2016 Map

[the wonderwhy]

They've updated the map to add Yellow (Quiet) camping 

[Dr Seuss]

29 minutes ago, MattDavies__ said:

They've updated the map to add Yellow (Quiet) camping 

Thank the Lord! I think a lot of people (myself included) questioned the lack of a quiet area and they've listened. We'll be near our friend sin the campervan field too. 

[Dr Seuss]

On 31/08/2016 at 0:40 PM, Janaka said:

Anyway - please can someone advise which campsite we should aim for?  We're all early 40's and still like to party, but could do without the sound of balloons and bad EDM at 5am from the tent next door.  Cheers.

Yellow campsite (announced today as quiet camping) is the place for you. 

[plateofchips]

2 hours ago, MattDavies__ said:

They've updated the map to add Yellow (Quiet) camping 

 

Good news, but in doing so, they've also turned the Grassy Hill (which in previous years has had a number of smaller venues, food and other stalls, etc.) into more camping as well. I'm sure it'll be fine once I'm there and drinking heavily, but it seems like it's just significantly smaller than every other year, when you include all the other changes people have highlighted.

 

A year after being named "Best Major Festival" it seems like a hell of a scaling back job. Is this a genuine attempt to recapture the early Bestival atmospheres and return to a smaller festival, or maybe a consequence of being so late with the Sunday headliner etc.? I guess I'd rather they make sure it doesn't run at a huge loss or anything like that to ensure it manages to keep going, but it definitely feels like it's going to be completely different from the last 5 or so years and I'm not certain I'd have been so ready to pay the high ticket prices for what's now a much smaller event.

 

Anyway, that sounds more negative than I perhaps intended. I'm still going; but it'll be interesting to see what awaits us.

Edited September 4, 2016 by plateofchips
Error correction.

[Tom12]

I'm not too sure but from what I could tell from the picture they put up of the robot building today it looked like they had the old stage back  toward the right hand of the screen 

[jackarmy]

3 hours ago, Tom12 said:

I'm not too sure but from what I could tell from the picture they put up of the robot building today it looked like they had the old stage back  toward the right hand of the screen 

Good spot! Definitely looks like it's being scaled back this year...

[Circus-Freak]

it would be awesome if they scale bestival back to medium capacity. 

[jackarmy]

1 hour ago, Circus-Freak said:

it would be awesome if they scale bestival back to medium capacity. 

I'm not sure if it's a conscious decision to try and get the "old vibe" back, or more likely them looking to cut costs because of poor ticket sales, and having to run 5 festivals...

[QueenPesky]

They've said on Twitter that there is the same camping space as in previous years - not sure if that includes all the boutique campsites or not! 

It is looking more like Bestival of 6/7 years ago, which if intentional, might not be such a bad thing - although I'm not sure how I feel about the huge number of sponsored areas. Having said that ones in the past have been excellent, I seem to remember spending lots of time at the Sailor Jerry stage and the Matua one as well. Glad to see the Jagerhaus returning too as that was great last year. 

Either way, I am getting very excited about Bestival - this is the first time in many years I've only done one festival in a year after not getting Glastonbury tickets. I don't know many people on the lineup but I think that Bestival has always had enough going on and the right atmosphere that it doesn't really matter! 

Edited September 5, 2016 by QueenPesky

[mjsell]

11 minutes ago, QueenPesky said:

Either way, I am getting very excited about Bestival - this is the first time in many years I've only done one festival in a year after not getting Glastonbury tickets. I don't know many people on the lineup but I think that Bestival has always had enough going on and the right atmosphere that it doesn't really matter! 

I'm with you on excitement levels. Only 2 and a half more days at work! This will be my only festival of the year also and after doing Glasto last year I'm looking forward to the slightly more chilled out and smaller vibe.

Also at glasto last year we were in a group of about 20 of us - which sounds good in theory but in reality makes its near to impossible to do anything quickly. Only 8 of us going to bestival which i think is perfect!

[QueenPesky]

1 hour ago, mjsell said:

I'm with you on excitement levels. Only 2 and a half more days at work! This will be my only festival of the year also and after doing Glasto last year I'm looking forward to the slightly more chilled out and smaller vibe.

Also at glasto last year we were in a group of about 20 of us - which sounds good in theory but in reality makes its near to impossible to do anything quickly. Only 8 of us going to bestival which i think is perfect!

Only one and a half days for me! I'm originally from the Isle of Wight so we go/leave a day or two early to avoid the crazy ferry price hikes! 

There's only 3 of us at Bestival this year, but will probably find other people we know along the way! The most we've done at Glastonbury was 15 and that was pretty hard work, normally there's about 8 of us which is a good number! I think in large groups you just have to accept it'll take a while or just go off and do your own thing and meet up later! 

[rseamer]

22 hours ago, jackarmy said:

I'm not sure if it's a conscious decision to try and get the "old vibe" back, or more likely them looking to cut costs because of poor ticket sales, and having to run 5 festivals...

They'd have to go some to get 'the old vibe' back in terms of crowd numbers! The original Bestivals were way smaller - the 1st 2 under 10,000 capacity (when the main stage was where the Spaceport is) 

[2853rob]

On 05/09/2016 at 8:50 AM, jackarmy said:

I'm not sure if it's a conscious decision to try and get the "old vibe" back, or more likely them looking to cut costs because of poor ticket sales, and having to run 5 festivals...

The word on the street on the island from pretty reliable sources is that ticket sales have been not great hence all the scaling back of stages, areas, acts and the introduction of day tickets for island residents . I love Bestival and have been to every one since 09 and always do earlybird tickets without fail but i think for the 2017 edition i will wait until the first acts are anounced.

All festivals have "off" years and Bestival has been pretty much faultless up until now so I have high hopes for the 2017 event as i love that we have the opportunity to have such an event on our doorstep.

As i said in an earlier post maybe its time for a reboot, anyhow im going to enjoy the weekend and have a list (not as big as previous years) of artists I want to see

[rseamer]

Slightly smaller will be fine by me. Bigger doesn't always mean better.

And I'd rather Bestival was a little prudent if they haven't sold out this year, for the financial longevity of the festival

[2853rob]

38 minutes ago, rseamer said:

Slightly smaller will be fine by me. Bigger doesn't always mean better.

And I'd rather Bestival was a little prudent if they haven't sold out this year, for the financial longevity of the festival

Im just trying to remember which year Bestival got really massive, In my mind it is the one when they had Stevie Wonder was that 2012?

[rseamer]

1 hour ago, 2853rob said:

Im just trying to remember which year Bestival got really massive, In my mind it is the one when they had Stevie Wonder was that 2012?

2010 - Prodigy, Flaming Lips, Dizzee Rascal was the first year with the newly located big stage and increased capacity to what it became for the next few years I believe.

Before that the main stage had a year at the top of the hill where the Big Top is now (which didn't work - sound and viewing issues - but it was moved due to the horrendous mud of 2008 where the old main stage (where the Spaceport is this year) had to be shut all Friday afternoon.

Stevie Wonder was certainly one of Bestival's biggest years in terms of selling tickets quickly and getting the cashflow in - they struck gold almost by luck with Stevie Wonder being in the country at the time and Bestival being the only big festival he could realistically play.

Edited September 7, 2016 by rseamer

[2853rob]

My first year was 09 at the top of the hill for Kraftwerk which was incredible despite the stage issues, my partner was a survivor of the 08 mudfest and lived to tell the tale. After that Bestival put a huge amount of drainage into the whole site to prevent that happening to that degree again. It certainly was busier in 10 and the following years although 2015 seemed a bit quieter as it was easier to get around the site or maybe the people management was better

[flannel]

Just realised I can't see an ale tent, better pack some more cans.

Hopefully it'll be ok to carry it into the arena like last year.

[Circus-Freak]

Did they run out of money when making the rocket at the space port?

[Paul ™]

Fell out of love with the festival in 2012, it got too big and commercial for my liking.

Maybe go back one year, especially if it was scaled back a bit, but for now Boomtown is preferable in so many ways.

[Circus-Freak]

I've been to bestival since the beginning, and have to say, this year was probably the worst for me.

Someone is making some serious money somewhere, because they're not spending it on acts, and everything was so scaled back, it was embarrassingly chaotic.

Maybe they should just finish it now, keep the happy memories of previous amazing years.

[rseamer]

31 minutes ago, Circus-Freak said:

 

Someone is making some serious money somewhere, because they're not spending it on acts

 

Out of interest, how much did they spend on their acts? 

 

[5co77ie]

the festival by night

 

 

[Circus-Freak]

Its pretty common knowledge that bestival are one of the lowest act payers throughout all the uk major festivals. And rob and the crew usually spent good money in keeping authenticity.

Me and my mates could've knocked up the space port (set, not sound) for less than £500. Bollywood was less than half the size with hardly if any of their flamboyant unmbrellas and seating area plus the beautiful entrance arch. Big top was 30% smaller. No club dada, but replaced with the Money spinning wall of death. Temple island looked chucked together last minute. I could go on to be fair.

i would say, the sound at spaceport was quite exceptional. Maybe the best sound they've had in that field since the main stage days.

Im just upset because it's evolving away from what I loved about it. But times change, and things move on huh.

 

 

[smogo]

But the reason some tents were smaller (or missing entirely, making the stages open-air, which is preferable in my view anyway) is that there were fewer people coming. What would the point have been in keeping that massive Big Top, only for it to be half empty the whole time? By hiring smaller set-ups, it kept the atmosphere lively everywhere.