We’ve been busy this summer holidays with lots of days out, but one of the days that my kids enjoyed the most was the CBBC Summer Social in Liverpool.
CBBC Summer Social is a three day event that took place in Croxeth Park, with plenty to do from music and celebrities on the stages, activities and workshops, rides, or just exploring the grounds and enjoying the atmosphere. We went along on the Sunday which was the finale day of the event, and had a really lovely day. There was plenty to do to fill the day, and lots of options so you can tailor it to what best suits your family.
Here are the stage timetables and a map of the grounds…
As you can see, there is a lot of activities and performances included!
Croxeth Park was an ideal venue for this event as it was quite spread out, so the event didn’t feel too crowded. For me, this is often the make or break factor in summer festivals like these. I don’t want to be on top of everyone else, or to spend all day queuing up. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case with the CBBC Summer Social and although there were plenty of people there was enough for everyone to do, and plenty of space to spread out and explore. Maps were provided in a few locations to make it easy to get around.
The activities that were highest on my boys priority list were the football workshops. We were able to book a timed slot for the Everton football training, and I was really impressed with the sessions. They were given a 20 minute session with brilliant coaches who were great with the kids.
You could also book the Liverpool FC training session, which was also running on the activity field, and I spotted the Liverpool mascot wandering around if you wanted a picture with him.
The activities field also had some Kickabout football activities going on, which were free to do (as are the Everton and Liverpool training sessions). These were a big hit with a lot of the kids, and my boys went back to do it again and again. Eventually Z got himself on the leaderboard for scoring a 100 on the Bucket List which he was very pleased with!
For N, the CBeebies Village was nearby which was a chilled place to run around between performances. She got to watch the Go Jetters show, and bumped into Bitz from Bitz and Bob.
The main Summer Stage was around the other side of the hall, with lots of food stalls all around so we were able to sit and watch a few things while relaxing with our lunch. We got Macaroni Cheese from one of the stalls which was really nice, and I noticed there was plenty of variety around – not just burgers and hotdogs.
Around the Summer Stage there were also a few traditional fairground rides which the boys wanted to go on. These were at an additional cost, of around a couple of pounds per ride, but the queues were not too bad.
They also enjoyed the water walkers over on the activity field, which were 5 pounds per person, but these and the rides were the only things we needed to spend money on during the day and there were plenty of free activities if you prefer to stick to those.
There is a small farm in Croxeth Park which was open with free entry during the event, and you could explore Croxeth Hall itself which had a Horrible Histories tour going on. We didn’t get time to make it inside the Hall but did really enjoy the little farm, which gave us a nice change of scene during the day and was lovely for our toddler, N.
There are plenty of pigs, goats and horses, and the kids all got to have a turn at grooming one of the little ponies too which they hadn’t done before! There’s also a cafe in the farm and a little play area, which all helped to spread out the amount of people in the festival.
The kids also enjoyed the play areas outside the farm in the main bit of Croxeth Park, with two separate ones for the older and younger kids.
The music could be heard across these play areas too to keep up the festival atmosphere, and was a great way to fully tire the kids out at the end of the day.
There was lots more going on that we didn’t even get chance to do, so definitely enough to fill a whole day at the CBBC Summer Social. We were very lucky with the weather in Liverpool that weekend, which definitely helped with the atmosphere. We all really enjoyed the CBBC Summer Social for feel good family fun.
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.