Famfestlive Reviews 

0 stars, completely false advertisement, nothing was there apart from an expensive fairground ( which seems to be a common theme with famfest) , at least we went on sunday, which was the only day the characters were booked for(which the character company confirmed on the famfest page) even though it said both days, they delete negative comments on social media. We went on a couple rides just so the kids had something to do and wasn't a wasted trip.

DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY
Bought tickets to go yesterday I plymouth all I can say is dont waste your time and money in going what a rip off.
Security misable and rude
Fair ground ride soooo expensive
Food your ok if all u want is cold scabby chips that are over priced
Hardly any space to sit, very over crowded on a hard concrete ground
Nothing for the kids to do that was in the advert
Over all would never go again and by the comments I've seen on Facebook no one else will be going again

Very disappointing – not as advertised

We paid £23 for two adults and a child, plus £13 for the inflatable area. Based on the advertising, we expected a family festival with lots of activities and entertainment included.

In reality, most of the advertised activities simply weren't there. No foam party, kids disco, characters, face painting, yoga, workshops, soft play, interactive activities or educational shows. There was no programme or timetable either, so you had no idea when anything was supposed to be happening.

What was there was mainly a fairground, food/drink stalls and attractions requiring additional payment. The inflatable area was essentially a collection of bouncy castles with no proper separation for younger children.

There were plenty of portaloos but no baby changing area, which seems particularly poor for an event aimed at families with young children. Staff seemed mainly focused on checking bags for outside food and drinks, rather than being available to help or direct families, and nobody checked our admission tickets when we entered (only the separate inflatable tickets were checked).

Food and drinks were also very expensive, and you couldn't bring your own refreshments in despite the extreme heat.

Overall, it felt much more like an expensive fairground than the family festival that was advertised. Very poor value for money and, based on similar reports from their other events, seemingly not an isolated problem. I'd strongly recommend checking recent reviews before booking.

Absolutely a waste of time and money. This wasn’t a festival at all; it felt more like a poor man’s funfair and would be better renamed the “Sad Fair.”

There were hardly any stalls or rides, and what little there was seemed ridiculously overpriced. Overall, it felt underwhelming, poorly organised, and completely lacking in atmosphere. For the amount of money being charged, I expected far more.

Plymouth really needs to take a serious look at the events it puts on. If the aim is to attract people into the city, then this certainly isn’t the way to do it. Visitors should be given something enjoyable, vibrant, and worth spending their money on.

If the intention is to make the city feel cheap, run-down, and lacking in ambition, then Fam Fest certainly delivers. Otherwise, Plymouth needs to raise its standards and put on events that people will actually want to return to and recommend.

I would give zero if I could, no facilities, massively overpriced, disgusting toilets and didn’t even check tickets which we had paid £20 for. We left after 30 minutes and went to a nearby NT.

I attended the FamFest Live Plymouth event yesterday and am sorry to say that it was a complete waste of money and a masterclass in misrepresentation.

While the cancellation of the inflatable theme park was understandable due to the heat, the rest of the promised lineup was a phantom listing. We were advertised zorb balls, face painting, kids’ yoga, a big top circus, stilt walkers, bubble fairies, an LED robot show, and a Bumblebee Transformer. Not a single one of these was present. This wasn't just a slight disappointment—it was outright false advertising.

The venue conditions were equally terrible. On a scorching day, there was zero shade provided. Management instructed attendees to bring picnic blankets instead of chairs, neglecting to mention that the ground was solid concrete and completely unsuitable for sitting on.

After paying an initial entry fee for a "festival" that lacked its core attractions, we were then charged for everything inside. The few funfair rides and food stalls available were offensively overpriced. While the tribute bands were talented and the foam party was enjoyable, they could not save an otherwise disastrous, badly managed event.

I have seen that they were offering free tickets to today’s event as compensation, however this is an insult. Why would anyone want a second day of a ruined experience?

We were completely misled, left out in the heat on concrete, and ripped off. We demand a full refund. I messaged the Facebook page yesterday, but they haven’t read my message and I doubt they will reply. They are deleting all negative reviews and comments from social media and can’t be trusted. We were so looking forward to this event and would love to say we will be returning next year, however this is definitely not the case! Avoid!

It was awful. We traveled from Dawlish to this "festival". We waited for 30-40 mins in the blazing sun to get in the gates. Once in, we were surrounded by people saying "is this it?" And "you paid to get in here?"... There was no parking, no shade, no big top tent, no characters, the woman on stage was scantily clad, rides were £5 per person, a crepe was £10, about 95% of what was advertised was NOT there, nobody seemed to have any fun, it was scheduled on the same day as an argyle home match, the size of the venue wasn't very big, maybe the length of a swimming pool at best, the ground was unsuitable, the super early bird prices I paid back in March were actually MORE than the tickets on sale in the final week! Any negative comment you put on their page gets removed, so many unhappy families who were expecting circus acts, face paint, zorbes, stunt shows, entertainment, characters, lazer shows etc. there was a strictly no chair policy which meant most people didn't bring a chair so had to sit on the boiling hot concrete or the dry spikey grass... I can't believe we passed up on a holiday abroad because we had bought these tickets! It's a con and it doesn't appear that this con is limited to their badly organized Plymouth event. I will be taking this further.

This isn’t a festival this is a travellers fair. Drunk parents hitting their kids, XL bullies, only chips to eat but can’t bring in your own food (although lots of people did anyway), no shade anywhere, can’t let go of your children’s hands at all as it’s so chaotic. Completely mis-sold as a festival it’s actually a joke. We left after 2 hours - we tried to stay as it felt a waste of a day, but after 3 year old wet himself as we couldn’t get across the field to the toilets in time we went home.

Plymouth:

Dont waste your time making a special trip or your money. Its tiny, could probably throw a tennis ball from one end to the other. Cannot be classed as a festival, it's more of a fun fair.

Performer we saw on stage was not appropriate for children, next to nothing on and the dance moves....🙄

We've travelled from taunton and I've spent £70 on the train and £20 on the tickets for the festival...pointless.

Park next to it was better than the family fest.

Ruined our entire day as we travelled for this event specifically!!!

Wont offer a refund but instead free entry the next day....I've already been and travelled to attend no thank you!

Major false advertisement, absolute rip off.

Wouldn’t allow me to do 1 star !

Everything advertised wasn’t there , good venders £3 drinks &£8 hot dog , £6 ice creams,

Small area we basically paid to get into the fair and listen to a hour of music .

Shocking completely misleading the crowd thinned out so quickly everyone was extremely disappointed

⚠️ Extremely disappointing – I would not recommend FamFest Live

We purchased “Super Early Bird” tickets in February, expecting a family-focused event with a range of activities and entertainment. What we actually experienced was completely different.

The event was tiny and massively underwhelming. It consisted essentially of food/stall vendors, fairground rides that required additional payment and a live music stage. There were zero free activities for children.

There were no inflatables, no children's workshops, no circus activities, no circus acts and no zorbing. The area that appeared to be set up for workshops was completely empty, with no timetable or indication that anything was happening later.

We have a two-year-old and there was nothing available for him. We ended up paying separately for one fairground ride simply so he didn't feel as though he was missing out. We left after around 30 minutes because there was nothing else for our family to do and went to the park instead.

The only thing included in the admission price appeared to be the live music – which could be heard perfectly well from outside the event anyway.

There were also significant logistical issues. The venue was changed from the original Plymstock location to Central Park, with the explanation that the event was being merged to make it a bigger event. It certainly wasn't what we expected from that description.

Central Park is next to Home Park, where Plymouth Argyle were playing on the same day, meaning parking was extremely difficult. We travelled approximately 20 miles from Gunnislake and had expected to park on site. Instead, we had to park on Ganges Road and walk around 22 minutes with a toddler. There was no communication from the organisers warning attendees about the match-day parking situation or advising them to allow extra time.

I've since seen numerous other attendees raising similar concerns, including reports of long queues, missing activities, missing circus entertainment, no zorbing or inflatables, and serious concerns about the event's accessibility despite it apparently being promoted as accessible/disability-friendly.

We also paid “Super Early Bird” prices, only to discover that the same adult ticket was subsequently being sold for £4 + £1 booking fee, compared with the £9 + £1 booking fee we paid in February. So those supposedly early-bird tickets actually cost us £5 more per adult.

I have complained directly to the event organisers and have also reported my concerns to Trading Standards because I believe the issues go beyond ordinary dissatisfaction with an event and raise questions about advertising, ticket pricing and the representations made to consumers.

Based on our experience, I would strongly advise potential customers to look very carefully at what is actually being offered before purchasing tickets.

For us, it was a waste of money, time, fuel and a 20-mile journey – and we left after 30 minutes.

Went to the Plymouth one today-
Was an absolute waste of money.
There were none of the activities that were advertised. It was a very small site with no shade and nowhere to sit apart from 2 benches.
The food was extortionate.
No activities for younger children.
We left after an hour due to overcrowding and the heat and even then there was a massive queue to get in. No idea how everyone managed to fit in.
Completely awful experience

Would give zero stars if possible. I think any positive review on here must be fake. This was advertised to me as a wonderful festival aimed at toddler with thier favourite characters, animals, workshops, yoga, plenty of space. It was none of these things. Not as advertised at all. Paid £10 to get into a rubbish fun fair that you had to pay for again to go on the rides. My three year old daughter was only big enough to go on two of the rides. No performances whatsoever until two hours in and then a Beyoncé tribute act. The children wondering who on earth it was. I felt sorry for the act as they were pretty good but so not what everyone was expecting. No staff around to ask. No program of events (probably because there were none). No inflatables as advertised apparently due to hot weather but it wasn’t overly hot- about 25 degrees. There was nothing to do and nowhere to sit down. We went in at 1pm and left like many other people by 3pm after having made the best of it for our daughter. In that time there was one live performance. What an absolute scam. The organisers should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of families with young children.

Absolutely shocking event,£29 for a family ticket and then rides £5 each when inside,all acts and inflatables been cancelled or not as advertised

Avoid

If I could give less I would.
Having attended the event in Plymouth on 15/08/26, I believe there were significant failures in the service provided compared with the event that was advertised and purchased. These issues also raise serious concerns regarding accessibility, inclusivity, welfare and crowd safety.

1. Multiple advertised attractions were not provided

The Plymouth event was advertised as including a wide range of family activities and entertainment, including:

* inflatable park;
* zorbing balls;
* face painting and meet-and-greets;
* children’s yoga;
* giant robots and walkabout acts;
* other family activities and experiences.

In reality, we experienced the cancellation or absence of a significant number of these advertised attractions, including the inflatable attraction, zorbing, face painting, children’s yoga and giant robots/robot entertainment.

I recognise that the inflatable attraction was cancelled because of the heat. However, the cumulative absence of multiple advertised attractions meant that the event we actually received was materially different from the event advertised.

2. Accessibility and disabled children

We attended with our disabled children and the changes made by FamFest had a particularly significant impact on our ability to access and enjoy the event.

On-site parking was withdrawn after tickets had been purchased. Your subsequent parking communication instructed attendees to use local/public parking and walk to the event.

Camping chairs were also subsequently prohibited, despite your FAQ stating that customers are welcome to bring camping chairs.

Once inside, there was virtually no shade and only approximately two picnic tables, leaving extremely limited seating.

These arrangements created a substantial disadvantage for our disabled children. A blanket on the ground is not necessarily an equivalent or reasonable alternative to suitable seating for a disabled child, and additional walking from off-site parking is not simply a matter of convenience for a family with additional needs.

3. Heat, shade, water and welfare

The inflatable attraction was cancelled because of the extreme heat, demonstrating that FamFest recognised the heat as a significant safety consideration.

However, when we attended, there was virtually no shade, extremely limited seating and no water-refill stations.

There were also fewer than approximately 15 portable toilets for the entire event, based on what we observed.

Given the heat and the number of people attending, I am concerned that adequate welfare provision was not available.

4. Crowd capacity and safety

The queues and number of people attending appeared extremely large in comparison with the available space.

I was genuinely concerned that the density of people queuing and the limited available space could present a health and safety and crowd-management risk, particularly in the heat and for children and disabled attendees.

5. Dogs

FamFest’s published FAQ states that well-behaved dogs are welcome, and other published Plymouth event information also advertised the event as dog-friendly.

However, dogs were refused entry despite customers having purchased dog tickets.

6. Additional costs and affordability

The rides that remained available were charged at approximately £5 per child.

I appreciate that your terms state that rides are an additional cost. However, when multiple advertised/included activities were unavailable, the remaining paid attractions represented a significant additional cost for families.

For families on lower incomes, paying £5 for each child for individual rides substantially restricts the activities they can realistically access.

This is particularly relevant given FamFest’s own marketing describes the festival as offering lots of activities included within the ticket and providing family-friendly value.

Crap!!! No transformers or foam party! Everything you have to pay for nothing included!! Spent £30 ontop of the £20 to get in! Not a festival but a glorified fair! My boy was really upset as I’d promised there would be robots and transformers!! Scam!!

Family tribute music acts ❌
Trails & BMX Stunt Show
Giant robots and walkabout acts ❌
Stilts walkers and bubble fairies ❌
Educational shows and live demos ❌
Hands-on experiences
Foam party and kids disco ❌
FamFest kids rave ❌
Games Fest and Nerf Wars ❌
Inflatable park and zorbing balls ❌
Face painting and meet-and-greets ❌
Arts and crafts and workshops ❌
Kids yoga sessions ❌
K-pop Demon Hunters sing-along ❌
Bluey and Bingo sing-along fun
Family-friendly dance and activities ❌
Mad for Animals experiences ❌
Educational animal shows ❌
Interactive discovery sessions ❌

When booking your tickets don’t bother wasting your money.
We booked the inflatable activity area thinking that meant we had booked our space - wrong. They wouldn’t let us on (they had over sold massively) and never gave us our money back. Wasted £11!
We booked 2-4 and queued for about 30 mins (we got there about 1:50 ready for 2pm) when we got to the front we were told there were too many people on the inflatables already and there were still around 80 families behind us!! While we were waiting there were children coming off the inflatables crying because there were too many on there and children were getting hurt

Save your money and avoid.
I’ve emailed asking for my money back at the very minimum and been ignored several times.

AVOID - This year's event has been cancelled. I was offered entry into another event on a different weekend and at a venue 30+ miles away. Trying to get a refund is near impossible. No contact details except an email address. If I don't get a refund soon I will consider this fraud, and will treat it as such. Considering legal action.

Avoid!!! We want to the one in Lincolnshire at Belvoir Castle- the “super early bird tickets” turned out to be more expensive than what you paid for it on the day which you could do on the gate- an absolutely con. It was completely falsely advertised- half the things weren’t there that they said would be. Basically paid to get into an overpriced fair… which you then have to pay for the rides on top of. There were cables running right across the field making it unsafe for children. Queued for an hour to get in to just the car park. Absolute shambles. Don’t bother booking!

Agree with most other reviewers
- toilets as cesspits
- no food and drink allowed in and massively inflated prices (£6 for an ice cream)
- fairground exorbitant £20 for a family of 4 for a 3 minute ferris ride
- blocking everyone with negative reviews on social media
- shows on the big stage rubbish and v limited other entertainment.
They are absolutely fleecing attendees.