You’ll notice adefinite lack of black-clad geetar-waving shoegazers in that list: where AllTomorrow’s Parties seems to revel in forcing its attendees into grim chaletsin the middle of winter to prove their indier-than-thou credentials,Bestival is bright, breezy and out to dance.
But it’s not all about the musical delights the other attractions onoffer ensure that Bestival is to high camp what Glastonbury is to the spiritof flower power. For a start, camping here is whole different experience toyour Vs and Readings, with a Boutique Campsite where (for a price,admittedly) you can live in five star luxury by hiring a Bohemian Bivouac,Tipi or Yurt, lounge glamorously around a Beach Hut village and cafcomplete with its own real beach and deck chairs, or take a bunk in BusBed a converted double-decker bus.
Choose any of these options and you can hangup your Stetson, sit back and sip Chardonnay while the sun shines off yourCath Kidson wellies. Unsurprisingly, most are already sold out for this yearbut wander as close as you’re allowed and have a peek at what you couldenjoy next year.
Assuming you feel the need to leave your safety net of luxury and ventureforth into the fray, you’ll find plenty of delights to please even the mostdemanding diva. En route to the main arena, watch out for the Laundrettas a 10 strong troupe of housewives ready to pander to your every need. Get ridof any residual real-world stress in their mobile Pampour Parlour (sic),gossip with the lovely ladies in the Laundromat of Love and afterwards, lookfor an Insecurity Guard to hug. You know it makes sense.
Last year Bestival hosted the world’s biggest fancy dress party (10,000people dressed as – oh, you guessed – cowboys and Indians) and the fun isset to carry on. There’s a 24 hour Twilight Field in case you get musicalhall cravings in the middle of the night, and Nelly the Elephant a life-size steel elephant ridden by a singer. There’s the Miniscule ofSound, officially the World’s Smallest Nightclub, matadors, cowboys,pyromanics – what more do you want? Music? Hey, Bestival has got that too.
This year’s line-up promises playful gypsy punks Gogol Bordello onFriday night, high camp troubadours Pet Shop Boys on Saturday andNew York pretenders to the Vaudevillian pop crown Scissor Sisterson Sunday (try saying that while doing a Jonathan Ross impersonation).
Inbetween, you’ll find Mystery Jets, Sunshine Underground,Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly!, Nathan Fake, The LongBlondes, DJ Yoda, Shitdisco,M Craft, iLiKETRAiNS, Erol Aklan, The Pipettes, Good Shoes, Jim Noir,Devandra Banhart, Kid Creole & The Coconuts and somebird called Lily Allen (who ouresteemed Editor-in-Chief assures me is worth a look if you can drag yourselfaway from the Bollywood Bar or the Blue Pavilion).
There’s 24-hour, non-stop,ambient and electronica and even a solar powered cinema to keep you out oftrouble. If all of that still can’t please you, there’s plenty to exploreelsewhere on the island, from various reminders of Jimi Hendrix‘slegendary performance in 1970 to The Brading Experience, the world’sbest/worst tourist-attraction-cum-museum.
All sounds fantastic but, I hear you shout, how are you going to getthere? It’s half way to France and not on any routes Megabus advertise. On acruise ship, of course, or at least a Wightlink or Red Funnel ferry servicefrom Portsmouth or Southampton and when you land, shuttle buses will whiskyou to Robin Hill Country Park at the heart of the island. From London, youcan be there in a couple of hours, we’re reliably informed.
It’s fun, it’s funky, it’s not that far away and if you’re lucky, thesunshine will even hold out for the entire weekend. Give it a try, and tellthem musicOMH sent you.
