Victorious Festival 2023: Things for children to do at the popular Portsmouth event

A zip line, climbing wall, Nerf tag, bouncing castle, retro gaming and bubble making are just some of the many fantastic free activities which are all included with the price of a ticket, and this year’s decision to open the children’s area for the whole day on Friday was a big hit with parents.

Centred around the Southsea Skatepark and to the east of it, the area is full of family fun from tots to early teens to keep everyone entertained with lots of activities as well as a dedicated children’s stage!

Here a parent shares their view of the day:

Festivals can be a wonderful place - good vibes, long beer queues, plenty of food and amazing music. For some the thought of bringing their children along for the ride can fill you with dread wondering how much everything will cost, but this not something you have to worry about at Victorious.

All the rides, arts and crafts, circus skills and the ever popular face painting is free in the kids arena, an amazing perk when you consider how big the festival is. Ticket prices for children is reasonable with under fives £1 and 5 to 12 years at £8 per day, weekend tickets are £3 for under 5, and £24 for over 5s. My six year old loved the festival, this year will be his fifth and every year he gets more involved, tries more rides and dances to the acts on stage.

The line up is always a good mix of acts, this year he enjoyed Jedha Juniors, the magic shows and princesses. And at the meet and greet he got to shake hands with Sonic the Hedgehog and CBeebies favourite Bluey, even if he did get a little starstruck.

In the Kids’ Arena there is also a baby change and feeding tent stocked with free nappies and wet wipes with plenty of comfy seating for feeding hungry babies. As a mum to a six month old it was nice to have this space to feed and change my baby in a place with proper seating. I'll feed the baby anywhere but a comfy chair goes a long way.

All over the festival site the vibe is fun and welcoming, with buggies and carts allowed. We opted for the kids to be picked up by grandparents at 5pm but late into the night you see parents with kids asleep on rugs or in the carts. I asked my six year old what mark he would give the festival out of 10, his response… 1,000. Says it all really.