We’ve just returned from Camp Bestival 2017. This was our fourth Camp Bestival and the biggest difference this year was the weather. Historically Camp Bestival has been blessed with glorious sunshine all weekend. This year the weather was somewhat damper! It was rainy, windy and muddy so we put on our wellies, aimed for a positive state of mind and had fun anyway.

Camp Bestival The Good;

The campsite. We camp in accessible camping because of our autism and my CFS. It’s located a very short walk from the festival. This year it was well organised and friendly. We met some lovely families, all braving the festival experience with additional needs to consider, having fun in whatever ways worked for them.

The entertainment. We love Camp Bestival because it’s an opportunity for us to spent time together as a family. We see and do things which we wouldn’t ordinarily do.

This year the children made jewellery out of copper, bounced on the worlds largest bouncy castle, did experiments in the science tent, and climbed on a robot powered by love. We saw Mister Maker, Madness, DJ BBQ reading a bedtime story, poetry, Leftfield (who absolutely nailed it) and of course the phenomenal fireworks and light show.

The food. We always eat dinner out and are spoiled for choice every year. This year we ate pie and mash, posh macaroni cheese, churros, milkshakes, sushi, pizza and Japanese fish.

The sights. One of my favourite things about Camp Bestival is the dressing up and general adornment. We had glitter on our faces and henna tattoos on our hands. I love people watching here. The pop and rock star costumes, amazing make up, decorated trolleys and all the creative ways that the Camp Bestivallers had adorned themselves festival style.

Camp Bestival The Bad;

Schedule changes. I was excited to see mindfulness on the schedule for the first morning. Made a big effort to be ready and there for the 9.30 start time ,when I got there nobody knew it was happening.  Eventually I was told it wasn’t happening. This was frustrating as it took some of my limited energy to get there and was a waste of time.

Overall we had a positive experience at Camp Bestival 2017. We dodged the rain. Which led to us seeing acts in tents we wouldn’t ordinarily visit, like the literary tent, so even the weather had some positives.

Camp Bestival 2018;

If you would like to go to Camp Festival 2018 (we plan on being there) you can buy early bird priced tickets from August 4th. Visit the Camp Bestival website for more details and to sign up for the mailing list to receive information about next year.

Here are some of our photos from Camp Bestival 2017, scroll down for our vlog.

*Disclosure; we received press tickets to Camp Bestival 2017