This year we headed to RunFestRun in Bowood House.  We were super lucky and won the grown ups tickets on Instagram thanks to Flanci Activewear (Thanks guys). When we looked at the line up we just knew we had to take the kids along too and we are so glad we did!

Now, we have never been to a festival of any sort and never really camped so were a bit disorganised and a little unsure what to expect! We borrowed tents and had to buy air beds in Argos the morning we left ha ha! We figured ‘wing it’ and if the kids like it we might make camping a regular thing! (needless to say they loved it and now we need to buy a bigger tent!).

The drive up from South Wales was easy and Bowood House was easy to find… what a beautiful place! On arrival the festival staff were super helpful and friendly we were told to camp where we liked and shown where the toilets and showers etc were! They had pull along trolleys you could hire to help get your kit from the carpark to the camp site (wasn’t that far but for £6 it saved multiple trips and a lot of stress!). Tents up and time to go exploring!

The first place the kids wanted to go was the funfair which was old fashioned and glorious with a big wheel, a boat swing and a helter-skelter as well as a carousel for the littler visitors. I was a bit nervous this was going to be crazy expensive. With our youngest having ASD/ADHD sometimes things like this can be a little tricky to manage, but 10 tickets for £10 and 2 tickets a ride wasn’t too bad really 😊.  Next we headed to the info tent to get our team tops – we were in Colin Jackson’s team ‘Team Dragonfly’.  The kids loved their tops and we all had funky bug sunglasses! Unfortunately, no tops left for us grown ups but not the end of the world.

After a wander round we headed back to the tents for a chill and a picnic.  Hubby went back down to the festival to watch Reef – a favourite blast from the past which he very much enjoyed.  The kids were having a great time in the tents and playing in the camp site.  When hubby got back, I headed straight to the Neon Night run (earlier in the day we had been given free light up trainer clips which were fab).  A lit up trail run in the dark was great fun! No idea where we were going but I really enjoyed!

First night in the tents and unsurprisingly it took a long time for the kids to go to sleep, a combination of excitement and nerves (our youngest thought there might be bears or something scary but the very kind security lady came over and beautifully reassured Charlotte that she was keeping guard and would keep her safe all night – THANK YOU!!).

Saturday was a busy day and it was HOT! Hubby was signed up for the 5k so he went to race and we went to cheer! One medal in the bag! I was signed up for the 10K, wow, it was beautiful but brutal in the heat – I’ve never nearly had a DNF in a 10k but plodded on… another medal in the bag!

There was plenty to do at the festival to keep the whole family busy. Activities for the kids were great! Huge shout out to the amazing kid’s entertainers running the brilliant snail racing and giving out the sacred golden pineapple prize.  There were various stalls and lots of different food stands with everything from crepes to fish and chips, vegan choices and paella – yum! (bit pricier than normal but to be expected and everything we had was delicious!)

After a fab fun day, we headed down to watch the evening’s entertainment – a great line up that was headlined by Olly Murs.  Unfortunately for us it was all a bit much for our youngest, but we will be better organised next year! As it was pretty late, we headed back for a good nights sleep!

Sunday, I think was our favourite day! There was the great bug run where all 4 teams (Bees, ladybirds, dragonflies and butterflies) all competed against each other to be crowned ultimate champions! A 5k scavenger race which was super fun for all the family and had entertainment all the way round! If only all 5ks were so fun! We were squirted with water by trolls and had the ‘Beetles’ singling to us as we ran around looking for ‘pollen’.  There were giant butterflies, inflatables and even dinosaurs at one point.  Every one of us enjoyed and 5k is a long was for our kiddos! 4 more medals in the bag and very smiley faces all round! Great news was… Team Dragonfly were crowned ultimate champs! Yay!!

I can’t recommend RunFestRun enough – we had an absolute blast! Huge well done and thank you to Chris Evans, Vassos Alexander & co for organising such a great new event that was so family friendly!

Negatives…

We didn’t know you had to book for the family lake swim – ooops!

No water at the end of the Neon Night run

Running out of team tops.

Bit of an issue with phone signal which meant some businesses couldn’t accept card.

Positives…

Super family friendly

Great atmosphere!

So much to do!

Well organised!

I could go on & on… fingers crossed we will be back next year!