Saturday review

Waking up to sunshine is a beautiful thing, and spending the morning sat in a decorative tea tent, reading the festival’s own daily paper The Bestival Bugle, and working off last night’s hang over is yearly pleasure not to be missed.

Saturday ushers in Bestival oddities of Human Scrabble, where you go collect a giant Scrabble letter on a stick then run about finding other people with letters in an attempt to form the best word, and the highlight of the entire festival, the fancy dress parade.

Before all of that though, Guillemots are playing their third-rate Cure indie on the Main Stage, making a perfect slot to get the first round of afternoon beers in.

They’re followed by a far better received Lily Allen, who gets into the spirit of things by dressing up for the occasion in pink wig and ball gown. Opening up with new single “LDN”, a tale of London’s less than loving side, there’s nothing cataclysmically deep going on, but it’s an awful lot of fun none the less. It has to be said that at Bestival, the focus is rarely on the bands on stage, but on your own experiences to which said bands are the soundtrack (which, in a roundabout way, is me explain why writing a review of this festival is so hard – save to say it’s amazing). By the time she reaches “Smile” she admits she’s sick of it… but the crowd aren’t and everyone sings and waves and does all the kind of things you’d image a super-happy crowd of people out for a good time to do.

The Cuban Brothers soundtrack the monolithic explosion of colour that is the fancy dress parade, playing out pop remixes that turn the entire festival site into an outdoor disco populated by wild cartoon-like characters. All around you, Sylvesters, Darth Vadars, Supermans, Vikings, Gorilla Suits, it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.

The excitement generated by the parade is ample distraction from bands, it’s meet and greet time, where most people, if they’re not posing for photos with strangers, seem to be snapping away taking them.

It’s not until the evening’s headliners Pet Shop Boys take to the stage that some kind of normality resumes (I might as well admit that I spent the two hours before it sprawled on the floor in the middle of a pathway, texting loved ones letting them know I might die). Without a doubt the highlight of the weekend, the crowd revel in seeing such a well established act dance-out hits new and old with such poise and energy. I dare you not to go wild with camp elation as Neil Tennant sings out “Opportunity (Let’s Make Lots Of Money)” or pump your fists in the air during 80s staple “Go West”. “Shopping” is madly eccentric and a great chance to do the robot, while “Suburbia” and “It’s A Sin” get everyone sweating with glee.

Saturday night does goes on late, including the excellent Youngblood Brass Band in the Big Top, but I fail to see them or anyone else due to more alcohol-enduced black outs (I’m really sorry).

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