Camp Bestival 2015

The family friendly Camp Bestival which offers a wealth of entertainment alongside the music, returns in 2015 from Thursday 30th July to Sunday 2nd August, at the picturesque setting of Lulworth Castle, set against the backdrop of England's dramatic Jurassic coastline in Dorset.

Line-up

Clean Bandit will headline Friday, Kaiser Chiefs lead the stage on Saturday, and Underworld will close the festival on the Sunday. Also confirmed are Ella Henderson, Justin Fletcher aka Mr Tumble, Professor Green, Wretch 32, Kate Tempest, Bob Geldof, Soul II Soul, Level 42, Alison Moyet, Ella Eyre, Cymande, 808 State, Buzzcocks, DJ Yoda, The Cuban Brothers, Arthur Brown, Slaves, Only The Young, George The Poet, Eliza Carthy, The Spooky Men's Chorale, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, Ekkah, The Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band, Weymouth Ukeleleans, Sinful Maggie, Folk Idol, and Reggaerobics.

DJs include David Rodigan, DJ Yoda, Prince Fatty, Artwork, & Venum Sound, Norman Jay, Terry Hall, Billy 'Daniel' Bunter, Slipmatt, Ratpack, Ragga Twins, Uncle Dugs, Jerome Hill, DJ Faydz, Rob da Bank, Ralph Lawson, Andy Kershaw, The Shellac Collective, Big Swing Sound System, Balearic Brothers, DJ Dapper Dan, Mix It Up DJ Kru, Chris Tofu & friends, Sunday Best Allstars, Big Fish Little Fish, and Fun DMC.

Wild comedy includes Marcus Brigstocke, Matt Richardson, Kerry Godliman, Phil Nichol, Eastend Cabaret, Alex Edelman, Andre Vincent, Dave Johns, Sofie Hagen, Jamali Maddix, Benny Boot, Wayne Deakin, Rob Deering, Damian Clark, and Pete Cain.

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.

There will also be a mix of theatre, shows, attractions, activities, poets, authors and talks for all the family, including new shows like The Cat in the Hat, and festival regulars Dick & Dom return to 'Go Wild in the Ring' There’s loads of arts, theatre, shows and more on site from the most beautifully enchanting to the sublimely silly.

Festival goers will be able to visit a very special PAN tent, providing visitors with a taste of Neverland as seen in the new movie (in cinemas October 16th). There will be an assortment of fun activities taking place in the PAN tent, including storytelling, pirate school, activity sheets, and reading area. There will be a noticeboard outside the tent, featuring a daily schedule of the events.

Also on site will be festival favourites Insect Circus, West End Kids, BRIT School, Royal Albert Hall Albert’s Band, Funky Little Choir, and Workshop Patrol. Augmenting them will be new attractions including The Chrysalis Garden, The Train Trip, and Wild Adventures promising the biggest, best and wildest activities yet.

Plus there will be a chance to explore your inner beast with bushcraft, den building, foraging, survival skills, and wild cooking. Camp Bestival will also be offering woodland adventures with mud kitchens, campfires, nature hunts, mass sleep outs, daily picnics, and falconry, plus There’s loads more Wild action happening to be announced.

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

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The early bird offer has ended. An adult weekend ticket (inc. camping from Thursday) is priced at £195, a student weekend ticket (inc. camping from Thursday) is priced at £180, a youth (age 15 to 17) weekend ticket (inc. camping from Thursday) is priced at £113, A teen (age 11 to 14) weekend ticket (inc. camping from Thursday) is priced at £88. A child (Age 5 to 10) weekend ticket (inc. camping) is priced at £20, and a toddler (age 4 and Under) weekend ticket (inc. camping) is FREE (but ticket still required).

A Campervan Ticket is priced at £72 per vehicle and a caravan/trailer tent ticket (includes a car parking space) is priced at £83, and a car parking pas is £15 in advance.

Note: 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 26)

Prices do not include booking fees.

Payment Plan

Camp Bestival 2015 tickets are available to buy using a 10 week Payment Plan with one initial payment to be made on purchase (which incudes booking fees/p&p and a deposit of £25) followed by 9 equal weekly instalments (this works out around £19 per week for an adult ticket).

Camping Plus

Camping Plus offers a reserved camping plot sized 5m x 7m pitch and has its own dedicated car park and entrance, with very easy access to showers, loos and a café. Camping Plus plots cost £125 (max of 2 adults and 4 children per plot).

Family fun

Spread across the Castle Field, Kids Garden, Big Top, Bollywood, Black Dahlia, East Lulworth Literary Institute, the festival offes 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.

Returning this year will be The Greatest Tent on Earth hosting an adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s book The Scarecrows’ Wedding, the Freestyle Funk Forum, Duck in a Truck, circus show The King of Tiny Things, a wild themed show from BRIT School, Misunderstood Monsters and Gorilla Gardening. There will also be shows from The Party, Marawa the Amazing, Marawa's Majorettes, West End Kids, Hype & Pavilion Danceathon, and Romeo and Juliet: Retold.
 
The Big Top will be home to the Royal Albert Hall presents Albert's Band, Musical Bingo, Gospeloke, Funky Little Choir, and Steelers.
 
Also on site will be regulars The Insect Circus, Marvellous Imaginary Menagerie, as well as Carnival Parades, Dance Workshops, Igor Rasputin’s Caravan of Lost Souls, The Blue Coats, the Morris Dancers, and there's rumours of The Gruffalo making an appearance too.

The Feast Collective return with ambassador Martin Morales (Ceviche), Steven Lamb (River Cottage), Jo Ingleby (BBC Cook Of The Year), and host: DJ BBQ.

Kids go wild

The Upper Kids Garden, promises a full-on play experience brimming with activities, experiences, random entertainment and a full programme of theatre shows and crafts.

The Wild theme will see kids entertained by Steve Backshall, Michaela Strachan (Really Wild Adventures) and learning how to birdwatch with Bill Oddie. In and around The Dingly Dell will be the National Trust’a 50 Things Meadow, the World Wildlife Fund will bring the magic of the forest and their Save Forests campaign, the Eden Project’s The Beast Of Besti and The Wild Network return with Wild Time In The Dingly Dell which is also home to Lizzie’s Way and their munching caterpillars at the Caterpillar Café, and a chance to join Moth and Butterfly Hunts and get creative with Butterfly crafts.

All this plus Jurassic CSI, sleeping out under the stars, giant tree climbing, den building, woodland picnic, campfire, storytelling and folk sessions with Tom Laycock, falconry, bushcraft, wood whittling, wild seed planting, and a mud mural.

Brand new for this year is Off The Beaten Track offering live mammal meetings, lake picnic walks, foraging walks, a forest school, and more.

Also on site over the weekend will be Cowboy Max, Rex The Dinosaur, and Dolly The Giraffe.

Guardian Literary Institute

the Guardian Literary Institute features a program as diverse and entertaining as ever. With appearances from Bill Oddie, Suzanne Moore, Andy Torbet, Dr Radha, Genevieve Taylor, Michael Townsend Williams, Ian Prior, Julia Eccleshare, Sara Cox, Dick n Dom, John Harris, and many, many others,with a cornucopia of fascinating, intriguing and downright brilliant ‘How To…’ sessions, talks, spoken word, quizzes and the perennially popular bedtime stories.

Talks include From The 27 Club with Chris Salewicz who will be interviewed by the Guardian’s John Harris, through Tourettes Hero, the return of the Scummy Mummies Show, Before They Were Famous, Adventure is Out There and Scummy Mummies Agony Hour with Nurse Jessie, to the simple business of Virtual and Augmented Reality with the Guardian’s games editor Keith Stuart, and sessions covering What's Really Going On?, What Really Matters?, Probably Nothing with Matilda Tristram, Take a Bite on the Wild Side and The Parenting Illusion - How Doing Less Does More. Plus, each morning the Wake up with the Guardian sessions with John Harris, John Halpern and Ian Prior.

Quizzes include Let's crack today's Guardian crossword with the fiend who set it and The Exploding Plastic Inevitable Pop Quiz with John Harris, plus there will be Guardian Literary Institute hosts David Wright & Jack Rooke, and Book Signings at the Pelican Post.

Satin Lizard Lounge

This year's orators include Kate Tempest and Hollie McNish, Rob Auton, Jodi Ann Bickley, Mark Grist, Chris Redmond, Tim Clare, John Berkavitch, Raymond Anthrobus, Mr Gee, Tommy Sissons, and Jack Dean. Plus the Roundhouse Poets, a group of 12 up-and-coming artists aged between 16 & 25, who are destined to be stars of the future.

The Den

The Den is a whole area of Camp Bestival dedicated solely to 13 – 17 year-olds, it’s kind of a festival within a festival, with new and emerging talent, workshops, talks, Q&As, and more.

Talks and Q&As include Off the Record with Professor Green, The Den Surgery with Dr Radha, Poetry Slam world champion, Harry Baker - The Sunshine Kid, and Blogging: How To! With Teen Vogue.

Give-It-A-Go Sessions on offer across the weekend include DIY Festival Fashion, Disco Yoga. Cecilia Knapp in Spoken Word 101, self-discovery with Getting To Grips, the BRIT School's Music Video Masterclass, and a Parkour Pop-Up. The Den will also play host to Spoken Word including coming of age act Finding Home, Maria Ferguson, Samuel King and Laurie Bolger offers Poetry & Lyrics tips.

The Den: Afterhours showcases an array of DJs, live acts, dancers and drummers. Friday night’s flavour is Dancehall, and hula madness aplenty with hosts Marawa and the Majorettes, Saturday sees a Totally Tropical Takeover, and Sunday will be Wild! And live music in The Den with Rats In Me Kitchen, Pocket Club, Rive, Karyma and Eden Roxx.

Situated alongside The Den will be Rob da Bank’s Music Club. Putting on exclusive workshops, demonstrations, inspirational speakers and general chill out, with music and performance for 13 - 17 year-olds – it’s only teens allowed.

The Hideaway

The Hideaway is the new Wellness retreat and spa, dedicated to finding a little slice of inner peace in the middle of Camp Bestival’s joyous hullabaloo, The Hideaway’s programme of treatments and classes has been carefully curated offering a programme of yoga classes, including acro-yoga, beginners’ yoga, family classes, kids’ sessions, pregnancy yoga, hot power yoga and restorative yoga. Plus there will be morning and evening meditation sessions, and Restorative Massage and other alternative therapies available.

The Transformation Station has long mirrors, hair stations, straighteners, comfortable changing, mobile phone charging facilities and more, this area will be beautifully kitted out with handcrafted eco-showers.

Wellness also offers Nature Runs. Following a brief consultation and assessment, you’ll experience a personalised hour of fitness coaching in the beautiful countryside surrounding the festival.

Plus wood-fired hot tubs with Bathing Under The Sky with special family time sessions between 01:00pm - 03:00pm. All other sessions are for the grown-ups only to kick back and enjoy a dip in the open air.

Fancy dress

Camp Bestival's fancy dress theme has been announced as go wild!

As the amount of screen-time kids enjoy creeps ever upwards, Camp Bestival wants to remind them of the simple pleasures of the great outdoors, and the endless fun of running around under the sun. The four-day festi-holiday shenanigans will expound the happy and healthy joys of getting back to nature. From jumping about in bare feet, creating wild art and making daisy chains, to wood carving, star gazing and way beyond, a wild imagination goes a long way in nature’s playground, and Camp Bestival is going to be the wildest place on earth!

Featuring a host of Camp Bestival’s attractions including the Bollywood, The Big Top, The Greatest Tent on Earth, Pig’s Big Ballroom, Art Town, Insect Circus, the Science Tent, Medieval Jousting, the Soul Park and more, there will be adventurous family fun across the board with music, theatre, shows, attractions, activities, poets, authors, talks and healthy food.

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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