Dear mummy, you took me to my first rave this month. Yes. I’m 3 years old and I’ve been mashing it up to some hardcore club bangers. Like something out of ‘Kevin & Perry Go Large’ it was go big or go home. Stocked up on naps, wotsits and chupa chups I was ready to hit the dance floor.

The kids rave was organised by Big Fish Little Fish and held at Farnham Maltings, Surrey. This kinda set-up is usually reserved for inner-city raves (London, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol etc) but graced this country venue for us non inner-city dwellers.

But they underestimated the power of my ‘country bumpkin’ parents clubbing past. My folks having seen numerous DJs sets from the likes of Carl Cox, Paul Van Dyk, Seb Fontaine and Armand Van Helden and seen The Prodigy, Utah Saints and Orbital all live. Ibiza, Kelly’s in Portrush, Gatecrasher in Sheffield, The Opera House in Bournemouth, BCM in Magaluf has helped shape their clubbing past.

So it was no surprise that they would jump at the chance to go to a rave with me. They are the clubbers of yesteryear, part of the generation that lived for the weekend and they aren’t ready to give up their hardcore partying ways just yet. My mummy even indulged in a pint of cider DURING THE DAY!! Now for a parent, that is hardcore!

Big Fish Little Fish is a family rave and is aimed at people like my folks, who still want to party responsibly with their kids. Family clubbing for the post rave generation has most definitely arrived in the south and the market for child-friendly festival experiences like Kidztown at Boomtown and Angel Gardens at Blissfields and baby raves is booming.

A rave is great way to bond as a family, have a giggle, dance and introduce your kids to music within a disco atmosphere. Anything that encourages a child to get out of the house, away from the telly and being active is good with us!

On arrival to Farnham Maltings all the children’s hands were stamped for entry just like entering a proper nightclub. We were given glow sticks and made a headpiece to wear at the free crafting area. After I had adored myself with a fake ladybug tattoo, my mummy wore the headpiece and glow stick and we headed for the dancefloor.

My parents couldn’t bloody wait to get on the dancefloor and cut some shapes, under the disco lights. They don’t call it Big Fish Little Fish for nothing!!

The rave gave my folks the chance to reminisce, soak up the atmosphere (It’s the nearest thing they’re going to get to a nightclub anytime soon) and teach me some dance moves. It was great seeing them both chillax and smile.

I had a nice little boogie too, and the dance floor soon filled up once everyone arrived. The rave was on for 2.5 hours from 2pm – 4.30pm and went far too quickly for us!

There was a small soft play and craft area set-up at the back of the large darkly lit hall, but it still felt like being in a club, with lava lamp patterned lights projected on the walls, glitter cannons sprayed from the DJ stage and large round balloons being carried on finger tips by the crowd of party goers.

There was a baby chillout area with mats and a ball pool for those too little to dance and a parachute finale. I had my face-painted for an extra fiver and it was really pretty. Farnham Maltings was a great venue to host this rave, in a large hall with a decent sound system, you had to walk down to a basement area to access the hall and keep going in and out to get to the toilets which was great. As every time we entered the rave, a wave of sound and bustle hit us. The music level was perfect too! We didn’t need our ear defenders (which we usually wear to festivals like Blissfields, Bestival and IOW Festival)

At one point my mummy and I went out to the foyer to get something to eat and chill out and it actually felt that we were recovering from a heavy night we were both spaced out after lots of dancing and eating wotsits. There was a handy bar/cafe on site with card machines.

Ticket price was £12 for adults and £8 for children, free for infants and worth every penny for this crazy fun experience. Included in the ticket price was glowsticks, a free Happy Monkey Smoothie and natural goodies for the kids! The music was ace and DJ Joe Muggs played a great set, with some old a skool classics like Prodigy’s Out Of Space which got the crowd jumping.

When the beat dropped the glitter canons and bubble machines showered us with prettiness it created an almost euphoric atmosphere, with arms raised to the sky and wide-eyed wonderment from all the children on the dancefloor. The parachute finale was awesome, however a lot of the adults got in the way and it was very crowded…maybe two parachutes in the large hall next time?

We had a fantastic time at the Big Fish Little Fish rave. It’s not everyday that my folks get to indulge in the 90’s dancefloor euphoria with me – and still be home by 7pm in time to tuck me up in bed. How very responsible. 😉

Love Bella X