A new fun festival created for families with SEND children is coming to Wirral

SENsory Fest, which will be in Birkenhead Park on Saturday June 20, has been created by Kate Corcoran.

Kate, who own events company Yay Wirral!, was inspired to launch SENsory Festival by her own family experience. She and her husband have three children, and the older two are autistic.

Kate explains:

“One of the biggest events I run is the New Brighton Food and Drink Festival and from the start of that, five years ago, we’ve had a dedicated Sensory Village.

“It’s something that’s really close to my heart because I’m a mum of three boys and my eight and 10-year-old are both autistic so I was looking at it through their eyes.

“My six-year-old, who’s neurotypical, wants to go to all these mainstream events and I don’t want him to have to sacrifice that. When we were planning the food and drink festival I wanted to make sure we had a dedicated area targeted towards families who have neurodiversity that still had activities but was a bit calmer.

“It’s worked really well and we’ve had such great feedback so that’s why we thought about doing SENsory Fest as a stand-alone event, with a lot of similar elements but on a bigger scale and much more controlled so it can just be exclusively for families with additional needs.

“We know how difficult it can be for many families to access traditional events and festivals, so SENsory Fest has been designed to be inclusive, welcoming and understanding of a wide range of needs.”

The new festival will feature activities that are sensory and focused towards children who are neurodiverse or have additional needs. There’ll be giant inflatables, trampolines, a foam pit and large ball pit, and an entertainment tent with Mr Tumble Liverpool. He’s experienced in working with children with additional needs, he’s trained in Makaton signing and uses controlled sound levels and lighting.

SENsory Fest will also have a mobile therapy zoo with animals for children to interact with, and a parent hub with local organisations such as SENDLO Wirral, Autism Together and Koala North West giving talks and letting parents know about
resources.

Even the food has been planned with SEND families in mind says Kate:

“We’ve just got two food trucks to keep it simple: Chip’d, who offer Dutch-style chips with all different kinds of dips, as well as chicken dippers and hotdogs, and Dope Pizzas who make artisan wood-fired pizzas.

“We know there are likely to be a lot of children who are picky eaters, and beige food enthusiasts, so we’ll have ‘safe’ foods that aren’t out of their comfort zone.

“But both traders will have their full menu as well as the simplified options because we’re expecting 70% of people attending will be parents or siblings so we want to make sure we’re offering something for everyone.

“There’s also going to be a big seating area so people are absolutely welcome to bring their own food and drink, whatever works best for them.”

The event is ticketed which means numbers can be controlled, and tickets include all activities and entertainment – there are no tokens – so families don’t have to work out what children can go on and when.

The festival will be in a fenced off area of the park, stewarded by SEND-trained staff, to give parents extra peace of mind.

Kate says the aim of SENsory Fest is simple: to create a day where SEND families feel comfortable, included and able to enjoy themselves without judgement.

Kate says:

“There’ll be no judgy looks and no pressure to fit in, this is our tribe, and that for me is important; that children can just run around and be themselves.”

SENsory Fest is at Birkenhead Park on Saturday June 20. There are three sessions, 9.30am-11.30am, 12noon-2pm and 2.30pm-4.30pm.