Review by Elisa Skelton

Over the last few years, Lakefest, (which is set in the stunning grounds of Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire), has been one of the most successful and popular family festivals in the UK. With loyal attendees visiting every year, Lakefest also sees more and more newcomers every year making the festival a sell out almost immediately. Next years early birds have already gone on sale and are selling out fast so do please check out availability here.

This year was our first time experiencing a festival with our young children and we are so pleased that we chose Lakefest. After our time at Lakefest, we would certainly do it again and would highly recommend it to other families that are considering going to a festival with their family. 

Upon arrival, entering the festival was very smooth and easy. This isn’t always the case at festivals as can often be a nightmare so it was the perfect start to our weekend.

You do not have to camp at Lakefest but of course, we had to go all in. There was plenty of space at the campsite which is such a relief as often at festivals, you barely have breathing space. There were lots of clean porta loos and lovely warm showers! We were both surprised how clean and well stocked with toilet paper the toilets were throughout the festival. We were also impressed by the number of toilets available on the site, which meant that we did not have to stand in long queues with young children, this was an added bonus. Children don’t always give you much warning when they need to go!!

There was also plenty of choice for food from the many food and drink trucks. Ice cream and kid’s meals were especially popular with my daughters! If you are relatively local, you may recognise some local vendors such as Beefy Boys. Lakefest is known for its variety of food and we weren’t disappointed

Entertainment 

We were blown away by the amount and diverse choice of activities and workshops that were available for all ages. We particularly enjoyed sitting as a family making flower crowns together and then wearing them throughout the festival! Another highlight for us was having the opportunity to learn some fun circus skills – the teachers were excellent and very entertaining. My daughters loved watching the beatboxing workshop with Renegrade beatbox, he was highly engaging and entertaining! They also loved having a little go at graffiti. 

At the Greatest Show tent, we all really enjoyed watching the wrestling, cheesy neon rave and my daughters loved getting covered in foam at the Ibiza foam party which is family friendly. The fairground rides, were a lovely touch too. We had a bumper car experience – letting my daughter take control of the steering wheel was a memorable moment! The fairground rides are an additional cost as you would expect but really make the experience that much more exciting. The Big Wheel is also situated facing the main stage which makes it a fun way to watch acts performing as you go round.

Music

The music choice was excellent, we were really spoilt for choice!! The acts that particularly stood out for us the most were Gentlemen’s Dub Club, Madness, Ferocious Dog, Darren Cane, Professor Yaffle and CEG. It was also lovely to see a choir and a samba band. We also saw some excellent musical acts in the VIP village, such as Jack Humpheries and The James Ashten Band and many more! The sound throughout the stages was excellent and no place was too crowded making it a very comfortable experience for all. Taking young kids to watch music at festivals can be a bit overwhelming but at Lakefest, everyone was respectful of their neighbour making it a completely safe environment.

We absolutely would recommend upgrading to enable access to the VIP Village! Whilst we understand at some festivals it isn’t worth it, we can say with confidence that for us, it was very much worth it! It was such a lovely spot to relax in, it had its own bar and posh toilets (that’s a selling point on its own) and its own little stage with deck chairs to relax on in front of the stage. Both my daughters enjoyed chilling out with a cold drink watching the artists that performed, with “front row seats” as they called it! The crew were so friendly and helpful and had all dressed up beautifully following the flower power theme!

Lakefest has been the cleanest festival that we have ever experienced! It was quite clear that the festival employs very efficient litter pickers and there were many available Smith rubbish bins available, which were to my understanding taken away and sorted into recycling etc. This meant that all the sorting between recycling and general waste is taken care of for us! We were impressed by all the friendly stewards/volunteers when entering the festival, on few occasions they took extra care of the children safety crossing when cars were coming past.. 

We felt that Lakefest had a loving atmosphere, everybody (staff and guests) clearly were having a fun and relaxed time. It is also a perfect, safe environment for teenagers to embrace some independence with their friends watching live music, with staff and volunteers having watchful eyes on them from afar! 

Lakefest is the perfect place and community where you can enjoy live music, dance harder, explore one’s creative side and have lots of fun and laughter as a family! I would, and have highly recommended Lakefest to my friends who have families. 

Many thanks Lakefest.