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The excitement began as soon as we heard about the Keswick Mountain Festival.  What more could you ask for from a festival than camping near the mountains and being able to swim in the lake!

We decided to pack two small tents rather than the big family tent as we were only going to be falling asleep in the tent, as we could see there was so much to do at the festival.

Keswick is 20 minutes off the M6 Penrith Junction. The A66 takes you past Keswick and this is a good size road to cope with festival traffic. The signs brought you around the side of Keswick which was great,  as we know from experience driving through the centre of the town can be a bit busy. Keswick Mountain Festival being so close to town was a big bonus as we needed to stock up on camping equipment and of course the odd items we had forgotten to pack.

Activities at Keswick Mountain Festival:

Lots of activities for the family and being able to have a go rather than watch was awesome. The boys did canoeing, slack lining, inflatable orbs and archery. They gave 10 out of 10 for each activity. Of course, lots of stalls and things to taste and see but the sunglasses in the goody pack was fun.

The BMX show was great and having three boys they tried to see every demonstration. 3 sixty bike team where brilliant and they even managed to land a bike from the roof of a van onto a tin can between a demonstrator’s legs… very impressive. We brought hiking and biking gear for the Sunday as the kids were keen to get active. They were even keen to go swimming in the lake as Derwent water is a beautiful lake, warm and inviting.

Slack lining was our favourite activity throughout the weekend as we got lots of free coaching from Dynamic outdoor. We even got taught how to get on a high up slack line from standing. We were all pros by the end of the session. What a back drop to learn how to do this activity.

The boys when asked said that there favourite things, in no particular order was:

ALL the activities

Laughing at Dad rocking to the music and slack lining.

Dads getting excited over Mel C as she performed.

The parachute jumpers and the aerial display.

They summed it up by saying – You could not ask for a better day than Keswick Mountain Festival!

Access: No problems getting to the camping field as it was well sign posted and the sat nav code took you straight there.

The welcome pack: Great fun with the welcome pack and provided everything you needed.

Camping at Keswick Mountain Festival: Well equipped with clean high standard facilities including showers which was brilliant. As far as festival camping goes these were the best ever. It makes such a difference to the festival experience to be able to have good facilities and is often overlooked by organisers. This festival wanted to make sure that every one came away enjoying camping and feeling refreshed not sticky after a festival. 10 out of 10 for this consideration. Most people brought small tents like us but there was plenty of room for large tents for the family. There was no campervan camping unfortunately but we hope that an area for the future will be allocated as we have noticed this is becoming more and popular for such events.

Food: Good range of food stalls, wood fire pizza and cracking fish and chips. Having shops so near meant you could stock up on anything you forgot. We loved being able to just pop into the town as you are often out on a limb at festivals. There’s always something that’s been forgotten and Keswick has every thing you need open 7 days a week.

Time out: It was brilliant that you could have some time out with the family from the festival as we walked into the Borrowdale valley. Great woods, with secluded swimming spots along the lake shore.

Music: The music is on the evening and a good vibe with a party atmosphere but it is not throughout the day so very much an evening entertainment.

Family friendly: This festival is definitely to be listed as a great family friendly event. Children 5 upwards can take part in most activities. It felt safe and lots of families were there, there were no big groups behaving badly and we were very relaxed. Security was good and we used the first aid tent as the point of reference for our children to meet up if they got lost.

Any tips. Bring hiking boots for wet grass in the evening and morning, pack light but if you need to stock up then there are plenty of shops in Keswick selling camping and hiking gear. We always camp with inflatable sleeping mats to get a good night sleep and bring a pillow.

For the future: We hope that there will be more chill out spaces and perhaps a few more creative activities could be provided as our boys love to make and create,  and with such a beautiful place they could have sculptured, built or painted.. Having a small music tent for up and coming artists, guitarists or music to get the family interested in live performances would be a good idea as it’s not all about the main stage.

Keswick Mountain Festival is going to keep on growing and getting better and better each year. We have put this festival in the family’s annual events diary as there was something for everyone and we got to have plenty of outdoor time. Some festivals you just sit in a field with lots of activities going on around you but with this festival you got a great view and were able to take part too!

Thumbs up from this family!

NB: Katy and her family were invited to Keswick Mountain Festival in order to review but all views and opinions are their own.

Why not PIN this post about Keswick Mountain Festival with Blacks