Our Family Trip to Camp Bestival 2018
We were really excited to attend Camp Bestival again this year. Camping, portaloos and all that screams ‘festival’ awaited us at the beautiful setting that is Lulworth Castle!
Our Family Trip to Camp Bestival 2018
We left early on Thursday and after a few errands we arrived at Camp Bestival at around 5pm. It was already pretty packed but we managed to find an small area to pop up our tent and gazebo.
Once we’d set everything up we made some food and settled down for the big day on Friday! We woke early to glorious sunshine and we were so excited to see what was on offer. After a lovely breakfast of vegan sausage sandwiches, we headed into the festival…
Festivals always seem so vast to me, so it was a lot to take in. Warren finds navigation so easy, so I think he clicked with the whole site immediately. There was a lot to take in, and of course the kids were quickly swept up in all the fun and rides.
I think the downside here is the fact that rides aren’t included in the ticket price, and they weren’t very reasonably priced either. The helter skelter was £2 a ride, the swings were £2 per child and they were the cheaper options.
I have to admit, if we hadn’t had a budget set aside for spending within the festival, then I doubt we would have been able to let the kids go on any rides.
That being said, there were a few free (included in the ticket price) things to get up to, but you’d need to time it right and the ‘goodie bags’ with the timetable in were £10 each, so not something everyone could afford.
There were daily performances within a few of the different areas, but the one we adored was The Insect Circus. It was really visual, funny and they were all so super talented. We particularly loved the juggling of maggots – absolutely stunning to watch!
As we wandered around it was hard to not be blown away by the gorgeous setting. At each turn something new and beautiful to behold…
Soon it was time for some grub! We were invited along to try out some tasty food from Wolf & Guzzle, and we weren’t disappointed! It was so tasty and super cheap for the amount of food, this large portion of chilli, rice, veggies and more is £9.00…
It was also great to have vegan options at such great value for money and the staff were all so super friendly. We had a lovely time fuelling up before heading off for more fun!
The Friday night was difficult for us because the wind began to pick up and we had to dismantle parts of our gazebo at 2am in the morning. Saturday came and we were totally gutted because we wanted to head to the L.O.L Doll Unboxing, but by the time we got there we were shocked to see about 1,000 people queued up. I actually think this was a little unfair on a lot of the kids who couldn’t take part, especially those who can’t afford a LOL doll (like us!) or those that were promised one by their parents (no us, thank goodness!)…
Instead, we ended up over at the Science Tent making vegetable musical instruments. George and Molly loved it; they were able to create something pretty awesome and later they group of children involved played a song together on the stage. Molly made a broccoli flute and George opted for a carrot version. Check out my Instagram for the full video of Molly playing hers!
Inside the science tent wasn’t as friendly, we were either turned away or the activities were either too simple or too difficult, which is kinda frustrating. Plus the staff weren’t very friendly towards the children, but this may have been a one off since the activities are rotated over the weekend.
We spent the rest of Saturday wandering around and discovering different parts of Camp Bestival. Yoyo Bear had a great deal on so we snapped it up, we managed to get yoyo bears, cereal and a canvas bag for £10. Bonus, they’re all vegan!
Soon it was time for food and we’d arranged to test out Goodness Gracious Healthy Foods Ltd and we loved it! There was a selection of burgers and pitta meals, and it was all so fresh and tasty! George wolfed down his Quorn burger and I fell head over heels for their falafel pitta with hummus…
Whilst we ate we had the good fortune to be able to catch the high wire presentation!
It was incredible to see! We are slightly obsessed with Philippe Petit so being able to see someone perform in this way was amazing!
Unfortunately the weather turned and on the Saturday night/ early hours of Sunday our tent completely collapsed. The kids were scared and we still had to pack up whilst the tent blew from side to side, slapping down on Warren and I as we packed up sleeping bags, clothes and all our other belongings.
By the time we packed the van up we were completely soaked through and we had no choice but to hit the road. I don’t even have any photos of this part, so that kinda proves how BAD it was!
We had a lot of fun over the weekend, but we did spend in excess of £200 just on bits and bobs! It’s crazy how it adds up…
Anyhoo, here are some more photographs from our weekend at Camp Bestival 🙂
