In the woods a lion is singing and playing the accordion while a Toad of Toad Hall lookalike is taking a troupe of young frogs on a conga across the nearby village green.

Later there will be a midnight feast, but not before tribes of fish, stags, foxes and owls have done battle in a mass pillow fight.

When otherwise normal-looking middle aged men and woman sprout horns, grow tails or colour their face a queasy shade of green, it can only mean one thing...it’s time for another Just So festival.

Now in its seventh year, the festival set up by Rowan Hoban and Sarah Bird, directors of Macclesfield’s Wild Rumpus, has earned national recognition for delivering on its promise of an event ‘beyond the wildest imagination’ at Rode Hall near Rode Heath.

This is a event with a difference. You probably won’t have heard of any of the bands, don’t expect any mosh pits and you won’t be kept awake into the early hours by 24 hour party people.

But none of this stops it from being one of the happiest, friendliest and most colourful events on the summer calendar.

This is one for the kids, especially the big kids among us.

Festival goers are encouraged to join a series of animalistic tribes, turn up looking the part and leave any negativity at the gate.

If they can bring a favourite story or song to share around the campfire then all the better.

Wander through the trees and you’ll find a theatre run by woodland animals, bands playing in hidden stages and even a private detective agency operating from a bush.

There are a series of stalls selling good quality street food, and most importantly for those of us needing respite from the madness, some fine tasting real ale.

The awful weather does it’s best to spoil the fun, but the little fishes, frogs and foxes don’t seem to let it get in their way.

Downpours punctuate the weekend and at times it seems that the only time the dire weather forecast is wrong is when rain isn’t predicted.

But early each morning there are plenty of little ones dressed in pyjamas, overcoats and wellies, back wandering the site with their equally wide-eyed parents looking for their next dose of fun.

A series of eye-catching highlights - such as the lantern procession and the Wild Rumpus parade - bring the festival to regular crescendos and showcase what Just So does best: creating a magical world to fire the imagination of the youngest to the eldest.