FriendsFest Chelmsford Review

When FriendsFest first made an appearance September 2015 in London I was beside myself excited and ready to get tickets however after roughly ten minutes it was all sold out. So when I found out it was making a comeback for 2016 I was not going to miss out again! 

Myself and the wonderful Alexandra headed down to Hylands Park in Chelmsford this Wednesday well and truly ready to get our friends on. Slightly more eager than anticipated we was there for opening time which handly meant less queuing in the burning sun, not ideal for a heavy pregnant woman. 

First stop for us was Central Perk, the set was incredible it was just like stepping into your television. It actually didn't feel strange at all to be sitting on the orange sofa listening to a Phoebe lookalike singing smelly cat as I have invested so many hours watching the show it almost felt like home. It was a shame you couldn't actually get a coffee and have a chill out for an hour or two but as people started arriving the ques also started to double in size. 

Next we was transported to Vegas to get hitched Mr Rachel and Mrs Ross style, there was a dressing up box which we made full use of. I definitely looked more like Phoebe 'in the one with all the wedding dresses.' The festival staff were on hand and only too happy to take photos for you, however some of them were much better photographers than others - I left with a couple of snaps of thumbs which was nice. 

The main attraction of the event was definitely Monica's apartment, to save everyone waiting for hours in massive que's when booking your ticket you was allocated a time slot. This worked really well, especially as it was so hot I can't imagine standing in line for longer than we did. A wonderful member of festival staff (kicking myself that I didn't get her name) got me a chair and sat me in the shade while I was waiting for my turn, she even offered to go and get me some water to help cool me down. I couldn't believe how well they looked after me because I am pregnant without me even mentioning it, I haven't experienced anything like this from staff anywhere else during the last seven months. 

Monica's apartment was exactly as you would expect it to be, it is a shame that people can't be trusted as everything was stuck down. Would have been great to have been able to use some of the props for photo opportunities but completely understand why they have to do that. After Monica's you walked out into the Duck and the Chick bar which also held a set of Joey and Chandlers. It definitely didn't have the same attention to detail as the other sets but still got us laughing about 'the one where Joey and Chandler get robbed' 

It was such a fun experience and I am so glad we managed to get tickets this time round, however it is a bit like Madame Tussauds once you got your photos there wasn't much else to do.  If it comes to the UK again next year I would 100% say it is worth the £24 entry price.