2018
Festival reviews from the year 2018
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…
Timber Festival 2018 Review
Something small but beautiful happened in the National Forest, Staffordshire in July 2018. A brand new festival was born. Timber Festival is a celebration of nature, our relationship with the forest, a chance for children and adults to be free, to play, relax and be inspired.
The first thing that struck me about Timber Festival was how relaxed it was. No huge queues for the wristband exchange, a short walk from the camping area to the festival arena, friendly security. As I get older this is becoming increasingly important, they had hot showers with no queue and drumroll….some flushing toilets with sinks which were immaculately clean. Read more…
The Shindig Weekender 2018 Review
It’s tricky for a dance music family-friendly festival to balance the party and family elements. I think The Shindig Weekender managed this well, giving a great mix of the two.
It was a lovely warm bundle of arty-party fun, with a fantastic kids’ field to boot.
While I don’t think it will appeal to parents who want to keep their kids away from this kind of partying, I thought it was great for parents who look for a bit of craziness and proper dancing in their festivals. There was also plenty of space and chilled out areas for families to hang back and relax while the children ran around.
Elderflower Fields 2018 review
Elderflower Fields review from guest writer Christine and family.
We rocked up at Elderflower Fields and were bowled over by the beautiful views. There were lots of happy children climbing trees and excitedly observing a resident vole family they’d found. We immediately felt relaxed and the cares of every day life just drifted away.
Wood Festival 2018 Review
When you arrive at a festival and immediately feel as though you’ve come home, you know it’s got something special. Wood Festival feels like that to us.
Fun for families at Larmer Tree 2018
After taking a year-long break, Larmer Tree Festival kicks off on 19th July with a wonderful packed programme to delight festival families.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR KIDS AND FAMILIES
The fun-fuelled family activity schedule for 2018 features famous faces, family games, storytelling and plenty of crafts. There’s also a fantastic line up of musicians, DJs, comedians and theatre to look forward to.
What better way to start the summer holidays? Read more…
Back to the 80s Cruise
A festival on a cruise ship?
When Festival Kidz received an invite for an 80s cruise I did wonder – can a cruise really be a festival? But I’ve never been on a cruise before and I love to try new things.
It was an excellent deal. For the price of a festival glamping ticket, festival goers had a whole week in a lovely cabin on a ship including heated pool and spa and all meals (and 24 hour snacks!). This together with some of the really big names of the 80s playing every day, plus parties and activities, and brilliant childcare so you can even go out to some of the parties without the kids! And on top of all that there was the chance to explore three cities during the cruise – Bilbao, Vigo and Lisbon.
So – how did I get on?
Try something new!
We all have our favourite festivals we want to return to year after year but there are so many festivals in the UK (and abroad!) that we haven’t tried. So this year we all picked a festival that Festival Kidz hasn’t covered yet.
In May Naomi is trying out the gorgeous Shindig Weekender. June sees Sarah checking out Woodlands Festival. In July Lisa R is going to the brand new Timber Festival, Kirsty is going to Port Eliot Festival and Christina is reviewing our first ever French festival, Enchanted Arts. Then in August Lisa M is going to Wickham Festival and Catherine is hoping to try out Victorious and Carfest.
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…
The Shindig Weekender 2018 Review
It’s tricky for a dance music family-friendly festival to balance the party and family elements. I think The Shindig Weekender managed this well, giving a great mix of the two.
It was a lovely warm bundle of arty-party fun, with a fantastic kids’ field to boot.
While I don’t think it will appeal to parents who want to keep their kids away from this kind of partying, I thought it was great for parents who look for a bit of craziness and proper dancing in their festivals. There was also plenty of space and chilled out areas for families to hang back and relax while the children ran around.
Wood Festival 2018 Review
When you arrive at a festival and immediately feel as though you’ve come home, you know it’s got something special. Wood Festival feels like that to us.
Back to the 80s Cruise
A festival on a cruise ship?
When Festival Kidz received an invite for an 80s cruise I did wonder – can a cruise really be a festival? But I’ve never been on a cruise before and I love to try new things.
It was an excellent deal. For the price of a festival glamping ticket, festival goers had a whole week in a lovely cabin on a ship including heated pool and spa and all meals (and 24 hour snacks!). This together with some of the really big names of the 80s playing every day, plus parties and activities, and brilliant childcare so you can even go out to some of the parties without the kids! And on top of all that there was the chance to explore three cities during the cruise – Bilbao, Vigo and Lisbon.
So – how did I get on?
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…
Timber Festival 2018 Review
Something small but beautiful happened in the National Forest, Staffordshire in July 2018. A brand new festival was born. Timber Festival is a celebration of nature, our relationship with the forest, a chance for children and adults to be free, to play, relax and be inspired.
The first thing that struck me about Timber Festival was how relaxed it was. No huge queues for the wristband exchange, a short walk from the camping area to the festival arena, friendly security. As I get older this is becoming increasingly important, they had hot showers with no queue and drumroll….some flushing toilets with sinks which were immaculately clean. Read more…
Elderflower Fields 2018 review
Elderflower Fields review from guest writer Christine and family.
We rocked up at Elderflower Fields and were bowled over by the beautiful views. There were lots of happy children climbing trees and excitedly observing a resident vole family they’d found. We immediately felt relaxed and the cares of every day life just drifted away.
Fun for families at Larmer Tree 2018
After taking a year-long break, Larmer Tree Festival kicks off on 19th July with a wonderful packed programme to delight festival families.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR KIDS AND FAMILIES
The fun-fuelled family activity schedule for 2018 features famous faces, family games, storytelling and plenty of crafts. There’s also a fantastic line up of musicians, DJs, comedians and theatre to look forward to.
What better way to start the summer holidays? Read more…
Try something new!
We all have our favourite festivals we want to return to year after year but there are so many festivals in the UK (and abroad!) that we haven’t tried. So this year we all picked a festival that Festival Kidz hasn’t covered yet.
In May Naomi is trying out the gorgeous Shindig Weekender. June sees Sarah checking out Woodlands Festival. In July Lisa R is going to the brand new Timber Festival, Kirsty is going to Port Eliot Festival and Christina is reviewing our first ever French festival, Enchanted Arts. Then in August Lisa M is going to Wickham Festival and Catherine is hoping to try out Victorious and Carfest.