This annual event has made a welcome return to sunny Essex this year after a well-earned break during the summer of London 2012.  The 3Foot People Festival in Chelmsford is a 4 day event, the largest of its kind aimed solely at under 5′s, full of wonderous tepees and domes that play host to the most magical of children activities.

The 3Foot festival really is one of the best family festivals the South East, if not the UK has to offer.

We attended the festival on Monday and was blown away by how much bigger it had become since the last time we attended in 2010. I did find that many activities were aimed at certain age groups, so keeping a four-year and a one-year old amused at the same time did prove to be a challenge at times. However the one year old is still at the stage where she is happy to just be outside, so she wasn’t too much hard work to keep occupied while her big sister partook in some ‘big girl’ workshops.

I was extremely pleased to see acanteen back again with their field kitchen, as their food is always so tasty, however the price of their cakes was a little high (£1.50 for a biscuit) and I was gutted that their posh ham and brie sandwich was sold out by the time we stopped for lunch.  You can bring your own food in to the 3Foot People Festival, so a picnic is a great was to keep the costs down and also handy for snacks and drinks throughout the day.  Nothing worse than a festival where you cannot take any food or drink, especially when you have the children with you.

The highlights of this years 3Foot People Festival were most certainly the Mad Science and Broadway Babies workshops. Amongst all the taster sessions for sports clubs, messy play activities and stands advertising local businesses, these two sessions really stood out.  They were interactive, informative and, most importantly of all, lots of fun. I especially loved Mad Science, even the grown-ups learnt lots in those session.

Then there was the face paining, no festival is complete with a spot of face-painting now is it?

The good thing about the 3Foot People Festival is that, once inside, all activities are free.  Yes lots of money can be spent of food, drink, rides and craft stalls, but if you are sensible; pack a picnic and give each child a spending allowance (or at least set yourself one), then it can be a really budget friendly day out.

For more information on the 3Foot People Festival visit www.chelmsford.gov.uk/3foot