If there's no more Bestival...

[smogo]

... then can anyone recommend a good alternative? I know it's hard, especially after ruling out Boomtown (I can never get away that particular weekend in August) and Glastonbury (failed to get a ticket).

I'll be going to a few city-based festivals next year, but it wouldn't be a summer without at least one camping weekender.

[seantizz]

What is it that appeals to you about Bestival? The line-up? The general cheeriness of the crowd? The price of the beer?(!!!)

Have you looked into BeatHerder? Smaller than Bestival but has a quirky feel.. 

Failing that, how about an international one? Big names at reasonable prices..

Sean

[Nobody Interesting]

Depending on what music you like Bearded Theory is a fantastic little festival.

Wilderness is posh but has a superb feel to it and lots of quirky stuff and late night areas too.

[incident]

Yeah I'd echo Wilderness - same weekend as Bestival was this year, and if you can ignore the posh stuff (which mostly means pay-extra stuff like Banquets, Horse Riding, Yoga lessons, and Archery) it feels like a smaller, more laid back version of Bestival in a lot of ways. I was genuinely surprised how much I liked it.

[smogo]

4 hours ago, seantizz said:

What is it that appeals to you about Bestival? The line-up? The general cheeriness of the crowd? The price of the beer?(!!!)

The diversity of the lineup (both in terms of genres and size of acts), the sense of humour and magic, the good-natured crowd.

[DDave]

Only went Bestival the first year but Beat Herder definitely has that vibe about it. I had a great time last year.

[Homer]

On 10/16/2018 at 1:53 PM, smogo said:

The diversity of the lineup (both in terms of genres and size of acts), the sense of humour and magic, the good-natured crowd.

Shindig is like a smaller version of the Bestival that I started going to in 2007 (albeit without the headliners!). Very friendly, fun/dance-tinged music policy.

 

https://shindigfestival.co.uk/line-up/

[Homer]

Is Bestival shot then? WHat's the news? I know it got rained off, is there anything beyond that?

[eFestivals]

30 minutes ago, Homer said:

Is Bestival shot then? WHat's the news? I know it got rained off, is there anything beyond that?

looks pretty certain that the main Bestival is no more, and that just Camp Bestival is continuing.

From what I heard it's the only part of the business which was making any money recently.

[km9]

On 1/18/2019 at 2:48 PM, Homer said:

Is Bestival shot then? WHat's the news? I know it got rained off, is there anything beyond that?

Just to clear it up, Bestival wasn't rained off, Camp Bestival was cut short though. Don't think it was strictly due to the rain either, I think it was more down to the wind blowing tents around. The weather at Bestival was HOT! Felt very odd though, bit like a fair with a stage at each end, and a Big Top just plonked in for good measure. It felt far too big for the amount of people there, (or I suppose you could say not enough people went). Nothing remotely like the old Bestival.

[Homer]

3 hours ago, km9 said:

Just to clear it up, Bestival wasn't rained off, Camp Bestival was cut short though. Don't think it was strictly due to the rain either, I think it was more down to the wind blowing tents around. The weather at Bestival was HOT! Felt very odd though, bit like a fair with a stage at each end, and a Big Top just plonked in for good measure. It felt far too big for the amount of people there, (or I suppose you could say not enough people went). Nothing remotely like the old Bestival.

Sad times - i always had a cracker at Bestival. I guess I got out when the going was still good (2015)!

[stuie]

19 hours ago, Homer said:

Sad times - i always had a cracker at Bestival. I guess I got out when the going was still good (2015)!

It's such a shame... we had some of our best festival times at Bestival.

2015 was superb.   2016 was starting to fall apart - unfinished rocket stage that replaced the port, missing touches all over the place and general lack of attention to detail - which Bestival had previously done so well.

I wonder if they could have recovered from 2016 if they hadn't left Robin Hill?

[eFestivals]

I'd already heard thru the grapevine that Oxford Council were pissed off...

https://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/17391767.common-people-oxford-cancelled-with-unpaid-bills/

[hannahlmoore]

I also didn't get Glasto tickets (sob) and used to love Bestival. This looks quite good: https://eldoradofestival.com/

Also considered Wilderness but I'm worried the posh lot would get on my tits!!

[Homer]

A sad send off for Bestival!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-47413161

[Traher666]

Both of them were acquired by Live Nation. I wonder if Bestival will be back in some capacity at some point.

I worked the last Bestival that was on the Isle of Wight, was mad how scaled back it was compared to the time I had been before in 2012. They never really recovered from that, then moving it didn't particularly help either.

38 minutes ago, Homer said:

A sad send off for Bestival!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-47413161

This is so sad, could have been completely avoidable.