Bestival - Any good?

[glastofun]

I've been once and I did feel like it was a smaller Glastonbury.  I had to smuggle my alcohol inside the music part, but managed to do so every day.  The crowd was good, no knob-heads, and generally inclusive and friendly.  The main problem for me was the problem with the staging, they had a stage on top of a hill which is a retarded decision, inevitably the person in front of you was higher up.  I've heard there's been several problems with the main stage, one year they had it at the bottom of the hill and it rained.  

 

Go once and check it out for yourself, I'm sure you'll like it.  

[Bisque]

Can't remember the reasons,just thought it was easier to drive down there,none of our lot have ever taken a coach to a festival so probably didn't even think about it as an option.

How long does the coach take ie from door to door?

It's the train.

From Walton-on-Thames (fast commuter stop from Waterloo) it's 45/50mins to Portsmouth, queue at Portsmouth is around 45mins at peak, I turn up a bit later so maybe 30mins at Portsmouth train station/port (it's the same thing), you get to walk past people queuing to pick up ferry tickets (remember you're ticket to Ryde INCLUDES the slow cat over), so in total I reckon max 2 hours from London.

 

Went from Leeds last year & only took 5 hours tops, quicker than Glasto.

[Daniel_White]

Been a couple of times and love it, live up is always great too. It's not quite Glastonbury but I think it's the closest thing to it (Haven't been to Boomtown). You can tell Rob takes a lot of inspiration from Worthy Farm.

[T-Mouse]

Went in 11, 12 and 13. Loved it each time. Id go as far as to say 2012 was one of the best festivals I've been to. The vibe, the weather and the music was spot on! Cant afford it these days but I would highly recommend it to other people.

[FloorFiller]

Went in 11, 12 and 13. Loved it each time. Id go as far as to say 2012 was one of the best festivals I've been to. The vibe, the weather and the music was spot on! Cant afford it these days but I would highly recommend it to other people.

 

2012 was one of my favourite festivals ever also. the line up that year suited me right down to the ground, the weather was fantastic, and i went with a great bunch of people. haven't been since and the lineup's have been steadily decreasing in quality imo. still very much on the fence on whether to return this year

[Thearg]

It's the train.

From Walton-on-Thames (fast commuter stop from Waterloo) it's 45/50mins to Portsmouth, queue at Portsmouth is around 45mins at peak, I turn up a bit later so maybe 30mins at Portsmouth train station/port (it's the same thing), you get to walk past people queuing to pick up ferry tickets (remember you're ticket to Ryde INCLUDES the slow cat over), so in total I reckon max 2 hours from London.

 

Went from Leeds last year & only took 5 hours tops, quicker than Glasto.

 

Sounds like a much better option,If I ever go again I'll do that or arrive on the island a day or so before and leave later,make a holiday out of it.

[thewayiam]

It's the train.

From Walton-on-Thames (fast commuter stop from Waterloo) it's 45/50mins to Portsmouth, queue at Portsmouth is around 45mins at peak, I turn up a bit later so maybe 30mins at Portsmouth train station/port (it's the same thing), you get to walk past people queuing to pick up ferry tickets (remember you're ticket to Ryde INCLUDES the slow cat over), so in total I reckon max 2 hours from London.

 

Went from Leeds last year & only took 5 hours tops, quicker than Glasto.

 

So is this train from Waterloo to Walton-on-Thames. Train from Walton to Portsmouth?, then queue for the ferry? How do you get from Ryde to the festival?

[jackarmy]

So is this train from Waterloo to Walton-on-Thames. Train from Walton to Portsmouth?, then queue for the ferry? How do you get from Ryde to the festival?

 

There's a shuttle bus service running. Think it's £12 return.

[Thearg]

So is this train from Waterloo to Walton-on-Thames. Train from Walton to Portsmouth?, then queue for the ferry? How do you get from Ryde to the festival?

 

There's busses at the other end,can't remember how long they took.

 

All in all I still not sure about public transport for me,you still have to get to the train station with all your gear,get off train get on ferry,get back on bus,it's a lot of piddling about with all your gear,think i'll stick to festivals you can drive to.

[mjsell]

Probably my favourite UK festival.

The travelling there is a pain, but also part of the whole experience - for some reason the journey feels different to those of other festivals.

It is the most similar to Glastonbury in terms of variety I would say and attention to detail. Obviously it doesn't compete in terms of scale but it still has extras that other il fests don't. Plus the smaller nature is nice as you never struggle to get to and from acts that would clash at the likes of Glastonbury.

I can't speak for the age thing as I would fit into the category of under 25s but I don't remember thinking it was a massively different feel to that of Glastonbury. And we aren't all bad

All in all, it's one of the only UK festivals that seem to care about the experience it's punters have. And the forest is something bloody special.

[thewayiam]

There's busses at the other end,can't remember how long they took.

 

All in all I still not sure about public transport for me,you still have to get to the train station with all your gear,get off train get on ferry,get back on bus,it's a lot of piddling about with all your gear,think i'll stick to festivals you can drive to.

 

I was going to say, if this is the effortless way. To London, then Waterloo, to change to different train, then ferry then shuttle bus is still a pain in the arse. Seems the only bit that's shorter is the fact you'll have a ferry ticket included, it still includes changes a minimum overall from just Walton of £60 plus you'll take less as it's further to carry stuff/what can fit on the bus etc. Driving seems the way froward.

[aidenlangan95]

Because of the festival being on the Isle of Wight, it's expensive to go to. But it's a great festival! Not quite like Glastonbury though. But not like Reading at all.

I think most people can enjoy it, plus I loved the fact that the Big Top still had music playing until 3 am.

The whole experience/package is actually good, unlike Reading, because there's so much to do and see. Rob da Bank really seems to care about that and it really shows.

The people there seem to be nearly as friendly as those at Glastonbury but maybe that's just my personal experience. (However, when walking to the arena there seemed to be a lot of people having laughing gas and the sound of the filling of the balloons still pisses me off to this day)

Comes highly recommended as an alternative to Glastonbury, despite me thinking that Latitude is more like a mini- Glastonbury than Bestival.

Edited July 5, 2015 by aidenlangan95

[Slugworth]

I've been the last two Bestival's and can back up everyone calling it a mini glasto. It's a fantastic place. If money allows i would suggest to upgrade to Wild Copse camping. Hot showers, flushing toilets and parking next to the site.

 

As already said the only downside is the journey to get there. Extortionate to say the least.

[Homer]

Why didn't you just do Waterloo to Ryde Esp on the train, it's £30/35 I think?

 

Edit: no offence but there's a lot of people who think they have to pre-book a ferry, which ups the price, so let's keep this on the downlow, they are idiots.

 

I just checked this on the Trainline and it came up as £59.50 for an off-peak return. Am I being stupid? £35 does sound too cheap though TBH when the ferry is £20 alone.

 

FTYI you can get the Megatrain from Waterloo to Portsmouth. It's about £6 each way (I did this before - though this obviously comes with its own problems of having to queue for the very, etc).

Edited July 6, 2015 by Homer

[HurrahBrother]

I went when the Cure headlined. 

I thoroughly enjoyed it!
i'm in my 40's!

yes a younger crowd. 

Yes camping is segregated from the main stages, but there are food vendors and smaller stages outside the arena.
The searches going into the arena boiled down to "just open your bag sir" followed by a very quick look in bag, no rummaging. Then a thank you and away you go.  Yes alcohol is not permitted in the arena but as long as you are not swigging it at the gate or otherwise blatant, you should be fine. 
 

If you want to be raucous, there are places for it, if you want to chill, there are places for that. There has been a lot of effort in set dressing. Has it a good vibe? Yes. Is it Glasto, No. But it is no "just a gig in a field", it is about half way to a Glasto feel and not a bad festival at all. 

Warning, leaving, if you are getting the coach to the ferry, that path up the side of the gorge, its steep. Very steep.  So think about that before you buy that huge sculpture!

Edited July 7, 2015 by HurrahBrother

[Bisque]

I just checked this on the Trainline and it came up as £59.50 for an off-peak return. Am I being stupid? £35 does sound too cheap though TBH when the ferry is £20 alone.

 

FTYI you can get the Megatrain from Waterloo to Portsmouth. It's about £6 each way (I did this before - though this obviously comes with its own problems of having to queue for the very, etc).

Ahhh, apologies, I would have used my railcard which has now run out. Parents have moved to East Wittering so I'll prob try & get a lift to Portsmouth.

[tjamest]

Don't know if they still do it, but you used to be able to use Tesco Clubcard vouchers for Wightlink ferries from Lymington to Yarmouth.

 

This cut the price for a car to a sensible level and as it is a less well known crossing I never really encountered any queues in 3 visits to Bestival