Camp Bestival holds twisted Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Camp Bestival the new sister festival of Bestival and held from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th July 2008, for 10,000 people at Lulworth Castle, Dorset has revealed the fancy dress theme for the inaugural year and it's the Mad Hatter's Tea Party... with a twist!

Mirroring its sister festival which has a fancy dress theme each year, festival goers at Camp Bestival can get kitted out as their favourite Alice in Wonderland character or come as something unique or just as yourself and be part of the maddest tea party ever!

The Alice In Wonderland inspired Tea Party comes to life in Camp Bestival's Magic Meadow on the Saturday afternoon. Set around a gigantic table piled high with cakes, cream teas, and bizarre bits.

The Magic meadow will have oversized animals surrounded by a host of freaky characters designed by Josie da Bank playing suitably silly games, including wonky crochet and 'goodmington' (rather than 'badmington'), with kazoo wizards Masters of the Kazooniverse supplying the soundtrack.

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!

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's also a wealth of musical talent with a line-up which includes headliners Chuck Berry (Fri), The Flaming Lips (Sat), and Kate Nash (Sun) Other live acts include Hercules And Love Affair, The Imagined Village (audio-visual history of British folk music with live supergroup featuring Billy Bragg, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Sheila Chandra and Chris Wood), Suzanne Vega, Black Kids, dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, Florence and the Machine and top DJs including Andrew Wetherall, DJ Yoda, Gilles Peterson, Queens of Noize and many more. Click here for the line-up details to-date.

Festival goers are asked to join in with the festival spirit and bring a cymbal, trombone or sousaphone for the Saturday to be part of the The World's Largest Marching Band headed up by the Bestival Ukulele Orchestra and Masters Of The Kazooniverse.

Fun for all the family is included so expect a Kids Area filled with magic moments and an abundance of neat treats for little ones of all ages. From a Sports Day on the jousting strip to Story Telling around roaring Campfires, a good ole Cockney Knees Up, Insect Circus, The All Singing Kids Summer Party and dressing up antics, it'll be a jam packed haven for kids and their parents. Plus Lulworth Castle has its very own Animal Farm where the kids can get up close to their super-friendly animals.

There's luxury tents, tipis, yurts, bivouacs, airstreams, and gypsy caravans available, or bring your own outdoor living.

The live music line-up is programmed by Rob da Bank. The music will be diverse with a Main Stage, the new 'Tree Stage', a Balearic Bollywood arena, a Rock n Roll tent and the magnificent Spiegel tent for Come Dancing dance offs. All this plus Theatre in the Woods, Films projected on the Castle Walls, Kamp Karaoke Night – Ukelele Karaoke, Folk-aoke & Hip-Hop Karaoke, Fireworks and fun on tap!

Tickets are on sale, priced at £120 for adult weekend camping, £60 for Child (aged 13 to 15 on 18/07/2008) weekend tickets, with children under-12 free (but require a ticket), and campervans cost £50 per vehicle. To buy, click here.

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