportunity if your teenagers want to experience festivals on their own in a friendly safe environment.
Festival Kidz Award Winners 2014
Announcing the 2nd annual Festival Kidz Awards!
2014 was a fantastic year for family friendly festivals – we reviewed more than ever before and visited so many that it made judging the awards extremely difficult. If your favourite festival is missing from this list, please feel free to comment below!
Levellers on Tour
The Levellers are currently touring, and Festival Kidz have been invited!
Do you have any questions you want to ask them? Please let us know and we’ll ask them for you!
Read more…
SG#22 Our last festival of the season
The last festival of this year’s season for us was to be one that we knew the least about. In fact, we knew virtually nothing.
My husband has been a long time fan of the band Embrace, and this wasn’t to be the first time I’ve been dragged off on an Embrace related adventure.
Read more…
We’re all going on a Camp Bestie holiday!
Preview of Camp Bestival 31st July -3rd August 2014
We are so so excited about Camp Bestival 2014! There is so much going on for all the family that I don’t know how we are going to fit it in!
Firstly the music, as usual for Sunday Best Productions there is a stellar line up including Bassment Jaxx, De La Soul, James, Johhny Marr, Laura Mvula, Pop Will Eat Itself, Chas and Dave and many, many others as well as the obligatory DJ Sets from Rob Da Bank and friends.
Its not just the music though, there is comedy from Milton Jones, Pajama Men and Comedy 4 Kids to name a few, Theatre and shows from Horrible Histories, the legend that is Mr Tumble, the ever popular insect circus plus so many more I won’t be able to fit onto this page.
For the children there is something for every age and stage. From the Breastival Mother and Baby chill out and under fives soft play area for the tinies, along with a bouncy castle, circus skills, bikes and go carts in the Upper Kids Garden and lots of space to charge around in, the tinies are well catered for.
For older children the Lower Kids garden has the Insect Circus, Art Town, fairground rides and facepainting.
But thats not all! As part of Camp Bestival’s passion to get everyone connected with Mother Nature and the wonders of the great outdoors, the National Trust will be bringing the 50 things meadow to Lulworth Castle, giving kids a brilliant taster of their amazing ’50 things to do before you’re 11¾’ initiative. As part of the wider Project Wild Thing Camp Bestival takeover*, the meadow will introduce kids to the kind of exciting challenges and carefree adventures they can have throughout the summer holidays. Being huge fans of the great outdoors this will definitely be on our list of must dos!
Disney will be attending the festival with an interactive fire truck to celebrate the launch of Planes 2: Fire and Rescue, and will be demo’ing a brand new augmented reality game that will be located within it for guests to see themselves simulated on screen as their favourite characters Dusty and Dipper.
Parents want to relive their raving days? Look no further, Big Fish Little Fish are hosting their raves for big kids and little kids, we can’t wait for that!
For ages 13-17 a brand new area called The Den will be the place to be! Think of a festival within a festival, new and emerging talent in the form of DJS, artists, comedians and authors and talks.
Day tickets and limited weekend tickets are still available at TicketLine
Levellers on Tour!
As Beautiful Days is now sold out, if you want to catch Levellers playing this year they have announced a Greatest Hits tour!
Tickets go on sale at 9am tomorrow!
I’m really excited about this as they’re one of my favourite bands, and to me they are festivals – whenever I hear Far From Home I’m instantly transported to my first Glastonbury…
They are also bringing out a 2 CD/DVD/Digital bundle of all 31 of their singles and videos to date in September. The album also features four unique collaborations with Imelda May (Beautiful Day), Frank Turner (Julie), Bellowhead (Just The One) and Billy Bragg (Hope Street), which are all brand new re-recordings.
Christmas gift ideas for festival families and beyond
Struggling with Christmas ideas for your family?
Socks are great for festival goers of any age but we think you can be a little more creative than that.
Here are just a few ideas from us.
Festival Kidz Awards 2014
The Festival Kidz Awards are Back for 2014!
Voting has now closed
Festival Kidz is run by parents for parents. We want to be able to recommend the best festivals for people to take their children to.
To this end, all our reviewers have submitted their recommendations and we are now compiling the results. Our coveted Festival Kidz Gold and Silver Award winners will be announced soon.
We are rating them in more categories this year – activities, camping, facilities, value for money, entertainment, accessibility and green credentials.
Levellers Greatest Hits
On Monday, the Levellers Greatest Hits will be released!
The 2CD/DVD set includes all the Levellers’ singles and videos together on one album for the first time.
They kindly let me have an advance copy to review – and as a Levellers fan I love that I can listen to all their best hits on one album. There are also a few new remixes – I particularly liked Imelda May singing on Beautiful Day, and the restyling of Frank Turner on the track Julie… although as a fan it’s great that there are also the original versions on the album too.
My favourites are all there – Far From Home being my absolute favourite festival track – we listened to it on the way to Beautiful Days this year and the children loved singing along to Beautiful Day before the festival!
You can also buy a Digital Box Set containing a 5 volume digital LP containing B-Sides, Covers, Remixes and live versions.
In November, Levellers embark on a European wide Greatest Hits tour, and Festival Kidz will be at the London date – there’s only one thing better than a Levellers album and that’s seeing them live!
Glamping up the festival experience with boutique camping
A few years ago I wrote about “Glamping” and how much the word (much like Jedward) annoyed me. Also I couldn’t understand why you couldn’t have a bit of luxury in your own tent with a few extras. However as the years have gone on I’ve finally seen the appeal…
Volunteering at Festivals – The ‘Oxfamily’
Impossible with kids? Not so.
In fact, the fabulous team at Oxfam, who organise stewards at some of the UK’s biggest festivals welcome families and have many who return year after year. It’s also a fabulous opportunity if your teenagers want to experience festivals on their own in a friendly safe environment.