What Is ‘In The Night Garden Live’ Like?

It’s that time of year again when the showdome pitches up in town and Igglepiggle and his friends tour the UK. This year was our second experience of In The Night Garden Live. We went last year when Mrs T was just about to turn two. Back then, it took a while for her to warm up but she thoroughly enjoyed it in the end. You can read our review here.

A year older and with vague memories of last year’s trip, she was very excited to be seeing her In The Night Garden friends and we had been building it up in the weeks beforehand.

We went on a Wednesday afternoon. Entering the showdome is an experience in itself: the white, michelin man style tent concealing some tunnels into the main theatre. It was certainly a source of excitement for Mrs T. Check out my film of our experience.

As we arrived, there was a large space to place the buggies and all the staff were really helpful. We hadn’t printed off the ticket for our goody bag but it took just a few minutes for them to print us off a new one. I recommend getting the goody bag. You get a lot of In The Night Garden merchandise for a good price and Mrs T loved it – especially the light up windmill to hold during the performance.

The goody bag was a bit different from last year’s too. We went for the Upsy Daisy one rather than Igglepiggle – which we got last time. A couple of notable additions which went down very well was a Tomliboo soft toy and the plate, cup, bowl and cutlery – which we now use on a daily basis!

Last year we booked the premium seats which got us close to the stage but this time we saved a bit of cash and got the standard. We still had a good view although at one point Mrs T got up and wandered over the dividing fence to get a closer look.

You have the option to see the Pinky Ponk or Ninky Nonk show. Having seen the Ninky Nonk one last year, which was all about Iggle Piggle losing his blanket, we chose the Pinky Ponk show. It centred on Makka Pakka washing everyone’s faces – until he loses his sponge. Disaster! Can anyone find it so he can finish his job and everyone can go to sleep? I won’t spoil it for you.

The show uses a mix of puppets and people in suits. It’s cleverly done. Mrs T particularly liked the bit when hundreds of bubbles floated out from the back of the room and filled the auditorium.

Mrs T, who will soon turn three years old, really enjoyed the show and my husband and I enjoyed seeing her enjoyment. It helped that we had bought a bucket of popcorn to keep us entertained! As an adult, the first time we went to In The Night Garden Live, it was a bit of a novelty. The second time is
a tad dull. I also didn’t think the Pinky Ponk show was quite as good. My main disappointment was that the Ponky Pink didn’t feature very prominately! There wasn’t even any Pinky Ponk juice (which to be honest, I could have done with)!

But I am not the target audience! Mrs T had a great time. She was a lot more animated than last year, singing along to the character’s songs, clapping and waving. The other day she was asking if we could go again. I  am hoping suspect she will be too old for it next year…but we shall see. It’s funny because although she loves playing with her soft toys and all the In The Night Garden merchandise, she doesn’t love watching the programme in an evening anymore…she seems to have grown out it but clearly still loves the characters and concept.

All in all we had a great afternoon out. You can’t beat seeing the smiles on your child’s face – and there were a lot to see. There is also the option (at an additional cost) to meet one of the characters but we have yet to do that. We did get her a Pinky Ponk balloon though which went down very well.

There are still tickets to see for The Night Garden Live in Birmingham, Manchester and  Glasgow.

Have you been to In The Night Garden Live? What was your experience? I would love to know your thoughts. 

You may also like to read…

Review of In The Night Garden Live
Julia Donaldson’s Stick Man On Stage
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