Our First Camping Trip At Elderflowerfields 

Last year we went along to Elderflowerfields to experience or first taste of festival life.  I feel in love with it more than I ever thought I would and knew from that experience festivals were going to be something I wanted our family to experience a lot more of.

Last year we only attended for the day so getting ready for a few nights of camping was going to be a challenge.

With my mud and rain fearing husband and the weather being a little unpredictable we decided to ease ourselves into the experience by taking a camper van instead of braving it under canvas!

VW campers are a bit of a passion of mine so having the opportunity to take the award winning Ladyboy from Honeys VW Camper was a dream come true.

We packed up the van with everything we needed and took a slow drive to Pippingford Park where we were guided towards our pitch by the enthusiastic volunteers and set up our  for the next few days.

We had a small tent to store all our bits and pieces in but soon realised we had a lot to learn regarding camping when we looked round at everyone else’s great set ups!

I couldn’t wait to get down to the fun so made our way down to the main field.

The music was echoing across the fields, the smell of beautiful food was wafting from the stalls and I knew that the next few days were going to be wonderful.
We always start with food in our family and the potato twists were a hit on more than one occasion.

That along with belly fulls of ice cream, burgers, veggies nibbles, fish and chips; well the list really is endless and I challenge anyone to not find something to take their fancy.

Number three went of and took part in the fabulous sports and craft workshops that are put on while we wandered round with the youngest two getting messy with the paints and exploring the woods.

all of the activities are included in your ticket price so the children are free to try anything out as often as they like.

There are way to many activities to name but rock climbing, scooting, slack lining, canoeing, pond dipping and mountain boarding are just a few things on offer.  Take a look here for the whole list of things you can get up to.

We made our way back to the van for a BBQ and to try out my chocolate cones and a little rest before joining in with the evening fun.

Being at the festival after dark is what the children were most excited about and they were not disappointed.  We listened to some super talented bands and grabbed a cocktail at the cocktail shack while the kids took to the stage!

With some very weary children we headed back and got a fantastic nights sleep which I really wasn’t expecting.

I got up nice and early to take a shower where I was plesently surprised with beautifully clean showers and no queue!

Once breakfast was wolfed down we headed down for day two of fun.  We did some more exploring and had fun with plenty more activities.

The biggest queue is always the facpaint but it was more than worth it.  The kids loved it and I couldn’t resist joining in.

 

Lunchtime came round and it was time to take part in the So Sussex Family Picnic.
I wasn’t entirely sure how this was going to work as you had to meet by the main stage and find people to get together with to make a group of twelve people.

Lunchtime with my lot is more like feeding time at the zoo so picnicking with strangers was a little worrying.  I needn’t have worried as I found two lovely families in the queue and spent a blissful afternoon getting acquainted whilst sampling some of the finest food all local sourced from in and around Sussex.
We ripped apart crusty, fresh bread to dip  in creamy pate, picked at flavourful olives and tender meats.  But the favourite part for me was the gooey, rich chocolate cake that I really wish I hadn’t had to share!

Our final evening was spent sipping hot chocolates, listening to more fabulous music and a huge hay fight that the children declared as the best part of the trip.

We sadly made our way back to what would be our last night at Elderflowerfields and I can honestly say we had the most magical introduction to camping.

The lack of technology, the open space and the atmosphere of the festival were just the perfect combination.

All my worries of losing the children or them getting bored were completely unfounded and this was mainly due to the  festival being run by a group highly passionate people that work tirelessly to create a wonderful experience for all who visit.

If you can’t wait for next year to get your tickets to joint in the fun then take a look at the Into The Trees event daytime event that is running on the 3rd and 4th September. I can’t wait to get there and would love to see some of your lovely faces!