Camp Bestival

Lulworth Castle – 18^th – 20^thJuly 2008 

There are numerous schools of thought explaining why people choose to forsake warmer pastures to attend the now saturated British festival.

These can loosely be divided into two camps.

There are those who attend to see every band they ever dreamed off and who plan down to the last minute who is on, at what time and where. These people are more worryingly in bed and awake early enough to make sure this happens.    

Secondly there are those who go to the festival.

The dictionary calls festival – an organised series of special events and performances.    

For those in favour of the defined emancipation of Britain’s favourite summer excursion, the brains behind Bestival do festival in its traditional form better than anyone.

Camp Bestival is the brainchild of Radio 1’s Rob Da Bank and his wife Josie who between them curate and plan the entire weekend. It has been designed to act as a smaller, family orientated weekend, loosely based on the stereotypes of the British holiday camp. Acting as a less intense version of the full Bestival, which takes place on the Isle of Wight in September, Camp Bestival is like full Bestival without the thumping headache.

Lulworth Castle During Camp Bestival 

Situated in the grounds of the picturesque Lulworth Castle in Dorset, Camp Bestival’s charm immediately lies in the aesthetics. The beautiful castle, trim hedgerows and courtyards give way to the kind of attention to detail reserved for Glastonbury at it's finest.

The acts on show this weekend encapsulate the diversity, but also the soft underbelly of popular music.  Headliners Chuck Berry, The Flaming Lips and Kate Nash might not have Camden’s elite dribbling down their drain-pipes, but try and tell that to the kids.

All three go down a storm.  Berry rolls back the years with classic ‘You Never Can Tell’ and Nash has youngsters and parents singing in unison to her cockney dramas.

Like an excitable child, Coyne was on hand all Saturday to make sure all was in place for the most dramatic performance of the weekend, his friendly persona and willingness to meet fans young and old was a highlight for those on hand to grab photos.

He said: “You are happy all day and then like five minutes before you go on you’re like oh my God. No matter how much planning and what ever happens tonight there’s been a hell of a lot of love and sun. We’ve been here all day and it’s been just beautiful.”

The sun is definitely a feature of the weekend lighting up the Kids Field, which saw performances from a diverse range of artists. Bestival veteran Kid Carpet was on hand to bring his unique sense of instrumental lunacy, playing a neck less guitar as well as the standard array of rewired Fisher Price instruments. 

He said: “It’s all generations here. I just signed autographs for some 5-year olds. It’s a total family affair. I’ll be here all weekend for sure”.

Energetic performance of the weekend, as well as surprise hit, went to Bournemouth’s Freefall Collective. Bringing their live bass heavy breaks and percussion saturated sound to a mixed aged crowd, the band were overwhelmed by the reception from the mostly underage audience unversed in club culture.

Lead singer MC Manic said:“We had quite a young audience so I had to watch my swearing because I swear when I get a bit nervous. It was a great turnout and it was great to get people on their feet and do what they do in the sun.

“I thought we might have scared the young audience off a bit, but I think in the end they scared me off. It’s good because it’s a totally different audience from what we are used too.”

Bringing a sense of fun at it's best, the Kids Field features the most idyllic array of entertainment an under-10 could wish for. With a kids disco, Punch and Judy, craft tents, clowns and the legendary Women’s Institute Tea Tent to keep the parents refuelled, the Kid’s Field was a hive of activity.

Mark Ronson singer and Amy Winehouse stand-in Tawiah exclaimed after her performance: “I’ve never had fans this young it’s scary.”

Not only an entire field dedicated to the younger generation, Camp Bestival lays on its own special Blue Coats to entertain and amuse youngsters all weekend.

Blue coated head-honcho Gareth explained the activities after comparing an afternoon of intense competition:“We have just done some human crufts, earlier the kids were enjoying some binocular football which made a real mess, it wasn’t pleasant, and later we are having a big tea party which will be marvellous. Full of costumes, tea and cakes!”

A Mixture of Colourful Delights from the Weekend 

Father of two, Simon Dyer, a 44 year-old Graphic Designer from London said: “This is the first time I’ve been with the children and I’m having a great time. Chuck Berry has been the highlight for me. The kids have been making dolls in the knitting tent and haven’t stopped talking about it since.”

So that’s the kids entertained and by sunset too tired to continue. So what do the adults get up to when they’ve gone to bed? Beyond the Kids Field lies the Magic Meadow boasting the classic Bestival Bollywood Bar, Come Dancing Stage and Comedy Tent.

Looking like children who just got out of school, the first generation club kids show the younger members of the crowd how it’s done to Bestival’s night time speciality. Hosting the ever eclectic likes of DJ Yoda, Giles Petersen and Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve, the Bollywood Bar gives the parents chance to prove they can still pop a move or two while supping on a Long Island Ice Tea.

Winning more love from the crowd than most was 64-year old reggae spinning legend DJ Derek, who announced to the exquisitely attired crowd, “I wouldn’t be anywhere else in the world right now”. Declaring his love for all things Bestival, Derek explained his love for the people Bestival brings together before declaring: “Not enough people have respect for the roots and genres of music - you guys do.”

The Bollywood Bar saw the best exponents of the fancy dress at Camp Bestival with people strutting their stuff in all manner of attire. The Alice in Wonderland theme sees a giant bunny rabbit attract a weekends’ worth of female attention and a queen of hearts find love with her ace of spades, much to the delight of those around her.

Refuge from the hedonism of the Bollywood Bar is found in the Come Dancing Stage, as a mirror ballroom dancehall is transformed into a swinging hive of all things blues, jazz and rock and roll.

Compared by the Shellac Collective spinning the finest collection of 78rpm records from an era no one in attendance can remember, Come Dancing saw performances from booming newcomers Ebony Bones, rock and roll youngsters Kitty, Daisy and Lewis and DJ sets from the likes of Andrew Weatherall indulging his rockier tastes.

Lizzy Gordon, 22, from Brighton said: “This is such a good idea because not many people are exposed to this kind of old time rock music. This is a real education for me. It makes such a change to be dancing to this rather than the usual festival sounds.”

Other highlights include Howard Marks on the Comedy Stage, a brilliantly X-rated performance from DFA’s Hercules and Love Affair, current indie favourites The Black Kids, Scottish folksters King Creosote and the utterly ridiculous Wurzels proving once again that taste is exactly what you make it.

He said: “It was super fun. It was a very lively and different crowd for us. We are used to a much more club-oriented crowd, off your face, kind of crowd. This is a lot more mellow and fun. This festival has got it all.”

Lead singer of King Creosote Kenny Anderson said after a sun soaked afternoon set: “We are very much looking forward to playing Bestival at the end of the summer. I Love it here. I’m a Dad now as well so I could bring them here. All the kids are having a riot.”

Camp Bestival‘s charm runs even deeper. Perhaps the highlight of the weekend comes after hours. A trip into the woods changes the pace entirely with a mobile theatre troupe that takes in song, dance and live theatre. The audience are treated to oddities like a woman posting letters from an isolated island to the walking onlookers. The whole experience is kept in check by a brigade of silver glad enforcers moving you along the route around the woods and repeatedly asking you to produce your papers in a rather creepy Big Brother-esque style. It’s a truly wonderful and equally bizarre half an hour of escapism that takes the definition of festival to its brilliant limits. 

The performances continue long into the night with organised sing-a-long’s round the fire to Take That, Bryan Adams and R Kelly, making sure everyone’s stupid head is firmly screwed on before bed.

Blessed with a large dose of sun and an attitude more immature than a round of human crufts, Camp Bestival promises to return next year to give everyone a well earned dose of beautiful, festival brilliance.

Feature by Thomas Frost

Photography by Jake Applebee