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Gerrrrronimo !
Dad of seven turned festival director Simon Goldman tells Access why the time is right to launch his family festival Geronimo in the south
WoRDS : cHANTELLE DIETZ
Unsatisfied with what was on offer to entertain his brood of seven children , Simon Goldman quit his successful job in import and exports to establish a weekend festival specifically for kids .
“ As a family we always tried to look for days out that delivered to a varied age group and offered value for money as well as being unique . We visited many festivals with our children , but we always felt the kids field was an additional provision for festival-goers who now have children and was a secondary item to the music ,” he recalls .
It was during a day out at the Cheshire Country Fair six years ago that Goldman had the idea of turning the concept on its head and delivering a festival , which was built entirely from a child ’ s perspective . With no experience in event production whatsoever , planning started at the kitchen table .
“ In the businesses I ’ ve been involved in we ’ ve always made sure we got assistance and help from great teams and Geronimo was going to be no different . So from the start we outsourced a lot of our production requirements to specialists within the industry ,” he says .
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
The first event launched at Tatton Park in Cheshire in 2015 offering hundreds of hands-on activities for children and special guest appearances from a host of CBeebies stars including Mr Bloom and Cook and Line from Swashbuckle . It attracted 8,000 visitors . It relocated from Tatton Park to Arley Hall in 2017 . This year , for the festival ’ s fourth outing , Simon is anticipating 55,000 people to attend , with around 7,000 of those camping , making it the largest children ’ s event in Europe .
“ There is a huge appetite for what we do because we are unique , nobody else does what we do . I think people really love what we offer , because we offer a bit of everything ,” he says .
Such is the appetite for Geronimo ’ s unique model , a second event will be rolled out at Knebworth House in Hertfordshire this summer .
“ We were getting contacted by the public on a daily basis to say there is nothing like Geronimo that takes place in the south of the country , so we decided the time was right to deliver a Geronimo in the south . We were always looking for an iconic venue that would be the perfect place to launch in the south and Knebworth with its heritage fitted right into that bracket ,” explains Goldman .
Geronimo at Knebworth will be a day visit festival for 2018 , with a view to extending it into a camping and music event next year if the public enjoy it as much as anticipated . “ Ticket sales for Knebworth to date are actually ahead of Arley , so there has been a lot of interest and we are anticipating in excess of 25,000 visitors ,” reveals Goldman .
The content at both festivals will be almost identical , with a programme incorporating interactive elements like den building and musical workshops , motorcycle and jousting displays , a Victorian-style funfair and two circuses . For the little ones there will be a three foot and under section with donkey rides , a beach , Tumble Tots and character meetand-greets with the likes of Peppa Pig and PJ Masks . On
“ We spend the whole season travelling within the UK and Europe attending other festivals looking for unique attractions ”
16 FEBRUARY 2018 AccESSAA . co . Uk