Camp Bestival - Early review

[Francis Biley]

the best thing about the kids field area - was it's lack of wind and a sun trap - lovely it was

[RabHairBeard]

I went with my wife and nipper and thought it was generally a great weekend. My 7-year old had a fantastic time. Didn't pay too much attention to the bands - but then never do at festies - prefer to just wander around and let things grab my attention.

Highlights for me... Cuban Brothers, Insect Circus, flourescent jugglers, comedy tent (Andrew Maxwell's Full Mooners on the last night was wicked), learning the Lindy Hop, comfy crappers, coffee and donuts for breakfast, local beer tent. I'd add the Flaming lips, but I think I prefer them in a closed venue - they didn't seem to quite fill the space in the way they usually do?

Bummers... nowhere near enough toilets (kids can't wait 20mins for a dump), the guys had urinals, but I felt sorry for the ladies - they must have spent over an hour a day queuing up - ridiculous. £10 car parking - a bit cheeky? £3.50 for a can of dodgy cider - where was the local scrumpy?

This was always very firmly billed for families - if you want more of a party I guess go to Bestival? I guess they'll smooth out the wrinkles for next year. It was a very good first effort - I hope they get another license - I'd go again ;-)

Edited July 21, 2008 by RabHairBeard

[sureshot]

Was I at a different festival?

It was AMAZING. The sun shone, the setting was magical, I was wary about so many kids being there but I thought they were great and added to the magical feeling. The Camp Bestival Stewards and Helpers were all lovely - super friendly and chatty. Only on the 1st night was there any reall attempt to curb people taking their own booze through which I put down to them seeing how the vibe was going to be and when they realised it wasn't going to be full of para-teenagers they eased up. Buying beer at £3.50 a pop is your choice - either don't do it or don't gripe about it! And maybe we were lucky enough to time it rght - we breezed in to the site Friday morning, waited 20mins max for wristbands and 10 mins max for a loo stop all weekend (the guy at the Comfy Crappers was great entertainment whilst waiting too).

The farmers market shop next to the Seaview Inn pub (come on - a real ale pub at a festie...probably the best idea in the world in comparison to other yellow fizzy drink sponsored tents) was great for supplies - tea/coffee a £1 (where were you paying £3? the WI tent was only 50p for a cuppa!), great food at much cheaper prices than other festivals, the loos were fine (sorry but I know it was billed as family friendly but it is your choice to take kids - why not have taken a potty if they were smaller too?) surely you must have realised that though there would be queues? What if the queue was made up of 100 other kids, would you moan then or is it just cos you think your kids should come first every time?! And the choice of food was fab - Pie Minister def the fave of the weekend but also the woodfired pizza, Thali Cafe etc...and all the stall holders were lovely and VERY generous with portions if you were smiley happy folk - most time a curry for one was def enough for two!

My ONLY gripe would be the amount of Yummy Mummys who thought it was fine to leave their kids rubbish lying everywhere cos Oscar or Lily were simply too precious to be told to clear up after themselves. Heard some AMAZING parenting techniques too "If you do not sit down and be quiet (whilst every other kid was running around having a whale of a time) I will go MENTAL and embarrass you" was a particular favourite!

The music was great, if you didn't feel the shambolic wonder of Flaming Lips and the joy they give to the audience maybe you'd be better giving Bestival/Camp Bestival a miss from now on and stay at home and listen to your stereo - but you are missing the point if you just went for the music (go to the IOW Bestie for that) it was an old school festival in the truest sense: loads of weird and wonderful stuff going on and a chance to meet and mingle with people in a wonderful setting. I am surprised that no one has mentioned how lovely it was to have room to camp, spread out and find a spot in the sun/shade etc whatever you fancied.

Hats off to Da Banks - a gem of a weekend. What other festival will give you day beds, dingly dells, a place for a comfy crap and a Hi De Hi wake up call?

[William of Walworth]

I think the OP was too harsh. The more balanced reviews later in this thread, including plusses AND minusses, were much fairer.

Negatives first : Anyone who arrived in the afternoon on Friday (maybe earlier on traffic progress was better?) would surely have to accept that the traffic standstill represented a near-disaster. I arrived at Wool station, only 4 miles up the road, at 4:30 and Deb picked me up straight away, but it took us well over 3 hours to get on site. I think to be pissed off with that is perfectly legitimate!

Rob da Bank's post makes it clear they didn't expect so many families to bring two cars. Kazric on Sunday reckoned that the fact that neither carpark passes nor kids tickets were sold in advance had a lot to do with this. Kids = free and you were theoreticallly meant to buy carpark tickets on arrival, luckily they'd abandoned that by the time we got on! So there was no prior knowledge of how many cars were going to come,and people clearly occupied far more camping space than estimated.

We missed Kitty Daisy and Lewis, Imperial Leisure and Cut a Shine on Friday -- ANNOYING!

No decent cider was also a minus. As was the Tjmes/Sunday Times monopoly ... no Guardian hmmm ....

The OP is moaning about the £3:50 a can shite lager in the main stage bar --to only have Red Stripe and John Smiths is a travesty agreed, and we didn't buy any. BUT the Seaview Inn, in the kids field, sold very decent local beer -- OK it cost £3= or more a pint, but exceptionally good quality and the ales lasted almost til the end of Sunday.

Weather after Friday was fantastic, Sunday especially.

Not wanting to start any wars breaking out over the number of children issue. But let's just say that lots of children correctly divide opinion, non parents have to accept (and bewilderedly we do!!! ) that some couples love em, equally, parents should remember that IF their children are acting up, and there are vast numbers of them, then that WILL try the patience of many non parents, people who aren't necessarily miserable grumps for finding it all a bit much. Neither Deb nor I are fans of loud hyperactive kids and noisy babies (we have none and plan to keep matters that way!). We were expecting plenty to be there (but not so many!! the kids field was absolute Bedlam ... ). Still, we put up with it -- a lot to put up with if you're not too keen on kids, so accept that please parents. We still generally still had a good time though, and were quite good at finding areas with fewer children, such as the carpark below the kids field/Real Ale tent which was a blissful warm QUIET haven with a lovely view. Likewise, if you WERE a parent, there was plenty for the littluns to do so no doubt that went down very well ...

Tolerence cuts both ways on this!

The food was pricey agreed (not universally £7= if you looked about though) yet in my opinion the quality at almost all stalls was excellent, and worth the money.

Chuck Berry started badly. The sound was very poor to start with, but once we moved to the middle, and then the sound was sorted, his set took off and we were much more impressed -- Deb is a real rock and roller and was desparate to see him while he's still alive, in fact he was 90% of the reason we came. His son and daughter did most of the work, I was particularly impressed by Ingrid who is a BRILLIANT harmonica player and had a lovely voice. And at least Chuck did 'the walk' once! Not enough well known classic hits though, where was Johnny B. Goode and Maybelline?

The council curfew is academic. Nothing was allowed to go on after 11 on the main stage sure, but it's quite well known around the circuit that Chuck Berry will NEVER do more than an hour anyway.

I loved Billy Bragg's concentration on ancient classics!

Very impressed by the Imagined Vilage, who we'd never seen.

Wurzels were a great laugh again, you need to drink cider (we had our own) to appreciate them, but we had some Westons Organic ....

Not sure why people are dissing the Flaming Lips, I thought their lightshow and stagemenship was fanastic. I'd never seen them before and I am not very familiar with their material, but from our standpoint, on the balcony of the Castle, it was a great show.

Loved the Dulwich Ukeleles and the Jugband on Sunday morning including Flounder on Banjo!

My personal highlight was DJ Derek. Legend, nuff said. And Shellac Collective on Sunday night in the Spiegeltent played some fine old classics of a different kind ....

We won't be back next year because festivals so VERY kid dominated are not for us and we'll have to cut back on a few festivals next year anyway for £££ reasons. But the setting was beautiful and l'm sure the organisational problems will get sorted.

Edited July 22, 2008 by William of Walworth

[BrianW]

The Seaview Inn, in the kids field, sold very decent local beer -- OK it cost £3= or more a pint, but exceptionally good quality and the ales lasted almost til the end of Sunday.

Loved the Dulwich Ukeleles and the Jugband on Sunday morning ...

[Flounder]

Its always a little awkward giving feedback on a festival as a festival organiser, but I'll keep it objective and brief and if the organisers want a more detailed breakdown, they can contact me directly. All the things like bogs, parking etc have been covered, so no point in going back over it, except to day that they are valid.

We had a top time - really good & nice to be able to catch up with people and have a natter.

Loads of kids, loads of different parenting styles, loads of expensive cars in the car-park, loads for kids to do that cost nothing. Kids area was brilliant and putting that bar there was a great idea ( unless you're William & Debs ). Cider was bloody awful, but Morph managed to find some scrumpy in the farmers market. Strummerville Camp fire was great on the last night and Dulwich Uke Orchestra were grand.

Stage sound for Chuck Berry was a nightmare, not helped by the wind though. Got better the more central we got.

As with most festivals, it's possible to do things on the cheap. Here there were very few stalls, other than food, fags, dressing up and beer and this helped loads. We felt food was too pricey ( £16.50 for two breakfasts with drinks), but of a good standard.

Late night stuff for adults was there if you looked. It was cool to be able to take the wheelbarrow into the Spiegel tent complete with sleeping C3PO and dance around til the early hours.

So overall a result - great time and good vibe. The weather helped loads. Would love to go again, but I think it's too pricey for us - however that's our problem and not Rob's or Sunday Bests. It'll have to be performing or not I would imagine.

[William of Walworth]

but Morph managed to find some scrumpy in the farmers market

[ivan]

I went with my wife and nipper and thought it was generally a great weekend. My 7-year old had a fantastic time. Didn't pay too much attention to the bands - but then never do at festies - prefer to just wander around and let things grab my attention.

Highlights for me... Cuban Brothers, Insect Circus, flourescent jugglers, comedy tent (Andrew Maxwell's Full Mooners on the last night was wicked), learning the Lindy Hop, comfy crappers, coffee and donuts for breakfast, local beer tent. I'd add the Flaming lips, but I think I prefer them in a closed venue - they didn't seem to quite fill the space in the way they usually do?

I saw the Cuban Brothers at Glasto and yes Miguel ended up naked for the last 10 mins !

Was wondering if he risked it at Camp Bestival ?

[RabHairBeard]

I saw the Cuban Brothers at Glasto and yes Miguel ended up naked for the last 10 mins !

Was wondering if he risked it at Camp Bestival ?

[happymandies]

IMO.......

Good

Diverse bands

Kids obviously welcome when INSIDE the festival

Nice setting

Good ice cream

Bad

Queuing to get in on Friday then subjected to airport style searching with every trip thru the admission gate,so imagine how long setting up could take - only 4 staff (with attitude) to undergo the checks!!! - NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY - Complained to the "organiser" ,whose attitude was if you don't like it ,go home.

Queues on Saturday for kids stuff

Car park - £10

Can of lager - £3.70

Cost of food

Virtually no stalls other food stalls

Car parks miles from tents if u got there after 11am on Friday

Queuing to get to the festival

Average

Sound quality

Food stalls

Toilets

Sound quality of bands

Would i go again,definately not - Stayed off site at another campsite due the queuing to get in,so far too expensive to do again.

The majority of others posting on here had a totally different experience to ourselves ,so i guess the "organisers" will feel they did a good job.

[Paul ™]

Please note all posts are about last year apart from the above comment

[happymandies]

whoops my mistake...sorry

Edited July 27, 2009 by happymandies

[Sugar123]

Camp Bestival 2009

Tickets £130 plus booking fee £5, parking £10, programme £8, trolly to haul your stuff miles £5 per 45 mins (it takes at least an hour) - so £10 at the beginning and the end of the festival= £20. The basics, then, are £173 - if you are the parent paying for it all, that is. The food available was everything from chips to sushi. It is all more expensive than usual - add 20% - 40%. All the usual organic, freetrade, spiritual economy nonsense. Alcohol prices were a complete joke. The argument that suggests you don't buy if you find the prices too high just doesn't float - those people were taking the piss, and that's that. Compost toilets fabulous, chemical ones vile, and not enough of either. Kitchen wash-up area a quagmire and dirty. Rubbish bins overflowing by midday Saturday. Showers closed early afternoon, and that’s it for the day - didn’t use them myself so I can’t say what they were like. It’s a family festival as long as your children are young. Not much for 11 years and up except the PSP bus. Buggys absolutely everywhere. Be warned, if you want to sleep before 3am don’t bother or camp far far FAR away from the arena, the dance tent goes on til 3am - great if you're a dancer though. The average age of the adults was early to mid 30’s. Tres yummoux mummoux. Very few Black people and didn’t see any Asians at all. This fesival is extemely middle class and white. Had to giggle when Rob da Bank gave a big shout out to all the ‘gangstas’ out there. Boutique Gangstas I presume. Expensive in terms of what you get for your money - but perhaps that is what a boutique festival is actually all about - Mall al fresco plus mediocre gigs. Had an ok time despite the grumbles but we brought in our own booze and food and met some lovely people. Won't be going again though, my son is a teen soon and there is not much on for his age group. I did find out on the way home that he and his mates did have a fabulous time running through the camp at the highest possible speeds trying to avoid the guy ropes. Glad he had a good time.

[rseamer]

Well I had a great time this year (2009)

Good points

Diverse bill

Lovely site

Lots of alternatives to just music

Loads for kids (and under 12's get in free)

Toilets generally very good (I disagree with comment above)

Campsite where we camped was very quiet ..got a good nights sleep (again different to poster above)

Amazing firework display over the castle whilst Rob Da Bank DJ'd at the end

Good weather for 2 days. Average on the other (with rain Sunday night)

Generally good food

Bad Points

Apparently they ran out of programmes at the end of the first day, so some people went without ( lots of moans about this on Camp B Forum, but I don't understand why people didn't use their initiative, get a pen and paper and ask to borrow someones and copy the line up times etc down...)

Alcohol over priced (but no problems smuggling your own in to the arena ...basically as long as it wasn't openly in your hand it was no problem) and the only cider available was Gaymers (YUCK)

Bins couldn't take the capacity and overflowed (although litter pickers did an excellent job of cleaning the site up after each day)

Reviews of bands and a bigger overview going up on my blog HERE

I would agree that the audience appeared to be mainly whitle middle class 25-40 crowd, but then that didn't bother me, not really bothered what age or class the crowd are as long as the festy is good and everyone is having a good time.

As for the programme cost - that was stated on the website and included a programme , nice camp bestival bag, camp bestival kids activity book and a set of pencils. So worth the money IMO

Trolley hire ... well we managed easily without. Just did several trips to the car and back before the festy got really underway...was only a 5 min walk for us. If they hadn't provided them no one would moan. Next year I predict Camp Bestival providing a car valet service for your car on site for 5 pounds and people moaning about the price.

Car park was £ 10 and again was advertised on the website before hand. Organisers didn't want to build it into the ticket price as they didn't want to penalise those who travelled by public transport.

We will be back next year. Basically if you've been to Bestival but find its a bit to full on / party like or now have a family, Camp Bestival could be the one for you

Edited July 29, 2009 by rseamer

[loosechange]

Apparently they ran out of programmes at the end of the first day, so some people went without ( lots of moans about this on Camp B Forum, but I don't understand why people didn't use their initiative, get a pen and paper and ask to borrow someones and copy the line up times etc down...)

Alcohol over priced (but no problems smuggling your own in to the arena ...basically as long as it wasn't openly in your hand it was no problem) and the only cider available was Gaymers (YUCK)