Sticking to tradition, we opted to spend a large portion of the day in the children's area at the festival and then spend the late afternoon and evening listening to the music. The kids arena at the festival is a festival in its own right and open until 6pm and is full of completely free things to do. With everything from fairground rides to bouncy castles and music lessons, there is literally something for every child to love and enjoy. Add to that some brilliant acts on show and some wonderful meet and greets for the little ones, it's a perfect way to introduce them to the world of festivals!

We tend to wander around, pop into some favourite areas and then go back and see what else we can discover. Max had a brilliant time playing drums with the Ready To Rock school, showing off the skills he's learnt since he started lessons in January, he even managed to pick up some new skills that he can take back to the classroom. It seemed like we weren't going to be able to drag him away from the tent at one point, but a bribe to go back later allowed us to see what else there was in the arena.


One thing that I love the most about the kids arena is the fact that most of the stalls are run by local companies and community groups. From a brilliant breastfeeding group hosting a chill out tent, to Portsmouth FC allowing young fans to meet Nelson the mascot and see the brilliant CheckATrade trophy they won recently! It's just fantastic to see how different parts of the community come together for this brilliant festival. Whilst Max got stuck into playing games in the GameOver tent, I went to go and meet Scotts cousin as we had two extra additions to our clan on Saturday!

With Max's cousins in tow, we took to the fringe fields to see some comedy, check out the circus and discover the piano tree. The Piano Tree was a new addition to the festival this year and was tucked away near the skate park. Under a brilliant tree was a collection of decorated pianos that were free for people to play and enjoy. Whilst some serenaded everyone with fantastic tunes, the kids decided to team up and make as much noise as possible on one piano. Music to my ears? I'm not sure about that! But the kids seemed to love it.


As the girls had never been to the festival before, we took them on a whistle stop tour and then settled back in the kids section and had fun in the bouncy castle and circus skills areas. We then headed to the Lidl zone which was just fantastic. It's amazing to see how the brands have just slotted into the festival so well and Lidl were no exception. There to promote their collaboration with Tough Mudder, they had set up an assault course for the kids to enjoy. Which our three did for about an hour. There were also opportunities for the kids to cycle and make delicious smoothies before trying their creations. There was even a selection of free fruit on offer for kids and families to enjoy, it was a perfect way to celebrate the festival without promoting those indulgent treats that we are all convinced to buy our kids. And the kids had a whale of a time creating, running and tasting. Well done Lidl for a fantastic festival partnership!


By the time we had finished it was time for us to settle into our evening of music and we had one person that everyone was desperate to see, Lewis Capaldi. The kids (and I) are pretty obsessed with Capaldi and his music and we weren't the only ones. I've never seen the Castle stage as busy as what it was for his show and the atmosphere was electric as he sung songs that none of us had heard of a year ago. You can tell how fantastic the atmosphere of a festival is when you have to cross drunk people with kids, and this Victorious was nothing short of brilliant. With three kids and two adults, we were trying to juggle balancing them on shoulders before some lovely people helped us out! Just goes to show that festival kindness goes a long way. Lewis was brilliant and stole the show for Saturday, winning everyone's hearts and letting everyone know he wrote a song down the road!


After the hustle of Capaldi, we all decided we needed some down time. Scott went off to go and watch The Hives whilst I took the kids to the acoustic tent to watch a local act who had such a sublime voice. I wish I caught her name as I would love to hear more of her! We then headed towards the main stage once the crowds had died down to find a space to watch James Bay and Rudimental. A perfect end to the night and Rudimental were a perfect Saturday night dance along. The kids loved it, we loved it and we spent ages dancing until we had to drop off Max's cousins and fall into bed ourselves ready for the final day. We may have had aching legs and caught the sun, but it was so worth it!


*Note: We were gifted tickets for the purpose of the review. All opinions are our own.