2012
Festival reviews from the year 2012
Dinefwr Literature Festival 2012 Review
Gwyl Lenyddiaeth Dinefwr 2012
The brand new Literature Festival for Wales kicked off over the last weekend in June in the historic National Trust Dinefwr Park. This impressive site boasts a castle, rolling landscapes akin to Capability Brown’s work and the impressive Newton House. The jointly run venture boasts Literature Wales, The Coracle Project, The National Trust and many other partners as its organising team and they all did a wonderful job for a first time event.
Cornbury 2012 Review
by Karon and her 2 boys, aged 5 and 10
Friday – Day One
Our much anticipated fun weekend at the fabulous Cornbury Festival began on Friday afternoon as we headed towards the beautiful countryside of Great Tew, Oxfordshire. The sky was full of grey rain clouds but our mood was light as our destination was reached without any traffic problems at all, parking was well organised and lucky us, the sun broke through as we excitedly took the short haul from car to box office to collect our media passes and camping tickets courtesy of Festival Kidz!!
Blissfields 2012 Review
… it’s that feeling where you’re stood in the middle of a field and the familiar embrace of peace bubble surrounds you, protecting you from the thoughts and worries of the outside world…
… it hits your soul, and it’s so overwhelming that you want to cry…
… or, if you are me, you DO cry!…
Welcome to Blissfields! Read more…
First Festival? Emma’s choosing Larmer Tree 2012
I have to stand up , raise my hand and admit it:
“Hello, my name is Emma and I am a Festival Virgin.”
Well, I went to Reading once when I was 21 but we camped at a site 5 miles away and only went there to pogo at the Chilli Peppers then went home – so that doesn’t count. Read more…
Eden Festival 2012 Review
2012 Eden Festival Weather: It was very,very wet. The main area near the big stage got muddy. The roads into the site have hardcore so you can drive in and out easy. However when it’s wet and not cold or windy you will get midges so prepare!
Review by: Ellen (with 3 kids aged 6, 10 and 14)
Getting to the festival and setting up:
We arrived by bus, 2 adults and 3 kids. We were worried about getting to the site but it was fine we got dropped off at the top of the road and it was about 5 min walk to the main gate and it only took that long cause the kids stopped and sat down.. From the main gate it was another 5 mins walk to where we camped.. we were there when the main gates opened so didn’t have to wait to get in.
Entertainment – Line up and Kids Activities:
The entertainment was great for the kids age,10 and 6. The 14 year old met friends straight away and I hardly ever seen her but the other 2 were excited the whole time – they never once said they were bored. 6 year old loved the kid’s tent making fairy wings, clay models watching puppet shows and lots of other things, 10 year old enjoyed some of the activities but she loved the circus skills bit so she spent a lot of time there. The kids also done a few workshops and loved making jewellery. We were so busy we didn’t really see many bands during the day. I was too busy playing. At night we went in to the Furry Chillum tent a few times. On the Friday night we all had a great time and didn’t leave till around midnight when the fire show was on. My whole family loved that – it was magical.
What would you change or do to improve the event?
Wychwood 2012 Review
Reviewer: Romany (from Festival Kidz)
I hadn’t planned on writing a review for Wychwood, and this isn’t really going to be a full-on review as such because we went to Wychwood last weekend as traders so it’s hard to get a balanced perspective. But I was so pleasantly surprised by the festival that it I had to say something!
We traded at Wychwood in 2011 as well, and if I’m honest I wasn’t terribly impressed back then. I had spent 3 days barely leaving the confines of my dusty stall and the little piece of the festival I saw hadn’t seemed that appealing. After that experience I found it confusing that it has such a loyal fanbase and that so many parents came into the stall raving about what a great time they were having!?… So this year I decided to find out exactly why it’s so popular with families…
PlayFest 2012 Parent Review
Reviewer: Jessica (with a 3 year old and a baby)
—
Well as I said at the end of last year’s review of the first Playfest: “… with a bit of extra thought, Playfest could be amazing”, and you know what?… It really was!
Kaya Festival 2012 Parent Review
Kaya Festival
1st to 3rd June 2012
Parent Reviewer: Vashti (with a bump, 2 year old and a teenager)
Kaya Festival is a brand new festival in a beautiful location in North Wales, which was warmly welcomed by myself and other local festival goers used to long drives to reach festivals such as Glastonbury. The musical lineup was a treat for lovers of genres such as reggae, African music and afrobeat, with Lee Scratch Perry, Ska Cubano, Dub Pistols and more on the bill; plus a good selection of local bands. Faenol, a historic estate just outside Bangor, is a gorgeous setting for events, with a lake and rolling fields set against a backdrop of distant mountains; and the festival was small and full of friendly faces. Read more…
Fairyland Trust Fairy Fair 2012 Review
11th Fairy Fair at Holt Hall, Norfolk. I attended with my husband and daughter Eila aged 3 and son Evan aged 5 months.
Getting there
The Fairy Fair is well sign posted once you reach the town of Holt so no problems getting there.
We arrived at 10:45 so we had to queue a bit but this was very well managed by the stewards and we were parked up quickly and ready to go in.
There was a bit of a queue to enter the main site but again this was well managed. I had to go ahead with Eila, as her booked workshop was about to start, but we got there in time
General layout
The main area consisted of the performance tent which had musicians, storytelling and children’s drop in activities and the “pub” which served a range of local beers and pork pies from Brays Cottage.
In the same area, in the shadow of the giant old oak tree, there were pirate based activities and games and cooking for trolls where you could make a mud pie for the trolls. You could also go to the Pixie Post Office and for a small charge choose a postcard to colour and write out to friends or family then the fairies would stamp it and pop it in their post box to post!
Round the corner Read more…
Bearded Theory 2012 Review
Bearded Theory, 18-20th May 2012, Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
Festival Kidz Reviewers: The Hogan Family (Mike, Gaelle, Celeste & Lily)
Dinefwr Literature Festival 2012 Review
Gwyl Lenyddiaeth Dinefwr 2012
The brand new Literature Festival for Wales kicked off over the last weekend in June in the historic National Trust Dinefwr Park. This impressive site boasts a castle, rolling landscapes akin to Capability Brown’s work and the impressive Newton House. The jointly run venture boasts Literature Wales, The Coracle Project, The National Trust and many other partners as its organising team and they all did a wonderful job for a first time event.
Blissfields 2012 Review
… it’s that feeling where you’re stood in the middle of a field and the familiar embrace of peace bubble surrounds you, protecting you from the thoughts and worries of the outside world…
… it hits your soul, and it’s so overwhelming that you want to cry…
… or, if you are me, you DO cry!…
Welcome to Blissfields! Read more…
Eden Festival 2012 Review
2012 Eden Festival Weather: It was very,very wet. The main area near the big stage got muddy. The roads into the site have hardcore so you can drive in and out easy. However when it’s wet and not cold or windy you will get midges so prepare!
Review by: Ellen (with 3 kids aged 6, 10 and 14)
Getting to the festival and setting up:
We arrived by bus, 2 adults and 3 kids. We were worried about getting to the site but it was fine we got dropped off at the top of the road and it was about 5 min walk to the main gate and it only took that long cause the kids stopped and sat down.. From the main gate it was another 5 mins walk to where we camped.. we were there when the main gates opened so didn’t have to wait to get in.
Entertainment – Line up and Kids Activities:
The entertainment was great for the kids age,10 and 6. The 14 year old met friends straight away and I hardly ever seen her but the other 2 were excited the whole time – they never once said they were bored. 6 year old loved the kid’s tent making fairy wings, clay models watching puppet shows and lots of other things, 10 year old enjoyed some of the activities but she loved the circus skills bit so she spent a lot of time there. The kids also done a few workshops and loved making jewellery. We were so busy we didn’t really see many bands during the day. I was too busy playing. At night we went in to the Furry Chillum tent a few times. On the Friday night we all had a great time and didn’t leave till around midnight when the fire show was on. My whole family loved that – it was magical.
What would you change or do to improve the event?
PlayFest 2012 Parent Review
Reviewer: Jessica (with a 3 year old and a baby)
—
Well as I said at the end of last year’s review of the first Playfest: “… with a bit of extra thought, Playfest could be amazing”, and you know what?… It really was!
Fairyland Trust Fairy Fair 2012 Review
11th Fairy Fair at Holt Hall, Norfolk. I attended with my husband and daughter Eila aged 3 and son Evan aged 5 months.
Getting there
The Fairy Fair is well sign posted once you reach the town of Holt so no problems getting there.
We arrived at 10:45 so we had to queue a bit but this was very well managed by the stewards and we were parked up quickly and ready to go in.
There was a bit of a queue to enter the main site but again this was well managed. I had to go ahead with Eila, as her booked workshop was about to start, but we got there in time
General layout
The main area consisted of the performance tent which had musicians, storytelling and children’s drop in activities and the “pub” which served a range of local beers and pork pies from Brays Cottage.
In the same area, in the shadow of the giant old oak tree, there were pirate based activities and games and cooking for trolls where you could make a mud pie for the trolls. You could also go to the Pixie Post Office and for a small charge choose a postcard to colour and write out to friends or family then the fairies would stamp it and pop it in their post box to post!
Round the corner Read more…
Cornbury 2012 Review
by Karon and her 2 boys, aged 5 and 10
Friday – Day One
Our much anticipated fun weekend at the fabulous Cornbury Festival began on Friday afternoon as we headed towards the beautiful countryside of Great Tew, Oxfordshire. The sky was full of grey rain clouds but our mood was light as our destination was reached without any traffic problems at all, parking was well organised and lucky us, the sun broke through as we excitedly took the short haul from car to box office to collect our media passes and camping tickets courtesy of Festival Kidz!!
First Festival? Emma’s choosing Larmer Tree 2012
I have to stand up , raise my hand and admit it:
“Hello, my name is Emma and I am a Festival Virgin.”
Well, I went to Reading once when I was 21 but we camped at a site 5 miles away and only went there to pogo at the Chilli Peppers then went home – so that doesn’t count. Read more…
Wychwood 2012 Review
Reviewer: Romany (from Festival Kidz)
I hadn’t planned on writing a review for Wychwood, and this isn’t really going to be a full-on review as such because we went to Wychwood last weekend as traders so it’s hard to get a balanced perspective. But I was so pleasantly surprised by the festival that it I had to say something!
We traded at Wychwood in 2011 as well, and if I’m honest I wasn’t terribly impressed back then. I had spent 3 days barely leaving the confines of my dusty stall and the little piece of the festival I saw hadn’t seemed that appealing. After that experience I found it confusing that it has such a loyal fanbase and that so many parents came into the stall raving about what a great time they were having!?… So this year I decided to find out exactly why it’s so popular with families…
Kaya Festival 2012 Parent Review
Kaya Festival
1st to 3rd June 2012
Parent Reviewer: Vashti (with a bump, 2 year old and a teenager)
Kaya Festival is a brand new festival in a beautiful location in North Wales, which was warmly welcomed by myself and other local festival goers used to long drives to reach festivals such as Glastonbury. The musical lineup was a treat for lovers of genres such as reggae, African music and afrobeat, with Lee Scratch Perry, Ska Cubano, Dub Pistols and more on the bill; plus a good selection of local bands. Faenol, a historic estate just outside Bangor, is a gorgeous setting for events, with a lake and rolling fields set against a backdrop of distant mountains; and the festival was small and full of friendly faces. Read more…
Bearded Theory 2012 Review
Bearded Theory, 18-20th May 2012, Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
Festival Kidz Reviewers: The Hogan Family (Mike, Gaelle, Celeste & Lily)