LolliBop, the UK’s biggest kids festival, welcomed 35,000 mini revelers to Hatfield House throughout the weekend of August 15-17.
Billed as the Big Bash for Little People, pint sized festival goers enjoyed live performances from some of the biggest names in children’s entertainment, including Cbeebies superstar Justin Fletcher, Mister Maker, Mr Bloom, CBBC’s Sam & Mark, Alex Winters and Lazy Town.
The LolliPaladium also hosted live theatre shows throughout the weekend from the likes of Postman Pat, Andy Day, Swashbuckle, Chris & Pui and Scooby Doo.
This year, LolliBop partnered with the Southbank Centre on a bespoke Join In with Southbank Centre zone. Highlights included a pirate training school, a giant dressing up box, Bollywood dance lesson and a junk orchestra.
Other popular attractions included Baby Ballet, a Thomas & Friends area, LolliBop’s Wizard School, STOMP workshops, Skylanders Trap Team arena, Bear Grylls Survival Academy, the Lolli Kitchen, NG Kids & Animal Man, Science Museum Live and Tottenham Hotspur coaching sessions.
LolliBooks was another new area created for LolliBop 2014, in partnership with Puffin and Ladybird, which included storytelling, character appearances, a Lolli Library, Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre and Michaela Strachan’s Really Wild Adventures Show.
CBBC’s stars Sam and Mark who performed on the main stage said: ‘We absolutely loved being a part of LolliBop. It was an amazing experience and it was great to see so many families with children of all ages, enjoying themselves. As family festivals go, nothing else comes close.’
Ben Faulks AKA Mr Bloom, added: “I had a fantastic time at LolliBop and judging by the sea of smiles I saw from the stage, it looked like the tiddlers did too!’
Several celebrities were spotted enjoying the event with their families too, including Simon Pegg, Natalie Cassidy, Suzanne Shaw, Olivia Coleman, Charlie Condou and Amanda Lamb.
Festival Director Gareth Cooper said: “Our new home, Hatfield House, was the perfect location for our festival, with great transport links and ample on site parking, it made LolliBop more accessible than ever before. We’d like to thank everyone who came to LolliBop and helped make it such a fantastic day out for the whole family.”
www.lollibopfestival.co.uk
