Organisers of the local family festival, Just So Festival, have announced a shake-up to the layout for 2020, including some brand new areas for the festival’s eleventh year as well as the return of some favourites.
Just So takes place on the weekend of the 21st – 23rd August 2020 at the Rode Hall Estate, just across the Cheshire border, a 30-minute drive from Stone
For the past two years, A Little Bit of Stone has been invited to this imaginative outdoor adventure, dedicated solely to children and their families and offering astonishing arts and unique experiences. With a love of stories and childhood escapades at its heart, Just So enables families to step out of their day to day lives and into a wonderland of world-class literature, arts, theatre, dance, music, comedy and creative pursuits together.
Brand new areas for Just So 2020
No spittin’ on the floor, no cussin’ and no dancin’ on the bar – saloon rules are enforced as we open the doors to the High Chaparral for a celebration of all things Western. It will include the Lost Horse Saloon, an indoor eating area with a bar and a honky-tonk house band, the New Curiosity Shop for an eccentric array of workshops, and a rootin’ tootin’ Fire Garden.
Grab your ticket and head to Grand Central for the expedition of a lifetime. This new travel-themed area, complete with giant suitcases and illuminated hot air balloons, will be the new home of The Tribal Tournament – the most bonkers competition in all the land! Families dress up as different animal clans (Bees, Fish, Foxes, Frogs, Lions, Stags and Owls) and compete to win golden pebbles, culminating in the Grand Parade and the crowning of the Tribal Tournament champions on the Sunday evening.
Shangri-La, a mystical, earthly paradise, arrives on the shore of Rode Lake for chilled-out wellbeing sessions from relaxing meditation to restorative yoga. In a Just So first, older festival-goers will be able to take a relaxing soak here in a traditional wood-fired hot tub. Hot tubs will be available to book online soon.
The entrance to Just So will be transformed into Cloud Cuckoo Land, a swooping, tweeting, feathered area to welcome people to the festival.
If you’re more of a glamper than a camper and love the idea of arriving to a beautiful yurt, bell bent, vintage tent or gypsy bowtop caravan, then boutique camping is for you! For Just So 2020, boutique camping will move to a new area with beautiful lake-side views. It will also have its own dedicated parking area. Boutique camping is available to book now on the Just So website.
The best of the glorious rest – returning areas for 2020
The eleventh Just So will see the return of festival-goers’ favourite areas; the eccentric Village Green, epicentre of the festival for games, outdoor arts performances, challenges and all manner of unexpected shenanigans; Footlights, home to a wild line-up of live bands and dance workshops to strut your stuff to; gloriously exuberant circus area Roll Up, Roll Up; and Peekaboo, which is all about huge adventures for little people aged 0 – 4. Adventurers can also step into the extraordinary Spellbound Forest for nature and bush crafts, tree climbing, campfire tales and bonfire bands as dusk falls, watch incredible theatre and film classics at the Woodland Theatre, and head into the woods to enjoy author talks, music workshops and night-time DJ sets in Wonderland.
Rowan Hoban and Sarah Bird, directors of Just So Festival, said:
“Just So turns eleven this year, so we thought we’d give things a bit of a shake up! We’ve got lots of brand new areas which we know our audiences are going to love, and some of the old favourites are getting an update too.We’re particularly looking forward to Grand Central, which will be the new home of the Tribal Tournament, and our bird-themed area Cloud Cuckoo Land. We also can’t wait for our new wellbeing area Shangri La, which will have wood-fired hot tubs for the very first time!
Early Bird tickets are already completely sold out and we’re on to Tier One tickets, so we urge you to get your tickets now to join us for the adventure that is Just So!”
Tier One tickets for Just So 2020 are on sale now at justsofestival.org.uk.
