Ben and Jerry's Sundae on the Common festival. (Ben and Jerry's Sundae on the Common)

Member Name: sophie131

Product:	Ben and Jerry's Sundae on the Common
Date:	04/09/08 (63 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing, cheap, free ice cream!

Disadvantages: If it rained t wouldn't be so good.

I will try to make this review make as much sense as possible, but it's hard to order it when it was all so good so bare with me!
I went to this festival for the first time this year, it took place on the 26th and 27th of July on Clapham Common. It was fairly easy to get to (but wasn't signposted) from the tube station, about a 10 minute walk. As the festival was on there were various brands hading out cereal bars, cans of drink and goodie bags as you walked along the route to the festival which was nice! The doors officially opened at 12pm, but I went in at 12.30 and there were about 30 people in there! There was a band playing but unfortunately for them there was not a great audience.
Of course, 12pm is the best time to be in there if you want FREE ice cream(Ben and Jerry's none the less), when you buy your ticket (around £6 by the way!) it entitles you to not only entrance to the festival, but also free ice cream all day, and with 19 flavours to chose from, you need to get there early to avoid the queues!
Once inside there is a lovely atmosphere, it's all very family orientated, there was a helter skelter, swinging boats and a city farm as well as a bar and a pimms bus. For younger children there is also a special kiddie area with lots of fun looking things to do! As with all places such as this, food and drink are expensive when you get in there, not to mention the queue for the bar taking 45 minutes! There are free water taps around the festival so if you plan right (and bring your own food) it is an incredibly cheap day out.
The bands change every year, but it's always 'fairly' unknown bands which then become a lot better known over the year, so get in there and see them early!
Any advice to people going would be to take a picnic blanket. It is just the done thing at this festival for everyone to sit and watch the music. I would next time take one than pay £10 for one, although it was lovely!
At the end of the festival Jerry came on stage and thanked us all for coming. There is a hidden message behind the festival in that it is all climate neutral and there are lots of stands there supporting energy saving and the like which are all worth a lot.

Just some general info now:
You cannot buy tickets for both Saturday and Sunday, you have to choose between them. It is also not a camping festival, it runs from 12-8 on both days.
There is only one tree so if you know you want shade and it's going to be a hot day, get there early! Similarly if it's going to ran, plan ahead there is NO shelter.
There are plenty of toilets in several places around the site. These are well looked after :)
For £6 you can't beat ice cream and music all day!

Summary: I am definitely going again next year!