Camp Bestival 2018 {Review}

This morning I woke up in a bed I hadn't planned to be in. Now before you get too excited, this bed was my own at home - but I should have been waking up in my cosy tent bedroom in the grounds of Lulworth Castle having slept off the last day of Camp Bestival 2018. But, the British weather struck in the way that only British weather can. We should have known really with the school summer holiday just beginning. The stark change from the barmy heatwave to incoming coastal winds and sideways rain meant that the festival was shut down on Sunday afternoon due to safety issues on the festival site - the campsite was a fairly precarious place to be too with damaged tents and flying gazebos. This obviously left 1000s of families gutted, including me as the Sunday has always been my favourite day where I spend the day sleepily wandering around finding those last minute things to do and taking lots of photos before it ends. However, the three days that preceded the shut down was full of glorious weather and we had the most amazing time!

Camp Bestival 2017 ~ Review

The last of the mud has been washed away and I am now ready to look back on, and review, our Camp Bestival 2017. It was our eighth visit as Camp Bestival celebrated their tenth anniversary but somebody forgot to book the sunshine for the weekend. The rain, and mud, definitely impacted the festival but we were determined not to let it spoil our fun for Camp Bestival 2017.

Camp Bestival 2016 {Me Time}

Having looked at Camp Bestival from a family point of view, and shared some lovely images, today I got to thinking about what I got out of it as an individual trying to find some me time. Camp Bestival is clearly billed as a family festival but that doesn't mean, with a bit of planning, us grown ups can't find some time alone doing some grown up things.

We struck a good balance again this year as a family unit which gave everyone the opportunity to do the things they wanted to do. I planned ahead and booked another nature run with Nick, having loved it last year, and it didn't disappoint; with a gentle 5k+ around and beyond the festival site I can definitely recommend it - a morning run set off at 9.30 on each of the mornings and cost £5.

The nature runs set off from the Slow Motion area which also homed a yoga tent so you just know that I spent some of my me time there! Becoming a bit of an early riser I dragged myself out of bed and up the big hill onto the main site for two 8 a.m. classes; Qi Gong on the Saturday and Rise & Shine Yoga on the Sunday. Qi Gong was new to me and felt similar to Tai Chi, it was very gentle with a calming focus on balance, breath and stretching. The Rise & Shine Yoga I was more familiar with and was taken by a last minute replacement Kali - Kali Green Yogini - who has reignited my desire to move to Cornwall just so I can take some more of her classes! This year all yoga and meditation classes were free.

Camp Bestival 2016 {A Family Review}

We've been back home for just over 24 hours after leaving Camp Bestival 2016 behind us in, a just starting to get a little bit damp, Dorset. Across the weekend we were blessed with blue sky and sunshine which increased the amount of sparkle from all the space age glitter festooning the revellers across the festival site. And what a site it was again. This was our seventh year attending Camp Bestival and still there was enough to keep all four of us busy, satisfied and happy that we had had a complete weekend. The children, now 10 and 8, find new things to love every year but still enjoy repeating past experiences - you just can't get tired of Camp Bestival!

We arrived at around 10am on Thursday and easily entered the site through the well marked lanes around Lulworth Castle. Parking up was straightforward, a £25 cost, and once we had our bands safely on our wrists, and the £10 programme pack bought, we began the task of getting all of our gear to the campsite. Arriving a little bit earlier this year there was more choice of free areas but we headed to our usual camping spot that the children were familiar with - now they are older they are able to independently walk to the campsite toilets and collect water for us. Portable toilets were set up throughout the camp site and we never had more than 4 people head of us in a queue at any point across the weekend. There were times the paper and hand sanitiser were out so always be prepared and have those on you.

Once camp was set up we chilled for a bit, made some plans from the programme and later explored the site. The Magic Meadow is open on the Thursday evening with plenty of eateries, bars and entertainment going on to whet your appetite for the three day weekend to come.

Across the long weekend we struck a good balance of things for us to do as a family, as one parent with the children and as a solo adult. This post is going to concentrate on just a fraction of the things that we experienced at Camp Bestival for the children and as a family.

Camp Bestival 2015 ~ Review & Tips

I've bombarded you with images galore, here and here, from Camp Bestival 2015 and you may have guessed we have had an absolute ball but I've not put down many words. So here is my overall review of Camp Bestival 2015 with some helpful tips thrown in for good measure.

We arrived around 11:00 on the Thursday morning, following the clearly signed roads into the site where we parked up with ease - this year managing to pull up at the bottom of the car park thus avoiding the hill down. This is purely pot luck and has nothing to do with the time you get there. The car park is on a hill so be prepared with a trolley or buggy to get your things from car to camp, and back again. Trolley hire is available for a £50 deposit then a £5 half hour charge.
Tip: We always bring our trusted Phil & Teds which, with a few bungees, does a fantastic job.

We chose to camp in our usual spot in the valley of Purple Camping. Toilets were a few minutes walk away, showers a bit further - we had a trug! The campsite toilets were kept well stocked with toilet roll but we always bring our own just in case and they were cleaned well on a regular basis.
Tip: The portable loo doors are noisy so my tip is don't camp too close unless you want to hear a constant thudding of doors all night.

Onsite toilets are scattered around with a choice of chemical toilets or compost loos. As on the campsite these were well attended with toilet roll aplenty and clean. Some toilets are located near a water point but many aren't.
Tip: put a small bottle of hand sanitiser in your pocket.

The festival site itself is a short walk uphill out of the valley - you can camp a lot closer and avoid the hill on a daily basis - and is partly open on the Thursday night.
Tip: Head up on the Thursday evening and get your bearings onsite.

The site is a decent size which means a lot of walking. We planned a few activities we definitely wanted to do and some we might do should the mood take us, this way we weren't too stressed going from a to b on a timetabled mad scramble and actually found a lot of things that we had never even thought about. You can buy a Camp Bestival bag for £10 which includes a lanyard programme, book programme and colouring book and pencils. Be wary though that performance times do change and these are only sporadically displayed on the Castle Stage screen. My beady eyed girl spotted that Ella Henderson had been moved earlier but the husband missed most of Marcus Brigstocke as his comedy slot was moved forward.
Tip: Make a few plans but also just go with the flow.

Food is plentiful onsite but prices can add up. Some example costs were; a large pot of macaroni cheese and bacon £7 with a smaller child's size at £4, wood fired pizzas £10/£9, corn on the cob £3.50, pie and mash £7.50 with a child's serving at £4. The quality of food is good with a great range all around the site, particularly within the Feast Collective tent. We bought dinner each night but breakfasted in the tent and picnicked for lunch.
Tip: Take plenty of snacks, drinks and pre prepared wraps and keep a well stocked cool box in your tent.

Be prepared for the weather. This year we didn't see a drop of rain but the temperatures dropped massively at night. The sun was hot in the daytime and this sun spray from P20 was a great product to test out on the family.
Tip: bring sun spray, layers, sun hats, woolly hats, onesies, blankets & wellies and waterproofs - just in case.

Take some spending money. As well as food there are other stalls to entice you to part with your well earned cash. Bars are plentiful selling beer, cider and ale for £4 - £4.80 a pint - cocktails, wine and spirits were also available. You can take alcohol onto the campsite but this is not supposed to be taken onto the main site. Other ways to spend your money include; the carousel at £2.50 a ride, the FairyLove tent, Tell Tails, postcards, charity stalls, Fire Toys - the boy bought a diablo for £12, Bubbles Inc, face paint tents and clothing stalls.
Tip: go armed with bubbles, glowsticks, and face paints.

At night the main music acts hit the Castle Stage. In the past we have always camped up on the field from 6 onwards but this year we decided to explore elsewhere in the evenings. On the final night we chose to watch the fireworks from the side of the castle and this gave us a fantastic viewpoint without being huddled tight and fenced in on the main field - it also meant we could exit the site quickly at the end as we had to head home on the Sunday too.
Tip: the bandstand on the Kid's Field showcases a wide range of music - we had a ball on the Friday night dancing to the 'Fabulous Lounge Swingers'. Also head into the Dingly Dell in the dark - it is beautiful and the children going to the play park at 22:40 is one of their favourite moments!

x x x

Disclaimer: I received family Camp Bestival 2015 tickets in return for previews and reviews of this year's festival. As always, views and opinions are my own.

Finding myself at Camp Bestival 2015

I sit at my laptop, a little weary, thinking back over just how amazing the last five days have been; for me, for my children, for my family.
I don't know where to start with the hundreds of photos so for now I'm going to focus on me and how I went about finding myself at Camp Bestival 2015.

I had already made plans for some 'me time' safe in the knowledge that the husband was joining us for the first time properly in four years and the children could be safely left. Plans are often made for Camp Bestival then we find ourselves sat in a field Sunday night and thinking, 'Oh! I never did that!' Well this time I booked myself properly in and earmarked a couple of extra activities - just for me.



The Hideaway was one of my favourite spots and I found myself here at 8:20 on Friday morning ready to go off on a nature run with the very soothing Nick from Uber Wellbeing. I was joined by another six or so runners for a truly peaceful start to the festival. The run took us off site via the Dingly Dell, across fields of cows, through meadows where we paused for some meditational moves and round the lake. This had me set up for the rest of the day and the rest of the weekend.

Later the same day I was back but this time heading for the Yoga Tent for a lovely hour of Yoga for a Peaceful Mind with Louise. This was pure bliss and having never taken part in an actual yoga class before has made me realise the pros over doing it alone in the front room. This was an hour of complete switch off, gentle movement and meditation from which I took away the rather splendid affirmation;

I am enough, I have enough, I do enough.

On Saturday we found ourselves in the Sleepy Hollow and I took part of my yoga affirmation with me to the Badger Press Letterpress Workshops. Here you could use the old fashioned technique of letter pressing to print whatever you like.

The last thing I had planned was a trip to the Guardian Literary Tent. This is a tent I have always enjoyed chilling in at Camp Bestival listening to a number of different speakers and artists over the years. On Sunday I headed down to catch the lovely Lucy talking about How to stop washing your hair! This wasn't as scary as it first sounds as Lucy, with the help of the Scummy Mummies, talked us through the natural alternatives of 'no poo' to clean your hair instead of pouring on parabens and sodium laureth sulfates on a daily basis. A lot of what she said made sense and she assured me it can be done with curly hair.

Listening to Lucy, and dreaming of a yurt in New Zealand, the words from Friday's yoga came back to me. Sometimes we just need to strip back and realise that we do indeed have enough.

And that was how I made some time for me at Camp Bestival 2015.

I highly recommend doing it!

I obviously had an immense time with my family too and this is just a snippet of what we experienced.

So, watch this space.

x x x

Disclaimer: I received family Camp Bestival 2015 tickets in return for previews and reviews of this year's festival. As always, views and opinions are my own.





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.