Wilderfest is a brand new event for 2021 at Chessington World of Adventures! Bringing festival vibes to the park, with more entertainment, colourful bunting and flags around the park, it's definitely an event with a lot of energy.
Around the park, mini-stages have been set up where The Lorikeets, the hottest girl band from the Rainforest, perform a collab with Hissie Elliott. It's great to see live music being performed around the park and the interaction between the performers and guests was great to see.
Who headlines The Mane Stage, we decide! 3 lucky acts have been chosen by the public to perform, Led Zebra, DJ Sharkey and Lady Ra Ra battle it out in a sing-off and dance-off for guests votes. At the end of the performance, the clap-o-meter is brought onto the screen which records who got the loudest cheer and claps. We really enjoyed the Mane Stage show as it was something totally different, the special effects mixed with live music and dance was fun and something the whole family can enjoy. We hope that if the event returns for next year that more acts would perform with a wider range of talent.
Roaming around the park is the Groupie Troupe, Wilderfest's biggest fans. You will often find them around the mane stage cheering on their favourite acts. With props and groovy costumes, these guys love posing for photos with guests and sometimes even have some "real" animals with them such as a Dragon, Hippo and Pandas! Again we love more entertainment being such a prominent feature of Wilderfest.
Also, new for Wilderfest, chill out on the festival Field and enjoy festival games, a glitter stand, tin can games and food stands! Complete with picnic tables and colourful bunting we really love this area. For younger guests, the Festival Field also has a beach where you can roll around in the sand and dig to your heart's content. With the park building a new rollercoaster on this site in a few years time, this could be the last time we see an event hosted on this field.
As with all good festivals, Wilderfest has a wide range of merchandise such as; badges with the artists playing, a pin badge, hoodies, T-Shirts and bucket hats with the Wilderfest logo on it. It's great to see the park expanding its events and merchandise lineup, but we would love to see events that have. bands and mazes have a top that had all of the logos on the back as proper festivals and events do.
For those guests wanting to feel the real VIP expierence, you can rent a private hideaway for you and your friends. Enjoying a private space in the heart of Wilderfest located a stone's throw away from the Festival Field. A full day VIP of the hideaway costs £300 but is for up to 8 people. Including complimentary drinks and snacks and a meal of your choice delivered to the tent which, we think is quite good value for money! It is unknown if you can get annual pass discount on this.
Wilderfest is an awesome event and we can see this event growing in the next few years! With the extra entertainment and the new music playing around the park the event really felt like a whole new experience. Almost like a festival but without the long queues for the toilets. Our only feedback would be longer park hours and a few more acts on the Mane Stage, 3 acts is good, but we would love to see more variety.
