Play at Home Fest opens to strong reception

14,000 families log on for the festival, which bought licensed brands into family homes virtually for the first time ever.

Dr Gummer’s Good Play Guide is celebrating the success of its first Play at Home Fest virtual festival which was streamed over the late May Bank Holiday weekend.

Page views for the event reached 71,000 across dedicated website PlayatHomeFest.com over the two days and social media impressions exceeded 750,000 on Good Play Guide channels alone.

In total, 22,335 individuals registered for tickets for the event, but many more streamed the performances throughout the weekend. With almost all sessions still available for catch up via YouTube and Facebook, the views are still increasing, with over 9,000 families tuning in for content they missed, or to view again over the last week.

The event also raised in excess of £5,000 for the National Emergencies Trust Coronavirus Appeal and Theodora Children’s Charity through voluntary donations and profit.

Play at Home Fest ran across three stages – the Main Stage, the Time to Create stage and the Preschool stage, allowing brands to target different age groups and categories easily.

Dr Gummer’s Good Play Guide planned the festival to support children’s industries at a time when traditional marketing strategies are struggling and experiential events are cancelled. A number of licensed brands signed up to Play at Home Fest, including Warner Bros, Aardman and Miffy, which were able to showcase brands to the highly targeted, engaged audience.

“Creativity is at the heart of everything we do at Aardman so it was my pleasure to share a little bit of that with Play at Home Fest,” commented Merlin Crossingham, creative director at Aardman, who hosted a model making workshop, teaching viewers how to make their own Morph. “I am delighted that Morph and I could help get kids sculpting with their hands and having fun while also raising funds for a great cause.”

Off the back of the success, Dr Gummer’s Good Play Guide is now planning for a second festival to run across the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Amanda Gummer, founder and ceo of Dr Gummer’s Good Play Guide, said: “The reaction to our first Play at Home Fest has been phenomenal. Families who got involved with the event had overwhelmingly positive feedback, and the noise on social media was fabulous.

“I’m delighted that we could find a way to help brands promote their products at a time when marketing is increasingly difficult, while also raising money for great causes and providing play for families.”

Any companies interested in getting involved with the next Play at Home Fest should contact marketing@goodplayguide.com.

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