After a weekend at Wychwood Festival, my son ran through the school door telling his teacher and friends all about dragons, staying up late, making friends, eating crumpets, dancing to music, seeing Mr Bloom, bubbles and bouncy castles. So if you asked him if he enjoyed it, I would say it was a big YES. But from a parent’s perspective, it wasn’t all plain sailing.
We arrived late afternoon Friday and there where no queues to get in and the festival was very well sign posted. We had noticed before from reading information on the festival that we could drive on to site, drop the kit off then take the car back to the car park. When arriving we were advised this is not the case and would need to walk to the site. We asked for directions to the family camping and were told very vaguely which direction to take. This soon became a big problem when loaded up with kit, as it became apparent there were no signposts and no stewards in sight to ask for guidance.
We eventually found the camping with some help from some other lovely campers, who told us they had been allowed to drive onto the site to unload (but were stuck in queues for several hours so with hindsight maybe the walk in was for the best after all!). Other feedback campers gave me regarding the arrival problems they experienced involved the fact you were given a 15 minute window to unload then had to take your car back. If you are a lone parent, how would this work?! Do you leave all your kit whilst you get stuck in a hour queue parking the car then have to walk back with the children? I think the whole system needs looking at and the staff need to have more of an idea about the system.
That said, the Circus Tent had plenty going on and the Fire Show on the Friday night was a real highlight. The Children’s Literature Tent was lovely and spellbinding to all those listening to wonderful stories. My son loved Snot the Dragon on the Saturday afternoon. He got a poster at the end and is still carrying it around in his pocket telling anyone who will listen about Snot!
Plenty to choose from to eat – the Higgidy Pies were lovely and really filling. Lots of choice for picky eaters. My son loved the crumpets and cheese on toast. The wedges also went down well for a mid morning snack. We took everything needed to cook our own breakfasts but there was plenty of choice if you prefer not to carry the cooking kit.
Sunday morning was time to watch Mr Bloom, with lots of children up early to see the cBeebies star – So many dads with children on their shoulders pushing to get a look at the famous gardener singing about vegetables!
Wychwood is a good small festival overall, despite the organisational niggles. Many people we spoke to had come back year after year. It felt safe and secure and the setting of the Racecourse is easy to navigate. I would go again and would recommend to others to go – but as I live locally, I might opt for day tickets rather than go through the camping hassles again!
Review by Vicky Lane
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Wychwood is held on Cheltenham Racecourse.
For more information about the festival visit our Wychwood Factsheet.