An Out of the World Festival!
THE COUNTRY CHILD FAMILY RETURNS TO CAMP BESTIVAL FOR THEIR 16TH MAGICAL YEAR WITH SURPRISE CELEB APPEARANCES, ICONIC HEADLINERS & OVER 350 ACTS AND PERFORMERS.
Photo Credit Tony Johnson
We are family! And the Country Child family, courtesy of CB, went to experience all on offer and we can report that it is better then ever!
All the Astronauts, aliens and cosmic explorers descended on Dorset this weekend as one of the UK’s favourite family festivals landed back at Lulworth Castle for an out of this world weekend featuring galaxy-bending headliners Paloma Faith and McFly (a highlight for the CC son ) and a closing UK festival exclusive performance from PETE TONG IBIZA CLASSICS – Jules Buckley & The Essential Orchestra followed by an incredible Fireworks Spectacular which included projections of Camp Bestival festival goers on Lulworth Castle. With an incredible array of acts, celebrations and a world of activities, Camp Bestival Dorset solidified its status as the ultimate family festival experience this summer – created by families, for families.
The party didn’t stop at the headliners as festival goers enjoyed performances from Scissor Sisters co-lead vocalist Jake Shears, legendary rock band The Darkness, special guest James Arthur, the incredible electronic music duo Orbital and disco diva Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The smallest weekend ravers in the crowd enjoyed hours of entertainment from family favourites, Dick & Dom, Mister Maker and Utah Saints, Hacker T Dog & Katie Thistleton, Brainiac Live and Mr Tumble to name a few!
In another memorable moment, Aidan Hammond made his festival debut on Saturday evening with an hour-long DJ set full of infectious beats as proud mum and iconic TV presenter Alison Hammond watched on and partied in the crowd with festival goers! Paloma Faith also treated fans to a special talk and book signing in The Library tent giving festival goers her unique take on motherhood and what it means to be a woman whilst festival curator Rob da Bank hosted a talk with England and Harlequins rugby player Joe Marler.
Rob and Josie da Bank, Camp Bestival co-founders said: “Dear Camp Bestival audience, wowzers… we did it again and this time the weather was on our side! We hope everybody enjoyed the festival, personally we felt it was one of our best and loved seeing you all stamping your passports, dancing the night away, sewing, painting and trying new things. When we walk around the site and see you all so happy it makes all the hard work worth it. Hopefully see you next year. Lots of love & safe travels xxx”
This year, Lulworth Estate was transformed into an other-worldly cosmos for an out of this world festival experience with the new ‘Intergalactic, Aliens and Space’ theme which families embraced en-masse throughout the weekend! The CC family sought inspiration from Guardians of the Galaxy and along with many others took part in the annual fancy dress parade and competition where one lucky winner was awarded a family ticket to next year’s festival.
Brand new for 2024, campers were encouraged to make their own clothing from recycled materials in the Camp Couture workshop tent and join in to parade their finished outfits in a magical fashion parade throughout the festival on Saturday afternoon. We chose to make a Save the Seas Top Hat! Highlighting the plight of plastic in the waters, the kids worked so hard on their creation however sadly it did not make the catwalk on the Saturday. The other entrants were so creative and worthy winners.
An exclusive new addition for this year was the Camp Bestival Navigators, ready to guide all the younger explorers who attended the festival. The Navigators, who were based at the brand-new Navigation Town, directed children to all the wonderful things the festival has to offer, including circus skills, woodland tribe activities and fashion design. Every child guest who attended the festival received their very own free Explorer’s Passport, another new addition for this year. Designed by festival co-founder Josie da Bank, the magical Explorer’s Passport was packed with beautiful illustrations, maps and information, with lots of space for kids to add their memories, stamps and stickers as they explore the festival. Guests were also able to take their passports to Josie’s Post Office – also situated in Navigation Town – to take part in extra special doodling workshops, stamping, stickering and more.
New for this year and returning in 2025 was the Camp Kids Extra Pass ticket add-on, designed to make kids’ mealtimes as easy as possible, while also helping families to budget and spread the cost of their festival weekend a little further with an incredible value for money package. Valid for the festival weekend, the pack came with its own welcome pack with drawstring backpack, water bottle and your all-important meal tokens that gave children an incredible six kids meals, three sweet treats, and unlimited fruit and filtered water.
Campers looking for an elevated loo experience enjoyed the brand-new Loo Lounge including private luxury toilet cabins, pamper stations and a chill out area with bean bags and deck chairs. The experience was so popular it will return for 2025’s festival as the ‘House of Refresh’. A recommended service! Worth every penny as far as the CC Family are concerned.
Those looking for some family downtime enjoyed much needed time out in the Slow Motion wellness area. From ice baths and meditation to yoga sessions and sleep retreats, plus much more guaranteed a weekend of wellness and recuperation in amongst the festival excitement.
A festival inside the festival, Caravanserai transported festival goers to another world, from trapeze artists to brass bands and everything in between with a particular highlight being the Rob Da Bank set on the Thursday night. It was so lovely to introduce our impressionable children to a good mix of trance, drum and bass with some club classics.
If you missed out on this year, the sister festival Camp Bestival Shropshire takes place in Weston Park from 15 – 18 August, whilst Early Bird tickets for Camp Bestival Dorset 2025 will go on sale on Friday 2 August at 10am including a new kids go free under 5 ticket offer for a limited time only.
We also highly advise the Front Row Camping/Campervan option which we went for this year. A total gfame changer for the oldest of the group. A spritely 70 year old, which we had to keep up with! Legend!
Thank you Camp Bestival, you are growing with style and better than ever!
