Wowzers - this festival never fails to impress! The children have been looking forward to Elderflower Fields all year - out of all the festivals we have been to this is the one that they've enjoyed the most. You can read all about our experience last year here.
Elderflower Fields takes place over the May Bank Holiday weekend at the beautiful Pippingford Park in Nutley, East Sussex.
Unfortunately, due to car issues, we couldn't camp there this year - I must admit we were all pretty gutted about this but we still managed to enjoy a full day of festival fun. Getting there on public transport was pretty easy for us we got a train to East Grinstead then a taxi. There are no buses running to Nutley on Saturdays or Sundays.
Campers had started to arrive on the Friday, again there were trolleys available to hire and golf buggies running back and forth to the camping area. On arrival you'll get your wrist bands and a programme (if you're camping you'll get So Sussex picnic wristbands and rubbish/recycling bags).
We arrived on Saturday morning and went straight to Dragonfly Hill to have a wander and listen to the music. There is always such a variety of foods on offer - we had some curry wraps and twisted chips.
As usual the festival is beautifully decorated with festoon lights, sculptures in the trees, chandeliers and this year there was a huge mechanical owl and a unicorn!
There was music happening on the woodland stage and stories in the Wow Pow tipi - here there was also a woodland bar with foraged style drinks on offer and wood fired pizzas.
We also found a little fairy workshop going on in the woods - look at the attention to detail!
Last year the children really enjoyed Disc Golf (aka frisbee golf) with Sussex Disc Golf - again this was a big hit and then ended up playing twice - I think we may have to join the one in Croydon.
The climbing wall from Branching Out was another popular activity - big queues but well worth the wait.
Amongst these activities were rope swings, the woodland tribe, trapeze and circus skills, skate and scoot, the science dome and parkour.
On Dragonfly Hill as well as the fantastic music stage there was mountain boarding and archery.
Heading Into the Trees there were many more activities with the Wildlife Trust, mud monsters, kayaking, pond dipping and foraging walks.
We missed out on the Campfire Cookout, this was a brand new feature for 2017, full of demonstrations and workshops.
Lots of fun things were happening at the Arts Camp - the children had a go at adding to a huge mural.
The always popular Nam Nam's Face Painters were offering beautiful face paints, glitter and henna tattoos. My son asked for something from Transformers and loved this half human, half robot creation.
We enjoyed a sit down on Dragonfly Hill and listened to some music before we had to head home for the evening - feeling slightly jealous that we weren't camping for the whole weekend.
Our verdict: An absolute must for a family festival, beautiful surroundings, plenty to do and a clean, safe camp site. A wonderful mixture of activities, food and a feast for the eyes with all the beautiful decorations. We hope to camp next year again.
Keep in the loop: