Friday’s Fun at Camp Bestival

When going to Camp Bestival there is one thing I recommend you do first………buy a program.

Not only do you get a book, a fabric bag and a list of amendments, but you also get a helpful lanyard with all the acts, venues and times which is really helpful and easy to carry around with you.

My next tip is to work out who / what you want to see and then just go with the flow for the rest of the day.

Friday for us was all about exploring.

The venue is huge and hilly, so be prepared for lots of walking.  We took the buggy for Sebastian and had the trolley for Isaac and Eliza which was definitely worth its weight in gold as it not only carried them, but most of our equipment / food for the day too.

One thing on a list to see was the Insect Circus as we loved it last year, which was set in the Lower Kids Garden.  As it didn’t start until 1pm the boys got their Skylanders Trap Team fix before we looked around other stalls to see what was on offer.

The Insect Circus is a magical menagerie of fearless acrobats, eye popping aerialists, dizzying jugglers and startling tight rope walkers….and every one of them an INSECT!

Eliza was a little concerned by a couple of giant flies that escaped into the audience at the beginning of the show, but thankfully they were shooed back behind the stage and the fun began.

With giant bee’s, wasps, ants and even an impressive stag beetle they delighted the crowd with their antics.  The show is a mix of comedy and circus acts and how they can perform the tricks when wearing those elaborate costumes still surprises me.

The tricks got more daring as the show went on and the finale saw some fabulous aerial acrobatics.

There is never “nothing to do” at Camp Bestival, it is choosing what to do out of all the things that are on offer that is a challenge.

One area we completely missed was the Dingly Dell last year and I was desperate to visit this year so we headed there next.

It was even better than I imagined!

There was so much to see and do.  They dressed up and posed behind a picture frame, searched for fairies and made their wishes which were written on leaves and hung up for the fairies to find.  There was even a chance to watch a puppet show and play noughts and crosses, only with bees and ladybirds!

We did avoid the mud pie making and headed in to the National Trust 50 Things area, where the kids got to try some of the 50 Things challenges including making wild art, climbing trees, rolling down a hill and blowing a grass trumpet.

We then found our friends at Fore Adventure who were running bushcraft sessions for the visitors and Kian made me my very own birch necklace before we found the kids play area where Sebastian got to enjoy the swings!

We headed back to the tent to get our warmer clothes, whilst Eliza had a snooze in the transporter before heading back out to find more fun and something to eat.

The kids loved the Circus skills area where they could try the diablo, hula hoops, spacehoppers and much more.  It was now starting to rain so we headed off in search of food and found Pazzo’s Pizza right next to the Greatest Tent on Earth, where they took shelter and watched the show whilst I ordered and waited for our pizza’s.

After the circus had finished it was the turn of comedians to take over.  The compere, Jim Smallman, was hilarious and had the audience in stitches whilst trying to prove that women cannot make a good machine gun sounds (sadly he was right) but then it became apparent the material was not very child friendly so we decided to head off back to the tent.

Hubby helped settle the kids and then set off to watch Johnny Marr and James on the Castle stage which he thoroughly enjoyed.  He managed to stand right at the front and was kicking himself for not taking the camera but managed some great pictures on his phone.

He returned full of excitement about what he had seen and said lots of parents were dancing whilst their children played happily on picnic rugs or slept in their trolley’s.  I wish I had gone now, but the kids and I were all shattered and I knew I would have another early start the next morning.