Camp Bestival Blog
Discussion
Not sure if the belongs here or prehaps in travel but i thought I would add my experiance of a family festival for those that love their music and familes...
For those that dont know Camp Bestival is Bestival's little sister of a festival located at Lulworth Castle in Dorset. It was designed by Rob da Banka and wife with familes at the heart.
Background: My husband and I have two kids aged 5 and 3 and decided last year to attempt camping with them for our family holidays. I imagined a nice field close to the sea perhaps with electric hook up, quiet evenings, bbq’s and picnics. So you can imagine the look on my husbands face when I informed him of my Bestival plans after seeing a friend’s status update on facebook saying she was going!
Naturally not wanting to be left out I quickly jumped on the website and brought our tickets. The next few months were spent eagerly anticipating what bands might be playing, pondering on camping equipment and checking out the Camp Bestival Forums for advise and tips.
The day before: Firstly, in case you don’t already know, packing to go on holiday let alone camping with two small children whilst husband is at work is quite frankly horrific. As soon as I completed a box of “stuff” and ticked it off my list it was promptly unpacked by an excited 3 year old who decided he wanted to play cooking. This is why the gas bottle regulator, air mattress pump, wellies, can opener and my patience got left behind. Of course it goes without saying this was actually all my husbands fault as he wasn’t there to help ;-)
We also needed a roof box as our car was simply not big enough, again facebook was to thank for someone suggesting that you can just hire these instead of buying them. So roof box and the large family car packed with no room whatsoever to spare we were ready.
Arrival: We pre-booked camping plus for no other reason that I don’t like to be left out. On arrival I was really glad I had spent the extra. Our pitch was perfectly sized and a nice lady took us to our spot. The security staff upon entry were very good too and quickly made sure we knew were we were going for which wrist bands etc.
We took our own trolley which was a last minute purchase from Robert Dyas for a mere £40 and that certainly made life easier when hauling our huge amount of equipment across the fields. It only tipped over 3 times. Tent up and beds made (thanks to all our neighbours for the loan of airpumps) we decided to take a peek around the site. To say we were thrilled was an understatement. Although it was only Thursday and we couldn’t get around the site what we saw from the top of the hill looked very exciting. The kids couldn’t wait to get in there.
Friday: Today saw us hole up for quite some time in the Little Big Top enjoying some mini disco fun, balloon modelling, ZingZillas and Peppa Pig. We did not enjoy the mayhem and crush of people for ZingZillas and the disappointment of kids who were told Peppa was leaving but I guess that’s just festivals for you. I also played the part in our own drama in the Little Big Top when I noticed a young girl distraught and crying, I immediately scooped her up and she explained she has lost her mum. Leaving my own child with another Mum, I rushed around to find the missing Mum and or security whoever came first! Thankfully security was found but I must stress I found it rather difficult to hand her over to the security guard who lets face it is a strange man! Luckily Mum was found screaming for said lost child by my husband who brought her to me and in turn I brought her to child were they were reunited after 10 terrifying minutes for both of them.
We were also introduced to the compost loo. We all agreed that they were indeed to nicest and cleanest of all the loos on site, far better than the “posh” ones on camping plus which I might add were dirty, smelly, blocked and then locked!
Friday evening was Blondie and we tucked the kids up snug and warm in a trolley and a buggy and settled down on the outskirts of the Castle Field. The music was great and the atmosphere was lovely and friendly, everyone was chatty and we had a superb evening.
Saturday: After a dodgy nights sleep on slowly deflating air beds we woke to rain. Most disappointing after the forecast and slightly worrying as I had of course forgot the wellies. In true British style though we decided to grit our teeth and press on. Fancy dress costumes were adorned and off we set for the Castle Field where we planned on spending most of the day. We were luckily enough to meet up with some friends and their kids so it was most relaxing as the kids played and enjoyed The Gruffalo during which my husband suffered a huge fright. No, it wasn’t the Gruffalo but the cost of lunch, £24 for three burgers and chips. The poor girl on the burger van counter was subjected to his incredulities. We also explored the site a little and managed to purchase some bubble wands from a stall that was so busy I was beginning to think Peppa Pig was there herself selling them.
Saturday evening didn’t hold much of an interest for us band wise but we went anyway to see House of Pain and Mark Ronson. Again the kids enjoyed playing with other littleuns and it was a real visual treat to see so many people jumping up and down to Jump Around.
Sunday: Woke up to a lovely sunny day despite the night seeing a neighbours child screaming with impressive stamina throughout. Sunday we entered the Kids Garden and took great delight in discovering the best tent (for me) of all…..yup you’ve guessed it, the “Persil Tent” Here we enjoyed free tea/coffee for grownups, punch and judy for kids and they even got their grubby mitts on free juice cartons and sweets. Here was so tranquil and calm that I let my husband off on his own to the Literacy tent where Mr Nice was meant to be giving a talk. Here I laid myself down onto a huge squidgy ber whilst my children delighted in playing with the cute little tea sets and teddy bears. I managed to while away over an hour here chatting with likeminded mums. I also has the pleasure of watching my three year old grab the mic and head the stage impressing the crowd with his stunning rendition of “Ghostbusters”
After a while I took the reluctant to leave children and headed off to find my husband, after no obvious signs we headed to the dressing up tent where scores of children were squealing with laughter trying on all the different outfits and costumes. There were more oversized glasses and hats than you could shake a stick at and the kids wasted no time in hunting out pretty princess and garish ghoul costumes.
Eventually we came across husband who arrived at the literacy tent to find the programme schedule had been changed and in fact had settled down to listen to a gardener talk….needless to say the prospect of heading back to the family fold and forfeit his 2 hours off he decided to continue with the talk and is now full of ideas on how to transform our suburban green patch into a allotment and living area to rival that of the Good Life. Feeling peckish I undertook the mammoth task of queuing for freshly cooked corn on the cob. There I spent half hour whining and moaning with my queue buddies about the ridiculous amount of time it was taking to sell corn. Of course I was about to live to regret my comments when I got to the front of the queue to see three people working their absolute socks off to serve us. Sorry! However the corn was very nice unlike the pasta station which served up a very very small portion of plain pasta (fussy 5 year old) and charged £3 for it. Not only was it extortionate is was disgusting and inedible. Needless to say that went in the bin.
Sunday night was Primal Scream. We headed back to the castle field and got a spot right at the back near the castle. This later proved to be a blessing. Although not a Primal fan and despite the constant threat of a downpour we enjoyed the set. Kids played well with other kids and we were relaxed and having fun. As the set drew to a close I began to feel a little claustrophobic and as I needed to loo I was about to discover why. We had been fenced in! Literally about 4 rows behind us security had erected a fence so that we were unable to walk in front of the castle in preparation of the fireworks display. Getting then to the loo was nothing short of a strenuous physical challenge. Stepping over people, children, carriages and buggies the usually 2 min trip had taken me over 10 and I felt dreadfully sorry for those whose backs were against the fence and also for the many people with small children in carts and buggies who were trying to leave. It was catastrophic. However the finale show so made me forget as the castle was lit up and decorated in the most splendid, colourful and imaginative display we had ever seen. The fireworks exploded and delighted the crowds. It was truly amazing and a most fitting end to a magical adventure.
We cant wait to see what next year has to offer!
For those that dont know Camp Bestival is Bestival's little sister of a festival located at Lulworth Castle in Dorset. It was designed by Rob da Banka and wife with familes at the heart.
Background: My husband and I have two kids aged 5 and 3 and decided last year to attempt camping with them for our family holidays. I imagined a nice field close to the sea perhaps with electric hook up, quiet evenings, bbq’s and picnics. So you can imagine the look on my husbands face when I informed him of my Bestival plans after seeing a friend’s status update on facebook saying she was going!
Naturally not wanting to be left out I quickly jumped on the website and brought our tickets. The next few months were spent eagerly anticipating what bands might be playing, pondering on camping equipment and checking out the Camp Bestival Forums for advise and tips.
The day before: Firstly, in case you don’t already know, packing to go on holiday let alone camping with two small children whilst husband is at work is quite frankly horrific. As soon as I completed a box of “stuff” and ticked it off my list it was promptly unpacked by an excited 3 year old who decided he wanted to play cooking. This is why the gas bottle regulator, air mattress pump, wellies, can opener and my patience got left behind. Of course it goes without saying this was actually all my husbands fault as he wasn’t there to help ;-)
We also needed a roof box as our car was simply not big enough, again facebook was to thank for someone suggesting that you can just hire these instead of buying them. So roof box and the large family car packed with no room whatsoever to spare we were ready.
Arrival: We pre-booked camping plus for no other reason that I don’t like to be left out. On arrival I was really glad I had spent the extra. Our pitch was perfectly sized and a nice lady took us to our spot. The security staff upon entry were very good too and quickly made sure we knew were we were going for which wrist bands etc.
We took our own trolley which was a last minute purchase from Robert Dyas for a mere £40 and that certainly made life easier when hauling our huge amount of equipment across the fields. It only tipped over 3 times. Tent up and beds made (thanks to all our neighbours for the loan of airpumps) we decided to take a peek around the site. To say we were thrilled was an understatement. Although it was only Thursday and we couldn’t get around the site what we saw from the top of the hill looked very exciting. The kids couldn’t wait to get in there.
Friday: Today saw us hole up for quite some time in the Little Big Top enjoying some mini disco fun, balloon modelling, ZingZillas and Peppa Pig. We did not enjoy the mayhem and crush of people for ZingZillas and the disappointment of kids who were told Peppa was leaving but I guess that’s just festivals for you. I also played the part in our own drama in the Little Big Top when I noticed a young girl distraught and crying, I immediately scooped her up and she explained she has lost her mum. Leaving my own child with another Mum, I rushed around to find the missing Mum and or security whoever came first! Thankfully security was found but I must stress I found it rather difficult to hand her over to the security guard who lets face it is a strange man! Luckily Mum was found screaming for said lost child by my husband who brought her to me and in turn I brought her to child were they were reunited after 10 terrifying minutes for both of them.
We were also introduced to the compost loo. We all agreed that they were indeed to nicest and cleanest of all the loos on site, far better than the “posh” ones on camping plus which I might add were dirty, smelly, blocked and then locked!
Friday evening was Blondie and we tucked the kids up snug and warm in a trolley and a buggy and settled down on the outskirts of the Castle Field. The music was great and the atmosphere was lovely and friendly, everyone was chatty and we had a superb evening.
Saturday: After a dodgy nights sleep on slowly deflating air beds we woke to rain. Most disappointing after the forecast and slightly worrying as I had of course forgot the wellies. In true British style though we decided to grit our teeth and press on. Fancy dress costumes were adorned and off we set for the Castle Field where we planned on spending most of the day. We were luckily enough to meet up with some friends and their kids so it was most relaxing as the kids played and enjoyed The Gruffalo during which my husband suffered a huge fright. No, it wasn’t the Gruffalo but the cost of lunch, £24 for three burgers and chips. The poor girl on the burger van counter was subjected to his incredulities. We also explored the site a little and managed to purchase some bubble wands from a stall that was so busy I was beginning to think Peppa Pig was there herself selling them.
Saturday evening didn’t hold much of an interest for us band wise but we went anyway to see House of Pain and Mark Ronson. Again the kids enjoyed playing with other littleuns and it was a real visual treat to see so many people jumping up and down to Jump Around.
Sunday: Woke up to a lovely sunny day despite the night seeing a neighbours child screaming with impressive stamina throughout. Sunday we entered the Kids Garden and took great delight in discovering the best tent (for me) of all…..yup you’ve guessed it, the “Persil Tent” Here we enjoyed free tea/coffee for grownups, punch and judy for kids and they even got their grubby mitts on free juice cartons and sweets. Here was so tranquil and calm that I let my husband off on his own to the Literacy tent where Mr Nice was meant to be giving a talk. Here I laid myself down onto a huge squidgy ber whilst my children delighted in playing with the cute little tea sets and teddy bears. I managed to while away over an hour here chatting with likeminded mums. I also has the pleasure of watching my three year old grab the mic and head the stage impressing the crowd with his stunning rendition of “Ghostbusters”
After a while I took the reluctant to leave children and headed off to find my husband, after no obvious signs we headed to the dressing up tent where scores of children were squealing with laughter trying on all the different outfits and costumes. There were more oversized glasses and hats than you could shake a stick at and the kids wasted no time in hunting out pretty princess and garish ghoul costumes.
Eventually we came across husband who arrived at the literacy tent to find the programme schedule had been changed and in fact had settled down to listen to a gardener talk….needless to say the prospect of heading back to the family fold and forfeit his 2 hours off he decided to continue with the talk and is now full of ideas on how to transform our suburban green patch into a allotment and living area to rival that of the Good Life. Feeling peckish I undertook the mammoth task of queuing for freshly cooked corn on the cob. There I spent half hour whining and moaning with my queue buddies about the ridiculous amount of time it was taking to sell corn. Of course I was about to live to regret my comments when I got to the front of the queue to see three people working their absolute socks off to serve us. Sorry! However the corn was very nice unlike the pasta station which served up a very very small portion of plain pasta (fussy 5 year old) and charged £3 for it. Not only was it extortionate is was disgusting and inedible. Needless to say that went in the bin.
Sunday night was Primal Scream. We headed back to the castle field and got a spot right at the back near the castle. This later proved to be a blessing. Although not a Primal fan and despite the constant threat of a downpour we enjoyed the set. Kids played well with other kids and we were relaxed and having fun. As the set drew to a close I began to feel a little claustrophobic and as I needed to loo I was about to discover why. We had been fenced in! Literally about 4 rows behind us security had erected a fence so that we were unable to walk in front of the castle in preparation of the fireworks display. Getting then to the loo was nothing short of a strenuous physical challenge. Stepping over people, children, carriages and buggies the usually 2 min trip had taken me over 10 and I felt dreadfully sorry for those whose backs were against the fence and also for the many people with small children in carts and buggies who were trying to leave. It was catastrophic. However the finale show so made me forget as the castle was lit up and decorated in the most splendid, colourful and imaginative display we had ever seen. The fireworks exploded and delighted the crowds. It was truly amazing and a most fitting end to a magical adventure.
We cant wait to see what next year has to offer!
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