Parent Review by Lisa Rabone
We’ve been attending festivals with our children for the past seven years, so it takes a lot for them to be genuinely entranced by what is on offer. But End of the Road is entrancing, magical, relaxed and effortlessly cool at the same time.
It’s a 10 minute walk from the campervan field to the festival, which is made up of two stages, one in a beautiful garden, a big top and lots of tiny areas to explore. Walk through the forest and you might see a note attached to a fence with details of a secret set later that evening. Our children were in awe as they walked through the woods at night, covered in fairy lights. When you looked closely there were tiny toys wired onto the trees, a wooden boat to sail in, a disco shower to sing your favourite tunes.
There was plenty of food available and good options for the children. Although as it was such a short walk back to the van we tended to eat breakfast in the van, pop back for lunch and a rest and then eat on site in the evening. The food was reasonably priced and the toilets seemed to be cleaned regularly. It isn’t the cheapest festival, but I feel that there is so much to explore and experience as a family that it is well worth the money. My son, who was three, loved the campfire, the silent disco and the chance to eat toast in a red bus. My daughter, aged 8, loved being able to hang out with her friends, watch bands close up, the disco in the middle of the woods and watching a double rainbow from her festival wagon.
We watched some beautiful, relaxed music together such as The Staves; which inspired my eight year old daughter to write her own songs once we returned home. As it’s such a small festival you can climb a tree with your friends whilst the music plays in front of you. Or play snap and eat apricot slices in the cafe whilst the sounds of folk music float past you. But my most treasured memories were those unexpected moments, such as watching a studio ghibli film in the cinema on Sunday morning whilst munching pastries from the farmers’ market, firing water pistols and swapping clothes with two complete strangers whilst playing a real life version of cleudo, and playing cars in the mud when Jarvis Cocker wandered past. Those little moments will stay in my mind forever. That’s why we go to festivals as a family, to have new experiences and make memories together.
Find out more about End of the Road in our Factsheet here!