Family Festival

Geronimo Festival 2018 Review (Knebworth Park)

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It's the ultimate family festival in the UK and The Sunday Mirror have labelled it as "Glastonbury for kids!"  Yes, this review will feature the brilliant Geronimo Festival.  For 2018 Geronimo was brought to ticket holders at two different locations.  The first being at Cheshire's Arley Hall and the second being Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire.  I was lucky enough to be able to attend the two day event at Knebworth Park on the weekend of 30th June – 1st July.  

With Geronimo being the ultimate family festival, I made the most out of the event by taking my three year old son along with me.  The line up was jam packed with well known CBeebies presenters, characters and many other recognisable faces that my son believes to be his idols, so there was no way I could leave him at home with the grandparents for this one.  

The site was easy to find, although we did have to queue in a lot of heavy traffic outside of the park at the top end of Stevenage.  I believe we sat in our car and waited for around 20 minutes.  The organisers of the festival had hired traffic control teams and stationed them outside of the park to help to manage traffic levels in a more effective manner.  On Saturday morning, the workers that were taking on this role, actually appeared to struggle with the amount of cars building up, as traffic could be seen queuing onto the A1.  Although by Sunday the problems had been resolved and it was far easier to enter the site straight away without any problems at all.  

Walking into the actual festival site was like walking into a wonderland. There was so much to see and do.  At the entrance there were dancing trees, a clown on stilts, floating bubbles, balloons, brightly coloured flags, music and more. This was a festival that had it all.  At the back of the site there was access to an inflatable village, a fun fair with a large Ferris wheel, Helter Skelters, smaller rides, traditional fairground stalls and games.  There was also a climbing wall, a real life arcade where children and parents alike could be part of games like Whack-a-mole, giant Jenga and Tetris. It felt like everyone was able to be a character from the blockbuster Ready Player one.  I won't forget to mention there were also plenty of access to toilet facilities, water stations, nappy changing and breastfeeding tents as well smaller live shows including stunts, imaginative plays and a brilliant live Dino show which my son watched numerous times.  Children were asked to volunteer to meet a 'real' baby T-Rex, aptly named Rex in a fun and interactive segment.  

The whole weekend was presented by former CBeebies presenter Alex Winters. What a brilliant choice.  Not only did he introduce acts on stage, he also entertained the audiences in between set times, he was also casually walking around the site meeting everyone and would cover all of the site to promote other events going on around the site that weren't featured on the main (Castle) stage.  As the weekend event fell in the middle of a heatwave, what was also great about Alex was that he was there to be an assistance to parents to advise children to put on their sun creams, wear protective clothing like hats and drink plenty of water.  This worked very well. Also regarding the heatwave –  Winters was often seen on stage throwing out water balloons and buckets of water to the crowds of people in front of the main stage to keep everyone cool, which actually was really helpful in the scorching temperatures.  

There was also a great variety of food provided by vendors at the event.  On offer were ice-creams, deluxe milkshakes (at a whopping £8 each!), stone baked pizzas, the traditional burgers and fries, sushi, vegan and oriental street food and plenty of sugary treats for the little ones.  

Before I get to the performers that were featured at the weekend event, I would like to share with you all just how much there was to do on site.   We never once got bored as there was always something else to take part in or see.  My son was able to part in a wide variety of craft activities, which was actually really lovely as it meant taking something home.  All craft activities were FREE, but were happy to receive donations should ticket holders want to offer to support their organisations.  An example of just some of the crafts included making bug bling and pine cone insects by the lovely people from The Fairyland Trust, wicker craft which meant shaping and decorating either balloons, wings or baskets, wooden staff carving – so ideal to bring out your inner explorer or wizard. Also clay modelling, soap carving, ceramic tile decorating inside the Messy Kids workshop tent. 

Over the weekend there were so many amazing performances including shows from Sohan Bollywood – pretty self explanatory, but it was a colourful, fun and interactive Bollywood dance show where parents and children were invited up onto the stage to dance along.  Also Junior Frood – a teen dancer who has amazing talent at such a young age. He does all of his own choreography, has already danced alongside pop star Justin Bieber and is soon on his way to Hollywood to work with celebrity choreographer Brian Friedman.  Other very amusing and interactive shows came from CBeebies presenters Sid & Rebecca (who are well known for their imaginative TV programme "Let's Play") and also the very funny and cheeky pirates Cook & Line from the very popular children's television  programme "Swashbuckle".  

 

Here is some information of some of the most standout performances of the weekend:

Andy and The Oddsocks – Saturday

Andy Day is probably one of, if not the most famous of the CBeebies presenters.  He is easily recognisable for his height, big hair and his smiley, jolly nature. Andy is well known for his many adventures on CBeebies shows including "Andy's Wild Adventures", "Andy's dinosaur Adventures", "Andy's Prehistoric Adventures" and most recently his "Safari Adventures" on the pre-school aged television channel.  Now he will be known for something completely different. For being in a band!  Andy and The Oddsocks have recently recorded and released their debut album, titled "Who Invited This Lot?" which is solely aimed at young children.  At the beginning of the set, we got to meet The Oddsocks (Blu, Moxy and Mac) first as they entered the main stage.  Of course there was a big build up to introduce the main man himself (Andy Day) as band member Mac worked the audience to encourage everyone to chant "Andy! Andy! Andy!" 

Day ran onto the stage to greet the crowds of screaming pre-schoolers and some very enthusiastic mothers. Haha! The set was highly energetic and involved a lot of audience participation including bouncing giant inflatable footballs around the arena.  The band told the stories behind each one of their very catchy songs that they performed including:"Aliens", "Ninja Pig",  "Groover Hoover" – which saw the introduction of Hetty The Highland Hoover, "Dinosaur Football Legend Mega Match" and the song with a heartfelt meaning "Unique". 

I was also lucky enough to meet Andy Day backstage for a chat before they were due to grace the main stage to discuss more about Andy and The Oddsocks.  He was just as everyone imagines him to be, so down to earth and just lovely.  My son was also clearly very star struck when he got to meet his hero. Thank you to Andy for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet  with me.  

To find out what's next for Andy and The Oddsocks and to check out my interview with Andy click on the video link below:

Katy Ashworth – Saturday and Sunday

Katy is best known for her presenting role on children's television programmes "I Can Cook!" and "I Can Cook With You".  The presenter is currently heavily pregnant, but this certainly wasn't going to hold her back from putting on some amazing shows.  How she had that much energy I do not know. She is a role model for not only children but mothers alike. She sang a couple of traditional children's songs, one of them being the very popular  "Wheels On The Bus" and also songs from "I Can Cook" which I even ended up singing along to, but there was a lot of amusing puns and innuendo within her show aimed at parents so that it was certainly something that we could all genuinely really enjoy too.  I remember at one point she asked parents "Who out there eats the children's left overs?"many people admitted to this so she continued with "Oh yes, a lovely soggy fish finger on a Wednesday night after Brownies!" Katy also had the audience interacting by playing a giant game of "Fruit Bowl" which is a game where children, mums and dads all had to impersonate and represent a piece of fruit whenever she called out it's name.  Towards the end of her segment she also invited three dads up onto the stage to help her 'cook' were they helped her make a banana milkshake and the winner was presented with a wooden spatula with her name on it and the runners up being given wooden spoons with the same inscription. 

Mr Bloom & His Band – Sunday

Mr Bloom is a very popular CBeebies character played by Cornish actor Ben Faulks. He is a keen gardener and has been involved in programmes including "Mr Bloom's Nursery" and "Here And There" where he teaches children about nature, the importance of gardening and also goes on day trips with children (or as he calls them 'Tiddlers') and their families.  The famous gardener strolled out onto a stage that was surrounded by giant inflatable fruit and vegetables as he introduced everyone to his band before shortly bursting into song while playing his ukulele as they performed the well known theme tune for his programme "Here And There".  The show included a fruit and vegetable guessing game to which children in the audience won whatever food item Mr Bloom was showing on stage.  I've never known young children to be so excited over a piece of fruit or a vegetable. Many families could do with their own Mr Bloom in their households at mealtimes if that's what it takes to get children to eat their 5-a-day.  Like Katy Ashworth's set there was also a lot of innuendo filled humour for the grown ups too. Even a discussion about the possibility of the band playing music by Metallica. 

 

Justin Fletcher – Sunday

Justin Fletcher, MBE, is the man behind many lovable children's characters.  He is most famously known for his TV show "Something Special" where he appears as a clown like character named Mr Tumble. He teaches children how to use Makaton in their daily lives.  This form of sign language makes Mr Tumble a firm favourite in many family households and he is held dear to the hearts of families with children who may have physical or learning difficulties.  His show started in the most spectacular way possible, he was supported by backing dancers as he came out singing original single, the infectious "Just Party" while confetti cannons were released and filled the grounds in front of the Castle stage with bright colours.  He soon went on to sing "Happy Birthday" in case anyone at the event were celebrating a birthday around the time of the festival.  Fletcher also went on to announce that his TV show "Something Special" is 15 years old this year and that he has been in the business for  an impressive 20 years! He followed the announcement with a huge thank you to everyone for their support over those years.  There was also a further announcement that the presenter had to share with his fans, he told everyone that there will be a new series of "Gigglebiz" on it's way and that there's only 2 more weeks of filming.  Exciting stuff.  As "Gigglebiz" was mentioned he went on to bring some other well known characters of his to life including Arthur Sleep, Keith Fit and Gail Force.  His show also included a the biggest "Hokey Cokey" with the whole arena getting involved and other songs including "Let's Go Fly A Kite", "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", and "Wibble and Wobble". There was also a chance for both parents and children to show him their Makaton skills before he closed his set by singing "The Goodbye Song".  Justin Fletcher not only put on an amazing show, but he clearly had an amazing time himself too.  

My little family had the best time at Geronimo Festival, it really is a festival like no other and is perfect for the whole family to enjoy.  This is a festival that I highly recommend to everyone and one that I hope to return to in 2019.  Some details for the 2019 weekend have already been put into place including the line up. For more information about what Geronimo has in store for all of the Geronimites in 2019 check out their website.

Photos by Kane Howie

For more photos CLICK HERE!!

 

 

Wilkestock Festival 2017

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It's September 2017 and Wilkestock Festival is back! With an amazing line up organised and booked by Juicebox Live and The horn, this year the festival celebrated its 10th birthday. The festival began as a party for family and friends and was organised by brothers Tom and Olly Wilkes. Years later it became a charity music festival with all profits going to Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research and also Keswick Mountain Rescue. Despite being a small festival, Wilkestock has grown bigger in popularity year after year. It was announced that this year saw the festival's biggest event they have ever known, as over two thousand people were in attendance to celebrate it's milestone birthday. 

For those of you who aren't familiar with Wilkestock, it is a small festival based at Frogmore Hill which is just outside of Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The festival provides ticket holders with a choice of artists and bands spread throughout it's five stages (Main stage, Bella stage, Rock up and Rinse, Bangorang and The Doghouse). Main stage and Bella stage were the most prominent of the weekend event and the others showcased DJ sets and a silent disco. There was even a secret stage which was basically a converted bathroom trailer. 

 As the festival is a family friendly weekend event, organisers provided a seperate children's area full of large inflatables and crazy golf. There was also a small white tent filled with large cushions, which served as a cinema showcasing classic Disney films such as 'The Jungle Book', 'Oliver and Company' and 'The Lion King'. 
Wilkestock also had a good variety of food available to us. There wasn't many vendors in the small food court area, but the variety of food was quite diverse. There were stone baked pizzas, the sauage company cooking lots of gourmet sausages and hot dogs, an ice-cream van, indian cuisine, greek style street food such as kebabs and halloumi salads and lastly a smoothie stall making lots of delicious and healthy beverages. Of course there were also the return of the log cabin bar.  The main arena looked quite a sight! Due to it's 'Hippie' themed weekend, there was an abundance of beautiful coloured flowers, peace symbols and glitter all around. Just like last year, the main arena was furnished with recycled sofas, logs and straw bales to encourage a relaxed atmosphere.  


So, music, who performed? Who was good? Who wasn't so good? After attending this awesome festival last year and loving the artists that the organisers had booked in 2016, I was somewhat a skeptical about this year's line up just not comparing at all to the brilliance of last year. In all honesty that is how I felt.  I was totally wrong! And I am glad that I was proven wrong.  Wilkestock really out done themselves to celebrate their big birthday. Not only did they have amazing headline acts to close each night, but they also had many acts returning from last year and some new bands and artists that I hadn't heard of before that really impressed me. DJs Adam O and and Matt Crawley also owned the decks throughout the entire weekend!

FRIDAY
Let's start with all of the musical goodness from Friday. The main stage was opened by four piece male indie rock band Mono 01. Although only three of the band's members had turned up.  The guys performed singles including 'Lost Dreams' and 'Get Out Of My Face'. Other bands that played on Friday included indie rock band Arcadian from St. Albans who played their hits 'Mandy', 'Talk Slow' and also an amazing cover of Kanye West's 'Stronger'.

 We also saw Alternate pop rock female duo Rews. These two ladies from London and Belfast totally owned the stage while performing singles''For The Broken Hearted', 'Violins' 'Miss You In The Dark' and new single 'Shine'. Their debut album is due to be released in November this year. 

The first of the returning acts from last year were Bedford based band The Scruff.  In 2016 the band played and completly packed out the Bella/BBC Introducing stage.  This year the lads had been promoted to the main stage for a bigger set. I will be honest. When I saw this band perform last year, I thought that they were a good band but not really a band for me. This year they did a complete flip reverse on me. They were one of my highlights for Friday! The Scruff played a variety of music, both old and new. What really changed my opinion of their music was when they performed their newest single titled 'Her' a song about being kind to your mother, it is also dedicated to one of the band member's late mother. A beatifully written and very emotial song which completely tugged at my heartstrings. One feeling I didn't expect to feel while watching this band perform. They are definitly worth a listen to so check them out. 

An act that appeared to entice a lot of people were rock band Blackwaters. Our photographer especiallly.  While headbanging and owning the stage the band performed their singles 'Let The Good Times Roll', 'Help Me', a pretty awesome cover of Britney Spears hit 'Toxic' and the very memorable 'F**k Yeah!' (I'll let you fill in the gaps haha). The band's lead vocalist was quite the showman, dressed in fitted black trousers and what I can only describe as a mariarchi style shirt. Not only did he rock the stage and interact well with the audience but he also jumped down from the stage to rock out in the arena with the fans watching too. For some reason a lot of very young children appeared to like this set too. There must have been around five children under the age of three sporting their ear protector headphones and bopping to this band's music. It was rather amusing. Perhaps a new generation of rockstars emerging, who knows? 


Friday's warm up act for the headliner were British indie/alternative band The Sherlocks. The band brought in quite the crowd which gathered at the front of the main stage arena. I'd heard many people talk about their excitment to see this band on stage. The lads have just released their debut album titled 'Live For The Moment' and are currently touring all over the globe. Their single 'Heart Of Gold' has recieved air play from BBC Radio 1 DJs Annie Mac, Huw Stevens and Greg James. They also played at Reading and Leeds festivals last year (2016) before then supporting the Libertines on their arena tour.  They performed hits for us including 'Chasing Shadows', 'Blue', 'Last Night' and 'Candlelight' before then exiting the stage to make way for the evening's headline act. Carl Barat and the Jackals. What a lovely tie in to The Libertines there! With people flooding in from all corners of the grounds to see this set, it was heaving! Carl Barat is best known for being co-front man alongside Pete Doherty in The Libertines.  In 2014 Barat had set out to to search for a new band online via popular social media site Facebook. He had recieved well over 1000 applications before he then chose members to then form The Jackals. The collaboration works really well and their music is something that many peope enjoy. They are on tour and their current EP 'Harder They Fall' is out now. 

SATURDAY
Saturday was a big day for the festival, not only was it fancy dress day with a hippie theme but it was also the day that the festivals birthday celebrations took place.  Throughout the day announcements were made on the main stage in regarding the 10th birthday of the festival. Including a heartfelt speech from the festival's founders Tom and Olly Wilkes. While thanking friends, family, press and production for their support over the years a cake was brought on stage as we were all encouraged to sing happy birthday. For the rest of the afternoon free birthday cake was available at the log cabin bar. And you can't go wrong with free cake! The day even saw a live proposal on the main stage. Congratulations to the happy couple! 

Some of the best sets of the day came from artists including Honeylung, a male rock band that are fresh from the BBC Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds festivals 2017 with their grunge like apparel. A band that I thought were a tad different was Haunt The Woods. I can only describe their music as rock/eerie. The guys from Cornwall put on a great set with their singles 'Beautiful Catastrophe', the very haunting sounding 'Twisted' and 'Red Wood' which the band members themselves named a folk song.  

We also saw a very girly punk rock set from female trio Hey Charlie who had packed out the tent at the Bella Stage. The fiesty girls (Lizz, Sophie and Lauren), who play their own instruments also played at the British Summertime Festival in Hyde park earlier this year. I had a lot of fun watching these three. I loved their music! Their song 'Cheer Up Princess' is a brilliant upbeat punky pop song that got everyone up on their feet and left us singing the lyrics throughout the day. 


Saturday like Friday night also had a warm up act before the big headliner. Saturday evening brought us the very energetic and amusing band Vant.  These lads are absolutely brilliant live! Their music has had a lot of air play, particularly on BBC Radio 1 lately and are really starting to make a name for themselves. I only saw this band just over a month ago at Truck Festival and I loved their set there too. It seems that they like to introduce themselves by saying "Hey we are Vant from planet Earth!" Early on in their half an hour set one of the band members burst into song to sing the Spice Girls hit '2 Become 1' which of course set off a kareoke like chorus from everyone else in the arena. This was hilarious! The band even stopped half way through perfomorming their single 'Do You Know Me By Now?' to pass comment on a security issue that was being dealt with in front of the main stage.  The front vocalist shouted out to the security team "security! Have you not been to a punk rock show!, Let the man stay at the front, I will keep an eye on him". This absolutely ticked myself and many other people there. The band just seem so down to earth and have a great connection with their audience. The guys continued afterwards to play a number of songs including their popular hit 'Karma Seeker'. 


Just before the headline act graced the stage, one of the DJs played a number of songs over the speaker system to keep us all entertained in the meantime. Whoever that DJ was did a great job! They just kept throwing out hit after hit which really got the crowds of people dancing and singing along.  Especially when 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' (Originally by Nirvana) was blasted out. I've never known so many people to jump around and go wild. There were even middle aged people acting like the teenagers that they once were. It was really quite something to see. It just showed how much fun can be had at this festival and it brought everyone together. 

Saturday's headline act was the one performer that everyone was talking about, even the other artists on stage. Razorlight! I had loved them in my late teens, so I was quite excited to see them perform myself. They did not dissapoint. The opened their set with a quick "hello" before going straight into their first song of their set, the well known 'In The Morning'. the band took many of us on a trip down memory lane with a variety of hit singles accompanied by an array of laser and strobe lighting. All in all they showcased a total of eighteen hits in their alotted time slot at the end of the night. They rounded off not only their set but also the evening by performing probably their biggest hit 'America' to which the production team also set of huge confetti cannons that filled the grounds and the air, leaving us all reeling from excitement.  

SUNDAY
Lastly, Sunday was a shorter day at the three day event but to be honest it was my favourite of the three days.  The music was a lot more diverse rather than mainly rock bands throughout the day. As much as I like rock music it was nice to see some tamer styles of music. My highlights of the weekend were mostly acts from the last day of Wilkestock. On the list of stagetimes it showed that at lunchtime we were to see another of the returning bands from last year My Little Empire. When they took to the stage this was quite different. I say they, but only lead singer and guitarist Rob from the band took centre stage alone. As only he attended this enabled him to perform a slightly different set to what was originally planned. One man and his guitar often means one thing. A relaxed acoustic set. Yep, the band's front man performed their singles 'Solitude', 'Letting Go' and a really good cover of Ocean Colour Scene's 'Robin Hood' which he had said was an iconic song to him growing up. As it was to many of us too. This would have been the band's 7th year playing at his festival. But Rob certainly managed to pull it off all by himself.

Another Wilkestock veteran returning from last year were St. Albans based indie/rock band Alexis Kings. I loved them last year and to be honest I was quite enthusiastic about seeing them again over this weekend.  The all male musicians had a slightly more grown up look after recently returning to the UK as they have been busy touring Asia. They played at the Summer Sonic festival in Shanghai alongside the likes of The Kooks and Sum 41. We heard some familiar songs from them such as their most popular single 'Squire' and a personal favourite of mine 'Strawberry Blonde'. They also sampled their newest  masterpiece, 'Magic Mind'  which they admitted they've only performed live a handful of times. This single is set to be their next release in around two months time. Watch out for it, it's a really great tune and I will be surprised if it doesn't do well. 


To be honest I think the most popular performance of the day came from electro/pop group Club Drive. This set was a particularly important one to the band members as four became three. This was their bass player's last gig alongside the other lads as he is moving on to bigger things in his life outside of the band. Club Drive are becoming more and more popular with each single they release. The musicians from hertfordshire put on an amazing show for all ages. Everyone was up on their feet enjoying the music from their set. There was tons of energy on stage too.  Their music is very upbeat and infectious. They certainly bring the party with them.  

Sunday evening and the festival weekend was brought to a close by the cheeky chaps from Padding Needed. I had spoken to one of the band members in the afternoon before their set and he informed me of the antics that the band get up to while they are performing on stage. They had spent their afternoon handing out flyers inviting everyone to their pillow fight in the tent they were playing in. The band member that I spoke to had told me that the reason why they provide lots of pillows and encourage a huge pillowfight at all of their gigs is due to their single 'Pillow Fight'.  They thought it was something unique and very fitting to promote their single. Ever since then, they have had giant pillow fights at every single gig they have played.  This weekend we saw not only their famous pillow fight, but balloons being thrown into the crowds which packed out the tent completely and also what appeared to be sparklers on the ends of their guitars. They really do put on a gig like no other. The band that are based in the Milton Keynes/Northampton area are currently gigging all over the place and they even have their own festival planned for December called Pillow Fest! Which sounds like a massive fun party. If you get the chance to see these guys live then do so, you don't want to miss out on this much fun at a gig. Great music and laughs, what more could you possibly ask for?


So now this brings my rather lengthy review to a close. Wilkestock really upped the ante for this year's event.  I'm so glad I've been able to go for the last two years as its a great family weekend out.  Tickets for next year have already gone on sale and they will probably sell out fast so get them while you can.  
Thank you Tom and Olly for having us share your festival fun once again! 

For more photos by Kane Howie click on day links below.

FRIDAY!  SATURDAY!  SUNDAY!

Just So Festival – a fun filled family adventure

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Just So is an award winning family-festival set in the beautiful surrounds of Rode Hall Estate, near Congelton in Cheshire. Now in its sixth year the festival is run by Wild Rumpus team Rowan and Sarah, who are well known for creating imaginative large-scale outdoor experiences.

Unlike some of the bigger family festivals Just So is unique in that the whole weekends entertainment is solely dedicated to children, young people and their families. Even the bands are chosen for their family-friendly sounds.

Set across ten main areas there’s a wonderful array of engaging outdoor activities from music, immersive theatre, literature, arts, film, and most importantly adventure of every kind. Families have the freedom to explore, dance, chat and play in an uninhibited way that nurtures all round memory making.

There’s a variety of activities to capture the imagination of any child and adult from woodland walks, tribal tournaments, circus skills workshops, pillow fighting, lantern making, paper plane creating, campfire songs and storytelling, giant battleships, pirate training, dancing workshops, fairyland house and wand making and intrepid explorer training.

Peekaboo is designated area for the youngest of festivalgoers with baby yoga, sensory workshops, baby massages, bathtime and lullabies to sooth them to sleep.

There are no shortage of toilets on site, a mix of portaloos and flushing toilet blocks. Everything was super clean as one would hope at a family festival. The site facilities were exceptional from baby-changing tents, hot showers (rarely any queues), trolley hire and a buggy park.

Most things wound down by 10.30pm and it was lights out by midnight…. this was the quietest campsite I have ever had the pleasure of staying on ‘shhhhh’. It made a refreshing change not to be kept awake by the rumbling sounds of some distant dance tent.  

Eating out at a festival can get prohibitively expensive, so many brought picnics & snacks to keep the costs down.  For those who indulged there was a great selection of gastronomic delights from street food vendors selling falafels, wood-fired pizzas, pulled pork, fish & chips, paella, hot dogs, pasta, corn on the cob and frozen yoghurts. Hoban & Son’s travelling bars in converted ambulances provided a superb range of handpicked beers, ciders and ales.

A torrential storm brought Saturdays festivities to an early close, which meant the eagerly awaited lantern parade was called off. Luckily they got the power back up in time Electro Swing Circus who brought the festival alive again with the mix of sassy swing and stomping electro beats.

A highlight for me over the weekend was meeting the Gruffalo in the Spellbound forest. It’s amazing how quickly you can feel like a child again. That’s the thing I finally figured out…for adults Just So is all about getting in touch with your inner child, relinquishing the shackles of rat race and having heaps of unbridled FUN!

Many of our friends have dropped off the festival scene since entering parenthood, fearing festivals are too dirty or too stressful to cope with kids – I beg to differ. I have found the answer. Just So Festival has an array of offerings to suit everyone’s taste and in comfortable and stunning surroundings. I can’t think of a better way to spend some quality family time. There’s absolutely no way your children can get bored at Just So, and neither will you.