Camp Bestival 2012

The 'Silly Olympics' come to Camp Bestival which returns in 2012 from Thursday 26th to Sunday 29th July, 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

Hot Chip will headline Friday, Saturday is topped by Kool & the Gang, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers (confirmed yesterday), and Earth, Wind & Fire Experience feat Al McKay. On Sunday Happy Mondays will headline. Other acts include Jimmy Cliff, Rizzle Kicks, Adam Ant And The Good The Mad And The Lovely Posse, Rolf Harris, Jimmy Carr, King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, LTJ Bukem, Little Dragon, Bellowhead, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, The Cuban Brothers, Liz Green, Three Bonzos And A Piano, Prince Fatty, Blues Brothers UK, Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo, The Moonflowers, Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer, Warm & Electric Minds, David Rodigan MBE presents RAM JAM, The Japanese Popstars, Jaguar Skills, Camo & Krooked, Greg Wilson, Zed Bias, Mosca, Ben UFO, Stopmakingme, Balearic Brothers, Lianne La Havas, Netsky, Ren Harvieu, James Yorkston, Justin Robertson, Soft Rocks, Dick & Dom, and Shepdog. For the line-up details as available please click here.

Camp Bestival has a wealth of festival exclusives including Justin Fletcher aka Mr Tumble, Silly Olympics with Lost & Found, Shrek the Musical, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Bopps, English National Ballet, Kid Carpet and the Noisy Animals, Camp Bestival Summer Panto: Beauti and the Beast, Roundhouse Street Variety Show, and Truth About Youth.

Scroobius Pip, Chris Redmond, Joshua Idehen, John Berkavitch, Jodi Ann Bickley, John Osborne, Alex Gynther and John Sinclair who will be sharing the finest selection of their latest word craft.

Authors include the Fabulous Baker Brothers, Joe Stretch, Matt Whyman, Richard Milward, Ben Crystal, Lerryn Korda, David Gatward, and Stuart Evers.

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 multiple 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.

Tickets

The early bird offer has ended. Only day tickets priced at £60 for adults and £30 for children, are available, weekend options have sold out. An adult weekend ticket with camping was priced at £175 or £185 if camping from Thursday, a weekend with camping child ticket for those 15 to 17 (on 26/07/2012) was priced at £110, or £115 if camping on Thursday. A weekend with camping child ticket for those children 11 to 14 (on 26/07/2012) was priced at £95.

All teens (aged 11 to 17) MUST camp in the same area as their families with a maximum of 2 teens per adult (over the age of 30). All children under-11 (on 26/07/2012) can attend for free (but MUST HAVE a ticket). These ticket holders must be accompanied by a Ticket holding parent or guardian over the age of 21.

An advance car parking pass is priced £10 per car (or £15 cash on arrival), and campervan ticket is £80 per vehicle.

To buy tickets, click here.

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

get there by coach

Big Green Coach is running coaches to Camp Bestival from London Victoria.
To book, click here.

Payment plan details

Early bird tickets were available on the family payment plan with one initial payment to be made on purchase followed by 5 monthly instalments, An adult weekend ticket requires an initial payment of £30 with 5 further payments of £30. Age 15-17 weekend ticket - initial payment of £17.50 with 5 further payments of £17.50. Age 11-14 weekend ticket - initial payment of £15 with 5 further payments of £15. Campervan Ticket - Initial payment of £13.33 with 5 further payments of £13.33. Car Park Ticket - Initial payment of £1.67 with 5 further payments of £1.67.

Family fun

Spread across the Castle Field, Kids Garden, Big Top, Bollywood, Black Dahlia, East Lulworth Literary Institute, Freestyle Sports Park and more, this year will offer even more family entertainment, sideshow attractions and more. There's a huge Kids Area filled with things to keep little ones of all ages entertained all day long. Plus Lulworth Castle has its very own Animal Farm where the kids can get up close to their super-friendly animals.

New for 2012

Young British Foodies Tent will be on site a a festival exclusive. There will be a Wall of Death, and Morris dancing. The Olympics are covered with a screening of the opening ceremony live in the Big Top on Friday night complete with a Camp Bestival torch alongside Silly Olympic antics throughout the weekend with Lost & Found. Romantics can get married at the Big Love Inflatable Church. This year the Come Dancing sessions have moved to a Belgian Spiegel Tent. There will be a Secret Emporium offering retail therapy with the milliners, jewellers, fashion designers and artists and goodies from some of the best British designers, and for food lovers the Underground Farmers Market curated by MsMarmitelover. The Wookey Hole Circus of under 18 year olds will present magic acts, aerial feats and juggling mayhem, and Square Peg Circus will present a dusk performance of their new outdoor show 'Rime'.

Silly Sportsday

Silly Sportsday activities take place at both the Blue Coats tent and a specially prepared track, Judy Cater & Co will be on hand with their multinational team of wonky coaches.

All contestants will begin the games in an oath swearing ceremony. Track events will include, No Sense of Direction Running, Animal Relay, starting with chickens v frogs, Chariots of Fire SlowMo Race and Remote Control Racing.

Field events will include, 'Jaffa'-lin Throwing and Gurny Shot Put. Plus other events outside of the realms of track and field will include, Synchronised Paddling in the very Olympic pool, household appliance Weightlifting, Leider – Hose-Down, Goodminton like badminton but gooder and without the rackets, Hammer-time, and slalom with a Ski Sunday Special.

Exclusive shows

Camp Bestival will offer a line up of exclusive shows, including an operatic Fantastic Mr Fox, mischievous duo The Bopps, the first Camp Bestival Summer Panto and the brand new Roundhouse Street Variety Show!

Soul Bird Gardens

The healing area expands this year offering massages, wood fired hot tubs, relaxation and meditation with the David Lynch Foundation.

Camping Plus

Camping Plus offers campers larger reserved camping spaces of 5m x 7m, with its own dedicated car park and entrance. Divided into lettered rows and coloured blocks to help you easily identify your pitch when you arrive (with Red & Orange closer to the entrance and Indigo & Violet closer to the arena), Pitches can be booked side-by-side for especially big tents, to camp with friends, or to give extra space for a gazebo. Camping Plus also has easy access to exclusive showers, flushing loos and a top notch cafe so your all-important breakfast will be close at hand.

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 2012 organisers are promising even more marvels and merriment with 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.

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, 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 is 'Silly Olympics'.

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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