The Cool Camping Guide to Festivals

This is the festival that grabs you by the proverbial balls yelling “AVE IT” before flinging you at warp speed into a mosh pit of frenziedly excited fellow party heads. No rest for the wicked, and certainly no sitting down with a nice cup of tea! The vibe this year was as frenetic, throbbing and totally hedonistic as ever.

The dress-up theme was outer space. Miles upon miles of Bacofoil had been sacrificed to make alien heads, shields, thigh boots, robot masks… you could get snow blindness from all the flashing silver and LED’s on show. A large number of people wore colanders on their heads. One bloke had made a jaw-droppingly spectacular replica of the yellow digger that Ripley fights the monsters with in Alien.

Musically, Bestival was a mixed experience sound-wise. The main stage was newly positioned at the top of a slope, meaning that not only did we have to stand leaning backwards craning our necks to see the acts (ouch) but the sound travelled right over our heads. Thankfully, the sound was ramped up on the main stage for the Saturday night headliners: Kraftwerk. Their set was nothing short of inspirational, their trademark monotone voices and crystal clear synths still sounding so current. Their Bauhaus-style visuals (featuring lots of trains, power stations and radio masts) flowed seamlessly alongside their sparse sound, and the band’s obsession with technology married perfectly with the event’s space theme. For one of the penultimate songs they had robots onstage ‘performing’ the songs. Wunderbar!

Boy-8-Bit was also brilliant, tearing up the dancefloor with electroclash and infectious spacey bleeps. And a special mention has to go to the busking spaceman Sonic Manipulator who played a one-man band show dressed in an LED-festooned spacesuit, rapping and throwing bleeps out to the universe with his home-crafted beat box gadgets and theramin-loaded light sabre. We salute you! There was even a cheesy wedding-style disco next to a massive inflatable blow-up church complete with guest DJs spinning the naffest of platters – how good is that?

And what weather we had: non-stop sunshine! While the event was so packed it felt as though it was going to burst at the seams, you can’t deny the festival’s good intentions and all-inclusive stance. There’s something for everyone from all walks of life: there’s nothing stuck up about any of it and a vibe  of well-meaning mischief pervades. Bestival is friendly, good old fashioned party fun for all: just don’t come along if you plan on sitting down!

(Anne Richardson)

Skream & Benga played their heavy dubstep, the crowd went bonkers, it felt like everyone had come just to see them. Tiesto was incredible, even though it rained. He was at the main stage, which was easily one of the best arenas, situated on a slope so everyone at the back could see and feel involved. The Luciano presents Ether Live project was a fantastic follow up act. Five DJ’s each had a coloured booth on stage, and Luciano used a channel mixer in four different colours to conduct them. Incredible visuals with lots of lazers and strobes – amazing! Timo Maas and Dubfire were the highlights of Sunday. Sasha and Erick Morillo ripped the Subliminal Sessions roof off, and to round the night off Deadmau5 tore apart the Mixmag terrace, an open air stage so there was lots of lively dancing under the stars. The festival ended at 11pm on Sunday which felt too early, we were left wanting more! Creamfields was the highlight of our summer, really well organised, but a pity that there was no mobile phone reception - maybe organisers could get that sorted next year?

 (Alex VP, an undergrad from Dorset!)

Review coming soon…

Excited anticipation, I find, has a terrible habit of leading to disappointment but Shambala, in all it’s whimsical glory, exceeded my expectations.

To assimilate myself fully as member of the People’s Republic of Shambala I went for the whole four night, five day extravaganza. Less than 12 hours in, I’d already lost my programme, torn my trousers and forgotten that a world existed outside my new Shambalife.

Luckily for me, sans programme, Shambala is a little world that you really ought to just get stuck into and explore for yourself anyway. With every journey around the enchanting site you were sure to stumble upon some new discovery, be it The Roots Yard, or the secret tent that lurked just beyond the Shambala Stage… Surprises were abound and every fancy tickled by the array of workshops, events, music and roaming entertainment.

Somewhere along the way, I got caught up in what an unbelievably enthusiastic lady told me was a Shambala first: A flash mob dancing fandango led by a portable cart kitted out with an immense sound system – in a one-tune-only dance frenzy we were encouraged to let loose with our limbs and dance like we just discovered it, followed by a nonchalant walk away as if nothing had happened.  Of course, there was no shortage of willing movers and shakers.

Shambala scored major points for commitment to participation. It seemed that every workshop, every show, every performance was eagerly attended and yet somehow, there was always space to dance and always room for just one more; the magic of the festival at work? The Wilderness Woodland truly epitomized this bewitching world with its lights and sculptural installations and on Saturday night, the eve of the carnival procession, there was no limit to the innovation and creativity that took hold of the whole site; a veritable feast for the eyes where every visual path presented not one, but a plentitude of jaw-dropping costume theatrics.

If I remember correctly the programme promoted the buying of drinks in the onsite bars to help keep the festie in pocket. Obviously eagerly in support of this, the well-lubricated punters at The Wonky Cock Country Pub had managed to drink it dry by Sunday night. That’s dedication for you. Sunday early evening, when the rains came, a band on the Shambala Stage acknowledged this defiant spirit, congratulating the committed folk dancing in the rain for their resolute stamina.

I was bowled over by many other contributory efforts, particularly in Wandering Word when Undercover Hippy took to the stage for an impromptu freestyle set, plucking words from the audience and transforming them into funky grooves to keep us titillated between billed acts.  The Carnival Collective also deserve praise for drawing in the crowds and making the earth move with their foot-stomping, invigorating beats – they sent us soaring into the dizzy heights of Sunday night.

I fear I cannot encapsulate all the music, magic and mayhem that was Shambala, even utilising 20 hours a day I couldn’t fit it all in. Though the location itself was not massive, the world within knew no boundaries. Perhaps the best way to describe it is a heady mix of Sunrise Celebrations and Secret Garden Party, with elements of each combining to create a wholly unique other.

(Cassidie Alder)