The last year of primary school is a special year. This of course includes the final test, school choices, final camp and “last but not least” a real party. But how do you organize an original party for group 8? We wrote before about great ideas for a party in group 8. But do you really want an original party or just another fun party? Then organizing your own festival is a great idea. Erika tells us how they did it.
Table of contents
My son has had a steady group of friends for almost his entire primary school period. His best friend and two best friends. A very nice quartet and together they have had many adventures. It was clear that they would organize a group 8 party together in the form of their own festival. The first plan is to organize the party in January, because three of the four have a birthday in that month. Due to the lockdown and curfew, that party was canceled at the time. Very sorry. Because we as parents also feel like a party.
Once the measures are loosened up a bit and primary school pupils are allowed a little more, things will go wild. And good too. One party after another follows. It's a party literally every week. From Proud to be Fout to a football party and from beach party to a glitter and glamor party. All parties are top-notch and all children follow the dress code fantastically.
Our quartet cannot stay behind and we set a date for the party, the festival. The preparations can begin. But how do you organize an original party between all group 8 parties? Right, organize a real festival!
Below I would like to tell you what we have done to make this festival a success. Want even more tips? Check out this blog about organizing a garden party.
After we have visited the party location at a friendly and very hospitable association, it is immediately clear. We are organizing a festival. But what do you see at a festival? We ask this question to the children. These are immediately very clear:at our festival there will be food trucks, a DJ and a bouncy castle †
Wow, that's quite a wish list. We have everything for the kids, but it has to be fun and affordable. Time for a festival meeting to steer the organization in the right direction. On a sunny Wednesday afternoon we discuss all the ideas put forward while enjoying a nice glass of wine.
We will start at the beginning. If the date and location are fixed, the invitation . will follow † An original party requires an original invitation. With us in the form of an entrance ticket, how cool. We choose to have these printed double-sided for a small fee, including tear edge. And just like with a real festival, we buy wristbands that the children get to wear at the start, the organization has started.
It soon becomes clear that contracting, for example, DJ Tony Junior or Martin Garrix is not feasible. That's why we capture a young, local hero. DJ Tom is added to the line up. (Tom is the only one, but that aside 😉)
It also appears that real food trucks did not fit within the budget. Then be creative and inventive when organizing this festival. With an old picnic table and some pallets we can make some stalls ourselves † On a warm Sunday afternoon carpentry and painting we go wild with the kids. And the result is beautiful. For example, when organizing our festival, our own cocktail bar, food truck and popcorn stall already "the bomb". We rent a small popcorn machine for a wow effect and at the local ice cream parlor we reserve a too cute ice cream truck with four tubs of ice cream. To keep costs down, we bake our own fries and shake the alcohol-free cocktails ourselves. And for dessert we light the fire pit, add some roasted marshmallows and the festival is literally “on fire”.
Tip:you can also buy a nice popcorn machine, also great for the home cinema 😉
However, the kids know one thing for sure. There's going to be a bouncy castle or something. Also a great idea for a children's party! Our festival site is perfect for this. Yet we mothers see a very big, fat bear on the road. All those children (35 pieces) on such a bouncy castle is asking for accidents, right? But because we give our kids this, we opt for an assault course. Two children can cross this at the same time. That seems safer to us. We make a great deal with a local attraction rental company. An obstacle course and inflatable Limbo dance are added to the festival activities and organizing is already two thirds on the way.
With the groceries, the money is quite a bit. To complete the festival atmosphere, we buy sticky tattoos with the last money and get our dress-up boxes from the attic. This creates a tattoo shop and a real photo booth .
And then the dressing. Because of course it really has to look like a festival and have the right atmosphere. We have two large shade cloths, lights and some balloons † Lanterns are of course also nice. But as a finishing touch, one big garland come. And we made this garland ourselves. Together. With love. Old sheets are cut to smithereens and we tear strips of our old, colorful summer dresses. While the assault course for the kids was the highlight of the festival, this garland is the one for the mothers of the party squad 😉 .
Don't feel like making the garland yourself? Check out Etsy or Hema. And the Xenos also have cool streamers!
We have arranged everything, really everything, down to the last detail. But now there's one thing we can't control. As with the major festivals, the Dutch weather can never be predicted or controlled. Sure enough, the weather forecast is getting worse by the day. Rain, rain and more rain. As if this wasn't bad enough, there could also be thunderstorms. Hell no. An emergency meeting is scheduled the day before the big festival. We decide that it must go ahead. Because when organizing a real festival, it is not canceled by a few raindrops. We arrange quite a few party tents and buy 35 ponchos.
The day of the festival it is hot. We build everything up. Together. Everyone takes their part. Very nice to do this with friends. The party tents are a lot of work to set up and we are almost hoping that it will actually rain. Otherwise all the effort would have been for nothing, haha. The assault course is frequently used between construction. It is already well worth the money. At the end of the day everyone returns home satisfied. A quick meal and a shower and then be back on time at the festival site.
Half an hour before the festival starts, what we fear when organizing will happen. Rain. Rain. And a lot more rain. Our party squad doesn't mind, however. They take off their clothes and race down the assault course in boxer shorts. Swimming trunks, bikinis and bath towels are quickly fetched and at the last minute a message is sent to the parents:bring swimwear / dry clothes and towels. #thinking
A real festival vibe is, as far as we're concerned, relaxed. Nothing is necessary, except enjoy. Take it as it comes. And will it rain? Embrace the rain. Where the parents are briefly disappointed by the large raindrops, the children do exactly what you do at a festival. Grab the moment. Dancing in the rain. The assault course slides like crazy now that it's wet. Really great.
And dancing and singing in the rain is just as fun, maybe even more fun. Fortunately, the temperature is good and we as parents are also starting to enjoy the moment. The festival is going well, the children are enjoying themselves. And so do we. We as parents also dance in the rain and celebrate. Together with all the children we enjoy the good festival vibe and each other. Organizing the festival was a success!
It's a great evening. With 35 lovely children who enjoy it immensely. Of the festival, but also of being together. Let's hope we can go to a real festival again soon. Together.
