11 Family Festivals You Must Visit In 2018

Every year we seem to countdown the days until it's festival season. There's something magical about spending a weekend in a festival that feels like another world. Whether it's a local one that's full of our friends and local artists, or a massive festival where there is something new at every turn, we can't get enough. Year on year, festivals are realising how fantastic it is for families to get involved. And with more family festivals than ever, I wanted to compile a list of ones we think you will love this year. 


Kingston Lacy - National Trust #1

We absolutely love the outdoors. We spend most of spring and summer either in the theatre or outside enjoying the local treasures around us. For years we have been toying with the idea of National Trust passes. With so much on our doorstep alone, the temptation was there and we ended up taking the plunge and investing in a pass to give us heaps of days out over the next year. Within a few hours we were in the car on the way to our first stop.


Beauty And The Beast Sing-a-long-a, Lighthouse Poole

We love a good sing along. We tend to have a musical soundtrack blasting at top volume in the car so we can sing at the top of our lungs. Whilst we tend to stick to current musicals like Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen, we are suckers for a good Disney sing along. Our favourite has to be Beauty And The Beast, it's definitely my childhood favourite and after Max did a summer workshop on it last year, he loves belting out the songs.

The lovely folk over at Lighthouse, Poole invited us to a sing along screening of the new Beauty And The Beast film hosted by the company Sing-a-Long-a. We have been to a fair few sing alongs recently, but none that were hosted by a company, so we were excited to get singing!


The Importance Of Relaxed Theatre Performances

Going to the theatre can be a scary experience for children and adults. But add in sensory issues and learning difficulties and the process of going to the theatre can feel like more of a mountain to climb compared to others. Luckily, both theatres and shows are adapting to theatre-goers that might need additional support to create relaxed performances to allow everyone the chance to see fantastic shows on stage.

Dear Simon, Evan and Max


I recently went to see the movie Love, Simon on my own. It’s one that’s based on a book I read many moons ago about a boy that is revealed as being gay before he is ready to do it himself. It's a YA book that opened my eyes to the struggles of some of the LGBT community and also highlighted the struggles that teens face when it comes to revealing their true selves in a society where everyone is put under the microscope. 


March Books Reading List.

March was a month of struggles for me. Between losing my grandma and having work worries (Scott not me), reading was the last thing that I wanted to do. I did however have a fantastic Mother's Day and was generously given a Kindle to allow me to read some books I had been approved for on NetGalley. I have to say, I'm still not convinced by the kindle and I think it's never going to overtake books. But it's definitely going to help when I head to Bulgaria this summer for a family holiday. Let's face it, I think Scott would be angry if I filled the whole suitcase with books!

Awful Auntie - Mayflower, Southampton

Now Max has become more independent with his reading, he's picking bigger and longer books to get stuck into. One author that has stood out amongst the crowd is David Walliams. I often creep into Max's room at night to find him sleeping with a book over his head, or staying up too late with a torch to just finish one more chapter. 

His Dahl-esque comedy and outrageous stories have been such a huge hit with children that they have been turned into numerous short films and stage shows. The Birmingham Stage Company transformed Gangsta Granny into a hit play a couple of years ago and we couldn't wait to see their take on our favourite, Awful Auntie at the Mayflower in Southampton. 


School Of Rock the Musical, London

For Christmas Max had one thing at the top of his list. One thing that was underlined, circled and begged for on a daily basis. It wasn't a toy, a games console or anything electronic. it was tickets. Tickets to see a show that he had become beyond obsessed with. And so I waved my magic wand and made his Christmas come true with tickets for School Of Rock the musical in April and one little boy was in awe and made up with his dream come true.