Best of the Web: Family friendly festivals

Has Glastonbury put you in a festival mood? You're not alone. This summer there are oodles of fab festivals you can take the kids to - just remember to pack your wellies. And if you've got a family festival trip planned, tell us about it in the comments box below.

Lollibop Festival

You've still got a few days to enter the Ready for Ten competition to win tickets to this amazing London festival for kids. It features Horrible Histories, Rastamouse, Dick and Dom, Peppa Pig and many more activities and performances. Lollibop runs from the 5th-7th August and takes place in Regent's Park.

Harrogate Summer Festival

Taking place over this weekend (9th & 10th July), Harrogate Summer Festival has a wide range of child-friendly activities. There'll be singing, storytelling and banana sandwiches. Tickets are a bargain £4 for children and accompanying adults go free, full details are here.

Legoland My First Festival

Here's a great event to introduce younger children to festival fun - Legoland Live! on 16th July in Windsor promises live appearances from top children’s acts, including Postman Pat® and Jess the Cat, CBeebies Zingzillas and from the hugely popular Australian series The Wiggles comes Dorothy and the Dinosaur Show. You can also see Fifi and the Flowertots, Roary the Racing Car, Fireman Sam and the ever popular Justin Fletcher (Mr Tumble).

 In between performances, there will be a range of fun activities to keep everyone busy. Sing along with Violet, Buttercup and Primrose in the Flowertot Show with Fifi’s Friends or come and say hello to some animal friends in the petting farm area. Take part in some fun aerobic activity sessions with FitKid, expert football tuition from some of Fulham FC Foundation’s qualified coaches and competitions with Little Kickers. Or just relax and enjoy some quiet time in one of the story telling sessions with Egmont Books. Details are available on the Legoland website.

Guilfest

Around the same time, Guilfest is happening in Guildford in Surrey. This three day music festival runs from 15th - 17th July, and features classic acts including Adam Ant and Roger Daltry. But there's something very different for the kids: The Pokémon Adventure Camp will be the first time Pokémon has appeared at a festival and will feature a range of exciting activities to keep the whole family entertained.  There'll be Nintendo 3DS and Augmented Reality Markers which will mean you can be photographed next to a “life-size” 3D animated Pokémon. No, I have no idea what that is or how it works, but it does sound cool.

Festival of British Archaeology events

For something slightly different, you can celebrate the Festival of British Archaeology at the Museum of London with a range of Roman themed events and activities from 16 to 31 July 2011. Handle Roman objects, tour Roman sites, see the remains of some real Roman Londoners and watch a gladiator show on the site of London’s original amphitheatre.
Event details and booking information are available on the website: www.museumoflondon.org.uk

Camp Bestival

This outdoor extravaganza is happening in Dorset from 28th-31st July. BBC Radio's Jo Whiley will be there supporting a teddy bear's picnic with a twist - children are encouraged to bring along old toys and swap them with other kids or donate them to Oxfam. Find out more, and how you can win a family ticket to Camp Bestival, from the website here.

Just So Festival

Staffordshire's festival features art, storytelling and music, and runs from 19th - 21st August. You can read about the Just So festivalhere at Have a Lovely Time and check out the fun pictures from last year's event. It takes place across 65 acres of beautiful woodland, where families can discover something amazing in every clearing. Last year's festival sold out, so jump in quick if you want tickets for this one. 

Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Festival

This Shropshire celebration is taking place on 24th September.  A huge street market will fill the Gorge and throughout the day there will be live entertainment including brass bands, choirs, street entertainers and historic characters in costume as well as lots of fun interactive activities for youngsters. In the evening the Iron Bridge will be illuminated in spectacular style and a firework display will light the night sky.

 For further information, contact the Ironbridge Visitor Information Centre on Tel: 01952 433 424 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk. The Gorge is easily reached via the M6 and M54 motorways exiting at Telford (M54 junction 4 or 6).

A celebrity harvest festival

Also in September, two family food and music festivals are coming up for families who like to listen to their music on a full stomach. The Harvest festivals will be taking place in Suffolk and Oxfordshire simultaneously on 9th-12th September.

In fact these festivals will be taking place on celebrity turf -  on Alex James' organically certified Oxfordshire farm and on Jimmy's beautiful farm in Suffolk. You can watch Hugh-Fernley Whittingstall, James Martin, Richard Corrigan, Rachel Allen and Mark Hix serve up their magic on the chef demo stage. Dance to KT Tunstall, Eliza Doolittle, The Feeling, Fat Freddy's Drop, The Futureheads and Athlete and see the award winning The Gruffalo, Charlie & Lola live and Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr.Fox in the inspired kids field. You can find out more about these events from here.