This time last week the children and I were enjoying the last full day of Camp Bestival where we’d been camping with friends since the Friday. I’d driven down from London and faced the motorway only for the second time before joining Alice from Project Wanderlust at her camp and putting the tent up almost single handed (I did ask for a little bit of help from a young man walking past when the poles needed someone at each end); I felt pretty darn proud of myself I can tell you! It wasn’t easy getting to Camp Bestival on my own when I was terrified of the motorway (I arrived shaking so much the girl at the press desk offered me a sit down and a brioche), had never put a tent up (I usually make excuses and nip off to do something else) and had a wheel fall off my trolley which was supposed to take a 75kg load! In fact I HAVE to make note that the ‘Handy Folding Garden Trolley‘ I’d bought was NOT handy in the slightest! I used it to get everything from car to camp and then to pull the children about it. When a wheel fell off I had to make them sit on one side only and it was incredibly hard work but what could I do?!

Anyway, bad trolley aside we had the most amazing time which was made even better by bumping into lots of friends and being joined on the Saturday by Katy from Modern Mummy who made it to the festival even if only for one night. It was a Camp Bestival 2014 reunion for the children and yet again my favourite part was watching all of their grubby faces soak up the wonder around them! I love Alice and Katy, they are such good friends and our children are very tight too which makes me so happy. These two women mean a heck of a lot to me and I just thank blogging that I met them because in any other walk of life we’d never have bumped into each other being so spread out over the country that we are. We made friends because of blogging but we stay friends because we’ve truly found friendship, what a beautiful side to my job eh!

So, after setting up our camp using a photo and description from Alice as to where they were based we headed into the festival for the first time (with only a slight worry that I’d pitched my tent in the middle of some poor random persons camp). It took us ages to meet up with our mates and didn’t happen until supper time back at the tent but it didn’t matter, that afternoon was just magical. We went and played in the Dingly Dell, a wooded play area with lots of magical fun, crafts, games and the National Trust encouraging a try at the 50 things you should do before you’re 11 and 3/4! We soaked up the atmosphere of the festival and having wound flowers around our three wheeled trash machine and placed garlands in our hair, we felt like we thoroughly fitted in! We relaxed, we enjoyed and we found our festival vibe!

The weekend went on with this chilled out vibe and as the children got grubbier and grubbier, sang the ‘poo lorry song’ (made up by Katy a few years ago I believe but taken on every Camp Bestival trip since) when it came around every few hours to clean, face painted each other, giggled, beamed, danced and cheered, it let me know we’d made the right choice coming on our own. It was hard work without Jonny to help but I’m so glad we didn’t miss it due to me chickening out! It was a brilliant, brilliant weekend!

The line up was fab for both adults and children with Kaiser Chiefs and Underworld being the two I most wanted to see and The Scarecrows Wedding, Mr Tumble (obligatory at a children’s festival) and The Cat In The Hat being top of the bill for the little ones. It’s not all about the main Castle Stage though as there is something happening in every pocket at Camp Bestival and whether you’re into food, hands on work shops like the Brit School and circus tent were offering, chilling out with a cocktail, running wild in the woods, playing in a giant sand pit, going on rides, seeing the countryside, dancing in the Bollywood Tent, seeing comedy acts, taking a dip in a hot tub (expensive and not for me with all those other grubby bodies I have to say) Camp Bestival really does offer a hell of a lot!

We enjoyed the Hello Kitty area which gave children free face painting and temporary tattoos while parents could charge their mobiles without a fee. We also loved the WI tent for a break, a sit down and a very inexpensive sandwich and cake. The highlight for me was the Dingly Dell, by evening light on the last night waiting for Underworld to play. A lantern Parade was taking place and glow sticks lit up the woods perfectly. So simple but so much fun. It wasn’t the big things which made me love this year at Camp Bestival but the being with each other and with friends having fun. This could be done anywhere I guess but there’s just something about Camp Bestival! It’s made a camping lover out of me and believe me, I have SO never been a camping lover and all the extras really do make it worthwhile!

Here are my favourite pictures from the weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

I would recommend going next year, absolutely and Early Bird (the cheapest they will be) ticket information is here. It IS, I suppose, fairly pricey but when you look at what you get for the money then I don’t think it’s too bad. Camping and extremely good posh showers with very well kept toilets cleaned frequently. Then there’s many bands, comedy acts and children’s shows as you can manage along side daily running entertainment like bouncy castles, the Dingle Dell woodland fun and dance tents, cinema screenings, story telling… There’s a heck of a lot to see and do and I doubt anyone would be able to do everything!

The down sides for me this year was that it all felt very crammed in with regards to people. Last year seemed a lot less busy and was, in my opinion, better for it. I didn’t get to see Kaiser Chiefs, not even on the big screens because I was so far back and by the time the sound reached where I was standing it wasn’t particularly good. We made sure we got in a lot closer and earlier for other acts after that. I’m also not keen on the fact you have to pay £20 to park, it’s not possible to come with a family and everything you need for the weekend by foot or public transport and to whack another £20 charge on top of the ticket prices irks me but it wouldn’t put me off going entirely…

Other things to note are that the food queues were incredibly long most of the time which is tricky with small children. The food is expensive as it is at all festivals but it’s also very good which I wouldn’t say is indicative of other similar things. It’s worth making a picnic at camp and bringing food in for the children then if you have to wait in queues it’s not the end of the world – anyone with a hungry child knows you can’t be waiting an hour and a half for a burger! My top tip would be to buy a decent trolley or hire one there, bring your own face paints (the children love doing each other and it’s not about how good it is) and just chill. Don’t make a massive itinerary and instead choose three or four unmissable acts to work around but let the wind take you to everything else.

We had a blast Camp B! I made a little video to show you… We loved it!

 

I’ve put all my pictures (I took absolutely loads) from Camp Bestival on a board on my Pinterest page and like last year I shall be printing them out at some point probably for a photo book as they are memories that we want to look back on lots. There’s something really very special about Camp Bestival that I can’t quite put my finger on and I don’t really want to, I’m happy to go with the magic!