All things Lego at Brick Festival, Milton Keynes

A few weeks back, Brick Festival came to Milton Keynes. Now it's not to be confused with Brick Fest Live, which coincidentally was at Milton Keynes the following weekend. This was a much smaller scale event at Middleton Hall in Centre: MK. Described as a celebration of Lego, it was an opportunity to see some amazing creations as well as build our own, partake in challenges and even purchase Lego sets, memorabilia, and merchandise.

It was a ticketed event, priced at £7 per adult and £5 per child – and I personally found it strange there was a fee, when other events at the shopping centre have been free. There was even an early bird ticket priced at £13 with a free gift. For the sake of arriving an hour earlier, I don't think it would have been worth it. However, I was looking forward to a fun and creative day out so won't grumble (too much) about the pricing…

When we arrived, just after 11am, it was already fairly busy. There was no set route to walk around, and you could go and see whatever you liked, whenever – this meant some of the more popular builds and areas were quite overcrowded and it was difficult getting around with a pushchair. Tables had been set up with all the finished Lego models on and we could walk around at leisure to admire them all. I loved that all the builders had their own cards with their names on and some even had their Instagram pages or websites advertised as well.

Of course, my favourites were all the Disney and Pixar themed builds – there were a whole host of Beauty & the Beast ones, including some of the characters (Mrs Potts, Chip, Lumiere and Cogsworth). Another of my favourites were some builds inspired by the film Up, with the iconic house and balloons transformed into a Lego masterpiece. We also saw Batman and some other characters from the DC franchise; plenty of Star Wars models including an epic one (some of it shown in my reel); and even celebrity faces made from Lego in a portrait style (similar to the Beauty & the Beast one above).

It was amazing to see how Lego has changed over the years – and in particular, there was a retro carousel made out of retro Lego bricks. You could see how the colours had changed (or were a lot simpler back then, with fewer colours available) and how these ones had even discoloured over the years. There were also some models made with giant bricks which I'd never seen before. I wouldn't say it was like Duplo, but the bricks were a lot bigger and smoother. These creations were understandably more basic and, in my opinion, not as impressive as some of the ones using the standard bricks.

As well as looking at the incredible Lego builds, we were able to create our own – and single colour tables had been set up – so you could choose to build something white, blue, yellow or red (I can’t remember now if any other colours were available). The tables had all manner of bricks, shapes, accessories and so much more so you could build anything your heart desired (or inventive mind allowed). I took Alfie over to the blue table and he wasn’t feeling too inspired, so I took it upon myself to make something. I have no idea what I was aiming for, but I used some lovely arched pieces, flags and then some balls in the centre. We only stayed for about 5-10 minutes, and I ended up putting my half-finished creation in the box for someone else to finish – or demolish!

Alfie was intent on going to the corner where the Lego cars were – although I'd say it was more like Robot Wars. There were two Lego vehicles which you could control using a Lego remote, and the aim of the game was to try and get the Lego disc in the circle zone marked on the floor. I personally found it really hard to control and gave up instantly. And I wouldn't say it was worth the queue – as of course it was very popular and limited to two at a time – but it was a bit of fun in between looking around. It was nice to have this additional interactive element.

The Lego that was on offer to buy was fairly mixed in terms of pricing. I really wanted the Up set with the balloons, but a quick Google indicated it was being sold at around £20 more than a lot of the retailers. However, you could build your own Lego figures (premade or create your own) or buy a bag of bits (figures or bricks) – and this was a lot cheaper than the Lego store! I guess it depends on what you wanted. There were some really cool rare sets, as well as collectors’ items and discontinued boxes. For Lego fanatics, it was an absolute dream.

If you missed out, Brick Festival returns to Milton Keynes on Sunday 15^th September, and you can find out more details in the link above.

Love, Lucy xx