Last Saturday we went to Lollibop 2014 at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. Lollibop is a self titled ‘big bash for little people’.  It’s full on fun for the kids from start to finish, we got there as it opened, left as it closed and the day seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. As they say, time definitely flies when you’re having fun.

The site is fantastic, plenty of space, so that it never felt overwhelmingly busy. Apart from when Justin Fletcher was there, but then what can you expect when the King of Cbeebies is on stage! The layout was great, and maps plentiful so it was really easy to find the bits that we wanted to visit.

My only complaint would be the lack of entertainment that worked for both adults and children, it was extremely child centred and it might have been nice to have some street theatre, or music that we could have all enjoyed together. However obviously it is an event for children so if you go with this in mind and focus on them having a blast it’s fun watching them have fun.

The first area we visited was ‘join in with the Southbank Centre’. Rather unexpectedly we found a nursery tent, not for children but for poultry. Baby chicks, ducks and turkeys where being looked after, and even hatching in special incubators for us to see. The children and I even got to hold and stroke three week old ducklings, which was definitely my favourite part of the day.

After that we played with Duplo, visited the science museum tent, and took part in the Nintendo challenges in order to win a prize. Tired and in need of a sit down we found ourselves watching The Animal Man in the National Geographic tent, which was a real treat. He had dozens of animals, our favourites of which were an aardvark, chinchilla, and pancake turtle. His presentation was entertaining, amusing and informative, and I’d definitely recommend his show if you happen across him at an event.

Lunch was a little stressful, long wait times at the food vendors, and wanting to be done in time for Justin Fletcher. This could have easily been avoided if we’d taken a picnic which I’d definitely recommend for future years.

In the afternoon we watched Mr Bloom, visited the Skylanders Swap Force area, and ate churros and chocolate. With one hour left we agreed to queue for the River Island design tent, because Super Kid was desperate to design his own t-shirt. It was absolutely worth the wait because the children really enjoyed this activity. Given stencils, stamps and fabric pens they really enjoyed making their own designs. The boys made Minecraft t-shirts and Wonder Girl went with a more eclectic ‘chuck it all on’ design.

I would recommend Lollibop as a real treat for children in the summer holidays. My top tip would be to not get too hung up on wanting to see particular acts. As with all festivals I think it’s a lot more fun to avoid the queues, go with the flow and see what the day brings.

I’ve made a little video with our photo’s from the day, have a look and perhaps subscribe to my You Tube channel for more reviews, vlogs and other fun stuff.

*Disclosure: we were given tickets to Lollibop this year.