Camp Bestival 2010

One of the best festivals in the country for families with young children, Bestival's sister festival - Camp Bestival - returns in 2010 from Friday 30th July to Sunday 1st August, the first week of the school summer holidays, at the picturesque setting of Lulworth Castle, set against the backdrop of England's dramatic Jurassic coastline in Dorset.

Line-up

Saturday headliners Madness and Sunday headliner Friendly Fires, lead a line-up of acts that includes The Human League, George Clinton And Funkadelic/Parliament, Marc Almond, Billy Bragg, The Blockheads, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Icebreaker feat BJ Cole, Chas And His Band, Example, The Wurzels, Calvin Harris, Chipmunk, Lee Scratch Perry, The Cuban Brothers, Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick, James Yorkston, Stornoway, Beth Jeans Houghton, Gold Panda, and Countryside Alliance.

The DJ line-up includes Jaguar Shills, DJ Yoda, Rob Da Bank, Annie Mac, Mr Scruff, William Orbit, Jack Beats, Mark Lamarr, Nigel Godrich, Joy Orbison, Jakwob, Mistajam, Greg Wilson, Ragga Twins, The Nextmen feat MC Wrec & Zarif, DJ Derek, DJ Joker, Cooly G, L-Vis 1990, Boy 8 Bit, Jonny Trunk, and Gregs Greats.

Comedy next year will come from a range of comedians including Harry Hill, Rufus Hound, Andrew Maxwell, Jim Jeffries, and Marcus Brigstocke, and Andre Vincent who will be performing The Early Edition.

Making a return for 2010 is 2009's surprise smash hit with the kids Justin Fletcher aka Mr Tumble this time he'll be at the festival for the whole three days.

For the line-up details as available please click here.

Family friendly

This festival is hugely suited to families, far more so than for those without kids. Camp Bestival is all about bringing back the British Holiday Camp... Bestival style! A place where Hi de Hi camping capers meet the spirit of early festivals and as well as entertainment, comedy, and literature.

There will be a full programme music over at least three stages, plus other entertainment including comedy, arts & crafts, spoken word, dance, and more.

Quiet time

There will be a silence on site from 6.15 - 7.15pm on the Saturday ... sound systems all go quiet for an hour. The reason for this is there is a church service that has taken place at Lulworth Castle for hundreds of years. Loads of stuff still happens during this period though, like spoken word, theatre stuff and kids garden happenings, and no-one needs to keep quiet themselves.

Circus

Zippos Festival Circus will be bringing their breathtaking show to Camp Bestival. There will be 12 shows spread across the weekend, space is limited to 500 people per show, tickets for performances will be £7.50 each (under 2s are free). Tickets can be pre-ordered from click here.

Also announced is news that Tate Britain will be presenting Rude Britannia: British Comic Art. This informal lecture by Tate curator Cedar Lewisohn will explore the links between art and humour past and present. There will also be a selection of films from the exhibition Rude Britannia: British Comic Art jointly selected by curators at the Tate and comedian Harry Hill. The program includes works by artists including Oliver Michael and Edwina Ashton, who tells the story of twig that works in a Library!

Tickets

Tickets have sold out. An adult weekend ticket with camping was priced at £155, a weekend with camping child ticket for those 11 to 17 (on 30/07/2010) was priced at £77.50. These ticket holders must be accompanied by a Ticket holding parent or guardian over the age of 21. All children under-11 can attend for free (but MUST HAVE a ticket), and campervans cost £60 per vehicle.

Cars will not be allowed into the Campervan area at any time so consequentially Caravans, Trailer Tents etc are not permitted.

Family fun

As well as evening entertainment until the early hours for those parents wanting to dance, there's fun for all the family at this festival. There's a Kids Area (even bigger in 2010) filled with things to keep little ones of all ages entertained all day long in a jam packed haven for kids and their parents. Plus Lulworth Castle has its very own Animal Farm where the kids can get up close to their super-friendly animals.

Isle of Boden Arena

The new Isle of Boden Arena will see children entertained with Bedtime Stories from Howard Marks and Billy Bragg, plus play host to kids & family discos with DJ Yoda, Rob da Bank, Zero 7, Friendly Fires and more.

The House of Fairy Tales

The House of Fairy Tales will have its own area at Camp Bestival within which there will be a fun mini-worlds to explore, interact with and learn from. Children visiting the area will receive a passport filled with games, puzzles and tasks for the multitude of different areas at Passport Control. When a child successfully completes a task or workshop they will be given a stamp in their passport, stamps lead to badges and badges lead to a special medal.

Camping Plus

A new initiative for those that want to guarantee themselves a large amount of reserved camping space - enough for one of those epically large family-sized tents. Camping Plus offers a guaranteed plot less than 50 metres away from the car park entrance and all the plots can be individually booked so the festival goers can ensure ensure the whole of their party are camping side by side in adjacent plots. Plus access to the area's dedicated showers, flushing loos and a cafe. There are only 500 plots up for grabs though.

Choir project

Camp Bestival will play host to Bill Drummond's The17 and giving festivlal goers the chance to become part of special musical art project, and become a member of The17: Bill Drummond's (KLF, Timelords etc) choir. Bill will work with 10 groups of 17 people to record one of his scores. These will be combined and played back to the entire audience at Camp Bestival on Sunday night. To be part of one of the first 5 choirs to take part festival goers should email The17@campbestival.net to register. All ages are welcome.

Boutique Babysitting

Bestival have also announced the arrival of Boutique Babysitting which they say is just the first part of a master plan to make life that bit easier for parents at Camp Bestival.

Luxury camping

There's also luxury tents, tipis, yurts, bivouacs, airstreams, and gypsy caravans available to hire, or bring your own outdoor living.

Entertainment

In 2010 organisers are promising even more marvels and merriment plus bigger and better campsites, the festival has incomparable family facilities and a large campsite, but it does get a bit crowded with large family tents.

The Dingly Dell Trail will offer an interactive performance area for kids and adults by day, with a darker edge late night with new site specific performances that have been commissioned exclusively for Camp Bestival. The Time For Tease which fuses the tradition of British afternoon tea with the decadent world of burlesque cabaret will also return with Burlesque performances, cabaret singers and of course the Time For Tease Gateaux Vivants. Plus daytime dance classes, and much more besides.

Other entertainment

Also on site are The English National Ballet, A Chapter In My Life, Johnson's Enchanted Baby Changing Garden, Heavenly Healing, Pamper Lounge, Videopia, Punk Science, and The World Famous will be back with the awe-inspiring pyrotechnical pleasures of their Son et Lumiere extravaganza.

New for 2010 is The East Lulworth Literary Institute offering rare live interviews with the likes of film director Andrea Arnold; learn How To Be DJ Derek, 'ideas to live by' through expert sessions from the School of Life; plus special guests and sessions to be announced soon.

There's also House of Fairytales a brand new art project headed up by renowned artist Gavin Turk. Arriving from Bestival is the Polka Tent with wall to wall, end to end Crazy Hoedown music, Balkan Bangers, Speed Gypsy and Kleizmer chaos.

There's plenty more music, comedy and spoken word to be announced soon as well as plentiful activities for the young and old including Arts & Crafts workshops, Dance lessons, 100 free things for kids to do, Jousting from the Knights of Lulworth Castle, the Freestyle Sports Park including Mountain Bike, Skate And Parkour displays, madcap merriment from the Bestival Bluecoats.

Fancy dress

Camp Bestival's fancy dress theme for this year has been announced as Fairy Tales.

Bestival's Dressing Up Area will be on hand to help the adults get dressed up and there will also be a separate Kid's Dressing Up Area (& Catwalk) so the little'uns can get involved too.

Disabled Info

Camp Bestival's organisers are committed to making the festival as accessible as possible and great efforts are being been made to achieve this. The Lulworth Castle Grounds are predominantly flat and are partially serviced by a network of paths. However, Camp Bestival is an outdoor event utilising fields and farm land that could pose problems, particularly in wet weather. With a little help here and there though it should definitely be manageable even in adverse weather. Carers can apply for a free carers ticket and a disabled pass. The Disabled Camping Area is positioned near to the main Lulworth Castle entrance and to the Main Stage. Vehicles with a blue badge (or similar) can park in the disabled camping area. Friends will have to park in the main car park, however. There are charging points for electric wheelchairs available upon request and disabled toilets onsite. Contact the organisers if you have further questions.

To access the online disabled pass application form, click here

More info

Click HERE for information about all aspects of Camp Bestival.

More information will be here when available.

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