It`s fair to say that this year was a tipping point for Bestival. It sold out months in advance (last year you could pretty much buy tickets on the day), it began punching well above its weight in terms of the artists it drew in and it had to add an entire new campsite to cope with demand. However, it also retained many of the features that make it unique and special. These include a social conscience in the form of locally sourced food, a strong emphasis on recycling and eco-awareness, and of course the fancy dress.
Musically, too, the mix of big names and a generous interpretation of the term 'leftfield' was maintained. Although Madness are probably the archetypal Bestival band (indeed, they played a surprise set on Saturday), there was also room likes for the likes of Buraka Som Sistema, who rapped about sex in Portuguese whilst a large female member of the group presented her buttocks to the audience, and the unique Patrick Wolf, whose late Saturday set was a highlight.
The opening Friday night, however, belonged to The Chemical Brothers, who drew the largest crowd for a single act all weekend. Their set was a carefully crafted mix of anthems and trippy improvisation using their vast bank of material. By far the best spell was when they rapidly cut between parts of their own songs, splicing them together in an old-school hip hop way. They also win the award for the most scary and intense visuals: Think unsettling, painted clowns projected onto a massive screen shouting 'Get yourself high'. For those still able to dance after that, Mr Scruff's late set in the Big Top was predictably excellent and his unique mix of slow motion wobblers kept people shuffling until the end.
Saturday was fancy dress day and everybody who had made the effort (mostly as pirates) paraded through the site to gawps and chuckles from those less self-assured types who merely clad themselves in scruffy attire. The most impressive costume of the day was a man who simply put a tent over himself, sitting down to make it appear someone had camped in the wrong spot, then leaping up to scare people. It worked a treat, especially on security men.
In keeping with the carnival mood, the Cuban Brothers took over the main stage and warmed up for headliners The Beastie Boys with a cheesy but well-received set of disco and funk classics - plus an onstage breakdancing competition. The Beasties themselves played a set comprised mostly of hits, which was a relief after hearing reports from Sonar they had confined themselves to instrumentals (a set they did on Sunday afternoon). 'Remote Control', 'Sureshot' and 'Root Down' drew massive cheers and the encore of 'Sabotage' and 'Intergalactic' was a delight. Instrumentals like 'Sabrosa' were slick, tight and just involved enough, while Mix Master Mike´s scratching, beat juggling and cutting was astonishing. Were it not for Adam MCA Yaunch sporting a full head of gray hair and the borderline asthmatic yelps on punk songs like 'Tough Guy' and 'Heart Attack Man', you wouldn't realise the frontmen had a combined age of 128.
One of the most admirable qualities about Bestival is the thought that goes into the programming. Most of the time this meant very few clashes between big acts, but on Sunday, the final day, it meant the acts were pitched appropriately for mangled minds. In the Big Top there was a full eight hours of roots music featuring Jah Shaka, the Trojan Soundsytem, Horace Andy and Digital Mystikz, whose menacing and sinister dubstep arguably usurped the veterans they were billed with. The main stage kicked off with Bjork/Tori Amos/Kate Bush lovechild Bat For Lashes and soul legend Marlena Shaw, who despite an awful glittering waistcoat (think a Phoenix Nights-esque entertainer) drew massive cheers with 'California Soul'. The headliners were Primal Scream but unfortunately their self-indulgent psychedelia was a letdown. It didn't help that they were immediately following The Gossip, would have sunk any band since they provoked the biggest riot all weekend. Lead singer Beth Ditto led by example, quickly working herself into the sweaty mess everybody else would end up in. With two songs to go she threw off her glittery shawl to reveal a giant tight underneath and proceeded to sing whilst rolling across the dancefloor. The crowd had to wait until the end to hear their anti-gay discrimination anthem ´Standing in the Way of Control´, but from an audience of what the Beastie Boys called ´wizards, pirates and freaks´, it was only going to go down well.
If the atmosphere at Bestival were a song, it would still be 'Love is in the Air': a bit daft, goofy and unashamedly good fun. It would, however, be wrong to say this represented the entire festival as it neglects the diversity of the music on offer and sheer randomness of the event. It will be interesting to interesting to see how Rob Da Bank and the other organisers maintain Bestival's special balance as the festival grows, because if coming years are as good as this then there's no way it's not going to get more popular.
Photo credit: Colin Friend