CHILDREN'S entertainment has gotten a bad name these days.

It makes you picture disinterested toddlers glued to a TV or tablet watching garish cartoons or youngsters rampaging around soulless soft play centres.

Whatever happened to imagination-stirring bedroom stories, getting muddy while playing out, getting creative with arts and crafts and believing in fantastical creatures?

Just So Festival pays tribute to those often forgotten ideas of childhood which parents seem to long for as much as their children.

The three-day camping event, now in its seventh year, at the Rode Hall Estate in Scholar Green whisks you away to an eccentric playground of stories, music, theatre, art and workshops suitable for all ages.

If you miss your Glastonbury days, it is also a great way of introducing your children to a specially-tailored festival experience among like-minded people.

The spirit of the event was reflected in the enthusiastic way performers, artists and the crowds responded to some pretty dreadful weather.

Parents were obviously enjoying it as much as their children too. The first dad we saw had a multicoloured beard and was wearing a fish hat.

One mum was dressed from head to toe as a zebra while her daughter was in a lion suit.

This was all to do with Just So's quirky 'tribal tournament' which sees festival-goers dress as frogs, fish, stags, lions, foxes or owls to raise points for their 'tribe'.

It is a lovely element to the festival which gives the event its identity.

Throughout the weekend there was everything from pop-up events to full on stage presentations.

Among the highlights were Reynard the Fox, a play about a lion king and sneaky fox, on a woodland stage and the lively, How The Monkey Found His Swing, which mixed storytelling from the award-winning Ursula Holden Gill with music from Manchester's HSQ Jazz Quartet.

Run by the not-for-profit social enterprise, Wild Rumpus, and with a whimsical identity all of its own free from commercial trappings, Just So is a credit to all involved.

Early bird tickets for Just So Festival 2017 from August 18 to 20 are on sale from Friday at justsofestival.org.uk at special early bird prices of £120 (adults), £45 (child) for weekend camping, £70 (adult), £25 (child) for two-day non-camping, £40 (adult), £15 (child) for day tickets. Under threes are free.