I first read about the Festival of Nature on Twitter and thought it sounded like a great day out for kids. I then discovered that Andy Day, i,e Elliot's favourite person in the world (well, aside from family obviously!) was going to be there doing some dinosaur raps - amazing! As it turned out, my husband was away for the weekend anyway and Bristol isn't that far from Dorset so we thought why not :)
The Festival of Nature is the UK's biggest free celebration of the natural world. Over 150 organisations got involved and the programme included live music, interactive activities, talks from big names in the world of wildlife such as Bill Oddie and lots of hands on experiences for all ages.
I've written about Andy before (see
here) but Elliot is such a fan. He loves both his dinosaur and wild adventures programmes and tends to jump around like a loony when he comes on telly! Last time we met Andy, Elliot was only 21 months old and just stared at him so I was hoping that if we got the chance to meet him again, Elliot might be a bit more talkative. He had a question prepared *just in case* and a few days before the festival he said he was going to say " give mummy a kiss!" to him......cringe! I promise I didn't prompt him to say that!!
Andy was due to perform his first lot of dino raps at 11am so we were up bright and early and on the road by 7am. We decided to use the Park & Ride on the outskirts of the city and it was great - easy to find, just a short journey by bus into the city centre and only £3. Much cheaper than parking in the city centre I'm sure!
By the time we had reached the Harbourside area, it had started to drizzle but Millenium Square was already starting to get busy. We headed over to the BBC tent first and we were amongst the first in - this meant we didn't have to queue for face painting or dinosaur digging much to Elliot's delight! There were lots of things to look at and it was really interesting seeing all the equipment used for all their amazing nature programmes. There were lots of activities available for kids and we coloured some dinosaurs and made a (really really bad) sock puppet!
It was almost time for Andy by this point so we headed back outside and got a spot right at the front. Well Elliot decided he wanted to be at the front, I had to climb over some mums and kneel down on my coat so I could ensure Elliot didn't get under Andy's feet!
Andy spent the next half an hour entertaining the crowd with his dinosaur raps - the kids loved it, Elliot was just enthralled! It was so cute watching him waving his toy dinosaur in the air and trying to sing along!
After his set, Andy was doing a signing in the BBC tent so we got in line and Elliot was talking about what he'd say to Andy. He assured me he wouldn't go all shy but you can guess what happened when it was our turn....my noisy little chatterbox suddenly clammed up! Andy was lovely though and Elliot did eventually tell him his name and show him his dinosaur. He even asked him what his favourite dinosaur was, but in the smallest little voice! The photos are quite funny too, Elliot looks petrified!! I think he was just a bit in awe because as soon as we got outside he was leaping around saying "We met Andy again Mummy!".
Andy did a second set of dinosaur raps after meeting all his little fans and of course we stayed to watch it. Elliot didn't seem to mind that it was the same songs as an hour before!!
Thankfully the rain had now stopped so we decided to have an ice-cream. Unfortunately Elliot also decided to fall head first off a bench onto the concrete floor so we had a quick visit to the first aid tent to make sure he was ok. (He was fine, just a bit shocked I think!)
The bug tent was our next stop and Elliot couldn't wait to investigate. There were so many things to look at such as giant snails and cockroaches. Elliot also helped big a bug home and dressed up as a bee! This was a great tent but just so busy, would have liked to have spent more time in there but it's tricky having a 2 year old with you who wants to look at everything, right now! You need eyes in the back of your head!
A friend of mine Tina, who lives in Bristol came to meet up with us with her daughter and we spent a bit more time exploring the many stands the festival had to offer. I even spotted Bill Oddie! We finished the afternoon with a visit to the cafe at @Bristol. This science looks like great fun and I hope to return to Bristol in the not too distant future and visit here with the family, my husband would love it! Their cafe was great as they have a kids play area in the corner so I got to have a lovely catch up with my friend whilst Elliot burnt off some more energy!
By now, it was time for us to head back home so we said our goodbyes and bid a fond farewell to the festival. We had a great day out and I'm sure Elliot will be talking about meeting Andy for a long time to come!
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