We were absolutely gutted to miss Wychwood Festival this year. We’ve attended for the last two years and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of the three day event at Cheltenham racecourse, the live music acts, late night comedy and kids activities. Last weekend we asked another travel loving family to attend in our place and report back.
Laura and her husband love attending music festivals and have attended at least ten together in the past few years. They introduced their daughter (5 at the time) to the festival life last year at the Isle of Wight Festival and it was a huge success with her partying until very late with mummy and daddy! Last weekend was the first time they have attended a festival with both of their kids (6 and 3). They arrived Friday and camped for the weekend. Here’s how they got on…
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Camping at Wychwood Festival
We really enjoyed the camping experience at Wychwood. The views from Cheltenham Racecourse are stunning and there is loads of space to spread out with your camping gear. We chose to stay in the general camping field rather than family, just to be closer to the festival village. There were plenty of toilets/showers/water taps on site and different areas to camp in to suit your needs.
We were so pleased when we arrived to discover Wychwood provide bag drop off areas throughout the campsite (and then you move your car to the car park) – no more multiple trips to/from the car or strategic balancing acts with backpacks/tents/chairs/everything but the kitchen sink whilst trying to keep track of the kids! Just drive to your pitch and unload.
To top it off Dorset Cereals Campsite Takeover offered a free breakfast each morning with a full range of their delicious granolas and mueslis, yoghurts, juices, newspapers, live music, yoga and hula hooping. It was a great start to the day, and the perfect spot to keep the kids entertained whilst we enjoyed brekkie.
Live music at Wychwood Festival
We really appreciated the fact that there was a wide variety of great music and something for all tastes. Plenty of room to dance, enjoy the music and even get up to the front of the crowd- as our daughter excitedly asked “Am I in the mosh pit?”.
Our live music highlights were…
The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican – pure entertainment, funny songs and even the lead singer crowd surfing to get a beer from the bar mid-set!
Soeur – a personal family favourite and we even got to meet Anya afterwards.
New York Brass Band had the crowd conga-ing and joining in a circle pit.
The Correspondents had amazing energy and really got the crowd going.
Thrill Collins a regular on the festival scene, hand the crowd bouncing- those who were able to squeeze into the Hobgoblin Stage tent.
And to end a wonderful weekend of music – Shed Seven had us re-living university days and singing our hearts out.
Family activities at Wychwood Festival
The programme is packed full of family activities to enjoy throughout the weekend. Spare Room Arts and Emma’s Crefty Kids kept the kids busy making festival head bands and masks. We all enjoyed making lots of noise in the drum circle, meeting Tony de Saulles in the Storybox and learning how to draw. Professor Pumpernickel had the crowds enthralled demonstrating his science experiments. And of course the amazingly entertaining Dick & Dom on the main stage on Saturday morning, both kids were roaring with laughter at their silly antics, musical splatudes and especially the 2 poor unsuspecting dads that had to eat a concoction of vegetable soup, sweetcorn, baked beans, salad cream and cheese puffs…with their hands…cold! Other activities included face painting, circus school, tatty bumpkin kids yoga, balloon modelling, giant den building, Sole Rebel Tap…enough to keep parents and kids busy for weeks.
Food at Wychwood Festival
We’ve got to start by mentioning the amazing ice-cream from Purbeck, to die for. There were all sorts of food stalls representing all corners of the world- crepes, noodles, fish & chips, Mexican, Indian and the first time we have ever seen a stall that solely sells fruit crumble! We managed to try most of it and found it all to be delicious.
Toilet facilities at Wychwood Festival
Special mention to the team at Andyloos – our son loved seeing the truck several times a day (typical boy! see pic above), working hard to keep the facilities spotless and well stocked with loo roll.
For more information about Wychwood Festival check out our tips from when we attended last year – Wychwood Festival review and top tips for attending!
Disclaimer – We were provided with complimentary weekend passes to Wychwood Festival in return for this honest review. All words and opinions are Laura’s and her family’s.
Check out reviews of other UK family friendly festivals…
