hello sailor! HMS Bestival goes cruising

It could be the fact Elton John's headlining but this summer's nautical themed 10th Bestival has come out and gone camp (not in it's sister event way) and revealed it will host Room Service - the gay party scenesters at their brand The Port venue as a festival exclusive.

Robin Hill Country Park on the Isle of Wight will become home to GoGo boys, luminaries of the gay scene underground, GoGo dancers, sailor boys, trannys and more with a line-up of gay dance party acts including Jodie Harsh, Kris Di Angelis, Severino, Horse Meat Disco, Scottee, Jonny Woo, Sink The Pink, Gutterslut, Gino's Italopop Disco, Eurovision star Trevi Fontayne, and alternative Hot Breath Karaoke with the Cardioke challenge (karaoke on a cross-trainer) & the Totally Exciting Championship of Household Games Tournament.

Performance artist Scottee returns to Bestival with a special edition of his variety show 'Camp', and hosts an evening of 'Drag: A Cruise Ship Special'. Scottee reveals, "My brief was to help get the gays to the island and this year Bestival will be flying the (rainbow) flag with pride. I'm really excited to be bringing four productions to Bestival this year, including the debut of 'Drag' - with local drag performers, my solo show 'The Worst of Scottee' and for the second year running my variety show 'Camp' and not to forget the infamous 'Room Service'."

Returning for a 2nd year is 'The Grand Palace of Entertainment' a beautifully decorated traditional fairground tent housing a rainbow coloured pleasure-seeking, twisted, hot-house of fun, dressed from head to toe in outlandishly bonkers decor, presented by creative genius Alex Noble, artist, designer and dress maker to Lady Gaga.

In the daytime, masters of entertainment Festibelly's wonky Massive In China will be presenting an eclectic and intriguing selection of comedy, cabaret, games, foot-stomping music, plus a generous sprinkling of other oddities and spectacles.

The Grand Palace will also host the 'Social Club Cabaret' with variety acts, acrobatic ballroom dancers, knife throwing housewives, and audience participation with the Talent Show of the year where special silly talents come to the stage, with a reward of prizes and fireworks.

At night Bestival will be throwing a debauched party for freaks and geeks, transvestites, gays, straights, whoever, and whatever. Donning, a sailor's hat, the festival's big beef Rob Da Bank, quipped, "Bestival is ten years old this year and I'd like to think over the last decade of dancing at our beautiful festival that we've been one of the most open minded festivals in the world welcoming all, it sure feels like that at 3am on a Saturday morning. This year we've teamed up with some of the UK’s most dazzling trailblazers to bring some outrageous and uninhibited parties to the lower decks of HMS Bestival. Stand by for a cast of freaky girls and hot sailor boys stoking the fires as we steam towards the dawn.... See you at the bar, boys!"

Taking place from Thursday 5th until Sunday 8th September 2013 the festival's new addition is their most ambitious and largest project onsite since they started. The Port will be a landlocked harbour with a ship - HMS Bestival as its centrepiece surrounded by a pier, nautical sideshows and all the action of a bustling port... transported to a festival.

The Port will boast state of the art sound provided by Funktion One, hi-tech lasers and LED screens and a boatload of pyro exploding from HMS Bestival's funnels. DJs will man the bridge, steering the good ship through day and night of techno and house with many of the world's top DJs taking to it's decks.

The Port will also feature a lighthouse come helter skelter, a Dockers Bar, aerial performances from a huge crane, dancing girls and camp sailor boys on stage, plus dance podiums throughout the arena for the crowd, pyrotechnics, sparkle, flame and fire effects, confetti, and smoking funnels.

Headlined by Elton John and Snoop Dogg and a wealth of musical wonders including MIA, Franz Ferdinand, Wu-Tang Clan, The Flaming Lips, Richie Hawtin, Carl Cox, The Strypes, Tom Odell, Jagwar Ma,Bastille, any more. For the line-up details as available please click here. There are still more acts to be unveiled, including the Friday headliner.

As well as the music, Bestival has the world's biggest fancy dress party for 50,000 festival goers. The festival also offers a vibrant mix of cocktail bars, laughter clubs, a farmers market, kids area, dancing, magical moments and more, as one of the most colourful events on the festival calendar.

Tickets for Bestival including entry from Thursday 4th September are priced at £190 for Adult Tickets and £127 for Teen (age 13-17) Tickets. For those arriving on or after Friday 5th September adult tickets are priced at £180. Tickets for children (age 12 & under) are free (but must have a ticket). A campervan ticket is priced at £90 (per vehicle), and car parking is priced at £11 advance (or £15 cash on arrival).

There's also a 15 week payment plan which means that an adult ticket can now be bought at a payment of £12.67 per week (Thursday entry) or £12 per week (Friday entry) over 15 weekly payments.

To buy tickets, click here.

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