Returning to Lulworth Castle for its 15th birthday, the UK’s favourite family festival, Camp Bestival Dorset delivered an array of incredible acts, standout moments aboard HMS Camp Bestival and epic celebrations across four magical days. From brilliant sunshine to traditional English showers, the change in weather didn’t dampen the birthday bash as festival goers embraced the conditions and partied in wellies before applying the sun cream for some sunshine raving.
View photos of Camp Bestival 2023
The iconic Grace Jones stunned with over an hour of back-to-back hits in an unmissable headline set which included six stunning outfit changes whilst chart-topping Craig David delivered the closing party to end all closing parties on Sunday evening with a memorable TS5 set. Vocal powerhouse Sam Ryder was out of this world as he thrilled crowds with hits including Space Man whilst dressed in a bejewelled space themed jumpsuit. The party didn’t stop there as one of the hottest acts of the last year, Confidence Man brought their uniquely feel-good party anthems to Dorset, whilst pop icons Melanie C and Sophie Ellis-Bextor and indie favourites The Kooks made it a birthday to remember. Christmas came early as East 17 wowed with a festive set complete with their 1994 Christmas number 1 Stay Another Day. The youngest weekend ravers in the crowd also enjoyed hours of entertainment from family favourites, Dick & Dom, Cosmic Kids Yoga, Junior Jungle, Bluey and Mr Tumble, who also made an impromptu appearance in the CBeebies tent for a surprise secret storytime reading!
Rob da Bank, Camp Bestival curator said: “Big up our Camp Bestival birthday ravers! What a weekend with our Camp Bestival family! Josie and I had the best time celebrating 15 years of memories across four magical days and we are thrilled that all of our Camp Bestival family could join us. From a roaring Animal Snap theme to headline sets from Grace Jones, The Kooks and Craig David, it’s been a birthday celebration for the history books and we can’t wait to bring the magic of Camp Bestival to Shropshire in just three weeks time!”
By Saturday, the party was in full force as dancers, pyrotechnics and big party vibes landed on the HMS Camp Bestival stage. The birthday celebrations peaked with an unmissable back-to-back DJ set with Captain Rob da Bank and his first mate Gok Wan. Descending onto the iconic HMS Camp Bestival scattering rose petal confetti from a giant light up heart 52.5 ft in the air, Gok’s spectacular entrance was one of the highlights of the weekend. The Camp Bestival family couldn’t hold back the excitement as fans joined Fat Tony aboard the HMS Camp Bestival stage during his DJ set.
Taking impetus from the awe-inspiring wonders of precious life on planet Earth, Camp Bestival celebrated its 15th birthday with a roaring Animal Snap theme as thousands of families transformed into their favourite species. Flocks of animal pairings decorated the fields with a sea of incredible costumes at the Dorset jamboree. Tying in with the animal theme, Camp Bestival also partnered with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for the festival.
The incredible Cirque Bijou thrilled crowds each night with spellbindingly entertaining performance of their new All You Need is Love Show and the festival inside the festival, Caravanserai transported festival goers to another world, from trapeze artists to brass bands and everything in between.
Those looking for some family downtime enjoyed much needed time out in the Slow Motion wellness area. From ice baths and meditation to yoga sessions and sleep retreats, plus much more guaranteed a weekend of wellness and recuperation in amongst the festival excitement.
Camp Bestival wouldn’t be complete without ending the weekend with the famous Fireworks Spectacular and this year the festival celebrated in style, engulfing the beautiful Lulworth Castle in a bath of sound, lights, projections and fire in a unique finisher with an incredible soundtrack created by DJ Yoda.
2024 Early Bird Tickets On Sale 10am, Friday 4 August
