Port Eliot, Southern England

What I would do to bring back this kind of reckless frivolity. Whoa! A cafe run by children for children: no adults allowed? A man juggling livers and live rats? Kids shooting arrows at a daredevil who flicks away danger with his bare hands?

All is not lost. Family festivals are popping up in every field across England. Port Eliot is booming, Womad is raving, Camp Bestival is sparkling, and don’t forget Green Man in Wales, the eco-festival where kids must pedal bicycles to generate power for the bands’ equipment. Yes. Sounds just we need: a family festival run by amateurs with no sales pitch in sight.

I’m longing to find this in America. But does such an event even exist?

I haven't seen on yet. So last summer I started one myself. Right here in New York. Check out my blog posting below. Bellport & Brookhaven Children’s Book Festival was my kind of fun. Who’s with me? Who knows, with your help, it might grow into something wonderful.