Marsh Farm Bubble n Bop Children’s Festival

I can’t believe we are already over half way in to the summer holidays. So far we’ve had a lot of pj movie days and many days spent at home enjoying each others company. But obviously the boredom was going to kick in at some point and I was really happy to be invited along to the Bubble n Bop Festival at Marsh Farm.

We met my Grandad super early in the local Wetherspoon pub to have breakfast. Then we all headed to Marsh Farm Animal Adventure Park for a day of fun. Our tickets had been gifted to us but if you aren’t aware, Marsh Farm holds a dear place in my heart as I used to visit here all of the time as a child before it was taken over by Partyman World.

We arrived for opening time as always, 10am, and picked up our list of activities for the day. There is always a list of fun things to do at Marsh Farm no matter what time of the year it is, but during various points of the year they host extra special themed fun. For the entire summer holidays they are hosting the Bubble n Bop Festival.

We have experienced Easter, Halloween and Christmas at Marsh Farm and I couldn’t tell you which was my favourite because they are all very unique. I was interested to see how the summer time would match up to the others we have experienced.

Back when I was a child, Marsh Farm was predominantly a farm with loads of different farm animals to see. I remember the piglets, the cows and the lambs. Now, Marsh Farm is predominately a place for fun with various play areas and interactive live shows. It’s about the experience.

Entrance to Marsh Farm costs £9.99 per person online or £11.99 on the door. The entrance fee allows you to watch all the shows, take part in feeding activities, ride the fun fair rides, take the tractor and play in the soft play all with no extra charge. The only thing you may need to buy is food for yourself unless you bring a picnic which is definitely allowed.

On the day of our visit the park had been transformed into a festival. Right as you enter there are the most amazing teepees I’ve ever seen! Hubby actually took loads of photos of them so we can have a go at making one ourselves for the garden. I loved the colours and the straw bales inside.

One of the teepees had the Glitter Face Art happening and there wasn’t much of a queue so of course, Freya and Eva had some glitter put on their faces. It’s probably a good time for me to explain that their hair is red as they had some wash out dye put in after being begged for weeks about it. I just have my fingers crossed that it’ll actually wash out in time for school.

We then made our way round to the Bouncy Pillows area. The girls absolutely love it them. At this point in the day it was quiet and for the most of the time we was there they had the pillows to themselves. It was very odd to be sitting on the beach chairs with sunshine feeling warm rather than cold.

This area of Marsh Farm also has the pool, this is open weather permitting I believe. Last year, they had a wooden changing area which I couldn’t see this year. The girls were not quite brave enough to venture in this time but had a brilliant time on the bouncing pillows and building an ants home (Eva) in the sand. Marsh Farm provide loads of buckets, spades and sand moulds to use.

The first activity we picked to do was the Ferret Racing. We’ve watched this type of thing at other farm parks and the girls really enjoy them but I hadn’t actually been to one at Marsh Farm before. Weirdly, I think we’ve stuck to the live action shows over the animal fun the majority of the time.

The staff leading the Ferret Racing was great at getting everyone engaged. Each child could pick a number corresponding to the ferret on who they thought would win. Elsa picked the winning ferret. The winners got a sticker each which I thought was a really lovely touch, then we got to have a quick stroke as we left the barn.

Marsh Farm had definitely got rather busy at this point and it had only been open an hour. Previous times that we have visited it has been busy but never quite like this. However, it didn’t feel a bad busy if that makes sense. Just a little crowded in places.

Of course you can’t come to a farm without taking a tractor ride. We was first in the queue for the first ride of the day, obviously. It’s a short ride in the trailer but it’s a great fun. It travels across the Marsh Farm Country Park and there are a few sheep to see. Elsa was terrified because of the Stompin Gator Ride we went on in Orlando. When we arrived back the queue was giant so I’m glad we went when we did. The tractor rides are on for a short amount of time in the day so it’s worth taking a note of the times and arriving early.

The Maize Maze had moved it’s position from near the Bouncing Pillows, to over near the tractor rides (opposite sides of Marsh Farm). If I’m honest, it hadn’t grown enough to be a proper maze but that didn’t matter to our girls. Eva especially ran around the corn like a crazy person. She was living her best life in there. It was so sweet hearing her giggles as she stormed past us.

We had then decided to queue up for the Bubble n Glow Party. Sadly, the queue was insanely big and there was no way we would be able to get in at that specific time. So instead we took refuge in the indoor play area that also has a restaurant for our lunch. 

Somehow, we managed to get a small table for us and then ordered our food. My Grandad and Hubby now have a “usual” there which I think is hilarious, the sausage and onion roll. I ordered a side of chips as we’d had a big breakfast that morning and then a chicken goujon children’s meal for the girls to share.

When it isn’t quite so busy, the indoor soft play is a great place to sit and allow the kids to run around whilst you enjoy a chat, food and drink. It was rather noisy in there on this day due to it being the summer holidays, so we pretty much just sat being a bit anti-social.

After our food and a play, we headed for the Glastokids Show. I am going to admit that I’m really sad BamBam is no longer at Marsh Farm. He used to do a lovely magic show and the girls loved it. Glastokids was good though, it got everyone dancing and moving with shakers and drums. Elsa in particular was loving it much more than Freya and Eva.

We then moved round to the Bubble n Glow Party. Again the queue was huge and the team at Marsh Farm ended up running back to back shows to make sure that everyone got to see the show. We was in the second lot so had to wait outside for about fifteen minutes.

Each child is given a glow stick to take home as you enter the barn. I loved the decorations inside, cute fairy lights and hanging CDs. The show was all about music, dancing and singing. Obviously the festival vibe. All three of my girls were dancing and singing. Eva had the microphoned popped in front of her for the Frozen song too.

I loved that Marsh Farm recognised the need to put on more shows but felt that they may have been able to work round it a bit better by putting on the main shows at the same time but at regular times throughout the day. That way the crowds would be split a bit more rather than all heading for the same thing.

With time rapidly rushing away before our eyes, the girls really wanted to use the outdoor play area. Like I’ve said before our time at Marsh Farm is usually spent wrapped up in coats shivering. It was really nice to sit in the sunshine, ok it was definitely a bit breezy, but the sunshine was there!

The outdoor play area is like nothing I’ve seen before. I wish all parks could be like this one because it’s brilliant. You can buy membership to Marsh Farm for £5 per person per month if you pay by direct debit. I think that if you lived nearby it would be totally worth it just to visit the outdoor play area, or the soft play, let alone having all the other things there too. I sort of wish we still lived close by actually!

After spending a good hour or so in the playground we decided to head for the goat feeding. This little barn hasn’t really changed since I was a child. They have a few noisy goats, sheep, some alpacas and of course some pigs.

Feeding the animals is free as part of your admission. Sometimes to feed animals at other farm parks you have to buy a bag of food for then. I love that Marsh Farm allow you to enjoy your day without worrying about having enough change or saying no. 

The girls each took a handful of food and began to feed the very willing goats. Elsa became quite attached to the little baby goats and started asking for us to take one home. Rather cute. It’s nice for children to get close to animals that they possibly wouldn’t usually have interactions with.

We then took a wander into the hatchery, where they have different pens of different aged chicks and ducklings. The girls loved it! Obviously you shouldn’t be poking your fingers in to the cage but we may have a few times and the little chicks loved a quick stroke. It was adorable. Then I started asking to take a chick home with us. Hubby wasn’t very impressed with that.

Another addition for the Bubble n Bop Festival is the “On Your Rocker” area. Basically it’s a lawn area with different rocking horses. Weirdly enough the girls loved this area! They spent quite a bit of time rocking on the horses and creating imaginative play together.

 By this point there was about 45 minutes before closing time. So we decided to head back to the entrance area where there is Crazy Golf, Jewel Hunting and another outdoor play park.

The gem hunting always captures my girls attention. You have to find tiny, shiny jewels and then you can take them to the exit when you leave for a prize. It’s actually quite hard to find them but they are there, hidden beneath the surface.

After finding a jewel each, Freya headed for the Crazy Golf whilst the others wanted to play in the park. This park has undergone some maintenance recently and most of it was shut the last time we visited. It was nice to see it open. Marsh Farm are literally always improving on their facilities which I think is great.

We left at closing time feeling very confused that the time had gone by so quickly. They do say “time flies when you’re having fun” and it couldn’t be more true about our time spent at Marsh Farm. For our family, they never fail to amuse, amaze and entertain. I would highly recommend travelling to Marsh Farm Animal Adventure Park for a day out. It’s well worth it this summer!

Marsh Farm have some amazing events coming up including Halloween and Christmas. Christmas is our favourite and honestly they have the BEST grotto experience, you can read about it on my blog.

As always, here’s a video from our adventures. I hope you enjoy it!

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Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.