Blog
Competitions, product reviews, opinions, and awards; welcome to the Festival Kidz blog!
Kids Festival T-shirts
The coolest clothes for festival kids!
You want clothes that are unique, stand out, look cool, make a statement, and make you smile. But you also want clothes that are ethically sourced, really well made, and wash well… it’s a tall order…
but one company that we think ticks all these boxes is
Rockabye Baby
Break away from the crowds
With some of the bigger festivals cancelling this year, here is a selection of my favourite smaller and more alternative festivals offering something a bit different from the mainstream:
2000 Trees has great music and plenty on offer for kids: musical instrument / mask-making, face painting, juggling, bonfires and nature walks (although sometimes all kids want is an open space to run around in, and they certainly have that too). twothousandtreesfestival.co.uk
The Green Man Festival is a medium size festival set in beautiful countryside in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. The atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming and the music tends to have a modern yet folky edge. You can camp for a week to make the trip into a holiday. greenman.net
Big Chill 2012 cancelled
It has been announced today that the Big Chill 2012 festival has been cancelled. The following is on the Big Chill website;
“It is with a considerable amount of regret that I have decided not to go ahead with The Big Chill in 2012.
I looked long and hard late last year at moving the date so it didn’t clash with the Olympics but the mix of the festival fans desire to keep the date and an inability to find an alternative date that works I plumped for maintaining the existing weekend. Sadly, the artist availability and confirmations we were achieving led me to conclude that I couldn’t risk going ahead with the event as an outdoor event this year. Efforts are being made to look to bring a smaller event indoors this year with the anticipation of Big Chill being back outdoors in 2013.”
– Melvin Benn, Managing Director Festival Republic.
VW Camper Van Tent
The coolest tent at the festival?
The coolest tent at the festival?If you love festivals and you love retro revival things like old VW’s, or if you just like to be a little different, then you will love this VW Camper Van Tent! Your tent will be SO easy to find in a festival campsite…
This 4 man tent is a brilliant, full-size replica of the iconic 1965 Splitty, officially licensed by Volkswagen. It was a huge hit on festival campsites this summer for the lucky few who managed to get hold of one!
Meet Dean the Art Wizard
Hi all festival fanatics,
My name is Dean and I’ve been working with children of all ages at festivals & events within the UK but mainly within the Midlands as Dean The Art Wizard & friends!
Take a look at this film of us creating the Summer Sundae logo with friends & family, we created an enormous guitar including a Summer Sundae vase created from beer cans collected at the festival. We also used plastic pint glasses, recycled vinyl records, Cd’s & tape cassettes. Read more…
Best Family Festival: UKFA 2011
Anyone who’s anyone in the festival circuit came out in force yesterday for the UK Festival Conference at The HMV Forum in Kentish Town, followed by a Gala Dinner and the eagerly anticipated awards ceremony in Camden’s Roundhouse.
The winner of the UK Festival Award 2011 for
BEST FAMILY FESTIVAL is…
Beautiful Days!
The Best Family Festival Award is presented in association with Showsec. Other festivals making it to the shortlist were Camp Bestival, Wychwood, LolliBop and Deer Shed – Congratulations everyone! x
Other winners of the night were:
Justin Fletcher – Hand’s Up!
Album release postponed until 26th March 2012
There’s barely a parent amongst us who doesn’t know who Justin Fletcher is and we reckon his album is going to give the traditional X Factor chart success a run for its money this Christmas. Probably best know for his Mr Tumble character in Something Special, he has been involved in zillions of other children’s TV programmes from Shaun the Sheep to the Tweenies.
Love him or hate him, Justin was by far the most popular Children’s Performer at festivals this summer, drawing massive crowds whenever he was on stage (even when he was just sound-checking!!).
We thought he was great and it seems that everyone who watched him agreed – when it comes to engaging his audience, Justin is a true master!
Junkfish – Festival Arts and Crafts
Last summer, we took the Festival Kidz stall to Nibley Music Festival, a small ultra-family-friendly festival in a stunning Cotswolds location. One of the festival highlights is undoubtedly the huge craft tent run by Liz and her dedicated bunch of volunteers. The tent has been so popular that she’s decided to turn her skills into a small business and ‘Junkfish‘ was born. We invited Liz to tell us more about her new venture. Read more…
London Music Mapp launch
The London Music Mapp is a new FREE Mobile Music & Travel App for the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad launched this week.
The London Music Mapp entertains and informs music fans with facts, maps, videos and images which illustrate London’s rich musical heritage, vibrant musical present and unique musical geography.
Music locations of all kinds are highlighted and split into easy to search categories: Landmarks, Record Stores, Musical Instrument Shops, Live Music Venues, Clubs, Labels, Recording Studios and our favourite: the fun Songs & Streets category.
The London Music Mapp is a travel guide to London’s many popular music locations, but it is also going to help lead many music tourists to discover locations they probably never have knew existed.
London is one of the world’s great music cities and it not only has a fascinating musical heritage, but a vibrant musical present and a unique musical geography which touches every part of the city.
The beautiful Larmer Tree Gardens…
The Larmer Tree Gardens are stunning at any time of year, but while the Larmer Tree Festival is taking place they come alive with the most gorgeous lighting effects and magical artistic treasures, just waiting to be discovered. Each year my family heads straight to the Lostwood as soon as dusk falls to see what creative genius will await us amidst the trees…
In 2011, an exciting new and special site art project was commissioned, not just for the five-day annual festival, but as a permanent installation…
Kids Festival T-shirts
The coolest clothes for festival kids!
You want clothes that are unique, stand out, look cool, make a statement, and make you smile. But you also want clothes that are ethically sourced, really well made, and wash well… it’s a tall order…
but one company that we think ticks all these boxes is
Rockabye Baby
Big Chill 2012 cancelled
It has been announced today that the Big Chill 2012 festival has been cancelled. The following is on the Big Chill website;
“It is with a considerable amount of regret that I have decided not to go ahead with The Big Chill in 2012.
I looked long and hard late last year at moving the date so it didn’t clash with the Olympics but the mix of the festival fans desire to keep the date and an inability to find an alternative date that works I plumped for maintaining the existing weekend. Sadly, the artist availability and confirmations we were achieving led me to conclude that I couldn’t risk going ahead with the event as an outdoor event this year. Efforts are being made to look to bring a smaller event indoors this year with the anticipation of Big Chill being back outdoors in 2013.”
– Melvin Benn, Managing Director Festival Republic.
Meet Dean the Art Wizard
Hi all festival fanatics,
My name is Dean and I’ve been working with children of all ages at festivals & events within the UK but mainly within the Midlands as Dean The Art Wizard & friends!
Take a look at this film of us creating the Summer Sundae logo with friends & family, we created an enormous guitar including a Summer Sundae vase created from beer cans collected at the festival. We also used plastic pint glasses, recycled vinyl records, Cd’s & tape cassettes. Read more…
Justin Fletcher – Hand’s Up!
Album release postponed until 26th March 2012
There’s barely a parent amongst us who doesn’t know who Justin Fletcher is and we reckon his album is going to give the traditional X Factor chart success a run for its money this Christmas. Probably best know for his Mr Tumble character in Something Special, he has been involved in zillions of other children’s TV programmes from Shaun the Sheep to the Tweenies.
Love him or hate him, Justin was by far the most popular Children’s Performer at festivals this summer, drawing massive crowds whenever he was on stage (even when he was just sound-checking!!).
We thought he was great and it seems that everyone who watched him agreed – when it comes to engaging his audience, Justin is a true master!
London Music Mapp launch
The London Music Mapp is a new FREE Mobile Music & Travel App for the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad launched this week.
The London Music Mapp entertains and informs music fans with facts, maps, videos and images which illustrate London’s rich musical heritage, vibrant musical present and unique musical geography.
Music locations of all kinds are highlighted and split into easy to search categories: Landmarks, Record Stores, Musical Instrument Shops, Live Music Venues, Clubs, Labels, Recording Studios and our favourite: the fun Songs & Streets category.
The London Music Mapp is a travel guide to London’s many popular music locations, but it is also going to help lead many music tourists to discover locations they probably never have knew existed.
London is one of the world’s great music cities and it not only has a fascinating musical heritage, but a vibrant musical present and a unique musical geography which touches every part of the city.
Break away from the crowds
With some of the bigger festivals cancelling this year, here is a selection of my favourite smaller and more alternative festivals offering something a bit different from the mainstream:
2000 Trees has great music and plenty on offer for kids: musical instrument / mask-making, face painting, juggling, bonfires and nature walks (although sometimes all kids want is an open space to run around in, and they certainly have that too). twothousandtreesfestival.co.uk
The Green Man Festival is a medium size festival set in beautiful countryside in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. The atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming and the music tends to have a modern yet folky edge. You can camp for a week to make the trip into a holiday. greenman.net
VW Camper Van Tent
The coolest tent at the festival?
If you love festivals and you love retro revival things like old VW’s, or if you just like to be a little different, then you will love this VW Camper Van Tent! Your tent will be SO easy to find in a festival campsite…
This 4 man tent is a brilliant, full-size replica of the iconic 1965 Splitty, officially licensed by Volkswagen. It was a huge hit on festival campsites this summer for the lucky few who managed to get hold of one!
Best Family Festival: UKFA 2011
Anyone who’s anyone in the festival circuit came out in force yesterday for the UK Festival Conference at The HMV Forum in Kentish Town, followed by a Gala Dinner and the eagerly anticipated awards ceremony in Camden’s Roundhouse.
The winner of the UK Festival Award 2011 for
BEST FAMILY FESTIVAL is…
Beautiful Days!
The Best Family Festival Award is presented in association with Showsec. Other festivals making it to the shortlist were Camp Bestival, Wychwood, LolliBop and Deer Shed – Congratulations everyone! x
Other winners of the night were:
Junkfish – Festival Arts and Crafts
Last summer, we took the Festival Kidz stall to Nibley Music Festival, a small ultra-family-friendly festival in a stunning Cotswolds location. One of the festival highlights is undoubtedly the huge craft tent run by Liz and her dedicated bunch of volunteers. The tent has been so popular that she’s decided to turn her skills into a small business and ‘Junkfish‘ was born. We invited Liz to tell us more about her new venture. Read more…
The beautiful Larmer Tree Gardens…
The Larmer Tree Gardens are stunning at any time of year, but while the Larmer Tree Festival is taking place they come alive with the most gorgeous lighting effects and magical artistic treasures, just waiting to be discovered. Each year my family heads straight to the Lostwood as soon as dusk falls to see what creative genius will await us amidst the trees…
In 2011, an exciting new and special site art project was commissioned, not just for the five-day annual festival, but as a permanent installation…