Orbital for wildlife themed Bestival

Orbital will be headlining the Big Top on Sunday night at this year's 'Wildlife' themed Bestival.

The theme for Bestival 2012 has been announced as Wildlife, organisers say, " We want you to unleash the party beast from the hinterlands of your imagination, covering Robin Hill with some properly wild things, from fantastic fauna, kings of the jungle and even organisms aplenty to just the outrageously wild... The sky is far from the limit of what can happen when you get amongst the wildlife. And we will also be launching our very own Insect Museum and Animal Tug of War."

This year the festival has also announced 'Barter for Bestival', where those who can't afford a ticket, can barter themselves for a few hours to help with an IOW charity legacy project in exchange for a free Bestival ticket. This year 50 people will get the opportunity to help create a community allotment space working with Natural Enterprise. Applications will open on 20th February when full details will be announced.

New for 2012 is the 'Lost Picture Show' – a vintage cinema to take you back to the golden age of movie going, and Rob da Bank will be rescoring the 1930s original of 'King Kong' at the brand new 'Amphitheatre' performance space in the Woods with more film collaborations to be announced soon.

The Healing Area expands this year to become a 'Soul Park' featuring spaces for yoga, massage, relaxation, hammocks and meditation with the David Lynch Foundation plus wood-burning Scandinavian hot tubs and a sauna area.

Also new for 2012 is Arcadia's brand new structure their 'Mechanical Cabaret' – not content with having invented the crazy mechanical spider that spits flames and has added wow factor to the last few Bestis, Arcadia have now trawled the world for brand new structures and insane fire art to wow us with, much of it from Burning Man.

Already announced for the sister event Camp Bestival 'Young British Foodies' brings young chefs, street food vendors, bakers and mixologists together under one roof.

'The Bollywood Bar' will get a complete Josie da Bank makeover – with an old London bus being transformed into a Bollywood chill out bar in full Indian colours and the inside getting a cinematic Bollywood lick of paint.

There will also be a new venue the 'Grand Palace of Entertainment' offering twisted cabaret, raucous games and quizzes, dancing lycra-clad bearded trannies and multicolored, glitter strewn, late night parties.

The festival also expands again this year offering even more camping space – capacity won't be expanding but there will be more space to throw up your tent, not tat you'll be using it much.

Bestival are also inviting festi-goers to get creative and form their own bloco and be part of 'Bestival Carnival Parade' on Saturday afternoon and are hoping for fabulous costumes, drumming, dancing and giant puppets.

This year there's also the chance to 'Cycle To Bestival' festival goers can emulate Mark Cavendish with a truly Olympic effort to ride almost 100miles from Central London to Bestival and raise cash for charity. More details will be available at the end of the month.

Organiser Rob da Bank also brings his 'Music Club' to Bestival. The project, set up in partnership with the Isle of Wight Youth Trust, is coming to Robin Hill to offer up a brilliant selection music and arts workshops for youngsters to discover if they're a rock star in the making.

Bestival will be announcing an act a day until mid-February when more headliner news will be announced.

Rob da Bank said, "I've never been pestered so much on Twitter and even in clubs and on the street about who's playing Bestival this year so we thought we'd better start the proceedings. Legendary brothers of rave Paul and Phil Hartnoll aka Orbital are the first act who have self-announced themselves today… and what a classic to kick off on. As ever the theme of Bestival is a hotly debated topic - this year it's Wildlife - so maybe you're thinking foxes, badgers or flamingos or go a bit more lateral and think of wild men and women, hedonists and crazy people? It's an open book as ever. More news very soon!"

There are no other acts confirmed yet for the ninth Bestival, which will be held at Robin Hill Country Park on the Isle of Wight, from Thursday 6th until Sunday 9th Septembewr 2012.

Tickets for Bestival sold out last year. Early Bird Tickets including entry from Thursday 6th September are priced at £170 for Adult Tickets and £110 for Teen (age 13-17) Tickets. For those arriving on or after Friday 7th September Adult Tickets are priced at £165 or £105 for Teen (age 13-17) Tickets. Tickets for children (age 12 & under) are free (but must have a ticket).

There is also a ticket Payment Plan available - pay a sixth of the total ticket price (plus booking fees & postage) now, with the further five payments spread across the following five consecutive months.

Campervan Tickets are priced at £65 (per vehicle) and are strictly limited to 1 per transaction/customer. Your Campervan must be specially adapted for people to stay in (which does not include transit vans with a mattress in the back or 4x4s with the seats folded down). If your vehicle is longer than 7 metres you will need to purchase two Campervan Tickets. Cars will not be allowed into the Campervan area at any time so consequentially Caravans, Trailer Tents etc are not permitted.

To buy tickets, click here.

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