Gloworm Festival

A couple of weekends ago we went on our first proper camping trip as a family, and we had such a brilliant time. I was slightly worried about camping with a baby when I booked it back in January, but Jasper has slept through 7pm-7am for almost a month, so his timing couldn’t have been more perfect. We chose a non-electrical pitch and relied on a Powerbank Plus to charge our phones, which is compact and super handy for camping. We’ve been camping for the odd night over recent months, but this time we did three nights – the six of us, some lovely friends and Gloworm Festival. I’ve researched a number of festivals over the last few years, so when my friend mentioned she was thinking of going to one – I jumped on board straight away.

We went for Gloworm Festival – a child-friendly festival close to our home, so that there would be plenty for the kids to do, and secondly, so that we’d be able to get home quickly if the weekend was a total wash out. Thankfully, the weather for both Saturday and Sunday was amazing. We arrived early Friday afternoon and by some miracle the rain held off just long enough for us to put up our tents. It rained almost all evening though, so we played games inside our tents and opted to go out for food, rather than cook. On Saturday, we woke up, ate breakfast and then headed into the festival around 11am.

Our boys were mostly interested in going on the rides, so we spent a lot of time going on the bumper cars, the swings and the carousel. They weren’t interested in meeting characters, or the main stage, but they did enjoy watching the real mermaids, the indoor beach, the animal petting area and a really cool bubble display. Both days around 3ish, we headed back to our tents to relax, play and to eat some food. We headed back to the main stage around 7pm to listen to some music and dance. There were a couple of tribute bands and then a DJ until 10pm on the first night, and then the second night there were two bands followed by a movie night, which was the perfect way for everyone to wind down after such a busy weekend.

Next year we’re hoping to be a little more adventurous with our festival going and go further afield, but Gloworm was the perfect starter and we all absolutely loved it!

Points to note:

Gloworm Festival was a very fun, easy festival for the kids but we all felt we wouldn’t go just for a day. Camping made the festival for us and meant that we didn’t have to rush around seeing everything. The evening entertainment was a real highlight too.
The food trucks sold amazing food and the variety available was fantastic, but it was all quite expensive. Generally we ate one meal a day at the festival, but it did add up quite quickly. We also bought a few treats each night. The churros were worth every penny.
Our personalised Powerbank Plus was great for a few nights away, but if you heavily rely on tech, or need items charged quickly, you will need to organise another option.
The queues to go on the rides looked long, but didn’t take long to go down. I think the longest we waited was about 20 minutes.
If you are thinking of going to Gloworm Festival I would highly recommend reading reviews on their Facebook page before booking.
The portaloos were emptied some time each morning, so by the evenings they were even less appealing (!)