If you are a follower of my blog it will come of no surprise that we are all huge festival fans. The freedom, the adventure and chance to all be together is such a huge appeal to us that it keeps us wanting each and every year.
Elderflower Fields was the festival that opened our ours eyes to the fun and has had us coming back year after year and this year was the best by far.
Sleeping under canvas at the end of May can be a bit risky but a few weeks ago the weather was most definitely on our side and for the first time ever we managed to get our tent pitched in the sun with very few arguments.
One of the biggest pulls of Elderflower Fields is its laid back vibe that hits you from the minute you arrive. We took some time out round out tent to meet our neighbours for the weekend and grab a bite to eat.
It wasn’t long before the kids got itchy feet and wanted to head down to the main festival. We were pleasantly surprised when we got there as the layout had been changed around slightly and there was a lot more open space for the kids to go crazy in.
The familiar main stage was there and crowds had already started to build up taking in the atmosphere and listening to the fantastic music.
We headed off to see what activities they had put on to keep the little ones busy and saw some familiar favourites along with some new additions.
Mine always love trying their hand at the circus skills workshop, pitting their withs on the climbing wall, putting their woodwork skills to the test with the woodland tribe and using their brains in the science tent.
After a pretty full day we headed back to the tent for a quick rest before heading down to the evening festivities. Pretty hungry by now we decided it was time to fill our bellies and Elderflower Fields never disappoints when it comes to food choices.
Every taste is catered for from sumptuous fish and chips to rich ice creams, spicy vegan curries to sticky sweet crepes and so much more.
Allergies can sometimes be a bit of an issue for us at events like this but Frankies multiple allergies are always catered for without a problem.
Throughouly warn out we made our way back to bed excited for what the next day was going to hold.
Sunday is actually my favourite day of the festival as we are well settled in, have got our bearings and things are more relaxed for us.We started the day with more activities. Disc golf was certainly one we enjoyed along with slacklining and the giant zipwire.
All the activities are included in the price of your festival tickets which makes it great value for money but be mindful that many of them are prebookable before arrival or need to be booked once there as they get full up extremely quickly and due to my lack of organisation we often miss out on the popular activities. Take a look ‘here’ at some of the other great things that are on offer.
Sunday is also the day that the Sussex Family Picnic is held. This is something I’ve not heard of any other festival doing and it is certainly something that makes Elderflower Fields stand out from the rest.
The aim is to get people together and share good, local sorced food making it the biggest collective picnic I’ve ever seen.
Again the price of this is covered in the price of your tickets and all you need to do is grab your picnic blankets, get yourself into groups of twelve and have lots of fun!
We always head off into the woods after this and check out the fantastic art displays that have been put on by local schools, play in the mud kitchen, a little bit of pond dipping and made some cool clay sculptures in the Outdoor School.
There is no way we could visit and not have our face paints done by the wonderful ladies at Nam Nams Facepaints, I’ve honestly not found better face painting skills anywhere!
The last bit off fun was yet to come with the Sunday evening entertainment which is always buzzing. The stage was alive and the main field fun of dancing and laughter, marshmallows were being toasted by the bonfire and the big hay fight was taking place which mine wait all weekend for.
however this year is was slightly tainted by Frankie – the little allergy boy having a reaction to the hay and being carted of the the St Johns Ambulance who were absolutely fantastic with him.
Our last night under canvas left me reflecting on yet another fabulous weekend at Elderflower Fields. New skills have been learnt, new friendships have been forged, our family has comes that little bit closer together and everlasting memories have been made. Thank you Elderflower Fields for OUR BEST ONE YET!
hi I’ve been going for the past 6 years and love the festival and the extra field space but this year I wish we had more notice for discount booking as they went without me even getting a email in advance this time? it would be good to see more clothes stalls etc.thank you for Hayley and piaira
x