Camp Bestival 2024 in Review
I cannot quite believe I am saying this, but this was our 11th year at Camp Bestival, having first attended since Sebby was six weeks old back in 2013.
The festival has grown, developed and changed since our first visit all those years ago but our old favourites are still there and we find new ones every year.
The family has also grown up since our first visit and we now attend with a 16, 13 and 11 year old. Gone are the days of clamouring for a glimpse of Mr Tumble and Mr Maker, but they still adore Dick n Dom and the festival campsite still rings out with raucous cried of “BOGIES” from time to time.
Last year Isaac took a friend, which really made the festival for him, so this year we invited friends for both him and Eliza too.
Highlights of Camp Bestival 2024
Camp Bestival was mostly about the kids activities when they were younger, but it is lovely to see the kids map out their weekend based on the music acts they want to see.
Music
McFly were a huge hit with all the family, as they really know how to rock the stage and work the crowd.
Dick n Dom are still up there as festival favourites and we really enjoyed their new DJ set which saw the whole of the Castle stage crowd bouncing from beginning to end.
Isaac has a very wide-ranging music taste and really enjoyed The Smyths in the Big Top, whilst the girls and I were at the main stage watching James Arthur.
The boys also loved their DJ sets in the Bollywood tent and managed to bump Inyo Alison Hammond, who’s son was playing.
For us, we really enjoyed Jake Shears, Sophie Ellis Bextor, The Amy Winehouse Experience, Gok Wan and Pete Tong and his orchestra who closed the show in style on Sunday night.
Activities
The first thing the girls were keen to do was get Henna tattoos. My top tip with any festival is explore first, as the first place they looked was £15, but we ended up getting better ones for just £6 somewhere else.
Eliza and her friends are an arty bunch, so they enjoyed the free art activities and making their mark, of course.
Sebby, at 11, still enjoys some of the activities for younger kids and enjoyed trying his hand at some of the challenges in the circus skills area, just as funny bikes, balancing, plate spinning and baton twirling.
Sebby and the girls still love the Dingly Dell, even if the mud kitchen is now out of favour. It is a lovely place to relax and chill away from the crowds.
They all had their own money to spend this year and they all loved exploring the stalls, with a particular affection for the candy floss and finding weird and wonderful accessories.
The pop-up circus’ are always a hit. We didn’t manage to see any parades this year, but we did see the Indian circus who moved location from the castle to in front of the Bollywood tent.
They also all enjoyed the fairground rides, which include rope swings, big wheel, helter skelter and the air swinger.
The highlight of Camp Bestival is also the fireworks on Sunday night, which sees images projected on the the castle as well as the epic firework display.
Food
As in most years, we took lots of snacks and drinks with us to save money, but we still enjoyed meals every evening. The boys were very fond of a particular peri-peri chicken stand, whilst the girls loved Ana Mae’s Mac and Cheese.
We were also pleased to see the return of Food Collective and our family favourite DJ BBQ who serves delicious barbecue favourites as well as having a great DJ set and competitions.
And our festival family favourite corn on the cob!
Facilities
We stayed in camping plus again this year, where you can choose where to camp and have an allocated pitch, which was large enough for our Coleman Octagon blackout tent and a two-man tent for the boys.
In camping plus there was a shop, mobile cafe, charging lockers, toilets and showers, although there were a lot less of these this year, so the queues in the morning were a lot longer.
Our only grumble of the whole weekend was the complete lack of phone signal. It has always been ok for us (O2), but there was literally nothing the whole weekend, which made keeping track of the kids almost impossible. Thankfully, the old fashioned “we’ll meet you at x at a certain time” more or less worked, but it is definitely something that need to be addressed for next year.
All in all, it was a brilliant weekend and the weather gods were on our side, which always helps!!
Disclaimer: We were guests of Camp Bestival. All thoughts and opinions are our own
