Reviews
The good bits, the bad bits; all the fun and frolics of a festival brought to you by Festival Kidz reviews… and don’t forget the mud!
Starry Skies 2018 Review
There is always a risk in returning to something you’ve loved. Could Starry Skies 2018 live up to our memories from two years ago? Our children are that little bit older (and with one more than last time they now out number us). So could we still find that same magical escape from the world at Starry Skies’ new site?
Chagstock 2018 Review
The build up to the summer festival season was pretty fraught. Sports days, parents’ evenings and school trips all needed to be juggled between trying to pack quicker than the toddler could unpack. Then of course there was my annual panic about how on earth to fit all our camping gear in the car. But once school was out we crammed Evelyn (9), Martha (5) and Ada (1) into the back seat, applied a bit of brute force to the roof box and headed off down the A303 to kick off our festival season at Chagstock in Devon.
It was our first time there, and after those hectic, end of term weeks, it turned out to be exactly what we needed.
Port Eliot 2018 Review
with Evelyn (9), Martha (5) and Ada (1)
A sign on the way in says “Literary Festival”. But at Port Eliot we found something far more wide ranging. While other country estate festivals are relegated to farmland or perhaps the deer park, at Port Eliot there is music in the church, short stories in the walled garden and history, both listened to and lived, by the glorious meandering river.
Lunar Festival 2018 Review
Lunar Festival is a celebration of the moon, nature and all things psychedelic, set in the beautiful Umberslade Estate in Warwickshire. Back from a break in 2017, Lunar promised to be bigger and better than ever before, so I went with my family to see what has changed.
CarFest South 2018 Review
This year Festival Kidz were lucky enough to attend the first day of Children in Need’s CarFest South. We had an amazing time, despite the weather. There was just so much to enjoy. We’d definitely love to go back for longer.
Camp Bestival 2018 Review
Ahoy there! Climb aboard the HMS Bestival, to be sure to escape the gales and downpour! Having lucked out for many years with Camp Bestival falling on one of the hottest weekends every summer, we appear to have hit a bit of a blip. 2017 saw the first Camp Bestival mudfest. This year, after three funfilled days, the weather rapidly deteriorated and the dangerous winds caused the organisers to make the devastating decision to not open the arenas on the Sunday. We still had a fantastic three days though! Read more…
Nozstock 2018 Review
Nozstock’s 20th Anniversary Celebrations!
By Debra, Richard, Miles (9) and Isaac (7)
Our family attended our fourth Nozstock this summer enjoyed their amazing 20th birthday celebrations! Nozstock has become a very special place for our family, it’s the weekend that our children break up from school and signifies the beginning of the long and glorious 6 weeks of summer holidays that we enjoy together. Nozstock is set in the beautiful rolling hills of Bromyard, Herefordshire and is a truly magical place to visit.
Compared to some, Nozstock may be a fairly small festival, but there is nothing pint-sized about the variety of entertainment on offer. There are 11 stages/zones offering a large variety of music, comedy, theatre, dance, film and plenty of activities for children of all ages.
Larmer Tree Festival 2018 Review
Larmer Tree is back, and better than ever!
I’ll admit now that I had mixed feelings about going back to Larmer Tree Festival after their year-long hiatus. I was excited of course, as the festival has always been one of our family favourites. The organisers, however, had taken a year off to ‘reassess‘ their direction and ‘refresh‘ their offering.
Those loaded words hint at big changes and fill me with dread. The website had been completely revamped, and I wondered if the Larmer Tree we had loved so much, may now be pandering to a new and different audience.
I can tell you now, we had nothing to worry about!
Folk By The Oak 2018 Review
There were two things I knew about Folk By The Oak Festival before going there. 1) was that it had won the FestivalKidz award for best day festival in 2017 and 2) that it had a designated Gazebo section. I decided in the end not to bring my gazebo to the festival, instead throwing in a small blue castle at the last minute to provide some shade. Read more…
Cornbury Music Festival 2018 Review
The ‘return’ of Cornbury in all its glory…
Cornbury Music Festival, set in the Great Tew Estate in Oxfordshire, is possibly about as traditionally ‘British’ as you can get. If it wasn’t for the huge stages and campsites, one might be forgiven for thinking one might have stumbled upon a rather large village fete complete with Morris Dancers and straw boaters. Read more…
Starry Skies 2018 Review
There is always a risk in returning to something you’ve loved. Could Starry Skies 2018 live up to our memories from two years ago? Our children are that little bit older (and with one more than last time they now out number us). So could we still find that same magical escape from the world at Starry Skies’ new site?
Port Eliot 2018 Review
with Evelyn (9), Martha (5) and Ada (1)
A sign on the way in says “Literary Festival”. But at Port Eliot we found something far more wide ranging. While other country estate festivals are relegated to farmland or perhaps the deer park, at Port Eliot there is music in the church, short stories in the walled garden and history, both listened to and lived, by the glorious meandering river.
CarFest South 2018 Review
This year Festival Kidz were lucky enough to attend the first day of Children in Need’s CarFest South. We had an amazing time, despite the weather. There was just so much to enjoy. We’d definitely love to go back for longer.
Nozstock 2018 Review
Nozstock’s 20th Anniversary Celebrations!
By Debra, Richard, Miles (9) and Isaac (7)
Our family attended our fourth Nozstock this summer enjoyed their amazing 20th birthday celebrations! Nozstock has become a very special place for our family, it’s the weekend that our children break up from school and signifies the beginning of the long and glorious 6 weeks of summer holidays that we enjoy together. Nozstock is set in the beautiful rolling hills of Bromyard, Herefordshire and is a truly magical place to visit.
Compared to some, Nozstock may be a fairly small festival, but there is nothing pint-sized about the variety of entertainment on offer. There are 11 stages/zones offering a large variety of music, comedy, theatre, dance, film and plenty of activities for children of all ages.
Folk By The Oak 2018 Review
There were two things I knew about Folk By The Oak Festival before going there. 1) was that it had won the FestivalKidz award for best day festival in 2017 and 2) that it had a designated Gazebo section. I decided in the end not to bring my gazebo to the festival, instead throwing in a small blue castle at the last minute to provide some shade. Read more…
Chagstock 2018 Review
The build up to the summer festival season was pretty fraught. Sports days, parents’ evenings and school trips all needed to be juggled between trying to pack quicker than the toddler could unpack. Then of course there was my annual panic about how on earth to fit all our camping gear in the car. But once school was out we crammed Evelyn (9), Martha (5) and Ada (1) into the back seat, applied a bit of brute force to the roof box and headed off down the A303 to kick off our festival season at Chagstock in Devon.
It was our first time there, and after those hectic, end of term weeks, it turned out to be exactly what we needed.
Lunar Festival 2018 Review
Lunar Festival is a celebration of the moon, nature and all things psychedelic, set in the beautiful Umberslade Estate in Warwickshire. Back from a break in 2017, Lunar promised to be bigger and better than ever before, so I went with my family to see what has changed.
Camp Bestival 2018 Review
Ahoy there! Climb aboard the HMS Bestival, to be sure to escape the gales and downpour! Having lucked out for many years with Camp Bestival falling on one of the hottest weekends every summer, we appear to have hit a bit of a blip. 2017 saw the first Camp Bestival mudfest. This year, after three funfilled days, the weather rapidly deteriorated and the dangerous winds caused the organisers to make the devastating decision to not open the arenas on the Sunday. We still had a fantastic three days though! Read more…
Larmer Tree Festival 2018 Review
Larmer Tree is back, and better than ever!
I’ll admit now that I had mixed feelings about going back to Larmer Tree Festival after their year-long hiatus. I was excited of course, as the festival has always been one of our family favourites. The organisers, however, had taken a year off to ‘reassess‘ their direction and ‘refresh‘ their offering.
Those loaded words hint at big changes and fill me with dread. The website had been completely revamped, and I wondered if the Larmer Tree we had loved so much, may now be pandering to a new and different audience.
I can tell you now, we had nothing to worry about!
Cornbury Music Festival 2018 Review
The ‘return’ of Cornbury in all its glory…
Cornbury Music Festival, set in the Great Tew Estate in Oxfordshire, is possibly about as traditionally ‘British’ as you can get. If it wasn’t for the huge stages and campsites, one might be forgiven for thinking one might have stumbled upon a rather large village fete complete with Morris Dancers and straw boaters. Read more…