Just So Festival 2010

It's taken a week, but today I've finally Henry hoovered up the last of the festival mud from the hall. It made me smile thinking back to last weekend and how the mud got there. 

It came from the Just So Festival, held at a Scout camp ground by Rudyard Reservoir just outside of Leek. It's a truly magical setting with little glades containing different themed areas all offering different activities (e.g.: lantern making, small cinema, traditional games (croquet, cricket, hoopla etc), sand pit, face painting, circus skills, story time, bands etc). It was the first time the festival was put on and I have to say that the guys organising (Sarah & Rowan) did a sterling job. The camping glades were dotted around the site and were all named after animals from Rudyard Kipling's (whose parents named him after the reservoir) Just So Stories (it all makes sense now). We were pretty lucky to be in the Elephant glade which was relatively close to everything. I guess it's because we had quite small children with little legs. 200 families camped and an additional 300 families came in on day tickets each day of the festival (Saturday & Sunday). It was beautifully organised with coloured lights strung along the paths, baubles in the bushes and bunting galore. There was even a bush with brown labels for you to write your festival memories.

We arrived on Friday afternoon & managed to get the tent up just in time for a rain shower. It's the first time we've used our new bell tent and we absolutely LOVE IT! It looks pretty small in the picture, but it's 5 metres of massive. I can't imagine using any other kind of tent again. The only downside was that the inner we purchased broke. 3 times. Imagine, if you will, the centre pole of a bell tent. About 2/3rds of the way up said pole is a hook on which one can hang various items such as a tea light chandelier or, in our case, an inner. We chose to use an inner as the children are still small and feel the cold, plus it separates the sleeping area making it easier to keep clean! Anyhoo. The order of the inner, from the hook, goes - hook, ring, fabric loop, inner. The loop of fabric at the top of the inner can't have been stitched very well to the inner because it snapped on one side, so I fixed it, then the other, so I fixed that too. Then the ring snapped into 3 pieces. So I fixed that too. How? I took a sewing kit with me. I have no idea why I packed it, but I did & good job too! I used a canvas strip that was used to tie the tent in its bag to replace the ring & it held fine for the duration. I can't believe I took a sewing kit to a festival and had to use it. 

That was the worst bit really. The rain was intermittent, but enough to be annoying. however because the site was established it had proper paths and so we didn't end up swimming in mud like you can do at some festivals. The toilets were a festival goers dream! Loo roll, soap, paper towels and lights! Quite magnificent...for a loo. I hope it hasn't spoiled the girls for future festivals - Aoife's quite particular about loos! The food was wonderful and we all ate very well while we were there. There was a baby deli serving home cooked food for the youngest visitors. We chose not to use it because there wasn't any finger food on the menu & Isaac still isn't big on being spoon fed apart from breakfast, which we took with us. To both mine & Simon's delight there was a Pie Minister stall selling the Heidi Pie. Sold. Relief in the form of a pie!

The activities were great, the ones that we did. I think next year we really do need to plan what we want to do & do it. The rain meant that we didn't do as much as we've liked and Isaac being so small still meant I couldn't do as much as I'd have liked (he's very clingy to me at the moment). I felt very jealous of all the beautiful lanterns I saw waiting to be collected. The baby sensory tent looked lovely, but a bit soggy as it was at the bottom of a slope and the rain had leaked in & wet the rattan type flooring, which was a shame. The was a lot for babies, all in the Peekaboo glade.

There were some adventure playgrounds which the girls loved. One was for under 8s & the other for over 8s. Unfortunately, parents weren't monitoring this so by Sunday morning there was a marshal monitoring it. Much to Aoife's annoyance.

We went on a wildlife trail & made dragonflies & masks with the RSPB. The girls  practised their circus skills, listened to stories, made sandcastles and watched Punch & Judy. We painted their faces and rocked them gently in hammocks. Simon & the girls watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the Silver Screen glade while Isaac and I napped.  Isaac took it all in from his carrier. He watched his first live band sporting some borrowed baby ear defenders. He also practised kneeling against the tent pole (I'm not sure if I should be pleased or bemused by this!) I'm very excited about when he's bigger and can do things like the den building, campfire building and foraging activites. I want to do them!!

Click image to zoom (a bit)

The time flew and before too long it was time to pack up the tent. We decided to cut the weekend short and leave at about half past two on the Sunday. We were all shattered after a broken nights sleep on Saturday & we hadn't managed to book in for some of the activities we wanted to (apparently next year there will be more room in the activity groups). I felt for the day crowd because most activities got booked up on Friday evening. So, no Moomin Tea Party for us! Boo!

We had lots of fun and are all (those of us that can voice opinion, that is) eager to go back next year. I think nearly everyone that went is though, so we'll have to book our tickets soon!

Thank you Rowan & Sarah for a fabulous experience!