2012
Festival reviews from the year 2012
Deershed 2012 Review
We weren’t able to get along to Deershed ourselves this year, but the feedback from all the families we have spoken to has been very positive.
Here are a couple reviews from families who did go:
Createfivetwo.tumblr.com/create-52-2-deer-shed-3-festival-review
Festivalsforall.com/a-weekend-of-smiles-at-deer-shed
Thanks to Andy Tattersall and Linda from Festivals For All for the links x
VW Whitenoise 2012 Review
I have always liked the idea of owning a VW Camper, but we’ll come to that later.
We went along to VW Whitenoise having no preconceptions of what to expect, having never been to a festival of this ilk before. It was quickly apparent that there was a large VW family to which we didn’t feel part of due to not owning a VW yet… but this didn’t matter a bit to our 3 year daughter who threw herself into the thick of things.
Jelly Festival 2012 Review
Set in the beautiful grounds of Compton Hall in Norfolk, Jelly Festival celebrated it’s fifth year and landed on one of the hottest days of the year so far, lucky considering so many festivals have either been cancelled or had difficulties due to the dreadful British Summer we have had so far.
We arrived at midday and drove in easily and were directed by stewards to the carpark. The walk to the main arena was less than 5 minutes.
The first thing we noticed was how small the festival site was and yet there seemed to be a lot crammed in. There was a main stage called the Living Room (which was decorated like someone’s living room funnily enough) the Bedroom Big Top, the Observatory Dance Dome, Summerhouse Cocktail Bar, and the Reggae Rumpus room. Due to the small size of the site there was a lot of sound bleed and I found I couldn’t really hear the individual stage’s music. So possibly too many stages for the size of the site.
Just So Festival 2012 Review
2012 Just So Festival weather: Sunny and warm, but with heavy showers.
2012 was the third Just So Festival. You won’t find commercialism or big children’s TV characters here, just boundless opportunities to play and explore in a magical journey through the woods. This is not just a festival… this is a place where kids and families can come together in the beauty of imagination. The organisers are not professional festival managers by trade, rather it is led by two incredibly artistic mums and a devoted team who are all inspired to create a special and creative weekend for families to share. They care passionately about the event and it shows.
————————————————————————————
Review by: Claire Archbold (with 1 child aged 2.5)
Getting to the festival and setting up camp
Getting to the festival was easy – we put in the satnav postcode from their website and it was a doddle but we did almost miss the ‘Weekend Camping Entrance’ sign as it wasn’t very obvious. No long traffic queues, helpful car parking attendants and a very small queue for wrist bands.
One Love 2012 Review
One Love 2012 weather: Lovely sunny weather with a breeze – couldn’t have been better!
Parent Review by Nancy (with a 2yr old)
Getting there and entry: We arrived on the Saturday morning: no queues to get into the site and immediately found really helpful staff in the car park who were happy to help us out. The campsite was a short (and flat) walk from the car park and was really well appointed with incredibly clean toilets – with loo roll! – and a shower block. My daughter was very happy to be given a wristband.
No dedicated family camping area, but lots of families around; my 2 year old and I made lots of friends. There were a couple of drunken hollerings at 4am, but nothing too antisocial: certainly nothing like my pre-children memories of Reading festival. Our lovely neighbours were happy to chat to my daughter while I wrestled with the tent. A really friendly atmosphere.
LolliBop 2012 Review
LolliBop 2012 – Regent’s Park
17,18 and 19th August 2012
We have been sent some reviews of the festival by our readers – it’s a very mixed bag. Read more…
Wilderness 2012 Review
Wilderness Festival 2012 – review by Vicky Lane
I am normally a Glastonbury Lady so when asked to review a much smaller festival I really went with an image in my head of 5 stalls, 1 stage and a handful of people!
The website for Wilderness (although somewhat confusing to navigate) was beautifully illustrated and presented and this carried on throughout the whole festival.
WOMAD 2012 Parent Review
Taking 4 kids to WOMAD? Not a problem…!
Parent Review by the Dersons Family
My husband and I, and our 4 children, enjoyed a wonderful weekend of mind-blowing sounds, amazing sights and delightful tastes at WOMAD, Charlton Park.
Having packed everything required for the wide variety of weather that could come our way we arrived at WOMAD in the scorching heat and quickly had to find sunhats and sun cream. We hired a cart to take our huge amounts of stuff from our van to the our camping spot and before long we were set up and the children were cooling their feet in buckets full of cold water!
We had paid extra for Thursday tickets and arrived at 11am, the campsite was already busy and buzzing with anticipation.
Being there early gave us and the children an opportunity to get to know the site and to take in the sights, sounds and smells. The children’s area was not yet open so could spend our time exploring. A lovely evening was finished off with an energetic dance to the Soul Rebels.
The Magic Loungeabout 2012 Review
July 27-29th 2012, Broughton Hall, Skipton, Yorkshire
Reviewers: The Hogan Family (Mike, Gaelle, Celeste & Lily) & The Wharton family (Mark, Louise, Maddy & Maisie)
We were very excited about “the Loungeabout”, and with good reason: we were eager to see what looked like one of the most interesting line-ups of music and entertainment in the festival calendar, located in a serene part of Yorkshire, and we were helping our friends break their (adulthood) festival cherry.
We spent many hours poring through the recommendations on festivalkidz.com to find the most suitable festival that would meet the needs of our two families; a good mix of live music, lots of activities for the kids and within 3 hours drive of Merseyside. The promise of a “refined unwind” at the Magic Loungeabout with its heavy focus on family friendly activities is what won us though.
Firefly Festival 2012 Review
Firefly Festival 2012 – a new festival is born!
Review by Sarah Dodd from Love Music News (with an 8 year old)
Setting up and Arriving: No queues, very polite and helpful staff, very well organised. We had approx a 5min walk with stuff. Huge camping field with plenty of toilets and loo roll! The other campers were lovely, friendly, helpful and polite. Felt comfortable leaving tents unattended etc.
Entertainment: Line up was fantastic and there were craft tents etc for children as well as plenty of room to run around!
Deershed 2012 Review
We weren’t able to get along to Deershed ourselves this year, but the feedback from all the families we have spoken to has been very positive.
Here are a couple reviews from families who did go:
Createfivetwo.tumblr.com/create-52-2-deer-shed-3-festival-review
Festivalsforall.com/a-weekend-of-smiles-at-deer-shed
Thanks to Andy Tattersall and Linda from Festivals For All for the links x
Jelly Festival 2012 Review
Set in the beautiful grounds of Compton Hall in Norfolk, Jelly Festival celebrated it’s fifth year and landed on one of the hottest days of the year so far, lucky considering so many festivals have either been cancelled or had difficulties due to the dreadful British Summer we have had so far.
We arrived at midday and drove in easily and were directed by stewards to the carpark. The walk to the main arena was less than 5 minutes.
The first thing we noticed was how small the festival site was and yet there seemed to be a lot crammed in. There was a main stage called the Living Room (which was decorated like someone’s living room funnily enough) the Bedroom Big Top, the Observatory Dance Dome, Summerhouse Cocktail Bar, and the Reggae Rumpus room. Due to the small size of the site there was a lot of sound bleed and I found I couldn’t really hear the individual stage’s music. So possibly too many stages for the size of the site.
One Love 2012 Review
One Love 2012 weather: Lovely sunny weather with a breeze – couldn’t have been better!
Parent Review by Nancy (with a 2yr old)
Getting there and entry: We arrived on the Saturday morning: no queues to get into the site and immediately found really helpful staff in the car park who were happy to help us out. The campsite was a short (and flat) walk from the car park and was really well appointed with incredibly clean toilets – with loo roll! – and a shower block. My daughter was very happy to be given a wristband.
No dedicated family camping area, but lots of families around; my 2 year old and I made lots of friends. There were a couple of drunken hollerings at 4am, but nothing too antisocial: certainly nothing like my pre-children memories of Reading festival. Our lovely neighbours were happy to chat to my daughter while I wrestled with the tent. A really friendly atmosphere.
Wilderness 2012 Review
Wilderness Festival 2012 – review by Vicky Lane
I am normally a Glastonbury Lady so when asked to review a much smaller festival I really went with an image in my head of 5 stalls, 1 stage and a handful of people!
The website for Wilderness (although somewhat confusing to navigate) was beautifully illustrated and presented and this carried on throughout the whole festival.
The Magic Loungeabout 2012 Review
July 27-29th 2012, Broughton Hall, Skipton, Yorkshire
Reviewers: The Hogan Family (Mike, Gaelle, Celeste & Lily) & The Wharton family (Mark, Louise, Maddy & Maisie)
We were very excited about “the Loungeabout”, and with good reason: we were eager to see what looked like one of the most interesting line-ups of music and entertainment in the festival calendar, located in a serene part of Yorkshire, and we were helping our friends break their (adulthood) festival cherry.
We spent many hours poring through the recommendations on festivalkidz.com to find the most suitable festival that would meet the needs of our two families; a good mix of live music, lots of activities for the kids and within 3 hours drive of Merseyside. The promise of a “refined unwind” at the Magic Loungeabout with its heavy focus on family friendly activities is what won us though.
VW Whitenoise 2012 Review
I have always liked the idea of owning a VW Camper, but we’ll come to that later.
We went along to VW Whitenoise having no preconceptions of what to expect, having never been to a festival of this ilk before. It was quickly apparent that there was a large VW family to which we didn’t feel part of due to not owning a VW yet… but this didn’t matter a bit to our 3 year daughter who threw herself into the thick of things.
Just So Festival 2012 Review
2012 Just So Festival weather: Sunny and warm, but with heavy showers.
2012 was the third Just So Festival. You won’t find commercialism or big children’s TV characters here, just boundless opportunities to play and explore in a magical journey through the woods. This is not just a festival… this is a place where kids and families can come together in the beauty of imagination. The organisers are not professional festival managers by trade, rather it is led by two incredibly artistic mums and a devoted team who are all inspired to create a special and creative weekend for families to share. They care passionately about the event and it shows.
————————————————————————————
Review by: Claire Archbold (with 1 child aged 2.5)
Getting to the festival and setting up camp
Getting to the festival was easy – we put in the satnav postcode from their website and it was a doddle but we did almost miss the ‘Weekend Camping Entrance’ sign as it wasn’t very obvious. No long traffic queues, helpful car parking attendants and a very small queue for wrist bands.
LolliBop 2012 Review
LolliBop 2012 – Regent’s Park
17,18 and 19th August 2012
We have been sent some reviews of the festival by our readers – it’s a very mixed bag. Read more…
WOMAD 2012 Parent Review
Taking 4 kids to WOMAD? Not a problem…!
Parent Review by the Dersons Family
My husband and I, and our 4 children, enjoyed a wonderful weekend of mind-blowing sounds, amazing sights and delightful tastes at WOMAD, Charlton Park.
Having packed everything required for the wide variety of weather that could come our way we arrived at WOMAD in the scorching heat and quickly had to find sunhats and sun cream. We hired a cart to take our huge amounts of stuff from our van to the our camping spot and before long we were set up and the children were cooling their feet in buckets full of cold water!
We had paid extra for Thursday tickets and arrived at 11am, the campsite was already busy and buzzing with anticipation.
Being there early gave us and the children an opportunity to get to know the site and to take in the sights, sounds and smells. The children’s area was not yet open so could spend our time exploring. A lovely evening was finished off with an energetic dance to the Soul Rebels.
Firefly Festival 2012 Review
Firefly Festival 2012 – a new festival is born!
Review by Sarah Dodd from Love Music News (with an 8 year old)
Setting up and Arriving: No queues, very polite and helpful staff, very well organised. We had approx a 5min walk with stuff. Huge camping field with plenty of toilets and loo roll! The other campers were lovely, friendly, helpful and polite. Felt comfortable leaving tents unattended etc.
Entertainment: Line up was fantastic and there were craft tents etc for children as well as plenty of room to run around!