Little Fun Fest at Red House Farm April 2014

We were lucky enough this year to be picked as Bloggers Extraordinaire for the Little Fun Fest at Red House Farm at Dunham Massey near Chester. We had an absolutely brilliant time when we visited Little Fun Fest at York Maze last year, so I knew we were in for a real treat again.

This is Manchester, so naturally it was raining, but we're used to that and it was really quite warm and the ground wasn't very slippy, with loads of straw just in case, so it didn't dampen the day.

First we went into the barn and watched the Baby Ballet for a few moments and said 'hiya' to Mrs Hannah (Karen from Grumpyishmum) who had moved inside after her marquee blew away before everyone arrived!

Then we went over to watch Harry Potter and Professor McGonagall. My boys really liked the Harry Potter area last year and still have the wands they made, and it was actually what my 5 year old was looking forward to most.

What we didn't expect was that he'd be pulled out of the crowd to be a magician's assistant and have a sword put through his neck! Now Harry Potter really is his ultimate hero!

Children can't resist a mirror!

The boys planted magic beans with help from a young Professor Snape.

On our way to the main field we stopped to chat with the Crushed ladies, who were clearly having a great time in spite of nearly losing their marquee in the wind earlier.

And we visited the Big Top to watch the Altrincham Children's Show Choir belt out some great songs - here singing 'I Predict A Riot' by The Kaiser Chiefs

The main field was absolutely full of amazing activities - everything we had a go on was FREE! My boys couldn't believe it when they'd had a funfair ride and then I let them have another, and another, and another....

My 5 year old wasn't so keen on the pirate ship though....

Time for lunch and because it had been dry for a while and the sun was trying to peep through, we went and sat in the play area to eat our Mrs Hannah's lunch boxes. We had a couple of visitors during lunch! One of the nicest things about Fun Fest is the way all the celebrities and characters wander about and talk to the children.

After lunch it was back over to the main field and a chance to try a couple more free activities.

The only problem with a bouncy slide in the drizzle is cold feet!

 Next it was time for the official 'meet and greet' with the celebrities and stars.

Cat Sandion from CBBC

Flynn and Rapunzel from Tangled

The 'smoulder'

2 Frozen Princesses and someone else.

My youngest didn't like the 'official meet and greet'. He doesn't like it when people are dressed up or 'off the TV' and clamps down. He's okay straightaway afterwards, but he won't join in at the time. But something magical happened.....

Dr Ranj came over to talk and take a photo....

And he was concerned. He didn't like that our 4 year old wasn't participatory and looked sad...

And so he sat with him for several minutes, and he talked to him, and he laughed, and he made jokes....and eventually my littlest boy came round...

Dr Ranj didn't have to do that. He could have just moved on. Some of the other celebrities had already left, and he'd had a long day. We wouldn't have thought twice if he'd gone, but instead what he did was he gave up 10 minutes of his day for my son. He showed what an incredibly lovely man he is and went far beyond what anyone would expect. Thank you Dr Ranj.

Then it was over to the Big Top for the Gunge Tank. The victim was decided by a Balloon Pumping contest. One contestant was Laura from Tired Mummy Of Two who works with Little Fun Fest, and the other, after many calls to the audience for volunteers was a man named Duncan. It was very competitive....

Laura won! Her balloon popped first, which caused panic for Alex Winters and The Mad Hatter. They'd tried to fix it so that she lost! Poor Duncan was in for a gunking......to make it worse his own son pulled the string!

It was hilarious and my boys really got into it - shouting and cheering and having a real laugh. Duncan was a really good sport.

After the Gunge Tank it was time for the characters and celebrities to come and dance with the crowd. My boys were shattered and didn't want to to stay, so we went outside and waved goodbye to everyone as they came past.

We had a fantastic day and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Little Fun Fest is an amazing event, especially for children aged around 2 - 8ish. Small children don't understand that everything costs - they see it, they want it. At Little Fun Fest it's in with the cost of the ticket - it IS free. If they want to ride on the tea cups 15 times or bounce on the inflatables for 2 hours it won't break the bank.

Everyone involved with Little Fun Fest is lovely. They all give everything to make sure the children have a great day. Spiderman jumps around all day, Alex Winters wanders through the crowd checking everyone's having a good time. Harry Potter must wave that wand a million times and the Disney Princesses never stop smiling. There is so much to see and do that you won't be able to do everything, and you won't spend a moment bored. We'll be back again next year and I'd recommend it to anyone with young children.

We received our tickets free of charge as Bloggers Extraordinaire. The 'official meet and greet' is by invitation only, but you can meet all of the characters and celebrities as they walk around on site during the day. In April 2014 a family ticket for 4 cost only £64, which is definitely well worth it. Children 18 months and under are free.