Devauden Festival is an ‘amazing’ festival in an idyllic location near Bristol

It wasn’t the first time I attended the Devauden Festival; I went a few years ago as a trainee reporter while working for a newspaper in Wales and even then I knew I’d be back. The music event near Bristol, just over the Welsh border on the Wye Valley, returned this weekend and I was so excited to go.

The festival – a 30-minute drive from Bristol – has been running since 2010 and advertises itself as a “small festival with big ideas”. The family-friendly event featured over a hundred musicians – including Laid Blak and Rusty Shackle – and entertainers on five stages.

The drive to Devauden took a little longer than usual (45 minutes) due to the holiday weekend traffic, but it wasn’t long at all as my friend and I talked excitedly about what we were going to do when we got there. Showing up with two kids, aged 18 months and seven, we were hoping for lots of family friendly stuff and the festival certainly delivered on that.

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We started by looking around and Devauden felt like the perfect size; not too big, not too small. There were plenty of food stalls to choose from and we went for a classic burger and veggie wrap which were both delicious.

One of the things that struck us all were the drink prices; a pint was £4, a half pint £2. I’ve never been to a festival where the drinks were cheaper than my local pub; welcome to life in Wales. The bar was definitely popular and by the time we left on Saturday they had sold out of quite a few beers.

Being there with the kids, I spent quite a bit of time on the playground and in the family area, which included a craft tent and a Duplo table that my kid was obsessed with. There was also a circus area and performances throughout the afternoon.

We ended the day listening to some music before heading back to Bristol around 9pm. We were lucky to have beautiful sunny weather all afternoon which made a huge difference; the experience would have been quite different if it had rained. That was the case on Sunday, and one of my friends who stayed all weekend was so grateful to a local farmer who got them (and others) out of the field where their van was parked after it got stuck in the mud.

I had a wonderful afternoon and would not hesitate to recommend the festival to people. I will be back and hopefully next time I can stay the whole weekend. Gone are the days of drinking and drug fueled festivals for me; give me a cool bohemian festival in an amazing location anytime these days.