Rave-A-Roo review - Kids. Play. Rave. Repeat.

On Sunday morning we went along to Selfridges at the Trafford Centre in Manchester, so Freddy could take part in an exciting Rave-A-Roo kids' party event.  Rave-A-Roo is a daytime, mash-up music festival for children with a live DJ, madcap party hosts, inflatable toys, bubbles, confetti cannons, crafting, fun and games. It's a high energy event to entertain the whole family, with old skool tunes and clubbing hits.

The party hosts, including Jungle Jane and Disco Duck, entertained the kids using a mixture of music, dance and storytelling. With props such as inflatable ducks and bananas, hula-hoops, beach balls and bubble machines, the scene is set for little ones to immerse themselves in the party atmosphere. They used their imaginations to join Jungle Jane and her friends on a trek to the jungle, sailing their boat across the sea to the tune of Oops Upside Your Side (that brought back memories!) and played a game of Sleeping Tigers. The children also enjoyed bashing a dad volunteer with inflatable bananas!

As well as the dancefloor and the madcap antics, kids can also take part in some crafting activities. Freddy decorated a pair of fancy sunglasses with some bling and did some neon clay modelling. He also had his face painted with some day-glo facepaint, perfect for the clubbing scene. There were also some healthy refreshments to keep the kids energised. Rave-A-Roo is a well structured event for children with a great balance of high octane activities and opportunities to chill out and get creative.

The finale of the show included confetti cannons firing confetti into the crowd of dancing children. It was really impressive and Freddy loved it. Seeing the kids all jumping up and down in the multi-coloured cloud of rainbow confetti was wonderful.

I was so proud of Freddy for joining in and taking part. He can be quite shy in crowds, but the hosts were so engaging and involved all the children making them comfortable and eager to be a part of the fun. The volume levels were not too high, making it good for little ears. We had packed Fred's ear defenders in case the music was too loud for him, but he didn't need them.

Overall, we were really impressed with the Rave-A-Roo event. They are for children aged up to 10 years old, and Freddy at 8 was definitely an ideal age for it. We were able to sit and watch him having fun, while enjoying a cup of complimentary coffee. Parents of younger children were on the dance floor with their little ones.

I would definitely recommend the Rave-A-Roo experience for children. I'll be keeping an eye out for future Rave-A-Roo events! Freddy absolutely loved it.

Find out more at www.rave-a-roo.com/.

Bratz Music Festival Vibes #BratzFest

Festival season is underway, giving music lovers the chance to enjoy their favourite bands and to sing and dance with wild abandon while dressed in the coolest festival outfits. To celebrate festival season, Bratz have their new Music Festival Vibes collection, featuring the iconic dolls rocking some awesome festival chic looks.

Each of the five new dolls come with two outfits and accessories designed to suit the genre of music they are into. We received Jade who loves electro-pop and has a really futuristic, quirky look. Cloe loves American country rock, Sasha is a fan of chart topping dance music, Yasmin is a 70's dancing queen and Reya has a passion for retro jazz.

Jade looks so trendy with her platform boots, see through skirt, stripy leggings and green furry hoodie. Her colourful hair, alien handbag, shades, ear-rings and phone case are all as unique as she is. A multi-coloured ra-ra skirt and alien vest make up her second outfit choice, ready to dance the night away at a funky festival. A really nice touch with the packaging is that the handle doubles up as a multi-coloured fabric festival wristband for the child to wear.

Festival chic and cool outfits are just one part of the festival experience. With the unreliable British Summer Time, festivals often see a lot of rain, so if attending one, it is wise to go prepared with a raincoat and wellies. We've all seen the famous muddy Glastonbury videos and pictures of the floods at Download! Rain is often as much a part of festivals as the music. But rain does not stop play when it comes to festival season!

We were sent a poncho for the kids to pimp using stickers to make it festival ready! So staying dry and being stylish go hand in hand. With sparkly stars and stick on guitars, the poncho was transformed!

Here is little brother Freddy, ready to enjoy the festival experience, whatever the weather!

Find out more at: http://gb.bratz.com/

You can follow Bratz at @BRATZ_UK on Twitter and BRATZ UK on Facebook.

Rewind... Back To The 80s

This weekend, Henley-on-Thames played host to the incredible Rewind Festival, a showcase of some of the best acts from the eighties.  We were there as guests of  Ecover who were helping share their Feel Good Summer and adding to the festival fun.

We had VIP tickets enabling us to enter a special area right by the stage where we got to meet the stars. We had a great view of the artists performing onstage and we also had access to seating and shaded areas which were really appreciated by me (I'm not as young as I used to be!)

I took Ella with me.  She may not even have been born in the 80s but her eclectic musical taste extends across the decades so she knew quite a few of the bands that were playing.  Any that she did not know, she was eager to discover so we both were excited about the festival.

The Line-Up

The line-up included some old favourites of mine.  Midge Ure, Marc Almond and Adam Ant were top on my list of acts I wanted to see most of all, being the genre of 80s music I used to love listening to when I was a teenager.

The weather was absolutely glorious, with temperatures approaching 30 degrees.  I was so glad for the undercover seated area that we could escape to with a cold drink.  I am not sure I could have coped with being in the heaving throng of 80s revellers in the main crowd.

There was a lovely atmosphere at the festival, with most of the music fans being in their forties who have followed the bands across the years.  The artists themselves were mostly very humble and appreciative of their continuing fandom, which allows them to get up on stage and perform their iconic hits again and again thanks to the musical revival of the era.

We were so lucky to be able to meet so many of the 80s stars who were all really happy to pose for photos and were very friendly.  Ella got herself photographed with a whole host of the artists...how many do you recognise??

Her famous friends are from top to bottom, left to right:
Heather Small from M-People, Richard Fairbrass from Right Said Fred, Doctor and the Medics, John Parr who sang St.Elmo's Fire, Chesney Hawkes, lead singer of The Christians, singer from The Straits (formerly Dire Straits..now minus Mark Knopfler), Tony Hadley and Midge Ure.

Highlights from the stage were many.  Adam Ant's set was amazing.  He was back to his dressed up best performing Ant Music, Prince Charming, Kings of the Wild Frontier and Goody Two Shoes.  I videoed it for Ian who was a huge Adam Ant fan and still harbours a rather large man-crush on him!!

Midge Ure performing Vienna was stunning.  It gave me goosebumps as the crowd of 20,000 clapped the beat of the intro.  Everyone was silent except for the haunting music and the clapped beat.  Midge sang perfectly and it was an amazing moment.

Tony Hadley performed Gold, the gold medal theme tune of the Olympics.  Everyone joined in, remembering the 29 medals won by Team GB with pride!  He also covered our favourite Sterophonics song Dakota, which was great.  He has such a powerful voice.

The Stage

Marc Almond doing Tainted Love took me back to being fourteen again.  What a blast from the past!  He also did Bedsit Land, Say Hello, Wave Goodbye and Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart.  Just perfect!

I loved Rick Astley's set...what an unexpected pleasure that was!  He is a total professional and was such a warm and friendly guy.  Kool and the Gang put on an incredible show full of Motown-esque pizzazz.  Seeing Ella watch The Straits perform her favourite song Romeo and Juliet was a wonderful moment.  It's a song she has covered a year ago on her Youtube channel and she loves it.


All in all, we had an absolutely brilliant weekend.  Ella was able to add another couple of bands to her list of artists that she wants to investigate further.  We met some lovely people and had a lot of fun...plus we hobnobbed with the stars!  I got to relive my teens and we sang our hearts out to some of the most iconic songs of the 80s in the glorious sunshine.

Thanks so much to Ecover for this incredible opportunity!  Check out www.the-splash.co.uk  for the Ecover online magazine.