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Bestival 2017


jackarmy
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3 hours ago, Nobody Interesting said:

Shambala, for us, was very different. a small bag (not full size refuse bag) of recycling and not a full size bag of non recycling either. We had a few bits of paper and half a dozen cans at Shambala and that was fine.

Shambala also has the green camping field.

Very different to Bestival.

I thought your main gripe was the expectation to handle other people's litter and that expectation is clearly the same at shambala for those who don't create much waste of their own and still want to get their tenner back. Shambala acknowledge that the system is unfair for those who don't generate much waste but don't go as far as explicitly stating you need go pick up other people's litter to get your tenner back - but it's there all the same. The amount you need to collect may be different (I note bestival required an eco-bond deposit on every adult ticket but shambala was just one per order) but it's the same in principle.

I don't know about the green camping field at shambala and can't find anything about it on their website - how was it different to the non-green camping areas?

Edited by kerplunk
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2 hours ago, kerplunk said:

I thought your main gripe was the expectation to handle other people's litter and that expectation is clearly the same at shambala for those who don't create much waste of their own and still want to get their tenner back. Shambala acknowledge that the system is unfair for those who don't generate much waste but don't go as far as explicitly stating you need go pick up other people's litter to get your tenner back - but it's there all the same. The amount you need to collect may be different (I note bestival required an eco-bond deposit on every adult ticket but shambala was just one per order) but it's the same in principle.

I don't know about the green camping field at shambala and can't find anything about it on their website - how was it different to the non-green camping areas?

You did not need to return any waste but were checked to see that you did not create any - or something like that.

The bags at Shambala were small too - not full sized waste bags like Bestival gave out......... and how can you fill a non recycleable bag when pretty much all the waste is plastic, cans, paper and wood - and can all be recycled? I did ask Bestival that but they chose to avoid trying to answer.

Any festival that makes an Eco Bond almost impossible to get a refund is using it as a simple way to increase the ticket price. I have not yet found anyone who got their Eco Bind back at Bestival......... maybe you did?

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15 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

You did not need to return any waste but were checked to see that you did not create any - or something like that.

The bags at Shambala were small too - not full sized waste bags like Bestival gave out......... and how can you fill a non recycleable bag when pretty much all the waste is plastic, cans, paper and wood - and can all be recycled? I did ask Bestival that but they chose to avoid trying to answer.

Any festival that makes an Eco Bond almost impossible to get a refund is using it as a simple way to increase the ticket price. I have not yet found anyone who got their Eco Bind back at Bestival......... maybe you did?

So how did you get to camp in the green camping - was there different ticket you ordered that didn't require an eco-bond deposit and different wristband/controls on the green campsite entry? Strange I can't find anything about it on their website. I suspect green camping was no different to yellow/red/pink etc.

The eco-bond was probably more challenging to complete at Bestival (I didn't have to do it as I was on a guest ticket), however if you don't generate enough rubbish of your own at either festival then you have to pick up other people's 'disgusting' litter to get your deposit back (even if Shambala are less candid about saying so).

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1 minute ago, kerplunk said:

So how did you get to camp in the green camping - was there different ticket you ordered that didn't require an eco-bond deposit and different wristband/controls on the green campsite entry? Strange I can't find anything about it on their website. I suspect green camping was no different to yellow/red/pink etc.

The eco-bond was probably more challenging to complete at Bestival (I didn't have to do it as I was on a guest ticket), however if you don't generate enough rubbish of your own at either festival then you have to pick up other people's 'disgusting' litter to get your deposit back (even if Shambala are less candid about saying so).

It was widely advertised on Shambalas social media, it is on their website somewhere but I always find that hard t find stuff on.

Regardless of candidness to ask anyone to pick up other peoples litter without providing any safety equipment is wrong and in my opinion the Eco Bind or whatever name is used is simply a way of inflating ticket prices - imagine if every single person decided to fill their bags, there is not enough litter to do that.

regardless of this though given Notthebestivals replies and lack of replies they have lost my business forever, and that of others I know.

You would have thought given the bad publicity they had last year that this year they would do their utmost to be a shining example of all that is good. Seems to me they are not that bothered.

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2 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

It was widely advertised on Shambalas social media, it is on their website somewhere but I always find that hard t find stuff on.

Regardless of candidness to ask anyone to pick up other peoples litter without providing any safety equipment is wrong and in my opinion the Eco Bind or whatever name is used is simply a way of inflating ticket prices - imagine if every single person decided to fill their bags, there is not enough litter to do that.

regardless of this though given Notthebestivals replies and lack of replies they have lost my business forever, and that of others I know.

You would have thought given the bad publicity they had last year that this year they would do their utmost to be a shining example of all that is good. Seems to me they are not that bothered.

So did you buy a special eco-bond-free ticket for green camping? There was only one public entrance to the site - how did they stop you camping in the other areas and leaving a mess?

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20 minutes ago, kerplunk said:

So did you buy a special eco-bond-free ticket for green camping? There was only one public entrance to the site - how did they stop you camping in the other areas and leaving a mess?

Pass - cos I was in normal camping but friends were in the green bit and told me about it - I will guess that it is don with peoples honesty. Personally I would never dream of making and leaving a mess anywhere.

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Had a brilliant weekend!

Thought they did as best they could with the organisation considering the weather. Did well to get the arena back open as quickly as they did on Sunday.

Thought there was loads to do all day and night, loved the ambient forest and the Caravanserai areas in particular.

Also I thought the crowd was chilled and friendly for the most part, didn't feel on edge at any point personally.

Only gripe would be how hilly the campsite was, we had to sleep on a slope which was a bit of a nightmare when you wake up crumpled up at the bottom of your tent.

Was at boomtown last month and think I preferred bestival tbh, will definitely be heading back next year if there's a bit for me on the lineup again.

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1 hour ago, Nobody Interesting said:

I have not yet found anyone who got their Eco Bind back at Bestival......... maybe you did?

I did, as did several of our group. Walk around for 5 mins picking up empty cans, not that difficult and it cleans up the site.

I've never read before that the idea of an eco bond is just to clean up your own rubbish and that's it. Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention. Where did bestival say that?

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8 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

Pass - cos I was in normal camping but friends were in the green bit and told me about it - I will guess that it is don with peoples honesty. Personally I would never dream of making and leaving a mess anywhere.

So a kind of selective trust for just a few - everyone else is untrustworthy and must pay the eco-bond deposit. I don't think they'd set things up along those kind of lines myself. My guess is green camping was no different to pink/yellow/red etc ;) I'd also guess your friends probably thought the campsite crew peeps going around the campsites encouraging tidyness and giving out little trinkets for having a clean campsite etc was a green camping thing only,  but they did that all over.

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41 minutes ago, ConorC said:

I did, as did several of our group. Walk around for 5 mins picking up empty cans, not that difficult and it cleans up the site.

I've never read before that the idea of an eco bond is just to clean up your own rubbish and that's it. Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention. Where did bestival say that?

On their web site. The bond was introduced to 'encourage people to clean up after themselves'..... not after others.

I congratulate you on clearing up other peoples rubbish but we were told that we had to have a full bag of non recyclable rubbish and cans and such do not fall into that category hence not being able to do that..... and without being supplied with the proper PPE I would not suggest to anyone to go around picking up litter especially not at a muddy place where contamination from toilets into the mud is likely.

Anyway, we are never going there again so what they do in future is of no more concern to me or our group.

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49 minutes ago, ConorC said:

Had a brilliant weekend!

Thought they did as best they could with the organisation considering the weather. Did well to get the arena back open as quickly as they did on Sunday.

Thought there was loads to do all day and night, loved the ambient forest and the Caravanserai areas in particular.

Also I thought the crowd was chilled and friendly for the most part, didn't feel on edge at any point personally.

Only gripe would be how hilly the campsite was, we had to sleep on a slope which was a bit of a nightmare when you wake up crumpled up at the bottom of your tent.

Was at boomtown last month and think I preferred bestival tbh, will definitely be heading back next year if there's a bit for me on the lineup again.

Heaps of lovely flat camping..... but all reserved for those willing to pay extra for Pitch perfect, Camping plus etc......

and was all far from being full. There was a huge empty flat field 2 minutes walk from the temple that was not filled by Pitch Perfect for example.

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49 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

Pass - cos I was in normal camping but friends were in the green bit and told me about it - I will guess that it is don with peoples honesty. Personally I would never dream of making and leaving a mess anywhere.

I think that either you or your friend have misunderstood something. Shambala do have a "Green Campsite" but that's Green as in the colour, just as they have Red & Pink Campsites etc.. There's definitely no difference in rules, anyone camping there has had a £10 Recycling Deposit paid by someone in their group. It just sounds like your mate either didn't realise this, and so never claimed it back - or their ticket was bought as part of a group and someone else handled it.

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10 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

On their web site. The bond was introduced to 'encourage people to clean up after themselves'..... not after others.

I congratulate you on clearing up other peoples rubbish but we were told that we had to have a full bag of non recyclable rubbish and cans and such do not fall into that category hence not being able to do that..... and without being supplied with the proper PPE I would not suggest to anyone to go around picking up litter especially not at a muddy place where contamination from toilets into the mud is likely.

 

Same for shambala - except we were blessed with good weather of course.

 

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Actually there was a 'special green' camping area at Shambala, I think it was mentioned in the guide that they sent via email to ticket holders.  I think it was with family camping with older children maybe?  They badged it as 'extra green campers' or something like that.

 I considered heading there if we couldn't find our mates (Kerplunk et al :)), as there were only two of us carrying no booze or food, so our litter was a paltry affair, some wet wipes and a rizzla packet or two. :lol:  No I didn't get the eco bond tenner back, I knew I hadn't generated any where near enough rubbish so they got an extra tenner from me.

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59 minutes ago, Kizzie said:

Actually there was a 'special green' camping area at Shambala, I think it was mentioned in the guide that they sent via email to ticket holders.  I think it was with family camping with older children maybe?  They badged it as 'extra green campers' or something like that.

 I considered heading there if we couldn't find our mates (Kerplunk et al :)), as there were only two of us carrying no booze or food, so our litter was a paltry affair, some wet wipes and a rizzla packet or two. :lol:  No I didn't get the eco bond tenner back, I knew I hadn't generated any where near enough rubbish so they got an extra tenner from me.

Yes the essential guide map designates green camping as "Families and super tidy campers" - like all the campsite colours it had a theme. Nothing to do with the eco-bond deposit though.

Edited by kerplunk
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12 hours ago, kerplunk said:

Yes the essential guide map designates green camping as "Families and super tidy campers" - like all the campsite colours it had a theme. Nothing to do with the eco-bond deposit though.

I suggest you talk to Shambala about it rather than go by the name - as this is the area my friends stayed in and things were different regarding the eco bond.

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I thought Bestival worked quite well at the new site. It'd be nice if they could somehow divide the main arena into themed areas a bit better, but the geography of the site makes that difficult.

Still, there were about 22 stages dotted around, and nicely spaced out to minimise sound bleed (at last - the main stage and the big top (sorry, "The Box") are located in different fields!). I was very glad that they'd brought back HMS Bestival, Reggae Roots and the Comedy tent after a year or more's absence, and it's good that the Ambient Forest lives on despite the move.

Not the strongest lineup of all time, but Saturday was packed - and although I don't like all of the following acts, other festivals would kill for a main stage running order like this:
Nadia Rose - Stefflon Don - Rejjie Snow - Laura Mvula - Danny Brown - Rag 'n' Bone Man - Dizzee Rascal - A Tribe Called Quest

Highlights of the weekend for me were Dizzee Rascal, Charlotte Church's Late Night Pop Dungeon and - on the comedy stage - Andrew Maxwell. And the food at the Feast Collective, which is always amazing.

Lowlights were: well, the weather. If Robin Hill had been bathing in glorious sunshine all weekend I'd have been really pissed off, but it looks like the Isle of Wight was just as stormy, so what ya gonna do? Just put up with it and plough on through.

I didn't spot a single bit of aggression or violence this year. And it was a nice, friendly crowd, just not as wild & crazy as usual, but I think that was because of the weather and the mud.

I had no sense of what the numbers were like, other than the fact that they never even pretended that it was about to sell out this year. But next year, all the smaller festivals ought to get a boost from Glastonbury's fallow year, so Bestival 2018 ought to do very well.

While 2017 doesn't join the upper echelons of my favourite ever Bestivals (they're probably 2011, 2012 and controversially 2016), I had an amazing weekend as usual, and really it was only the awful weather that let it down. I already can't wait for my ninth one next year...!

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40 minutes ago, smogo said:

If Robin Hill had been bathing in glorious sunshine all weekend I'd have been really pissed off, but it looks like the Isle of Wight was just as stormy

funnily enough, the festival that did take place at robin hill (Electika, or something) was also hit by the weather, mostly the wind same as bestival. And similarly to bestival it had to shut down for a while, with cancelled acts as a consequence - but also the main stage not re-opening.

(tho it's possible that they didn't re-open the main stage cos lots of peeps went home. From the pics of the tent that did restart it looks much less than full, which would have been a very thin crowd at a big open-air main stage)

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18 hours ago, Nobody Interesting said:

Heaps of lovely flat camping..... but all reserved for those willing to pay extra for Pitch perfect, Camping plus etc......

 

Not true. I camped in general camping and had a very flat spot. It wasn't all reserved.

But I do agree that an additional flatter field for general camping would have helped those who really were on a slope.

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1 hour ago, smogo said:

I

While 2017 doesn't join the upper echelons of my favourite ever Bestivals (they're probably 2011, 2012 and controversially 2016), I had an amazing weekend as usual, and really it was only the awful weather that let it down. I already can't wait for my ninth one next year...!

Wow 2016 - that is controversial!!! (Having been to all them bar 1 that was my worst, with 2008, the really muddy year close behind)

I think my favourites were 2005, 2007 and 2012 but 2017 isn't to far behind for me. Oh and 2010 - the year we got 80's pop star Howard Jones to play after a long comedy campaign started by me on the old Bestival forum to get him to play (and that wasafter Rob da Bank had let me do a Howard Jones tribute DJ set a year or two before under the name DJ Hojo Hits in the Hidden Disco)

Smogo - were you near the front for Pet Shop Boys slightly to the right? I think I may have spotted you a few rows in front of me but wasn't 100% sure?

Edited by rseamer
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Robin - yes I was in that spot. And Georgie - we must've crossed paths loads too based on what your highlights were!

The things I controversially loved about 2016 included:
1) The forced scaling back meant that there were more outdoor stages than usual, because they were saving money on covered structures.
2) Skepta followed by Major Lazer on the Friday night - I couldn't have asked for a better double whammy.
3) Eskimo Dance takeover on Friday afternoon.
4) PC Music takeover on Saturday night.

Yes, the site did look a bit shabby and under-decorated, but whereas once upon a time Bestival was the apex of festival design, these days the likes of Boomtown and Tomorrowland have taken over, and I really enjoy the more DIY, "knocked up in Josie's back yard" look of Besti.

Oddly I think that 2016's "shabbiness" carried over somewhat into this year's event, yet no one seems as negative about it this time. It's probably an expectation management thing.

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24 minutes ago, smogo said:

Robin - yes I was in that spot. And Georgie - we must've crossed paths loads too based on what your highlights were!

 

Ah cool. Well, if you're going next year and I see you I will try and say hello!

 

42 minutes ago, naughtygeorgie said:

I'd love to write of review but I'm still too ruined ... 

Highlights: Oh My God Its The Church!,

 

 

Oh my god I forgot them. How much fun were they? A proper 'Bestival' type band. I was laughing and smiling so much through their whole set. Sexy religion for the (arse) souls :)

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6 hours ago, Nobody Interesting said:

I suggest you talk to Shambala about it rather than go by the name - as this is the area my friends stayed in and things were different regarding the eco bond.

 
 
 "No substance to that at all - think your friend has his wires crossed. Eco-bond is the same system wherever you camp."  - Shambala
 
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16 minutes ago, kerplunk said:
 
 
 "No substance to that at all - think your friend has his wires crossed. Eco-bond is the same system wherever you camp."  - Shambala
 

Interesting - as they got theirs back but gave in little by way or rubbish and were not expected to collect more. Seems then office and people on the ground are not talking from the same book!
Still does not make Bestival's any good mind you which is where this all started.

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2 hours ago, Nobody Interesting said:

Seems then office and people on the ground are not talking from the same book!
 

That would be a  surprising thing to happen at a festival!

I'm sure Bestival isn't for everyone - people have different expectations. I'm one for who Bestival had lost it's shine a bit in recent years and gave it a miss last year after an unbroken run of 10 festivals, so my return this year was a quite tentative and driven by curiosity as much as anything else. I'm glad I went though - fun was had and no major problems with the organisation (apart the lack of real ale which is actually quite a big one for me - but I'll let them off just this once so long as it's sorted next year!).

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