by Tim, Caroline, Gwilym (4) and Hazel (6)
Getting in and camping
We are now the proud owners of a camper van (well a converted minibus anyway) and were shown to our sloping
The disability access facilities is situated slap bang next to the box office and entrance while there is the opportunity to glamp it up near the lake.
It was easy enough exchanging our tickets for wristbands with no queue when we were there. You could also buy a lanyard with a timetable on but with no information about bands the £5 seemed a bit pricey.
General facilities
The main site is an enclosed arena which starts letting people in from 5pm on the Thursday. At first they were letting people in with their own alcohol but his seemed to change sometime on Friday night with security demanding to check pockets and bags for alcohol with the excuse that it was to minimise waste and that the bars weren’t taking enough money. There were a few awkward looking parents downing their drinks before they could go through the barrier.
However, everyone still had a great time . We enjoyed the little bits of art at the edge of the lake, there was a mermaid emerging from the lake but with the name of the festival being Lakefest we thought they might have made a bit more of the lake (in previous years at Croft Farm they had watersports that seemed popular). The three people emerging from the grass were great bits of artwork too but unfortunately by the time we came to take a photo they had been destroyed. There was a small ‘LOVE’ sign situated on the hillside opposite which at night illuminated just the ‘L’. Other space seemed to be filled with various noisy fairground rides. It was a bit disconcerting to walk around with kids brandishing toy guns – so many children had them and seemed to be another product of the fairground.
It felt like the organisers had tried to do a little bit of everything but hampered by lack of cash couldn’t do things properly. Our advice, stick to a few things and do them really well (such as the planted area with beautiful table).
Although some people we spoke to found it odd having so many dogs at a festival it must be a welcome relief for dog owners to be able to include them in their weekend away and there didn’t seem to be any problems with mess anywhere. In fact there was very little litter either and the toilets were also kept clean and stocked throughout the festival.
For those parents who like to spend a bit of time on their own at a festival there is a crèche where kids are looked after and entertained with any number of activities.
Food and drink
Kids Activities
Saturday was also the time for the dragon parade led by people who actually looked like they were from middle earth and there was also the chance to meet a smaller dragon (I think it was a puppet but who knows?) and a dragon story. The kids kept on coming back to the tent on Saturday and Sunday as there was clay modelling, yoga, storytelling,
rabbit making, clay modelling, skirt making and face painting – they had a blast!
Elsewhere there were some fantastic circus skills and shows which only exhausted our two as it was so hot (the weather was great by the way). The drumming and percussion sessions were popular and entertaining. Two jugglers strode into the big tent at one point to entertain the crowd and there were lots of other families around.
Music
As a family we don’t think there is a better way to kick off any festival than having 3 Daft Monkeys playing. They always get the crowd going and they didn’t disappoint at Lakefest…the kids are still singing ‘Hubadillia’!
The music is fairly broad at Lakefest with the smaller tents hosting everything from techno to folk, Neo-soul to hip hop. Another music highlight for the family was Afro Celt Soundsystem who are very much a festival band –we could get within metres of the front at their gig which is a first and so Hazel and Gwilym were very excited! We also snuck through the aging ravers to catch Altern-8 a blast from the past for me and it was amusing to see ex – gurners and heads now straining under the weight of their respective five year old so they could see Mark and Chris demonstrating the need for respiratory protection in dusty environments (they wear dust masks).
With the kids happily playing around the van with their ample space to fly kites I was free to catch Big Country, Cast and later on Primal Scream, one of my favourite bands on record but as usual are slightly disappointing live as Bobby Gillespie seems unbothered by it all. It’s great though that a small festival like Lakesfest can attract some fairly big names.
On the Sunday I caught a great band at the ‘introducing’ stage – Population 7 who kept my tired and hungover mind from keeling over while the kids were happily making some lovely lanterns and colouring. It was great to have hip hop and soul alongside the rock and brit-pop that predominates on the main stages. Before we left (sadly before the Coral) we caught most of Gaz Brookfields set which was very entertaining and a good way to end our time at the site.
Willow weaving, BMX and Kites
The craft area is reasonably large for the size of festival and Caroline decided she wanted to make a willow basket with Zoe’s willow. While this was going on the three of us went for a walk round the lovely site up to the hill opposite then back down for some more activities with the friendly kids staff and then to be greeted by happy Mum and new shopping basket. It is so nice for adults to have something interesting to experience but also for children to have the opportunity to try out real crafts (there was also making headdresses, copper work and blacksmithing in the craft area).
We have never before seen BMX at a festival but it somehow worked and kept us all entertained, the tricks were just stunning. Luckily neither Hazel nor Gwilym has requested a BMX for Christmas… yet!
Probably the biggest hit of the entire weekend was the kites. It was lucky it was fairly windy all weekend or it could have been a damp squib. But after trying their luck with the paper kites the kids decided to spend their pocket money on a more robust version from Peter Powell. They then spent many hours were spent running along with amazed little faces as their kites took to the sky. Thanks Lakefest for the kite memories, I had a go and didn’t want to give it back.
Vibe
Lakefest is a great little festival for those unsure of taking kids or who themselves have never been to a festival especially as the line-up has always been great. We were lucky to have had great weather which always helps with the festival vibe but we did feel there was the potential to be even better – and we hope the organisers could try for a better balance between the commercial and festival side of things. Overall Laefest is fun and friendly and would definitely suit families who want to see good music and fly kites!
‘Hippie’ by the way is a very enjoyable read and is available here
For more information on Lakefest please see our factsheet here.