Festival review: Gloworm 2024

Returning for it's 8th year, Gloworm Festival came to the scenic Holme Pierrepont just south on Nottingham city centre this past weekend. We went for the full Saturday day session, with 10am until 10pm stated on our ticket - and I must say, a full weekend for Gloworm Festival is a must! You can camp or even glamp at Gloworm for the whole weekend, which is definitely a fun idea for the whole family as there is so much to do and see throughout the day. Plus your little ones will be so tired from doing so many exciting things that they will probably want to have a book then bed in their tent, ready for the next day filled with fun activities. 

After we booked the day session we made our way to the day car park for 10am. Everything seemed so organised - it was a smooth process of following the signs until we made it to the car park, lots of staff at hand to show you where to go. Even the queue to get into the site went so quickly and smoothly, we didn’t end up with a bored twenty month old getting frustrated. On arrival everyone was given a goodie bag sponsored by Playmobil, which to our surprise included some Playmobil toys! What I really liked was the fact that as soon as you walked through the entrance you were given a wristband for the children to write your number inside, just in case they got lost at all throughout the day. Safety was definitely considered a priority throughout their decision making and the whole venue seemed like a protective bubble of fun. The atmosphere just felt right, everyone just seemed happy and excited to be there and see what Gloworm had in store for them.

After going through the bag checks and grabbing our event guide after the short walk around Holme Pierrepont, we were greeted by the huge tents for the tiny tots area. This area seemed calming for any children that might have felt overwhelmed at any point of the day. It was full of fun activities for the children, from TinyTalk with Jess, Leanne and Sam to White Post Farm.

I’d recommend studying your event guide before making your way around the huge site, which had a useful day planner at the back to write down timings of things to do throughout the day. We did this as I knew there were a lot of different things we wanted to do and see first. We left the entrance of the Tiny Tots area to go and see who the mystery guest speaker was at the Cbeebies Bedtime Story tent. If you aren’t familiar with Cbeebies Bedtime Story on TV, it is where usually a famous person (such as an actor etc.) will read a story for the children, so of course we wanted to see who it could be. After racing to the tent we were ecstatic to see our own Nottingham legend and actress Vicky McClure! She was presented by CBeebies host Rhys Stephenson. The tent was heaving and all of the children listened to the story contentedly. After the story the lovely Vicky stayed behind to have photos with the children, including Silvia.

We were now in what I would call the Cbeebies area, it had two meet and greet tents, Bluey and Bing. Another tent in the corner had a meet and greet with the Care Bear characters, circus activities, acrobatics from Sneinton Market's Circus Hub in the centre, and a Smoby play area. Silvia absolutely loved the Smoby area, lots of running into the play houses, using the slides and the aqua area. All items were available to buy in the Smoby area at special discounted prices just for festival customers too.

We checked our planner for the next area to visit, which was the Dino Zone. Silvia loves dinosaurs so we knew this one was for her. They did different activities relating to the dinosaurs throughout the day at different timesets. On the way there we went past the Hive area, which consisted of a graffiti wall for the children to spray, climbing wall, Linc Sabers, DJ and beatboxing workshops and wrestling. Silvia had a look around but this area wasn’t really for her age, but an area we would take her to when she is older.

We went for the dragon meet and greet and also the dino hatching at the Dino Zone, where Silvia met baby dinosaurs, she was a little bit unsure as they looked so realistic but the friendly staff helped her overcome her fear and made sure all of the children there had a stroke of the dinosaurs and a photo. 

Back in the Tiny Tots area, around the corner from the Dino Zone, we had a nosy around the tents, one of which had a role playing zone, Silvia pretended to be a shop owner, vet and doctor. It was nice for the younger children to have the freedom to play and roam around. Outside of the tent was White Post Farm, Silvia was given a sticker and time to walk around and see the animals, large and small. Over the time of the festival they made time for the children to hold the animals to get up close and personal. 

There were lots of different activities and things promoted for the younger children in the Tiny Tots zone, Paw Patrol was there to meet the children, tents promoting things such as the WWF, Punch and Judy, Dancing Digits, Sherwood Outlaws, Handmade Theatre, we didn’t have a chance to go round all of them as there was so much to see and do. There was even a wellbeing zone within the Tiny Tots zone, with activities from yoga to storytelling to relax little ones who could get overwhelmed. Don’t forget Into The Woods, the forest school was part of this, something I have wanted to take Silvia to for a long time, where the children can make and create things while doing different sets of activities relating to the woodland.

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The main part of the festival that Silvia loved was the fun fair, all of the rides were free during the day on Saturday and Sunday. Queues went down quickly and even being twenty months old, Silvia was able to go on quite a lot of rides, the carousel, bumper cars and tracks of cars that went around plus aeroplanes that went up and down. There was also a chance to play hook a duck at affordable prices and lucky dips. Of course there was a big wheel there along with the classic cake walk too. 

Across from the fun fair was the Big Top tent, Silvia danced her heart out here to the music and dance skills of the performers of The West End Kids and the performer Sohan Kailey. There was something happening here every hour to keep the children entertained.

If you are lucky enough to get a VIP pass, this is the area to be next door. VIP guests are able to use the soft play here, do Aardman Model making, try out sublime slime and have close and personal meet and greets with different characters. 

We went to the Playmobil tent to have some fun colouring, playing with the different Playmobil toys and also having the chance to buy the toys at a discounted rate! Silvia enjoyed this tent as it allowed her to have a bit of time to play with the other children who sat at the table with her.

After a good half an hour of playing, Silvia headed over to the Organix tent, lots of fun was to be had here. Different things were happening throughout the day such as a Gruffalo workshop and film experiences, and Silvia loved the free snacks available at the entrance! Other freebies through the day consisted of frozen Frubes at the Frube van, Super Thing figures and Bluey activity booklets. Prizes were also given out too at the main stage!

We ended our day grabbing a bite to eat at one of the many food stations, Silvia grabbed a five inch pizza at a great price of £6! While eating we joined the crowd of camp chairs to watch my favourite character of the day, Mr Blobby - an absolute legend of the 90s! He put on a performance of Blooby’oke, a great take on karaoke, where all of the children sang along and danced to absolute bangers. They also received prizes for singing the next line of songs, which gave the parents a chuckle as the DJ’s stopped the song on lines of songs such as Mr Brightside by The Killers.

Other activities that were for older children consisted of the Total Wipeout area, this was for sure a big hit with families of all ages, unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to view the area, or the Adventure Zone which consisted of mini golf, sky trail, mini sky trial, mini Landrovers, kayaking and archery. If we stayed for the whole weekend we would have for sure gone to visit these places, it just shows you that a full weekend ticket is definitely worth it! 

We took our last photo by the Gloworm flower wall before heading home, a shuttle bus is available for anyone wanting a lift to the car park. We walked to the car having a look at the ducks on the way back. And if you wanted to wear your child out by the end of the day, I’d definitely recommend Gloworm festival. Silvia got home and was fast asleep by bedtime. She had a packed full day of fun and excitement. Even for the really little ones, there was so much for her to do! I’m excited to take her back next year and the year after that as at every age there is something fun to do. Even as adults we had a great time and would definitely book a weekend visit next time! Thank you for having us Gloworm!

Gloworm Festival took place 16-18 August 2024 at Holme Pierrepont. Follow them on socials to get reminders about next year's festival!

@glowormfestival