REVIEW: The Great Wonderfest 2019 – The Best Family Friendly Festival Ever!

We were gifted VIP glamping and tickets to The Great Wonderfest in exchange for this review. All views and opinions are 100% my own. 

The Great Wonderfest was our first family festival and it certainly set the bar high! Located on the beautiful Isle of Wight, The Great Wonderfest is truly a festival for all ages. 

Hosted by children’s TV favourites, Dick and Dom, The Great Wonderfest has a whole host of activities, live music and entertainment to keep every member of the family happy. 

We travelled over from Cardiff via ferry at Portsmouth with Wightlink Ferries. The ferry journey was super quick and efficient. After a short five minute wait, we drove straight onto the ferry. There was a cafe on board serving hot and cold food and drink, but the highlight for us was the free soft play areas! Who knew ferries nowadays had soft play! Brilliant! It certainly made the hour journey feel like just a ten minute one!

We arrived in Fishbourne and after a short 15 minute drive we arrived at Duxmore Farm – the location for The Great Wonderfest. 

After parking our car, we were given our wristbands at the box office before we headed over to the Glamping Village. Everything is contained within the grounds of the farm so nothing is ever more than a 5 minute walk away.

We were greeted by Jools from Sleeping Bells who showed us which Bell Tent was ours. The tent was perfect for our three night stay with one double camp bed which had a proper mattress and even a memory foam mattress topper too!

In addition there was also a double air bed. All bedding was provided which was definitely an added bonus! I also really liked the bunting outside the bell tents!

Although the bell tents don’t have electricity, Jools had set up a reception tent which did have electricity so were able to leave our phone charging cases there to charge during the day. Jools even had hairdryers and straighteners we could use too!

Also within the glamping village were portable showers. They were cleaned daily and the water was always lovely and warm!

In the field next to the glamping village was the VIP star bar. Here you can buy alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks. There was also a coffee stall which served breakfast including bacon and sausage rolls, as well as croissants. In addition there’s also a street food vendor called Nomad which served  a great choice of food for adults and children including chicken nuggets and chips. 

Also in this field were hot tubs, yoga sessions and plenty of space for children to run around in! Our girls particularly liked the two giant hammocks!

In the main field, you’ll find the main stage as well as a variety of stalls serving everything from Slushies, hot dogs and pick ‘n’ mix to Chinese food, burgers, pizzas and toasties. There’s also a selection of shops selling a mix of items such as vintage clothes, children’s toys, blankets and more. There were also some rides such as dodgems and a carousel, as well as hook a duck.

The next field over is called the curiosity field. This is where we spent a lot of our time. There’s a small stage in this area where Peppa Pig and George did a show as well as Raver Tots, Morris Dancers, Kool Kids and more. 

The curiosity field was a nice, calm atmosphere to spend a few hours in. Our girls made wands, did some drawing and made fish on fishing rods. They really enjoyed the free activities and it was a welcome break for my husband and I to relax a little bit. 

The adventure field is the next field over. Here you’ll find a climbing wall which one of our girls really enjoyed!

Onto the music now! Artists included The Vamps, Conor Maynard, Busted, Sigma, Becky Hill, Dub Pistols, Derek Sandy and lots more!

My favourite of the weekend had to be Conor Maynard. He was fantastic and really knew how to get the whole crowd up and dancing! Our twins absolutely loved dancing around in the field to his music. The Vamps were also amazing!

Dick and Dom also did their own show which was very funny! Our girls giggled away as they watched their silly antics on stage which included dressing audience members up as coconuts, laying them down and then watching them try to stand up, a pie fight with members of the audience and lots more hilarity and silliness!

We even bumped into Dick and Dom and posed for a photo with them. They were super friendly, down to earth and genuinely nice!

Overall, we had a fantastic time at The Great Wonderfest and would definitely go again next year. It was really well organised, fun and there was plenty for everyone of all ages to do. 

The Great Wonderfest is back for 2020! It’s returning to Duxmore Farm on the Isle of Wight August 6th-10th! Pre-Registration for Early Bird tickets opens today with Early Bird going live next Friday, 16th August. Visit their Facebook page online here for more information.