Having attended the lovely Camp Bestival for the last four years, beginning in 2010 when the kiddies were four and two, our festival experiences and expectations have evolved and every time we discover new things - and maybe forget to do others. Each year we have gone our situation has been different; in 2010 it was us as a young family with another young family,
2011 saw the same two families plus friends without children,
2012 it was just me, the kiddies and my niece and
2013 we were back to the same set up as 2010 - although I set up and de-camped without the husband as he attended from Friday evening to Sunday lunchtime.
Once again we set off on the Thursday and arrived on site around 1 p.m. having had no problems with traffic flow on arrival. As the children were that bit older we decided to camp closer to the action so loaded up the trusted Phil & Teds and took our first of just two loads - I
packed better this year! - through Yellow Camping, down the major hill and set ourselves up on flat ground in the Purple Camping area. About two minutes walk away were the standard campsite toilets with showers nearby plus a breakfast bar and coffee stand. Just a quick note on the toilets - they were regularly emptied but always make sure you have toilet roll and hand sanitiser as these weren't always replaced quickly enough. Just to say, this year saw the first pay to use flushable toilets with hand washing facilities positioned near the castle on the main festival site. The cost? £2 a go or a re-entry wristband for £20 - certainly puts the emphasis on 'spend a penny'. I'm still torn over this. Fair enough if you seriously cannot face portaloos but it is a festival and be warned, there were queues for these loos too!
The first area of the festival site was open on the Thursday evening allowing you to begin to get a feel of the place and get your bearings. Every year the site is laid out in a similar way with The Kids' Garden, Castle Field, Magic Meadow, Dingly Dell, Freesports Park and Soul Park but within these areas there are extra additions and changes in tents and activities to keep you on your toes. So there is plenty going on to keep everyone happy. One thing we have got better at each year is striking the balance of activities to suit everyone so I ensured the kiddies had highlighted the things they wanted to see and do and ditto for myself and the husband. We planned to do things together, with our friends and also without the children. The husband had time on his own watching the mountain bikes at the Freesports Park, I had a night out with my friend - as well as a well planned bar meet up with fellow bloggers - the children got their craft and play fix and we all got to see the music and acts we wanted to. All in all a well executed plan! Obviously, things will get forgotten and you can't fit everything in. This year we never got round to going into the wonderful Dingly Dell which is a beautiful place full of activities and drama - a night time walk through is particularly mystical - but we all left on the Monday morning feeling satisfied!
