Camp Bestival 2014 - The children's best bits {Country Kids}

This has proven to be quite a difficult post to write - sifting out the best bits for children from a festival that is predominantly for them! If you are unaware, Camp Bestival is an amazing family affair curated by Rob and Josie Da Bank and located in the beautiful grounds of Lulworth Castle, Dorset.

To help me I asked my two children for their best bits from Camp Bestival 2014 and this is what they came up with...

Circus skills - particularly apt as the theme for this year's festival was Circus! They both enjoyed the circus area in the Kid's Garden; spinning plates, learning to hula hoop, perfecting the balancing and even making our own hoops - big and small. And what festival can be enjoyed without the bubbles?!

Not just wanting to perfect our circus skills there were plenty of opportunities to watch the professionals at work. Two staples of Camp Bestival are the Kawa Circus and Insect Circus. The former has the stunning castle backdrop to showcase their amazing skills of balance and strength whilst the Insect Circus take up their regular spot further down the Kid's Garden with their ever growing collection of giant insects.

Food is always high on the agenda and Camp Bestival does not fail to please in this area. No greasy burger vans and fat doughnuts here, instead a wealth of food choices ranging from the Feast Collective to woodfire pizzas and the girl's favourite, Mac 'n' Cheese. This year the boy made his own pizza in the Soul Park - a free activity that he loved.

Camp Bestival is the place to enjoy yourself with friends. Together the collective gang beat up the blow-up blobs, rolled down the many hills and chilled in their onesies with countless glow sticks and balloons to occupy them - whilst the grown ups supped cocktails.

This year saw the Lego Experience arrive at Camp Bestival where the children could build whatever they please. Tubs of Lego and creations could be bought or, as we did, models could be displayed for others to enjoy.

And finally, the fireworks were a definite crowd pleaser. We have never seen displays quite like the ones put on at Camp Bestival and they are the perfect way to wrap up an amazing long weekend.

This just scratches the surface of what Camp Bestival is all about and if you want to find out more then take a look at my diary posts here: Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

x x x

Linking up with Country Kids...



Disclaimer: I received family Camp Bestival 2014 tickets in return for previews and reviews of this year's festival. As always, views and opinions are my own.

Camp Bestival Diary 2014 {Sunday}

And suddenly it was Sunday. There's always something rather special about Sunday at Camp Bestival and this year was no exception with the sun glaring down over the fields of Lulworth Castle. We had no real plans for the day but it panned out beautifully.

We grabbed some photos in the Castle Field then chilled in front of the Castle Stage listening to the fantastic No Limit Street Band.

I made hair garlands with the girl and then we all watched the amazing Kawa Circus against a fantastic castle backdrop.

The intriguing Insect Circus is always worth a watch and we relaxed with a cold ale in the blazing sunshine at the bottom of the Kid's Garden. The giant snail was a new addition and now the children will be looking out for one on an upcoming trip to France!

And then it was nearly the end. We headed to the Castle Field catching the end of Sinead O'Connor before a stonking set from Basement Jaxx - one act I wish I was closer to the stage for as so much was going on up there! And finally it was the fireworks. Camp Bestival have quite a reputation for their fireworks finale and this years was up there with the best of them. There were a few grumbles at the lack of animation this year but I think they'll never top 2011 for that. Instead they stuck with fireworks and music timed to perfection - see the video below.

As we left the field with the crowds we felt that we weren't quite ready to say goodbye so we slipped into the Dingly Dell which was all very calm in the dark. The children had a ball playing on the play park at 11 p.m. until some rather patient security workers moved us on. Then it was the end. We slowly made our way back to the tent a little sad that it was all over but happy with another amazing set of memories created.

Thank you Camp Bestival!
You can read about our Thursday here, Friday here and Saturday here.
Early bird tickets for 2015 will be on sale from Friday August 8th at 10a.m.

x x x

 

 

Disclaimer: I received family Camp Bestival 2014 tickets in return for previews and reviews of this year's festival. As always, views and opinions are my own.

Photo credit: Thank you Camp Bestival for the use of the Kawa Circus picture.

 

 

Camp Bestival Diary 2014 {Saturday}

And then it was Saturday at Camp Bestival, a day for dressing up and meeting up with fellow bloggers but first there was the issue of the rain.

Saturday at Camp Bestival will be remembered for the crazy turn in weather. We awoke to rain, which was quite nice to start with as it drowned out the snoring from a neighbouring tent, then it became a question of when do we make a dash to the loo? An incoming text message from the husband brought good news with a forecast of sunshine on its way so we got on with it. Saturday is fancy dress day at Camp Bestival so we stayed dry in our tent and sorted out face paints and costumes - well for the girl anyway.

The afternoon saw blue sky, sunshine, the witnessing of an Inflatable Church Wedding and the official blogger meet up. Moustaches appeared courtesy of Hello it's Gemma and they clearly suited myself and HPMcQ!

After a few Sangrias it was off to the Guardian Literary Tent for Scroobius Pip. It was a chilled 90 minutes of banter and spoken word from Mr Pip and Polarbear, a great pairing of contrasting emotions. The photos above are of the classic 'Angles' - if you don't know it go and find it.

Following tea from the Feast Collective for the grown ups and Anna Mae's Mac and Cheese for the youngsters we decided to spend the evening in the Kid's Garden. Well, the kiddies did. We kind of sidled off into Josie Da Bank's Jam Jar Bar where we had a gorgeous cocktail - I wouldn't expect any less after an hour wait for it! Good job the children were occupied with glow sticks and a field.

Later we danced in Bollywood and contemplated staying up till 01:00 to see dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip. As the children started to wane, and the boy asked for his bed, the mummy guilt kicked in so we headed back to the tent just before midnight. So, unfortunately I missed the last opportunity of seeing the pair play live together. I can't complain though as we had spent another fantastic jam packed day on the festival site. It was all going too quickly though!

Missed what happened Thursday? Click here. Friday? Click here. Sunday? Click here!

Need more Camp Bestival feedback? Check out these posts: Munchies and Munchkins, Manneskjur, I Heart Motherhood, Chelsea Mamma, Rock n Roll Mum, A Residence, Purple Mum, My Two Mums, Vicki Brown and a rather beard heavy one from Tattooed Mummy

x x x

Disclaimer: I received family Camp Bestival 2014 tickets in return for previews and reviews of this year's festival. As always, views and opinions are my own.

Camp Bestival Diary 2014 {Friday}

And so on to Friday at Camp Bestival 2014, the first proper full day at the festival.
We woke up from a cosy night's sleep with the boy pretty much on top of me and the girl on the floor. We breakfasted on bagels and Nutella and the camping classic of mini boxes of cereal. Toilets survived and a quick tent style wash and we were ready to go. It was a bit of a dull start weather wise but that didn't dampen our spirits as we filled the day from 09:00 to 00:00.

The Kid's Garden was explored from top to bottom with something to do for all five children in the gang. We stalked the crowd from the amazing Camera Obscura and made hoops big and small. Lego always catches the attention of the boy and half an hour was spent chilling in the Lego Experience listening to the familiar sound of hands rummaging through bricks. A puppet show for all ages - Johnny Vegas eating the cat was funnier than it sounds. Then the boy's favourite activity of attacking the blob - after this pic was snapped they proudly "took him down".

In the afternoon we explored the Magic Meadow with more people watching from the top of Oberon's Observatory. The green space in the meadow was used for a good hour of hoop tossing as the kiddies clearly hadn't burnt enough of their energy yet. 

Following a rather yummy tea at Pieminister - £16 got us Freeranger Chicken pie, mash and gravy, Heidi pie, mash and onions and Sausage Roll and mash - it was off to the Castle Stage for an evening of fantastic music from Johnny Marr and James. The children chilled in their newly acquired onesies whilst the grown ups enjoyed some amazing music. I loved the set from James which took me back to my teenage days - such an awesome band and a great way to round off the first full day.

You can read about Thursday here, Saturday here and Sunday here!

x x x

Disclaimer: I received family Camp Bestival 2014 tickets in return for previews and reviews of this year's festival. As always, views and opinions are my own.

Photo credit: Thank you Camp Bestival for the use of the final picture.

Camp Bestival Diary 2014 {Thursday}

You may have heard that I've been in a castle field down in Lulworth, Dorset for the last five days having an absolute ball at Camp Bestival. Such an event cannot pass without sharing it so prepare yourself for images and information galore as I present to you... Thursday at Camp Bestival!

Back in the day when we ventured down to our first Camp Bestival in 2010 there was no Thursday to go to, tent pitching and all the fun that entails had to be done on the first full day of the festival itself. Then the lovely folks at Camp Bestival HQ realised it would be a great idea to open up on the Thursday and year on year this first day has got a little bit bigger each time. So let's go back to Thursday 31st July 2014...

The car was fully laden and by 9:30 my plus one and her three lovely children had arrived and we were ready to set off in convoy down the A350 to Dorset. It is a lovely, if sometimes windy - as in twists and turns in the road not the weather - route and we only got held up by a camper van and a tank. Getting onto the site was straightforward again with well managed traffic control on the A352 and two hours and a bit after leaving home we were ready to unload the car for the fun walk to find a pitch. Now, for those of you that are unaware, the site is rather hilly but I try and see the positive in this and look at it as a damn good work out. I planned and packed well and we did the whole thing in two loads - it's amazing what a Phil & Teds pushchair and bungee cords can manage. We collected our array of wristbands and we were good to go!



We pitched in the valley on a relatively flat area with plenty of space around us - although the children still managed to roll either off their airbed or onto me but that's all part of the fun. A fellow camper across the way lent me her battery operated pump which saved my legs on the foot-pump and the children soon made friends with a boy from a neighbouring tent - happy campers all round! Once the tents, flag pole and bunting were up and hand decorations applied we went for a wander up the hill to the festival site.

On entry to the site we walked through the Soul Park, an area of relaxation, massage, yoga and campfires and on to the woodturning in the Spinney Hollow. A great place just to chill and unwind before exploring the bigger site.

This year they opened up more of the site on the Thursday than in previous years so we headed across the top of the Magic Meadow and along the front of the castle to the charity area next to the church. Here we found a small area of plate spinning and hula hooping. A local hospice, Julia's House, had hula hooping making and this was added to my list of things to do, particularly as I managed to actually hula hoop properly for the first time ever!

After all that physical exertion we decided to refuel back at the tent. The return journey was made a little easier by the first of many goes at hill rolling!

You can read about the Friday here, Saturday here and Sunday here!

x x x

 

 

Disclaimer: I received family Camp Bestival 2014 tickets in return for previews and reviews of this year's festival. As always, views and opinions are my own.