2011 LOTF Festival Weather: Showers Friday, mostly sunny rest of weekend, bar a few showers on Saturday. Very heavy rain overnight on the Friday night but the farm is very well draining so it didn’t really have a major impact. A tad chilly.
Review by: Ami (with 13, 6, 5 and 4 year olds)
Getting to the festival and setting up camp:
We have a campervan so were in a seperate field to the tents, there field did look like it was on quite a slope though! There was also Boutique Camping available which was in hired Bell Tents. There was no delay in getting on to site or to get our wristbands as we drove in but some of the staff seemed unsure of where to direct us. Others that we camped with had to wait over an hour in a queue to get their wristbands.
Entertainment – Line up and Kids Activities:
Line up was great. The Streets, Ellie Goulding, Echo & The Bunnymen, Example, Everything Everything and many more on the Main Stage… there were 2 dance tents for the DJs, an Accoustic/Farm Folk tent, a smaller Meadows stage, the Playhouse which had the comedy and Arty stuff showing, the Red Tent which was workshops and a kids field with various free activities (sports day/clown/magician/tile painting/colouring/wind-chime making/badge making/giant games/sand pit/face-painting etc) a really good mix, very well laid out.
What would you change / improve (if anything)?
I think it would be a little easier if they had a small kids area within the Main field too then parents could enjoy the main acts while the kids had stuff to play with, the kids area was in a seperate field away from the Main stage with a dance tent inbetween. More toilets in the kids field, one was just not enough. The kids field could have been much better purely by the people running it being a lot more organised with the supplies etc.
Any other comments and your Top Tip:
A good site for taking a wagon, flat, easy terrain.
Site and Facilities:
Typical festival set up, each camping field had it’s own set of portable loos and there were big banks of portable loos dotted around in the main fields too. Plenty of them and didn’t have to queue much. They should have had more than one in the children’s area though.
Did you feel safe?
Very, it was a lovely festival, a really nice, friendly atmosphere and we’ll definately go back next year, no matter who’s headlining really, it was a really nice chilled weekend even considering we had 13 year old triplets, a 6 year old, a 5 year old and a 4 year old in our group 🙂
Would you go again?
Definitely
9/10
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Review by: bk (with a 2 year old and 4 mth old)
Getting to the festival and setting up camp:
We were worried about getting there after gates closed but gates were open later then specified. We got to choose our spot. We were in campervan parking. Great location, good neighbours.
Entertainment – Line up and Kids Activities:
The lineup was fabulous. Music was really lovely in the Meadows and Farm Folk stages. The kid’s area was ace with lots of activities for all age ranges. The people working that area were great with kids as well and quick to offer help/lend a hand. It really was a bit of an oasis when the kids were getting grotty. Didn’t make it to the cowshed stage.
What would you change / improve (if anything)?
Potties need cleaning AT LEAST twice a day in such a festival. Would have been nice to have more then one loo in the kid’s area.
Any other comments and your Top Tip:
Aim for one or two bands you REALLY want to see and consider any others you get to check out as a bonus. Where we were camped we could hear and see the meadows stage so could put the kids down and still enjoy the music. Ace!
Site and Facilities:
The site was easy to get around but the toilets were horrendous. There wasn’t even loo roll on Thursday night when we arrived. By the end we just were telling our two year old to use the grass as the portable loos were too gross to sit on the seats. We had lots of babywipes though and have a small potty for our son in the campervan so we made do.
Did you feel safe?
Yes
Would you go again?
Yes!
9/10
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Review by: Naomi (with a 6 and a 9 year old)
Getting to the festival and setting up camp:
We arrived on the Thursday evening and managed to beat the queues, quite a few had already arrived but managed to find a place in the family field. The family car parking was really great as it was right next to the camping area, however I believe they ran out of space in the family car parks by Friday evening, which meant some families had to park in general parking half a mile away! Maybe they could have issued parking passes with tickets as some families brought more than one vehicle. The people in the family field were all great, really friendly bunch of people and even made some new friends. Tents were tightly packed in but didnt bother me.
Entertainment – Line up and Kids Activities:
The line up was good with a good mix of different types of music to suit different tastes, comedy and theatre, not that we got to see much of it as the kids were loving the ‘little lounge’. The kids workshops in there were great, some of the activities included, tile painting, bandana making, science experiments, badge making, circus workshops, story telling, magicians, making costumes for a parade that took place on sunday, clay modeling, dressing up, the list goes on. Overall brilliant, well thought out activities for kids and the grown ups also enjoyed it (especially the circus skills). Also solar cinema was great along with the digital fun fair!!
What would you change / improve (if anything)?
Cleaner toilets!!
Any other comments and your Top Tip:
Lovely festival for families the kids both loved it, and plenty of other kids and families there too!! Get there early so you can park in family car park and get a decent camping spot, take plenty of baby wipes and food especially snacks for when you are out and about. If you have room take a garden trolley to put kids in…..!!
Site and Facilities:
The toilets were pretty bad towards the end and I felt they could have cleaned them more often, it’s quite a small festival so getting aroung was easy but was a bit of a pain having to show wrist bands when entering each of the three fields. Mobile phone coverage was good (I’m on Orange) and we also had the use of walkie talkies which was handy, (and could listen to the staff and security too, hehe). I didn’t come across any showers which does not bother me too much but just be prepared with baby wipes! The food was good but as any festival was a little on the expensive side when you have to buy for all the family, but luckily we took our own food and camping stove so was not too bad for us. Plenty of water points in camping areas but thought there could have been more in the main fields.
Did you feel safe?
Yes, I felt safe, security patrolled the family camping regularly. I was aware that some thefts took place (but is the same anywhere)
Would you go again?
YES
9/10
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