Fairground rides

Geronimo Festival 2016 at Harewood House, Leeds

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Geronimo Festival at Harewood House

I’m going to kick off this post being entirely honest (as I always am) and state that Sunday at Geronimo Festival in Leeds was not a fun day, overall.

I was given a press pass and also hired to review the festival so didn’t have to endure the eye-watering queues to enter Harewood House but it was heartbreaking to see so many frustrated kids and parents waiting in long lines to simply enter the venue- and that was after an epic wait to get into the car park beforehand.

My friends and I DID HAVE fun on Sunday morning though when I shared this picture below on my social media channels-we were dancing to Andy’s set and had bumped into old school friends and their kids, some I’d not seen since I was 15!…
vlogger Vicki Psarias at Geronimo Festival

We’d expected huge crowds- and bad weather so dressed suitably and whilst wind and heavy rain is far from ideal for a festival, we live in the UK so never leave the house without an umbrella and weirdly shades too (I hope my US and Aussie readers know how lucky they are)!

Yes, the events and rides were totally oversubscribed and the festival wasn’t equipped to deal with the numbers but we tried to make the best of things. However, by lunch time we were so hungry that the prospect of queueing for hours at the food stalls with starving kids, meant we decided to leave.

The organisers later informed me they were let down by food vendors the night before which contributed to these issues.

There were clearly lots of issues that day and it was a real shame.

…We returned on Bank Holiday Monday, where there were far fewer people expected, approx 5k from 15k the day and hoped it would be a better day.

Harewood House

The sun was shining by the time we got there, just after lunch and we were determined to give Geronimo another chance (I was not contracted to return but wanted to).

This time, my parents joined us for a few hours too along close friends from Manchester who met up with us inside-

Here I am with one of my oldest, closest friends Carlie!

backstage at a children's festival

I’m so glad we did come back too as it was an EPIC day of non-stop laughter and fun.

Family fun

At Geronimo Festival Playing at Geronimo Festival Dinosaur balloon balloons for kidsDinosaur

The whole day was honestly, an UTTER JOY-scorching sunshine so hot we were forced to pull off our cardigans and coats, brilliant musical sets by Andy and Mr Bloom which got our booties shaking backstage, thrilling rides for all ages, finger licking food including my all-time fave: rotisserie chickens and buttery corn on cobs with sugary churros for after and old fashioned sweets and candy floss for snacks!

After all that scoffing came energy burning roller booting fun as I tried not to fall-and most importantly, no queues in sight.

Street food at Geronimo Festival eating at a festival Candyfloss at a festival

I love these photos of the boys face-diving into clouds of candy floss!

Geronimo had that unique blend of traditional fairground fun with captivating live theatre and motorbike stunts for all the family to enjoy.

Yum!

Eating CandyflossCandyfloss treat Enjoying candy flossFestival decorations

The live theatre shows were breathtaking to watch with Xander asking if this chap was a real prince!

Jousting Medieval entertainmentHorse Jousting on a horse
The more traditional hook-a-duck games were a real favourite with the boys.

I can, however see why people had hoped fewer activities were free. This was £3 a go.
Hook a DuckFairground entertainment Hook a Duck at Fairground

…Reflecting on these photos, I love how close my boys look.

Xander was Oliver’s shadow the whole day, looking up to him when deciding what they should do next and always ready to hold his big brother’s hand so they could enjoy the festival adventure together.

Muddy Festival running through fieldsgnomes

Such a vibrant, stunning spectacle!

large birdboy at festival gnome with boy swings Geronimo swings

I wish we’d been brave enough to go down the Helter Skelter but the boys backed out and I wasn’t sure I could cope solo!

Helter Skelter

Look how pretty the gilded carousel was-I definitely missed an instagram-worthy picture moment on there!

ride at fairground carousel

…Whiles there, we were lucky enough to meet the wonderful Andy and Mr Bloom backstage much to the kids’ delight (and *cough, Mama’s)!

I had to share with heartthrob Mr Bloom that the last time he appeared on the blog when we met him at a BBC première, that some of my international readers thought he was my husband!  He agreed to be my second hubby! Don’t be too jel mamas!

Oh and the hilarity didn’t end there either.

When we met Andy in the press room, people thought it was hilarious that Alexander resembles his dino-loving hero!

He took it like a champ!

Xander with his Dad 😉 Just look at the adulation!

Andy

Family shot number 2 (insert crying with laughter emoticon!)

Hanging out with Andy from CBBC

Seriously though, seeing my sons’ little faces light up on meeting their TV heroes is literally the greatest thing about blogging-making them happy is so wonderfully rewarding.

Aw!

Meeting CBeebies Andy

Both true gents, Mr Bloom and Andy were really kind and warm to the kids- and straight after an energetic set of singing and dancing too. Total pros.

And here are the chaps in action!

Backstage with Mr Bloom Andy singing on stage Children's entertainer Andy Andy from CBBCStage at geronimo

The crowd went wild (as did the dinosaur)!

Audience at a kids festival

Who was also there to wave the kids goodbye at they left the festival too. A lovely touch!

T-rex at Geronimo Festival Dinosaur

My fearless Xander was ready to go into battle with him!

Meeting a T-rex

As a final stop, we bought some balloon dinosaurs and it’s safe to say, they’re besotted with them. Xander has been taking his for walks and asking him to sit with us at dinner!

So sweet!

Dino balloon

Dinosaurs, live entertainment, glorious sunshine and delicious food-Geronimo on Monday was a super, super day!

Don’t miss my vlog where you can catch our bank holiday Monday in moving pictures!

Enjoy!

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