Gloworm!

If there is one date in our diary each year it is Gloworm! The family festival that really is for the whole family! Held at Thoresby Park in Nottinghamshire you can visit for a full on day out or how about camping for the whole weekend and getting to make sure you see as much as you can and enjoy the evening’s music on the Main Stage!

The vibe is truly glowing! Fun, family, fantastic activities and fabulous music!

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During the day the festival is packed with loads of stuff to do!

There are meet and greet where children can meet their favourite characters such as Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig, what kid doesn’t love these?!  There are other characters you might bump into such as Sylvanians and Playmobil characters just hanging about at the festival! Not to mention walking, roaring dinosaurs…..

 

White Post Farm have a huge area with farm animals, smaller animals such as bugs and chicks. There are games to play and talks on looking after animals too, in 2019 from the amazing Rory and Ferne from CBeebies!  There was also birds of prey, our kids love to see these especially the owls!

 

There are activities you can book which are usually in one of the many marquees, some you have to book and slots book super quick, if there is something you are really keen on trying I recommend you go straight to sign yourselves up! These include the awesome baking classes (Usually with Go Bake) where you get to make some delicious treats to take away, who can forget meeting Rusty Lee in 2018-star struck!!

 

There are loads of other activities in the marques you can just drop in on such as Tumble Tots, drumming workshop, messy play activities, science fun.

The sponsors have been Playmobil who have a marque full of all manner of Playmobil to play with-always so popular!

There has been a huge craft marque where you get to try out new activities such Aquabeads and Fuzzikins.

There has also been a Sylvanian marque which my daughter especially love, check out the happy face being part of the Sylvanian scene!

For older kids there is The Hive which includes the DJ area where they can have a go at mixing, how cool is that! I want a go!

Every year there is a beach area, if you need somewhere to chill out and what kids don’t love playing in the sand, head to the beach!  Complete with buckets and spades and deckchairs to kick back in.

One of our highlights was the circus in 2018 which was incredible, we have never been to a circus before which made it even more special.  The family feel, the incredible standard of entertainment, absolutely brilliant!  All the great stuff at Gloworm, and a circus on top of all that!

Every year at Gloworm they have a fair ground, for young and old (ish!) The rides are FREE-yes FREE!  all day until about 5pm after which you pay.  There are plenty of rides for all ages from teacups a helter skelter to the waltzers!

In 2019 there was a mermaid and pirate theme which was totally new and great fun, we really didn’t expect to meet actual real pirates and mermaids!

We went to sword fighting classes watching the mermaid story show and met the mermaids in the tank-wow.  Not sure who was most overawed by the magic of the mermaids, the kids or Mummy!  Not to mention the pirate who had a canny resemblance to Johnny Depp….  What a great theme idea and all the brilliant activities around it.

And then there is the Main Stage….

On the main stage there is all sorts of stuff going on from interactive shows, everyone’s favourites such as Peppa, Hey Duggee and Playmobil and the music!!  There is usually a CBeebies favourite such as Andy and The Oddsocks and Mr Bloom and his Band!  There are bands and coverbands such as for Take That and Coldplay, all guaranteed to get you and your kids up and dancing!  What can be better than chilling out wiht your best pals and family dancing to  top tunes on the field at Thoresby Park after an amazingly action packed day at Gloworm?!

Practical Stuff

Popular activities and character meets do get busy, plan your day as to what you would like to see and do to make sure you get to do your fave things.  There will be queues for things, however do what you really want to do and then just hang out-avoid the queues as there is so much to do without spending the day waiting-enjoy!

Food

You are going to get hungry and what a choice! So much to choose from, fish and chips to fresh pizzas, the hardest part is choosing! We have taken a picnic for lunchtime and then enjoyed some of the delicious take away food whilst we watch the evening’s music! There are also a couple of bars too, prosecco van….as a cheeky pint is nice to enjoy while chilling out with the music….

Of course you can take picnics too (no alcohol allowed) You can basically sit down wherever your bottom wants to go and have a rest, have a picnic or a doze in the sunshine.  There is also a covered picnic tent too if the weather is not great or you want to escape the sun for a bit.

There is also usually a baby feeding area too for little ones.

Toilets

There are loads of toilets dotted across the site, there never really get any queues so no fear of portaloos needed.

Car Parking

Gloworm is on a huge field, so if we are unlucky enough to have poor weather don’t forget wellies and mud suits.

The car park is also on fields and you have to walk to the entrance, pushchair friendly but just be careful if heavy rain!  There is usually a (large) queue until the gates open, in 2019 there were entertainers keeping the crowds going which was great.

On entrance bags are checked to ensure the safety of the event.  On entering kids get given a wrist band with phone number in case of getting separated during the event.  And you of course get a goody bag-woohoo!  This includes the Gloworm magazine with all the timetabled activities and lots of leaflets and info, including offers and maybe the odd freebie too!

And you will be tired after, tired with a happy smile on your face saying that it will be the family event you book again next year!  We CAN NOT wait until Gloworm 2020!