From Paddington to pirates, the Kids' Arena line-up is announced for Victorious festival 2018

CBeebies star Andy Day will be taking a break from his adventures in the jungle and prehistoric time-travelling to play with his Oddsocks band, who will headline on the Saturday. With Rio on guitar, Blu on bass, Moxy hitting the drums and Random Keith on keys, they love telling stories and singing about everything from aliens and dinosaurs to rapping robots and even a groovy hoover.

Cook and Line, the hapless pirates from CBeebies’ Swashbuckle, will be performing a rip-roaring adventure to top Sunday’s line-up. Their show is full of lively songs, crowd-pleasing games and laugh-out-loud comedy.

For those looking to get up close to the action, there will be meet-and-greet sessions with some of the world’s biggest names in children’s entertainment, including Victorious debut appearances from the much-loved marmalade-munching bear Paddington and Adventure Time’s Finn and Jake, who will be at the festival on both the Saturday and Sunday.

There will be plenty of other activities taking place across the huge Kids’ Arena.

The award-winning pre-school football academy, Little Kickers, return, giving a positive introduction to sports and playing as a team. Children’s Parties Portsmouth will be hosting a party, where you can throw some shapes with a disco, dance competitions and fun games.

Southampton Scrap Store gang will be teaching you how to make space rockets out of regular waste items in its Out Of This World project.

In the Portsmouth College Action Area for over-10s, Game Over, Portsmouth’s only gaming console café, will be bringing their retro gaming consoles. Action Stations Nerf Area, Canoe Lake Leisure Tennis workshops, plus the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Mary Rose Zones.

Festival director Andy Marsh said: ‘It’s a huge part of the festival and it adds an extra dimension – it opens it up to families, not just locally, but now we’re also getting more coming from out of town and who are camping.

‘It’s also important that everything in the Kids’ Arena is free – people don’t have to pay a penny once they’re in.

‘It’s been a part of the festival since it began, and it’s grown with the festival. We’ve always had local attractions involved, and it’s a community-led area.’

The festival runs from August 24-26, with the Kids’ Arena open on the Saturday and Sunday. Adult tickets are £30 for Friday, and £45 each for the other two days (fees apply).

Tickets for children 5-12 years are £8 a day and under-fives are just £1 with all activities in the Kids’ Arena free. For more go to victoriousfestival.co.uk.