Henley Festival is set for another outdoor extravaganza this year – and families are the focus of Playdate at Henley Festival on Sunday 14 July, so grab the kids and join for a fun-packed day of riverside festivities.
Flower Power at Henley Festival Playdate
Playdate at Henley Festival – a great July day out that’s all for families
Henley Festival is a classy affair, and this year it’s going to be bigger than ever – with world-famous musical acts including Nicole Scherzinger and Sam Ryder, comedy, art and sculpture, amazing food, dancing, and epic nightly firework displays over the River Thames. Running from 10-14 July, for families it’s all about Sunday’s Playdate 2024 – a festival-within-a-festival dedicated to kids of every age and stage. So if you want a perfect family day out this July, you won’t want to miss this.
The Bubble Fairy, Henley Festival
From circus to musical comedy, there’s a show for everyone
A great family-friendly festival is all about the entertainment, and this one has some stellar kids’ shows for your tribe to get involved with. There’s Jonny Awsum’s award-winning musical comedy show; Marcel Lucont’s wild interactive gameshow for awful kids; Darryl Carrington’s high-octane blend of everything from circus skills to tech; Professor Twistopher’s traditional Punch and Judy, where hopefully Punch gets his comeuppance; and time-travelling magician Professor Strange performing mind-blowing magic and circus tricks on his giant tricycle (we so want one of those).
Juggling workloads at Henley Festival Playdate
Balloons, juggling and circus – all the classics your kids will love
Then there’s the Amazing Balloon Lady making brilliant balloon models; the Bubble Fairy; the juggling, dancing and entertaining duo Pemberton and Hague; international circus performer Thomas Trilby, a live Doodle Jam session with Tommy Gurr, and a silent kids’ disco, meaning you won’t have to actually listen to Baby Shark. Plus there’s Playdate @ Henley Festival’s usual Roving Artists roaming around, so expect plenty of interaction wherever you are.
Black tie not necessary, sparkles welcome
As befits a somewhat fancy clientele, Henley Festival is the only festival in the UK with a black tie dress code, where more is definitely more. But Henley Festival Playdate won’t be expecting the kids to dress up in mini-suits, unless of course they want to. So they can wear whatever they like – whether that’s double denim or plenty of sequins.
Round off your day with a spectacular fireworks display by the riverside
Going off with a bang – Henley Festival has fireworks every night
If you love a spectacular firework display, then don’t miss Sunday’s pyrotechnics. The display is designed by the big bang experts at Titanium Fireworks, who are also the team behind The Mayor of London New Year’s Eve celebrations, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, Liverpool River of Light and the London 2012 Olympics.
Henley is the only music festival Titanium works with, so this is bound to be an unforgettable experience – expect oohs and aahs aplenty, set against the backdrop of the beautiful Henley-on-Thames riverside.