Events Archives — Page 3 of 11

Events

Win Free Tickets to Latitude Festival 2014

We have an exciting competition for those who love festivals. You could win 2 adult and 2 child standard day tickets for Sunday 20th July, for the Latitude Festival 2014, in Suffolk, England.

One of the great things about the Latitude Festival is the Kids Area, with amazing entertainment for kids all day and into the night, with everything from pond dipping and star gazing to crafting funky headdresses, French knitting and pizza making workshops, to sticker art, sculpting willow branches and giant model making. You can also watch and take part in various theatre shows, including a performance of The National Theatre’s The Cat in the Hat.

Latitude 2013
Danny North

We’ve noticed that at some festivals, the kids area is pretty much geared towards little ones, and so we were impressed with the range of activities on offer, and with Latitude’s Inbetweeners’ area. Older kids can take part in music, media, fashion and technology workshops, or tackle wildlife survival skills and assault courses suspended in the trees!

Latitude 2013
Danny North

If you’d like to enter the competition, speak to your parent or guardian and check out the entry terms below.

Enter the Competition to Win Tickets to Latitude Festival

Latitude 2013
Danny North

Latitude Festival is all about being creative, as the Kids Area Programme shows. Creativity doesn’t just mean drawing or painting… it could be dance, or acting, comedy or sculpture.

Ask your parents to send us a photo or video of your creative endeavour, via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, tagging @jumpmag and using the hashtag #JumpAtLatitude.

The closing date for the competition is Friday 4th July. The amazing Catherine Bennett has agreed to judge the competition. You can read more about the totally normal superstar Catherine here.

We will announce the winner on Monday 7th July.

Information for Parents

Latitude 2013
Jenna Foxton

Latitude returns to the idyllic grounds of Henham Park for a stunning ninth edition from 17th – 20th July 2014. The festival was voted ‘Line Up of the Year’ in 2013, ‘Best Family Festival’ of 2012 and is firmly established as the UK’s favourite multi-arts destination. With bespoke performances set across the Suffolk site, Latitude presents a festival experience like no other, carefully curated so that culture lovers can enjoy performances by leading artists from the worlds of music, theatre, dance, literature, film, comedy, cabaret, poetry, fashion and art, all over one weekend.

With a reputation for giving bands their first festival headline appearance, Latitude features everything from installations to theatre previews, huge comedy acts to late night parties In The Woods and all that’s in between.

Terms and Conditions of the Competition

The prize is 2 x adult tickets and 2 x child tickets for Sunday 20th July – see the Latitude 2014 – Terms and Conditions for details.

Please be aware that the CHILD ticket is for children aged 5 – 12 years. Proof of age may be requested by Latitude Festivals.

Closing date for the competition is Friday 4th July 10pm GMT

The winner will be notified by Monday 7th July. Prize must be claimed by Wednesday 10th July.

To enter the competition, tag Jump! Magazine on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with a photo or video of your child’s creative endeavours. This photo may be shared on Social Media, and on the website, both by Jump! Magazine and by Latitude Festival. Please tag the post #JumpAtLatitude so we don’t miss it!

Featured image by Danny North

Events

Family Friendly UK Music Festivals – Mud, Glorious Mud!

One of the drawbacks of putting on an open-air festival in UK is the high probability of rain.

Rain + fields + lots and lots of people = MUD!

Glastonbury Festival is synonymous with mud – this means that we often associate the name of the festival with the word ‘mud’. The picture above is proof of that!

Today the biggest greenfield music festival in the world open it’s doors, and you will probably see some muddy pictures pictures in the newspapers. If you live in UK, you might watch some of the festival on TV – maybe you are one of the lucky ones and are actually going to the festival! (Do let us know in the comments, what you thought of it).

We take a look back at the beginnings of the oldest festival on the British mainland, and find out what other music festivals are on around the country.

This weekend, Glastonbury Festival will be held on a farm in Somerset, England. It was originally very small with only 1,500 people attending, and was organised by the local farmer Michael Eavis who was inspired by the Isle of Wight festival the year before.

Festivals were a popular idea at time and there was a movement called ‘Free Festivals’ which campaigned to put on free music events. Glastonbury was originally called The Pilton Festival, named after the town near the farm, and cost just £1 to attend. By 1980 it became an annual event organised by Michael Eavis (with help!) and after having several names was finally called Glastonbury Festival. Most of the profits which Mr Eavis’ company earns from ticket sales goes to various charities.

Glastonbury Festival is not held every year because it is now so big the farmland needs time to recover, or ‘lie fallow’. It is the largest festival in the world. Nearly 200,000 people will attend the farm to see the bands performing on three main stages and many more little stages and to enjoy all the other comedy, massage, food, poetry performances, circus and cabaret on offer. It can get very muddy and dirty and you may have seen photos of festival-goers covered in sticky mud!

Children are welcomed at Glastonbury, and in 1989 a separate area called Children’s World was set up especially for those under 16 years old. From that, a charity was set up called Children’s World which aims to create educational fun play with the aim of helping children to learn and develop.

Other Festivals Around UK

Camp Bestival by Ruth Harper/Flickr

Glastonbury is not the only festival in the UK. Big festivals can be overwhelming to adults let alone children, so often it is better to start with a smaller one, or one that is aimed at families. Camp Bestival in Dorset is very popular with families, or you could try the Green Man Festival in the Brecon Beacons in Wales, lasting for a week with many fun things you can do (besides dance to the music!) The Hop Farm Festival in Kent is a popular one and children under 13 can go for free! In Scotland, the biggest music festival is T in the Park, but a more family friendly festival is Doune the Rabbit Hole, where kids under 12 years old get free entrance.

The Latitude Festival in Suffolk is one of the biggest family friendly festivals, with a whole range of kids’ activities (not just for the little ones!) Watch out for a special report on the Latitude Festival next week.

Festivals can be quite expensive to go to, with camping, food and tickets to buy. The Hardraw Summer Gathering in Yorkshire is a four-day folk music festival at which is free to stay and enjoy, although the music concerts are £5 per ticket. The Youth Beatz Festival is a free one-day event in Dumfries celebrating the musical talent of young people.

Advice for First-Time Festival-Goers

Latitude by markheybo/Flickr

I asked my nieces what they enjoyed most about their festival experiences, and what advice they’d give you. 12 year old Georgia most enjoyed “the excitement of watching people play”. For first-timers, Georgia would say that “there is no need to be nervous, just stay with the people you are with and always tell them where you are going and DON’T RUN OFF FROM THE PEOPLE YOU ARE WITH!!!!” My younger niece Alyssa is 8 years old and most enjoyed the music, and her advice was to “stick with your mum and dad” while you are there. Both have been to several festivals over the last couple of years, attending with their parents and adult friends.

The website Festivalkidz is dedicated to finding the best festivals for parents or caregivers. Finding out if the festival is really suitable for kids is important, so that you can be sure the adult you are with will enjoy themselves as much as you do, and you can find one that will really appeal. If you are curious, why not check it out?!

Muddy Glastonbury Photo

Events

Bike to School Week 2014

Bike riding is one of the real joys in life. You get adventure, fresh air and exercise, as well as all the fun. Yet, the majority of girls tend to stop riding their bikes when they start high school. It makes you wonder why they feel they don’t want to do it anymore. Is it because it’s not “cool’?

Sustrans are a UK charity that want to change the way that girls see riding. They found out that girls are less active as they get older than boys, and more boys cycle to school than girls.

Jump! Mag took 10 minutes to catch up with Tim Warin, a Sustrans School Officer.

Why Should I Keep Cycling?

Riding a bike is fun! It’s also great exercise and is good for the planet. Riding a bike to school helps you get your recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day…one third of children don’t currently achieve this and building cycling into your daily routine can keep you healthy for life. Getting used to riding a bike will build your confidence and awareness and develop your road safety skills. Also, the fewer cars at the school gates; the safer it is for everyone.

Where do I Start?

Picture Credit Amsterdamize

Give it a go! The feeling of freedom and independence is unique and it often takes less time than you think to travel even quite long distances. Building awareness of the road is key and this can be done as a family or with friends who are more experienced. It’s best to start on quiet routes and get used to how the road works as a family.

What Are Your Top Tips?

Why do More Boys than Girls Cycle?

Although the number of boys and girls who cycle at primary school is roughly equal, we see a massive drop off in girls cycling as they move on to secondary school. One of their key concerns is how they look and I’m a firm believer that all clothes are ‘cycling clothes’ and by taking a steady pace you don’t have to get sweaty. This isn’t the Tour De France, it’s just an everyday trip made by bike and attitudes are slowly changing; 2011 saw the biggest ever increase in the number of women cycling on the National Cycle Network, with women making up a quarter of journeys and in 2012 twice as many women choose to make their journey to the shops by bike as in 2010.

How Can We Get Our School Involved in Promoting Cycling?

Picture Credit

This week (9-13th June) is Bike to School Week in UK, and it’s a perfect chance for you to encourage your friends, the staff and other year groups to start cycling to school too. You could ask your teachers to hold a breakfast for cyclists, or run a ‘bling your bike’ session in the playground. Throughout the year Sustrans run events like Bike to School Week for schools which are free to sign up to; check out our website for some brilliant resources, incentive schemes, guides and events to help your school to get active – both inside and outside the classroom.

We’re also running a Campaign for Safer Streets, and are calling on Government to make the school run safer for kids who cycle, walk and scoot to school. So if you want to see more people cycling in and around your school, why not write a letter to your local MP and tell them why you think it’s important. For more information have a read on our website www.sustrans.org.uk

Featured Image Amsterdamize

Events

Kazoo International – A Forum for Gender Equality

Gabriella wrote for Jump! Mag a few months ago, and contacted us to tell us about her latest school project. She and some friends have been working on competition run by the Department for International Development, which this year is about creating a safer, more equal world for women and girls. The competition is called Shape the Future, and the winners of the competition get to take their idea to UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Kazoo International is an online forum for people to talk about gender equality for both boys and girls, women and men, created by Gabriella and her friends. We think this is a fantastic idea, and wish Kazoo International great success.

I am incredibly lucky to live in the UK where as a girl, I have the same rights as boys. I can go to school for free and I am entitled to free health care. When I am older, I will have the right to vote and if I work hard, I can be whoever I want to be whether that is a teacher or the Prime Minister. In many other counties, girls don’t have the same rights as we do in the UK and it’s important that we recognise this. Have you ever thought about how lucky you are to be able to go to school every day? Have you ever thought about how lucky you are to be able to speak and be heard?

I have been involved in a competition at school called ‘Shape The Future’ which has been organised by the Department for International Development which this year, is looking at giving girls and women a safer and more equal world to live in. As a group we thought that one reason lots of people don’t think about it and therefore don’t do anything to help, is that we aren’t very well educated on the issues surrounding women’s rights in other countries. We though that before you start trying to solve problems, first, you need to make sure that people know about what is going on around the world. There more people know, the more they are likely to take an interest in helping people less fortunate than themselves.

As a result of this, we decided that we wanted to set up a blog and forum where people from all over the world can give their stories and opinions. We called the website ‘Kazoo International’ because we need to make a noise about women’s rights and we need to make sure that everyone has a voice.

Have a look at the website, contribute to the forum and comment on the blog – Kazoo International

Featured Image

Events

New Skylanders Trap Team

Skylanders Trap Team has just been announced and there is a bewildering array of information online. Here’s our introduction to the game, along with family tips on the new game.

If you’ve not come across it before, Skylanders is a video-game that uses toy figures to access in game characters. This cross over between video-games and toys has become very popular over the last few years. This means that you can play the game, but also collect the toy figures and play with them on the living room floor.

Skylanders Trap Team is the fourth of the Skylanders games in this genre. Other similar titles include Disney Infinity, Angry Birds Telepods and the recent Furby Boom apps.

UPDATE 6th May – Toys R Us UK Confirm Legendary Characters

UPDATE 26th April – What We Know So Far

The new Trap Team game will come in a Starter Pack on the 3DS, Wii, Wii U, 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. This Starter Pack includes the following items:

Snap Shot – New Trap Master Skylander toy figure
Food Fight – New Core Skylander toy figure
Water Trap key
Life Trap key
New Traptanium Portal
2 Character cards

Trap Team has a new play mechanic where you can collect 40 different villain characters by defeating them and inserting a new Trap toy into the portal. The villains can then be turned good and used to fight the remaining bad guys.

In an interview with Jeff Poffenbarger at the announcement event for Skylanders Trap Team we found out more about how the new portal and different figures work together. He also explained why a new portal was needed this year and about the developers aim of creating a balance of male and female characters. In a previous iteration of Skylanders – Swap Force – the main figures have only been male.

The new game will support all the previous Skylanders from the older games as well as offering 50 new figures. Parents should note that the additional figures (while collectable) are optional extras. The majority of the game will be accessible with the Starter Pack and a handful of toy figures.

Skylanders Trap Team will release in the UK on 10th October 2014. The game isn’t yet PEGI rated.