I saw the Principality Stadium in a whole new way at thrilling event

Dirt ramps and huge monster trucks took over the Principality Stadium at the high-octane and thrilling Monster Jam event

I’ve seen the Principality Stadium in a lot of different ways, not least as the Millennium Stadium. There’s been rugby, good and bad, Olympic football (that was bonkers), gigs (the number of which I’ve lost count), and most recently Hyrox, albeit through the gates on the boardwalk. But never have I seen the pitch covered in tonnes of dirt, ramps and being absolutely hammered by machinery. Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here

But my kids are now the age that I jumped at the chance to take them to Monster Jam. It was a two and a half show of unadulterated American goodness, packed into a central Cardiff postcode.

My kids walked into the pre-show “pit party” knowing nothing of the drivers or the trucks. By the end they were chanting and cheering for their favourite drivers.

Divided into three parts, the main show was made up of racing, skills, and freestyle. By far our favourite was the third, freestyle when these daring drivers let loose, doing things I wouldn’t have thought possible in the relatively confined space of this stadium in a 12,000lb truck. Extra points go to Zombie for wearing a Wales rugby top under his overalls.

The main show started at 3pm, ending around 5.30pm.

We were able to go to the pit party beforehand, a chance to get up close to the vehicles and meet the drivers. There were clearly some uber fans here, with shirts and programmes being signed and kids patiently queuing to high five or fist pump their hero.

Aside from how approachable the drivers were, my main takeaway was just how mind blowingly expensive the merchandise was, £30 for a t-shirt, £20 for a small toy and £30 for a bigger one.

My brain was just totting up the escalating price of a day out in the city, aside from tickets and refreshments, and we all know what kids are like when this stuff is right in front of them.

To their credit, there were free activities to do. There was an “RC Arena” and a sandpit section both ours loved, but I was glad when a steward pointed out we could leave the stadium before the main show, meaning we could head into town rather than keep the kids penned in.

Although the city was packed when we got outside – and full of equally excited small people with plastic horns – I was glad we’d had a drink and food outside the venue because when we did try to get drinks and food inside the stadium from the new much-billed new food and drink vendor I was hugely disappointed. While yes, there was more variety, the queues took forever and they had run out of a huge amount of items before the show started.

By half time I heard them telling various people there was no nachos, no chips and no lager – there could well have been more items.

However, back to the main event, it was everything I expected and everything the kids wanted. High octane, loud, a thrill a minute, stunts, entertainment and activities. Tick. Tick. Tick.

For each break that was needed for the drivers to have their cars repaired or rebuilt, there was other stuff going on. It was mesmerising watching the JCBs sprint around the track to rebuilt ramps and the kids were captivated throughout.

With my mum head on, I would say the afternoon was a lot for those under five or so, and there were plenty of younger kids whose attention span had gone long before the final prize was awarded to (spoiler) Sparkle Smash.

When I asked ours for their review the answer could only have been one thing. 10/10.

I won’t argue.

Find out more on the Monster Jam website.