Visit Nottinghamshire Heads to Gloworm Festival 2023

The rain may have come down but it certainly didn’t stop play as families descended on Thoresby Park for day 2 of Gloworm 2023!

Gloworm is the ultimate kids’ festival and now in its 7th year is as popular as ever! This is a festival like no other, dedicated to the little people in our lives and designed solely to engage and entertain them! As we entered the beautiful Thoresby Park, Nottinghamshire bright and early, excited chatter could be heard everywhere, bubbles filled the air and the lights of the distant fairground enticed as we queued to enter.

Once inside the festival ground, with the beautiful Thoresby Hall in sight, the bright colours and music took hold of the senses, characters, including dinosaurs and life size Playmobil characters roamed, high fiving the kids and whoops of delight rang through the park from the fun fair; from the traditional swing boats and helter skelter to the ‘scream if you want to go faster’ rides of the waltzers and sizzler!

All the kid’s favourites were there this weekend, from stars of CBeebies, like Andy Day, famous for Andy’s Dino Adventure or in his other guise as lead singer of Andy and the Odd Socks, to Meet and Greets with Bing Bunny and the Aussie phenomenon Bluey along with sister Bingo. It was obvious from the kid’s pure delight that this was a big deal to them and they looked truly star struck to meet their heroes, my own daughter beamed from ear to ear as she got to high five Bluey! To be honest, even Mummy was excited to see Andy read a bedtime story… but of course we were there for the kids!

The festival is made up of different zones making sure that all interests, and ages are catered for, from the outdoor zone with its climbing walls, Dino meet and greets and Whitepost Farm giving a taste of farm life, right through to the Playmobil tent, Paw Patrol area, Kinetic Sand play zone, Circus big top and of course the main stage providing entertainment right through the weekend, from Sublime Science to tribute artists Daft Funk, Pink and Queen. The festival site is also accessible to ensure that everyone can enjoy and join in the fun! A big and unexpected hit for us was the wrestling ring which we all got into, shouting for the ‘goodies’ and jeering the ‘baddies!

Many families of course camp on site throughout the weekend and with fantastic, dedicated areas for tents and even a glamping area, it’s easy to see why this is such a popular option and one that gets snapped up each year months in advance of the festival, the party truly goes on into the evening for those lucky enough to have secured a pitch. Having seen for ourselves how well organised it was, we too are now considering this for next year. Food and drink options are also fantastic on site with every taste and age catered for, worthy of note is the good price point too for a festival. Coffee is a must for any parent, and this was there in plentiful supply as was the ice cream which was smeared around our girls face for most of the day!

The rain may have come down at times but it didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits, maybe it’s something inbuilt in us Brits, we just expect rain and endure, Summer or not, but I think it had more to do with Gloworm’s energy, sparkle and joy. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to be there, whole families were dressed up in the most outlandish of costumes, and children rode merrily in festival trolleys from zone to zone adorned with glitter and face paints.

Gloworm was a first for us as a family but it without doubt won’t be our last…here’s to 2024!

Blog written by Anna Scott - Business Development Executive at Visit Nottinghamshire.