Looking forward to summer - local festivals

The recent good weather has me looking ahead to summer; hopefully to a few days by the sea, but also to the round of festivals. Now, once you start to look around, there are more festivals than it's possible to attend, so my emphasis is on the quirky and slightly off-beat. The huge local festivals like Y Not and Download don't feature here - for one thing, you've probably already heard of them, and also so I'm looking for 'family-friendly', because that generally means suitable for less-energetic older folks like myself.

First up are two I went along to last year; Timber, and Woodside

Timber, winner of Best New Festival at the UK Festival Awards, takes place 5/6/7th July at Feanedock in the National Forest. It's a mixture of informative debates, art, music and fun.

Stuart Maconie

You can listen to familiar names such as Stuart Maconie, Phil Jupitus, and Peter Owen-Jones, or discover new speakers talking about environmental, green issues, and the benefits of nature to our wellbeing.


You can take part in wellness workshops ranging from yoga  to forest meditation, try your hand at woodcraft, find out how to live 'slowly', or join in a dance class.

The Eyrie Stage

Of course, being a festival there has to be music! From colliery band to rock, folk to disco, there has to be something for everyone.  It's definitely family friendly with lots of activities aimed at children, but equally there's a vast amount to appeal to oldies like myself. Last year I couldn't attend for the whole weekend and therefore missed out on a lot of the hands-on activities - there are so many to chose from, though, that maybe three days isn't long enough!




Run by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust (with profits going to them), Woodside was a similar 'green' festival.

Held this year on June 15th, Woodside has been renamed Wildside, but is at the same place - Woodside Farm, Shipley, Ilkeston.  This is only a day-long festival but there's a mix of live music from folk to rock, theatre and story-telling, plenty of 'wild' activities to take part in - pond-dipping, willow-weaving, bug-hunting, or wild yoga and outdoor gym, if they're more your style.









Last year's event was really fun, and it was lovely to be able to take Dylan the dog along, proving that dogs and festivals can mix!

EDIT - Wildside had to be cancelled due to a dreadful week of rain so will be re-scheduled for another date









In a similar vein are two festivals being held at Whistlewood Common, a community-owned 10 acre site just outside Melbourne. Events and courses, mainly based around their beliefs of living sustainably, are held throughout the year, but on 22nd June and 20th July they'll be holding two festivals - the first a Midsummerish Music Festival, the second BemTeVi, a celebration of Brazilian culture.






The Midsummerish Festival is now in its sixth year, and growing in popularity.
There's lots of entertainment and activities for children (and their adults) - last year had wheelbarrow racing, and hobby horses - live music from local performers (last year saw a range from Roots Choir to indie group Boats on the Ocean), and food from local suppliers.

At BemTeVi, there will be workshops in drumming and capoeira (a Brazilian martial art), crafts and activities for families, and the day will end with dancing, music, and Brazil's national cocktail, caipirinhas.

Although both are one day festivals it's possible to camp overnight (perhaps best after sampling caipirinhas!)

Now, remember I said I was looking for quirky? Well, how about this? Indietracks, a pop festival held on a steam railway! Over the weekend 26th - 28th July, this pop-up festival takes over the Midland Railway Centre near Ripley in Derbyshire. You park your car, and take the train to the festival site







There are four stages and around 50 new and established acts, mainly from the indie/DIY sector; you can check out a compilation of the appearing artists in advance. If you get bored with the music, you can ride on the trains, visit the museum, and make friends with owls and parrots from the Woodie's Wings charity.

There are two areas specially aimed at children - a messy, crafty one, and a quiet downtime space for the under 5s. While for adults there are workshops on a wide-ranging topics - they've previously subjects as diverse as ukulele-playing and cup cake decorating. Although a full weekend festival, you can't stay on site, though there is a campsite within a 10-15 minute walk.






Have I saved the biggest till last? Probably. It's certainly the one nearest to a mainstream rock festival, and with the biggest, best-known headliners. You might recognise Wollaton Hall as Wayne Manor in The Dark Knight Rises, but I don't think Batman's going to be around on 20th July when Splendour Festival takes over his garden.








This year the event is headlined by Manic Street Preachers and The Specials. Joining them on the Main Stage are Rag'N'Bone Man, X Factor winner Louisa, Slow Readers Club and more, while the Confetti Stage with be headlined by All Saints.

Manic Street Preachers
photo credit; Alex Lake

The Specials

The smaller Courtyard stage is packed with acts that you may not have heard of yet, but are ones to watch out for, and if you fancy something different, there's a stage of comedy talent.

photo credit Ami Ford

Elsewhere there's a silent disco, a funfair, and special kids' area - so, something to entertain all the family.







The only difficulty is, which of these festivals to go along to ...






To find out more about any of these festivals, click on the appropriate link
Timber
Wildside Festival
Whistlewood Common 
Indietracks 
Splendour Festival

A day out at Wayne Manor aka Wollaton Hall

Wollaton Hall is an Elizabethan mansion on the outskirts of Nottingham, but if you've seen The Dark Knight Rises it might be more familiar to you as Wayne Manor. What better place to hold a Super Heroes Fun Day?

OK. it isn't normally the sort of event we'd go along to (I'm not remotely a fan of super heroes films) but as eldest daughter wanted to take my grandson, we tagged along too. Grandson even had a special outfit for the occasion, a baby Incredibles suit.







There were a lot of games and activities taking place for slightly older children, and plenty of opportunities to get a photo with your hero.








We met Chewbacca, a storm trooper, Robin Hood, Deadpool and Batman, and spotted other super heroes at a distance - though some were definitely dads dressed up along with their kids, which is lovely.

A we even saw Batman appearing on the roof of Wayne Manor! He really should have had a villain along to fight, or at least the Bat symbol projecting into the sky (maybe not too easy in day-time, thoug)

It's odd after such a while to be back doing child-related things but it's part of the fun of being a granny!

I haven't been to Wollaton for years, so it was nice to leave the Superheroes behind after a while, and wander round the quieter areas of the grounds - to see the Orangery and formal gardens, and admire the Hall from various angles.

No day out is complete without cake (earl grey and lemon in this case), and I was very pleased to see the dogs-welcome sign in the cafe. Next time Dylan can come too :)