Camp Bestival 2017 Review

Well.

Where to begin.

Camp Bestival. A fabulous festival of fun and frolics for young people, kids and the young at heart. It is always full of laughs, and some surprises.

The regular fun things include the awesome Insect Circus, the worlds largest bouncy castle (only a regular since last year), Mr Tumble, Dick 'n' Dom, kids garden fun, crazy bikes, sticker crafts, retro 80s bands, the Blue Coats, the inflatable church, the WI tea tent, the Feast Collective, and the jam jar cocktail bar.

This year surprises included...rain.

It never rains at Camp Bestival. No seriously it doesn't. DD and I have been going since 2009 and it really never rains. It is sunny, hot, you need sunscreen. This year, Camp Bestival's 10th Anniversary, the rain we had never had...all came at once. And so, suddenly, Camp Bestival resembled Glastonbury.

For families that were not used to camping, or had small kids I imagine this was horrible. Muddy tents and wet clothes are no fun; but for DD and I, hardened festival goers and owners of a rather fine and storm/rain proof canvas tent, it was at least bearable.

We bought some cheap plastic ponchos, donned our wellies and ventured forth regardless. Camp Bestival managed the mud fairly well, with extra 'road' panels on paths that were well walked (though a bit of extra hay/straw would have been welcome) and on the whole it was gateways and small areas that become swampy, the main site stayed pretty walkable and the camp site itself was fine.

Highlights for me this year included Right Said Fred on the main stage, and a surprise 'lock in' due to the storm, with the Scummy mummies and copious amounts of gin.

Camp Bestival might be a family and children's festival but there is still plenty of 'mother's ruin' to be had. Due to queues I sadly missed the Jam Jar cocktail bar this year, that and the sad lack of a bloody Mary on the drinks list. But I managed to consume a fair bit of lager and Jack Daniels (not in the same glass)

We didn't see the Insect Circus because... yes you guessed it...it was too wet. And there were other things I missed too - no clay modelling this year, and the rain did slightly dampen my fancy dress on Saturday. But the musical acts were all great. I stumbled upon Los Pacaminos, and they were great fun. The comedy tent was small but perfect this year, not in the kid's field and full of genuinely funny people.

World's Biggest, and saddest, Bouncy Castle

DD's highlights were Louisa Johnson, and Anne Marie, both in the big top and so out of the rain, though not the mud as it was a well-travelled area.

My good deed for the festival was to lend our trolley to a tent-neighbour when the festitaxi was cancelled due to the weather and the Mr Trolley hire was cancelled too, which enabled them to get their stuff back to their car and thus escape on Sunday. And as no good deed ever goes unpunished this meant we missed a birthday party in the dingly dell for the 5 year old son of Kirsty and Clara (My Two Mums) . And then on the last day, during pack up, we very nearly had our tent stolen....

But on the whole Camp Bestival, though wet, was joyful and fun as always. But a wet festival is not for the faint hearted!

Were you there? and was it your first festival? I'd love to know how you coped!

If you haven't been put off (honestly we've had all the rain for the next ten years) you can grab early bird tickets on a payment plan here.

Disclosure : DD and I received our tickets as part of the Official Camp Bestival Blogger team.