What better way to get the family Easter break underway than a trip to St David’s Hall to see The Sooty Show?

I wasn’t unfamiliar with this family friendly experience having already taken two of my children to see the little yellow bear, his friends Soo, Sweep, Butch, Ramsbottom and straight-man and presenter Richard Cadell at Newport Riverfront last year.

The show follows a format in which Sooty and his friends are preparing for a birthday party but chaos rules supreme as party preparations including song, dance and magic tricks spiral out of control.

The Sooty Show encourages interaction from the offset, with Richard, Sooty, Sweep and Soo getting adults and children regularly joining in with renditions of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes as well as various volunteers plucked from the audience enlisted to help with birthday cake making and party games.

All the activity isn’t confined to the stage. “You thought you’d got the best seats in the house didn't you?” teased Cadell as he gave the front row a super soaking with a giant water pistol from the stage before descending on the rest of the audience.

The plot and on-stage actions generated real belly laughs and chuckles from grown-ups and children alike and that’s what makes this show the sure-fire hit it is. As Richard Cadell stated towards the end of the show, “the real magic is that Sooty has continued to entertain generations of children for 67 years!” Long may it continue!