Gamalan

With shadow puppets and the disappearing rooms so far the day had been quite a long one and the buggies were getting tired so we spend what little time was left listening to the Gamelan concert. I've heard a Gemalan orchestra once before in a Proms concert at the Albert hall; the intricate designs of the drums and gongs worked very well against the high Victorian setting, the setting behind this orchestra was the rather more incongruous Heywood gallery!

Surprisingly both Buggies listened quite attentively to the music and, even after a long day caused little trouble until Buggie-D had to answer the call of nature and we decided to call it a day and return home.

What: Gamalan orchestra
Where: South Bank Centre
Getting there: Cross the Thames from Embankment or walk from Waterloo; map
Cost: Free
Try: The south bank have many concerts in their free spaces.

Latitude (out of town)

Latitude is one of Glastonbury's many little brothers or sisters but aiming to provide much more than just pop music and overcrowded camping; offering literature, dance, music, film, poetry, the all important Children's area and, of course, pop music and overcrowded camping. Many people have reviewed the actual event in terms of what it has offered and generally the reviews are very positive; I'll concentrate on what it offered families.

In summary Latitude lived up to its name as a child friendly event with a very relaxed feel and open to all ages; L, aged just 2 months was not the youngest!

Getting there

The festival is in Henham Park, Sussex; it was a sufficiently long drive that, with kids, it was worth stopping on the way. But the drive was simple and reasonably quick beyond that.

Our first mistake was to park in the wrong place and ended up having to carry a lot of stuff a very long way with two children and a baby in tow (not a great start); however wheelbarrow hire and very friendly and generally helpful staff made this much better than it could have been.

Camping

The family area is an area of the camp site only accessible if you have the correct family pass; although this was inconsistently policed (sometimes our friends could come in if they were with us; others they could not) the area was certainly populated with plenty of children of all ages. The camping area also provided some simple children's activities (circus stuff and art material), separate loos (see below) and its own food tent.

The family camping area seemed more crowded than other parts of the campite and overflowed into the caravan park, this could well be as a result of the success in the last few years; but hopefully the organisers will take note and increase its size next year.

One major downside to the festivals are toilets; the family loos were generally cleaner (porta-loos rather than latrenes) but frequently blocked or ran out of water. I would not be too critical however; the organisers did provide extra loos when it became apparent that they were needed.

Family arena

In the arena (separated from the campsite) was another family area, again only allowing families access. This provided the bulk of the family orientated activities which were as good as they were varied. D & B particularly liked the pond dipping and woodland activities; also covered were parachute games, plays, stories, arts and general play stuff with an under fives "parent and child chill out area" providing free refreshments, suncream and nappies.

Sadly we did not make it to a daily performance of Hansel and Gretal; a shame as it is one of both D & B's favourite stories. I think D was worried that the witch would turn out to be real...

General arena

In the main part of the festival the areas were very welcoming of young children, the programme marked where an event was not appropriate. This meant that all of us could see performers that I would not have expected to be able to take them to at any other place, including a Michael Nyman piano concert which D & B both slept through.

There was a daily children's book session in the literary area; sadly we managed to forget this on all three days.

Conclusion

This was a great weekend; through all the problems, tiredness and very frayed tempers by the time we left on Sunday evening all four of those that could express an opinion wanted to come back next year. My only main concern is that our camping holiday in the Isle of Wight might now prove to be a disapointment to D who will be expecting music, drama, pond dipping, etc.

What: Lattitude
Where: Henham Park; sussex
Cost: Adults £130; children free
Going again: Already have tickets
Try: Innocent viliage fate
Top tip: Don't take too much, you probably won't need it. Find out how to get to the closest car park to the family area BEFORE leaving

BBC Children's Prom

Event

Once a year Blue Peter take control of the Royal Albert Hall for two matinée Promenade performances; this year the show was hosted by ex-BP presenter Peter Duncan and CBBC presenter Gemma Hunt.

We were advised to arrive early so after a fairly early start to be outside the hall at about 9:15 we were second in the queue. However queuing is in front of the hall with a large area where kids can play in reasonable safety.

The concert was good in its own right avoiding "children's music," presenting bits and pieces from popular classics (Hall of the mountain king, Fanfair for the common man, etc) as well as slightly more obscure works (A Stravinski piece based on "Happy birthday" and the Storm from Peter Grimes) to something with a little difference (Bolliwood Brass Band).

B (1.5 years old) was nearly asleep before the concert but once the music started he sat entrapped by the event staring at the audience.

D (3 years old) enjoyed most of the concert but started getting restless towards the end of each half and was a little more selective about the music he enjoyed; although he was perpetually concerned by the volume it only really became a problem during Hall of the Mountain King when, I suspect, he was more restless than frightened.

Venue

The Albert Hall was never designed for a 21st Century parent, I rarely travel with a buggy and this was no exception but there was not much space if you had!

The price was very reasonable at £5 a head for all except "babes in arms" who were free (B 1.5 years counted as a babe in arms; D 3 did not, even though I was carrying him)

There were no nappy changing facilities, but the disabled toiled was clean enough and spacious enough to be used instead.

Close by

The RAH is within spitting distance of Hyde park and close to London's main museum district the Science museum and Natural History museums are both very child friendly.

Conclusion

An excellent mornings entertainment and something that I will be returning to next year.