Last Friday we headed up to London as a family, along with my brother and sister in law and our neice and nephew. We’d been invited to the press launch of Rave-a-roo, a family club event at The Ministry of Sound. What is a family rave?
“Rave-A-Roo is a brand new clubbing mash-up of festival fun for the whole family. It’s the ultimate party with a festival-style program of big names, top DJs, the disco ball games, LIVE stage performances, confetti mayhem, neon craft, Glow Chill Room, PlayGlow toys, UV tattoo station and the chance for mini-clubbers and their adults to take on the dance floor with Rave-A-Roo resident artists Go! Go! Go! (Dance Set) as seen on Nick Jr.”
from the Rave-a-Roo website
The venue was smart and elegant, it really felt like a night out (although it was the middle of the afternoon), we checked in, the kids all got lanyards to wear and we all had our hands stamped. The children all thought that was pretty special. It was really strange going into a club in the middle of the day and really weird going in with your children!
There was a cloakroom where you could put your coats in for £1 per item, we did this because it was pretty warm inside. Once in, there was a central bar area with a craft area where children could play with neon plasticine, a UV tattoo studio (this was very popular and had a queue the whole time) and a blow up structure that blew air out and you balance balls in the air flow.
Phoebe’s glittery Tinkerbell tattoo
There was music playing, which was good, but every now and then there was a gap in the music. We ventured further and found a chill out room, ‘Chill-a-Roo,’ which was actually not very chilled, there was a soft play area dominating the room with balls and more air flow to play with. This was where we spent most of our time!
The main club room was where the stage acts were, there were two shows played as far as I could tell and a DJ playing music. My children found it far too loud for them though and I tried to get them to watch and dance but they didn’t like it. There was a photo booth where you could get photos printed out and staff were going round giving out glow stick bracelets. Daniel was ok, he had a good wander round and explore, he fell asleep for the last half hour!
It was all too much fun for Daniel
What we liked:
The different areas, the soft play, the tattoos, neon craft, glow sticks and photo booth were all available included in the ticket price so no hidden extras there. We bought two orange juices which were £2 each and a decent size. They had a barbecue outside and also sold glowing wands. The staff were friendly and willing to help. They had good changing facilities.
What could be improved on:
The neon craft was good but just play dough essentially, this could be expanded on. They could have done a lot more to get involved with the children and make it more of a party atmosphere, blow bubbles, circus performers. The chill out area wasn’t very chilled, I was expecting there to be somewhere for the parents to sit and relax, there were quite a few parents with small babies who wanted to go to sleep, if there were a couple of sofas that would have been perfect! For our children (age 6, 5 and 14 months), they didn’t get much out of it more than they would at a soft play centre or by playing music at home. For the adults, I would have enjoyed it much more without the children! There was a licenced bar, but as it was the afternoon and we had the children with us, we weren’t drinking, and couldn’t fully relax as we were looking after them. There wasn’t a chance to get involved with the children in an activity, that would have been good – maybe a sensory area?
On the whole, we enjoyed ourselves and it was a different experience to have as a family. It’s two hours long which was just about right. It had a festival like atmosphere but without the mud, rain, camping or chemical toilets, win-win! Have you been to a club style event with your children? How did you find it?
Disclosure – we were given complimentary tickets to the event, all opinions are my own.
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