CAMPBESTIVAL | 2016 | OUTER SPACE
2016 marked the first year we joined the festival scene, ok it may not have been Glastonbury but CampBestival seen us rocking the face tattoos, munching on the delicious Vegan Food, chilling in a field listening to live music, tied in with a spot o my favourite past-time ... people watching and guess what NO RAIN!!
Being complete festival novices, we were maybe a little bit too excited after reading soooo many rave reviews on #CampBestial and may have been a little eager as we set of for Lulworth Castle at 6am on a warm Sunday morning. We arrived just before 8pm, and were surprised at how peaceful the site was considering it was full to the brim with energetic children all stirring from a good night sleep within the the numerous on site camping, tipi and caravan sites., Arriving nice and early gave us a good hour to gather our bearings and pinpoint all that we wanted to experience in our one short day at CampBestival!
We headed back to the main tent for Aliens Love Underpants while tucking into freshly cooked Pancakes and coffee for breakfast. The tent was packed with young children all squealing with delight and we may be 31 and 8 years old, but we loved it too. The atmosphere was enchanting, and by this point we were buzzing for what CampBestival had in store for us! It must be said that I was a little disappointed that I hadn't twigged as to how how much effort would be put into costumes around this years theme, SPACE!! We absolutly LOVE fancy dress and if I had known the extent and effort that so many put into costumes, we would of made a huge effort to participate fully! The time, effort and love that went into the costumes this year were literally out of this world.
CampBestival was only a couple of weekends after returning from our Menorca holiday, but with the First Choice beach bar it was like being back on holiday all over again, they had so cleverly captured all those favourite aspects of your package holidays, from the summer reminiscing play list, the colourful huggable characters, super friendly Team Members, Sand and BAR!! Honestly it was so much like being on holiday and I could of easily spent the day here with my toes in the sand, singing along with a cold G&T in hand, but with so much to see and do and a very excitable eight year old in tow, we set off exploring.
There were so many aspects to CampBestival, with so much to do and see, however with only one day onsite we were time limited and although being a mummy of routine and the worlds biggest fan of lists, we started the day with a little itinerary, that soon disappeared as we fully emerged into the festival vibe and just walked to whatever caught our attention, we may have gotten side tracked by the worlds biggest bubbles, the smell of something yummy, and even a pretty unicorn or two but every aspect we did participate in, was so well organised and executed. One of my favourite activities was watching Mollie be taught how to make musical instruments from vegetables and one of the highlights from Mollie's day was the time spent with Lizzie in the Mud Kitchen of Mud Kitchens!
You may know that one of my businesses is within the wedding industry, so we obviously had to visit the inflatable church!! I must say this is the most fun I have ever had at a wedding ceremony, and there was definitely not yawn in sight!
There is no way that I cannot mention the food!!! It was AMAZING! I could of sat and ate all day! But with Miss Mollie to excited and impatient to sit and waste time eating, I made my choices and enjoyed every last mouthful! Needless to say, Vegan Churruos, were one of the many choices and another highlight of my day ;-)
Miss Mollie is a little ball of creative mess so we spent a good hour in the art area, where she painted, coloured, glued and stuck till her heart was content, as well as participating in a hulahoop class, and subsequently but me to shame with those hip swings!
There was just so much to do and so little time, each aspect could have easily kept us busy for a whole day. The team members and staff within each area were phenomenal, Camp Bestival is completely geared up to kids, there is so much we didn’t get to see or participate in, we would of loved to see the circus and we missed a couple of the big acts on the main stage, but what we did do, see and hear kept us buzzing for weeks. The thought that goes into pulling all aspects together around the theme, is literally spectacular, I would love to spend a day working alongside the creative team behind CampBestival!
It was so heart-warming to see so many families spending quality time together , dressed up in costumes (yes dads included!!) dancing and generally have fun together. The whole festival is designed with children at the very heart, and even while I grabbed a much needed Pukka Tea and rested by tired feet, Mollie was kept entertained with a yoga class.
Finally, before we headed home, how could we resist a bounce on the world’s BIGGEST bouncy castle, it was amazing and this alone was well worth a visit.
This morning, next years theme was been announced! Watch out Pinterest for the influx of Popstar and Rockstar searches as those eagerly awaited costume preparations can finally start! The only thing left to decide then is; do we once again sneak away alone or do we reveal our secret to the boys? ;-)
Are you heading to Camp Bestival in 2017? If you are, we would love to hear about your preparations, and if you aren't and have a household of tiny people, then you really should! You find out so much more about Camp Bestival and all the amazing stuff and events that are incorporated into the weekend by clicking on the pictures below.
