In 2016 we visited Chilled in a Field festival for the first time. It was in a different setting, The Hop Farm, but this year it was back to its usual home, Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum in Lewes, East Sussex.
This is the perfect little family festival, great for first-timers with young kids. Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum is the ideal setting with large fields, woodland and the miniature steam railway.
This independent festival was grown from the '90's London party scene especially for grown up party people and their kids. It is a not-for-profit enterprise, completely run by volunteers - every penny made goes back into making the festival a success year after year. You can choose to camp for the weekend or buy a day ticket.
The weather was on top form, beautiful sunshine - yay! We arrived and picked up our wristbands - the kids have special ones with the adults phone numbers attached. There are plenty of free activities to keep everybody happy; bouncy castles, music, art, science, a museum tent and theatre, I was glad to see the Wonderland Golden Shower was there again!
There were some lovely stalls selling all sorts of clothing and accessories.
The kids really enjoyed The Rig, an interactive area of curiosity.
Shannon made a jumping bean.
Finley cooling off in the big tent.
There were a nice selection of food stalls including crepes, ice cream, Olly's Fish Shack, Kaleidoscope Kitchen and Supernatural.
Behind the main field was a spa treatment area and a hot tub.
The beautiful woodland gave us welcome shade, there were performers and a puppet show then further into the woods a bar and DJ area with some old skool tunes pumping. Amazing decorations were hanging from the trees, adults and kids were dancing and there was a huge wooden marble run.
Heading under the sparkly rainbow canopy and passing through the Branching Out area we got to the train stop and had a ride on the Bentley Miniature Railway, it was £1 per person, we loved the ride and all the dogs who work there.
The camping areas looked great, free hot showers, clean toilets and glamping and campervan pitches. You could choose which area you wanted to camp in, so there was a quieter area and an area for the late night party people.
Tickets are capped - to keep the festival feeling small and lovely - I think this is what I enjoy about it, it is a very chilled affair.
We only went for the day as we have camped a lot already this summer but one year we would love to. So we haven't experienced Chilled in the evenings but I hear the music and the silent disco is pretty awesome. We also missed the opening parade, the theme this year was Charlie and the Chilled Field.
We love the chilled vibe, the size and the fact that you would feel safe to let your children wander. Thanks for more great memories.
Tickets for next year are available now for Chilled in a Field Festival - 26-28 July, 2019.
