Camp Bestival 2017
It all started when my other half won our Bestival family tickets through South West Trains. It was our first time to go to a festival as well as first time camping. We had a last-minute shopping for our stuff and booked Pitch Village to hire tent, etc. Good thing, Pitch Village got everything inclusive from tent, air mattress and sleeping bags to free tea, coffee and biscuits.... nice shower, toilets and pamper hub. Also 24-hour security plus free mobile charging. Trolley available for free and staff are very helpful and approachable. Made our first time experience, all worth while.
Our journey started from Southampton Central train station, as usual, there were delays with train. We boarded and headed to Wareham station. Everything seems all right until the driver announced that there was an incident and we had to stopped at Bournemouth station. Just few minutes from Bournemouth station, we halted and waited for about 15-20 minutes or longer. Then, we had to vacate the train and waited for bus replacement in Bournemouth. Everyone was stressed. Oh it was also raining that time. Boarded the replacement bus and it was a long journey for us to Wareham station. Finally, we arrived at Wareham and tried booking a taxi but it was also a challenge because most of the taxi service were booked because there was no train service. It was because of the incident from the train that we were on earlier. Good thing there were three young ladies who were going to Camp Bestival and when a taxi arrived, all of us shared the ride.
Finally, we arrived at Lulworth camp. We were meant to be in the Yellow gate but because all of the taxi dropoff was in White gate, we don't have a clue where to go and how to locate Pitch Village. We've asked people by the gate and they said to head first to the main entrance which was few steps from the taxi dropoff. At the main entrance/reception, you have to queue because they will be checking your bags from your camping bags, trolley up to your backpack. Then, they will check your tickets at the reception and give you a Camp Bestival wrist band.
We were in, but still got no clue where to go and how to find Pitch Village. The first person we've asked, they direct us to PIMM's area. Hehehe. From there, we asked again and finally they know where Pitch Village is but it was far. So they advised us to just keep walking and ask people in uniform/orange vest. After quite a long walk and nearly a dozen of people that we asked, we finally reached Pitch Village.
We went straight to the reception, and they couldn't find our name from the list. Good thing, we had an email and the lady in the office, knew about it and processed everything so quickly. Took us to our tent which was already prepared with our name on it. It was just from their printout list that our name was missed out. Then, we had to ask for our mattress and sleeping bags. Apart from that, everything went smoothly.
It was raining the whole time, had to buy Wellies there, bought disposable rain Ponchos, and improvised everything from wrapping my son's shoes with plastic bags to cutting the rain Poncho to make it smaller for my boy. The other challenge during the festival was the mud. It was slippery and shoes get stuck and even trolley, prams and pushchairs get stuck in the mud.
All Saints
We bought the Program and plan out where to go and what to do but because of the rain and the mud, we have to do stuff as it comes. Like on our first night, we managed to watch All Saints even though it was raining but we couldn't stay for Mark Ronson because my boy was getting tired already and we were soaked. We went back to our tent, had supper, bought hog roast sandwich. Yum Yum. We were very excited on our first night in our tent. Took some photos inside. It was really fun.
Mr. Maker and Mr. Tumble
On our second day, quite a walk going to Castle Stage but we managed. We also stopped by the sport area, the giant Love Bot (robot) and loads of booth along the way. At the Castle Stage, it was Mr. Maker and Mr. Stumble performing that morning. We had fun there. Got hungry and decided to buy Pizza. It was a long queue, then a guy in front of us said, are you ordering or collecting? There were two queues, one for ordering and one for collecting. Ordering wasn't too bad, it was waiting to collect was the one that took a long while. Finally we got our pizza and put our blanket and had a bit of picnic. Whilst eating, there was a boy, who's got rubbish in his hand, walked straight at us and went to my little boy and put the rubbish near my boy's face and said "Do you want this?" I thought that wasn't nice. But we all ignored him and continued eating. Although I was watching that boy, and he did it again to another boy who was walking. Then he threw the rubbish in the bin as her mum told him to do. Then that boy walked back to us and stepped on my boy's foot. That's when I got mad. Shouted, and told the boy, that that was the second time and that was very rude. But the boy's mum said to me that his boy was just teasing with that rubbish. Anyway, to not spoil our day, I just told them to let us be and leave.
We finished our pizza as we were very hungry and back to our tent to regain strength and enjoy the rest of our day. Oh by the way, whilst we were eating and all that kerfuffle, Dick and Dom were performing and was shouting "Bogies" on stage. Then the rest was history. Back in the tent, kids keep shouting "bogies" and the rest of our stay in Camp Bestival most of the kids were shouting "bogies!"
Batala Portsmouth
We missed a lot of the show/performances; like the School of Rock musical, Kate Nash, Bootleg Beatles, Holly Johnson and Madness. Also we missed Josephine and the Artizans, Electric Pyramid, Elvana (Elvis/Nirvana) and a lot more. But we still manage to enjoy whatever was there. Like the big crystal ball, when the DJ was playing some nice tunes, we all dance to it. We witnessed Batala Portsmouth drumming. They are very good. It reminded me backhome with parades and street drumming.
Malka
We also thought there was a band doing soundcheck in the Big Top, so out of curiosity, we went in and watched the band. It was Malka, she is very talented. The band was very good. We enjoyed their music and stayed there for a while. It was not soundcheck after all. It was a beautiful performance. Everyone enjoyed it. Also we watched inside Bollywood tent, Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band because whilst walking along we heard drums and flutes and brass playing so we went in and saw them performing.
Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band
On our last day, we missed again lots of performances like Right Said Fred, Louisa Johnson and even Anne Marie. But, funny enough, when Anne Marie was about to leave.... she took time with the fans and had some photo with them. So, we run and waited as well and managed to have photo with her. We went around the camp, we went in the Art Town and managed to make a sword. Photos with the dinosaur, Cbeebies booth, Oberon's observatory, Firetoys, and a lot of places. It was sunny that Sunday. But late in the evening, it was a bit cold. We nearly missed the Grand Finale because it was getting really cold so we decided to go back to our tent for a while and get our raincoats, brought blanket with us and head back to Castle Stage for the Grand Finale. It was worth it. The fireworks was amazing. Overall, the experience was AWESOME.
The Grand Finale Fireworks
