大象传媒

Did you go to Camp Bestival in 2008? What did you think - leave your comments below.

Bev Gornall
It was 1 of the best festivals if not the best i've ever bin 2!The sun was shining i met some of the best people ever,had the best laugh i'd had in ages and made memories i will never forget!What more could anyone in life ever what?Happy days for me x

N*E*R*D*
It was terrible. Traffic was awful getting in was a pain with loads of flaky students directing you in, why were we waiting for 2 hours to get in then? Contrived and commercial and way overpriced, these things are all what you make of them but it would help if there were proper acts and line-ups worthy of a 拢120 admission charge, plus parking 拢10.The food too was slightly sketchy and way overpriced, I mean 拢14 for a pizza or 拢7 for a Thali, which was rice and veg curry, was truly Robbing the Bank. If you are going to make a dedicated area for kids at least make it bigger!

Russ
I loved camp bestival! fantastic!

Not a happy camper
I am sorry but I didn't like it at all. I think it was really contrived and boring. It is a great festival I guess for kids and families who want a no brainer. But there was something really missing, something that was authentic and real. It felt empty and pretentious.Sorry, I really like Sunday Best but I just didn't get this. It has made me a little disillusioned. I always thought it was about the music, and the natural ability to be original.. to me this wasn't, not in the slightest. I actually thought it was bordering on something way too commercial for my liking. I won't be going again.

C a s e y..*
I enjoyed every minute of it :) Fantastic ! x

Caz Yates
Went with a group of friends with children aged from two to 12. All of us had the most fantastic time. Had absolutely no problems getting in, no traffic and no queues. So much to do and see didn't to see half of what we'd wanted. Older kids had a went off on their own and had a great time. High light of the weekend Django Spears - mad, mad covers band - check 'em out. Food fantastic special mention to the Hurly Burly Solar Powered cafe - best food I've had. Loos few and far between but Comfy Crappers came out tops. They usually charge but were free this weekend. Atmosphere was relaxed throughout the whole site. Only downside was campsite was pretty packed people camping so close that getting back to your tent was a tricky affair trying to avoid guy ropes, especially when you've got a child in a buggy. We're all itching to go next year so hoping that it goes ahead.

Miffy
I am inclined to agree with Pauline. It was a good event but suffered from many first year teething problems which given that they are already experienced organisers of another, very successful festival was disappointing. I think most people would not have waited that long to get into events with a much larger capacity and does not help set the weekend up. To then have to camp in an overflow field undermined the claims of the website that you wouldn't have a long walk from your car and you would have great facilities close to hand. There were not enough toilets for an event of this size, let alone the way the convenience factor was billed, though the work done to keep the loo's in good shape was impressive. Anybody who tried to get a shower on Sunday will testify that the championed posh wash, while better than other festivals, did not quite work out. I did not see any of the parent/ child toilets that were promised either. With all this said from the family point of view I also agree with Sally that there just was not enough going on in musical terms, sure we took our child but, we still want to get down. Adding a second big stage would be a plus point. Or bolt the best bits of this onto the Big Chill?

pauline koupparis
Ye it was billed as a family festival. The website created a fantastic image & certainly sold the event. However we queued 2 hours to get into the venue, the kids garden had very little child friendly food. There was a chunky chip stand, pie stand, milkshake & smooties and that is it really. We went to the Innocent event last year & the food for children was amazing. Toilets or lack of should I say. V difficult to explain to my 3yr to hold his wee for 20mins. In the end he had to pee in a bush!! The shower queue took 2hrs! Again try keeping a child amused as the breakfast queue was also ridiculous.Finally the mad hatters tea party. Where was it. A number of people had made superb efforts in dressing up.It stated on the website there would be a gigiantic table piled high with cakes etc. The crowd where disappointed & began shouting "we want cake" etc. A huge let down.WE still had an amazing time as it was great to hang out with friends & there were a lot of great activities. I think the organisers really now need to analyse the market they are targeting & provide amenities accordingly!

Sally
Definitely a festival for families. We went along (group of 20 somethings) hoping it would be more chilled out than the main bestival. And it was. Only we felt more had been given over for the children at the detriment of entertainment for the younger no children crowd. Wont be going again. Its a good festival. But we all felt slightly mis-sold.

Jonathan
A brilliant family-friendly festival - great for everyone. Get there early to pitch your tent - the campsite did get crowded - and don't take too much stuff! It's a a bit of treck from the carpark to the camping field. This has got to be one of the easiest festivals to be at, though: take a numbered ticket and then have breakfast by the potting-shed while you wait for your posh-wash hot shower. Civilised frivolity.

Martin Vintner-Jackson
I took my twelve year old daughter and five of her mates. We stayed in teepees and had an absolutely fantastic three days, cannot fault it. OK so the toilets where a bit festival but every thing else was great. A rock-in eclectic mix of acts from the Chuck Berry (Yes he is still very much alive), too Kate Nash who said happy birthday to my daughter live in front of the massed crowds (She did a great set with Billy Bragg too). And don't forget the fab relatively unknown acts such as Beardy Man who was consummate/ original/ and so good he performed twice, also the incredible talented family we now know as Kitty, Daisy and Lewis. A special mention to the mad cap Cuban Bros. and while we are at it I have to say seeing the mighty Wurzals sporting the oldest drummer in rock'n'roll at 87 doing a rave version of Combine Harvester, was actually awesome. I cannot recommend this high enough as a the first of what is now a permanent fixture in our family diary. Fun / smart / often silly / often astonishing / most of the time delightfully surprising / above all safe. Thank you Mr DeBank.

The King Family
It was our first festival as a family. There was more than enough going on to keep a 9 year old and a 5 year old happy for three enjoyable days. A great setting and much better than we anticipated. We hope the event takes place again next year as we would love to return.

NIck da greek
Just like Hidi Hi the TV program the guys running this festival didn鈥檛 have a clue.Like :-Things to improve Next Year.I knew we were in trouble when organiser and radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank. (ROB the PUNTERS I recon.) Came on the air bigging up the FAMILY event while thousands of people had to que for over 2hours on the back of a 5 hour trip from London and 4.5 hour trip from Brighton. Do these mugs have any idea what it鈥檚 like, To get into the event some families had to pitch up in the Dark as we would have had it not been for the first class people around us giving us a hand.I found out that a load of staff walked off site coz of the shambolic organisation.They promised chilled out First class shower facilities,鈥漷ake a number chill out have some complementary tea n toast n wait till your number is called turned out to be.Take a number wait 3hours in the open with the great un washed or go back to your mates and risk coming back later and missing your place.and pay for your breakfast if you want some.Families spent days making costumes for the Mad Hatters tea party and the whole place looked great with all the effort that was made by the punters. Again the organisers couldn鈥檛 come up the cup cakes they promised everyone. Some kidswere really upset so off mummy and daddy had to go to the tea tent and fork out a 拢10 for a few 2p sized cakes.Not bad event good intentions and lots of goodwill ensured a good time was had.

hannah
camp bestival was great.so much to do.cuban brothers,kate nash and the flaming lips were brilliant.

trish
Nice atmosphere - shame we had to queue 3 hours to get into site & then be directed round it again to arrive in 'emergency' campsite - bit of information from the stewards would have been nice - we all just got out of cars without knowing where to go etc - needed someome to tell us where to pitch up & get wrist bands!!!