Days Out: Liverpool International Music Festival

For the August Bank Holiday weekend we decided to visit the Liverpool International Music Festival. This has run for a number of years now in Sefton Park in South Liverpool, and as we have never been we thought it would be great to take the kids out and watch a few bands in the sunshine.

Say Cheese Everyone! Or not....

It took us a while to get out of the house. It always does with the three of them - it is very rare that when we tell them to put their shoes on they just do it. Then there is the queue for the "hairdresser" AKA me. That takes some time! We had packed the amazing Smiggle Bag (our travel bag filled with all of the usual) but we had to turn back when we got out of our road because we had forgotten Rosie's reins. Rosie is a runaway who just likes to bolt at every given opportunity, so reigns are a must.

The Bag of Dreams AKA The Smiggle Bag

 Then we had a slight tantrum issue. Rosie and Alice wear the same style wellies in different sizes. There had been a slight mix up when they put them on resulting in them wearing one wrong one each. So sat in the back they tried to swap over but this turned into a "SHE'S GOT MY WELLY!!" situation. This was quickly resolved as Emily did a sleight of hand type trick which ended in the girls having the correct wellies. This is toddler politics and we are the diplomats.

Tantrums out of the way we set off on our travels. We live in North Liverpool so it was a doddle for us to drive to Sefton Park. We have been to the park before, it's lovely. We were well-prepared for our day with the bag packed full of the usual - nappies, wipes, tissues, water. In addition to this we also packed a little picnic. We are not massively tight - we do like to spend some money when we go to events but with there being five of us it is also good to try and save the pennies where we can. We also took fruit and some cans of Aldi coke. No expense spared, naturally. Alice has had a bit of an eczema flare-up behind her knee, so we also packed some of her cream. We really do have to think of everything when we leave the house with these kids, and although sometimes we do forget things and we aren't always completely organised - we tend to do OK.

The festival itself was brilliant, really well organised and we had a lovely day. We watched a few bands on one of the stages

* She Drew The Gun
* Barberos
* Hooton Tennis Club
* Tea Streat Band
* Loveless with Esco Williams
* Space

Picnic time

They were really good and even the kids got into it, especially Rosie - she was clapping and dancing for hours without a complaint to be heard. We had our little picnic pretty much as soon as we arrived. I was designated driver so I didn't drink - Warren had a few pints in the sun, it was a lovely day for it, despite a few showers early on. Generally when we go out only one of us will drink or neither. You really do have to have your wits about you when you are out and about with the kids so it makes sense that at least one of us is stone cold sober!

We had a wander round the festival - there was plenty of food stands to choose from. The girls chose a pizza between them, freshly made in the wood burner - I tried a little bit and it was lovely, the kids sat and ate it between them.

I also loved that the *dreaded* port-a-loo toilets were really clean. Emily was moaning because they were "too small" but they were the usual size, and I noticed that they were well-serviced. This counts for a lot, especially when you have kids, you don't want to be spreading toilet-germs everywhere.

What We Loved

* We loved that you can bring your own beer/drinks/food. This makes for an inexpensive day out. We did purchase some food and drinks - we like to support local businesses, but we also saved money which is always good.

* The bands were great fun, and the running times were followed with only a small gap between bands coming on and off.

* The atmosphere was great. Everyone was totally chilled, drinking in the sun (and the rain!) There were plenty of kids there and there was a real community atmosphere. People were fussing over the kids and it was just generally a relaxed day.

What We Would Have Done Differently

* Although we did pack a lot of food and drink, we still ended up buying bottled water, as we ran out. I know this is only a little thing but it is one of those D'OH moments. Water is free from the tap damn it!!! So we would pack more next time.

* We didn't pack blankets as we decided to come here last minute. If we went again next year we would bring a blanket to sit on or maybe even a few fold-up chairs.

* Next year we might pack some colouring books for the kids. They weren't bored, but I think you can never be over-packed when you have kids. If they are happy then we are happy, that's the general rule!

So overall we had a great day. We said that we might even consider going further afield for a festival with the kids at some point. It was a lovely end to the summer holidays and a great way to kick off our first Travelling Tantrums out and about post!

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