festival Archives - Mini Travellers - Family Travel & Family Holiday Tips

10 Reasons Bluedot Festival is a Family Friendly Festival

Bluedot is a music, science and culture event which has been held annually in July since 2016 at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire. It is a combination of music, live science experiments, expert talks and immersive artworks – but how does that make Bludeot a Family Friendly Festival? Here are 10 reasons why Bluedot Festival …

Review RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2021

I was delighted to be able to attend the first RHS Garden Festival since 2019, at Hampton Court Palace. As with so many, it has been a turbulent couple of years for the thousands of people involved in delivering the RHS shows. So much time and effort goes into the magnificent displays; it must have …

Victorious Festival Line Up 2021 | WIN a Family Ticket!

Victorious Festival 2021 Announces Line Up. The Streets and Madness to headline alongside Royal Blood Sunday Castle Stage headliner TBA Victorious Festival (27-29 August 2021) – the UK’s biggest metropolitan festival – will return to Southsea Seafront this Summer with a phenomenal line up including Madness, The Streets, Royal Blood and much more! Friday night …

20 TOP TIPS FOR JUST SO FESTIVAL 2022

We have just spent a fun packed magical weekend at Just So Festival in Cheshire with lots of lovely friends. I’ll share with you throughout this post things we loved but I’ll focus on some tips to help you get the most out of the weekend if you’re planning on heading to Just So Festival …

Top Tips if you're heading to Camp Bestival in 2019

12 TOP TIPS IF YOU’RE HEADING TO CAMP BESTIVAL

12 TOP TIPS IF YOU’RE HEADING TO CAMP BESTIVAL IN 2022 In 2018 we spent our first weekend at Camp Bestival. We had an amazing weekend with some great friends and have plans to return. I’ll share with you throughout this post things we loved but I’ll focus on some tips to help you get …

Top Tips if you're heading to Deer Shed Festival in 2019

11 TOP TIPS IF YOU’RE HEADING TO DEER SHED FESTIVAL

Our first weekend of the summer holidays was at Deer Shed Festival in North Yorkshire. We had the most amazing weekend of sun and fun and will definitely want to return next year. I’ll share with you throughout this post things we loved but I’ll focus on some tips to help you get the most out of …

Top Tips for Festival Glamping with Children including a Festival Checklist

So if you are planning on Festival Glamping with Children here are some of our top tips including a Festival Checklist! Setting up, and taking down, your tent are all part of the experience. Get the children involved, passing pegs, and having a go with a wooden mallet. Have a picnic, rug, and toys to …

We’ve sold over half our Elderflower 2019 tickets – wow!

The Elderflower Fields magic grows with Elderflower Field Midlands in 2020!

Elderflower Fields Midlands, 29-31 May 2020, Stanford Hall, Leicestershire. WIN a Family Weekend Ticket to Elderflower Fields Midlands at the bottom of this post worth £300! Elderflower Fields is all about families trying new things and after eight years of fantastic feedback the So Sussex team are excited to take on the challenge of a …

Is Victorious Festival in Portsmouth family friendly?

When family festivals are done right you will have the best weekend ever. It’s getting them right that is at times a struggle. One festival that is rumoured to do it right year on year is Victorious Festival; held in Southsea, Portsmouth. So did we agree? Victorious Festival is the UK’s Biggest Metropolitan festival combining …

Review: The Great Wonderfest | Festival on the Isle of Wight

NB: I was asked to attend but all views and opinions are my own. I love a festival, well one where I am with my friends drinking cider in a field and dancing to my favourite tunes into the night. Though I have always vowed that I want to introduce my children to Glastonbury one …

Just So Festival Day Tickets – the perfect introduction to a family festival! MT Just So Festival 1 While we camped at Just So Festival back in 2017 and had a great time, this year we decided to return for a day. The Saturday to be precise. We’re lucky enough to live under an hour’s drive from the festival location, Rode Hall in Cheshire, and with us heading off on holiday on the Monday morning, we thought we’d completely immerse ourselves in everything Just So from dawn (9am ish) until dusk (8pm ish) and then head home to sleep and get sorted. If you were following the festival antics on social media, you might know that almost a month’s worth of rain fell on the opening Friday afternoon which unfortunately meant long queues to get in to the grounds and a whole lot of mud. By the time we arrived on the Saturday morning, there was a lot of slip-sliding and the decision was made to close the car park to any additional cars later that afternoon and for the whole of Sunday. Obviously, disappointing for those who couldn’t get to the festival by other means of transport but the festival organisers were quick to communicate the change in circumstances and offer refunds. I don’t know what else they could have done. MT Just So Festival 2 How did our day at Just So Festival go? I can’t lie, the mud was a pain. We ventured down to the main stage area, Footlights, where we’d normally spend an hour or two listening to the bands playing, but with no seats and no mud-free ground for a picnic blanket, we lasted five minutes. The Ministry of Games area, a previous favourite with my boys (aged 8 and six), was in a similar state. They found squelching through the mud fun for the first few metres but they got annoyed because their wellies kept slipping off and they couldn’t move around as quickly as they would have liked. But, now the negatives are out of the way, I have a whole load of positives for you. Despite not being able to tick off everything on our list, we experienced a day jam-packed with entertainment, humour and laughter. And a lot of ice cream. SO much ice cream! MT Just So Festival 3 We started our day by meeting with the tribal leaders (we’re a family made up of two foxes and two stags) who were so funny and really got the boys excited for the day ahead. Picking a tribe - be that owls, foxes, fish, stags, frogs, lions or bees - is a really nice part of the Just So experience. You can wear a full costume with face paints, a pair of ears, a t-shirt with your chosen animal, or just wear your own clothes if dressing up is not for you. You can get involved in the tribal tournament and attempt to win golden pebbles for your chosen team as much or as little as you want. It’s fun to keep checking the scoreboard to see who is in the lead as you pass by, especially if you have a divided family and can tease each other. MT Just So Festival 4 One of the joys of Just So is stumbling across the unexpected. You spy so many amazing things as you amble around the grounds. Campfire songs and stories, awe-inspiring marble runs, singing classes, a real actual bath being pedalled round with a family bathing in it (yes, really) and also, quieter spots to take a minute or two to regroup and consult your programme. MT Just So Festival 5  My personal recommendation would be to make a note of a handful of ‘must-sees’ but then to take a walk and see what you come across. Even if you have something pencilled in, if you and your children are having fun, don't be in a rush to move on to the next thing unless it’s something unmissable like James Campbell or The Fabularium. James had my children crying with laughter and The Fabularium had them completely and utterly spellbound. MT Just So Festival 6 How did Just So Festival day tickets compare to camping for the entire weekend? Well, it had its pluses and minuses. The kids gave it their all for one day. We packed in show after show, and explored every corner of the (muddy) site. They had ice cream-covered faces and tired legs when we left and I don’t think a second day could have lived up to the first. But they did miss popping back to the tent for a rest stop now and again. MT Just So Festival 7 As I mentioned, most of the grounds were so muddy that we couldn’t use a picnic blanket (some places were better later in the afternoon when the sun came out) and there didn’t seem to be many chairs around so we were on our feet a lot. And because we weren’t camping and hadn’t brought our own food and drink with us, we spent a small fortune on meals and snacks. MT Just So Festival 8 All in all, we had an amazing time and as we’re not natural campers, I think we’ll continue popping to the festival as day ticket holders. If you’re on the fence about heading to a family festival with your children, a day ticket is a great way of testing the water. Just So is a festival that makes it incredibly easy for families to spend quality time together and take part in so many amazing and unusual things. It's really special.   If you’re tempted to visit Just So Festival in 2020, keep an eye on the website as early bird tickets tend to be released at a slightly cheaper price. Even if it rains, I promise you, you'll leave with incredibly happy children and feeling somewhat nostalgic for your own childhood. MT Just So Festival 9

Is it worth going to Just So Festival for the day?

Just So Festival Day Tickets – the perfect introduction to a family festival! While we camped at Just So Festival back in 2017 and had a great time, this year we decided to return for a day. The Saturday to be precise. We’re lucky enough to live under an hour’s drive from the festival location, …

Maui Waui Festival Review for 2019 | Team Leary take on Maui Waui

Well holy moly Maui Waui, what a weekend! We were invited to review Maui Waui Festival for Mini Travellers and, having toyed with the idea of a family festival for the last year or more we were keen to try out our hand-me-down tent and see whether kids improve or impede the festival experience- a …

Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2019

This year Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival took place between Tuesday 2 July to Sunday 9 July 2019. Last year, my daughter and I discovered just how much there was for children to enjoy at Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival (https://minitravellers.co.uk/is-hampton-court-palace-flower-show-child-friendly). This year I was invited back to see what was on offer in at …

of the Hospitality Package at Camp Bestival

Is Hospitality Camping worth the Money for Camp Bestival 2022

Is Hospitality Camping worth the Extra Money at Camp Bestival in 2022 based on our experience at Camp Bestival 2019. As this was our first time at Camp Bestival (and we had been lucky enough to have a free week in Dorset before hand thanks to family!) we decided to take a chance and upgrade …