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Bestival going into administration?


rseamer
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Camp Bestival have made a statement, Bestival haven't.

Tickets for both festivals currently not for sale on either website. And many worried customers on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/219635801725/posts/10156650557656726/  ?

 

 

 

Edited by StoneCircle
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10 minutes ago, rseamer said:

I guess Bestival haven't made a statement because they haven't put tickets on sale, whereas Camp Bestival have and have payment plans running. 

I was wondering about this when I read it. I checked the Bestival site for ticket info the other day cos I was a bit sceptical about its future and couldn't find any onsale news. Didn't check Camp Bestival site so that makes sense.

It freaks me out to learn about the guy behind Amigo Loans being a big-time backer for this. Had no clue.

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We went this year and loved it. The only issue for me was that the alcohol was extortionate with a limited choice of drinks too - but the overall feel of the site was great and the atmosphere was brilliant.

I’d be sad if it wasn’t back. 

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I'd heard strong whispers about this and also seen emails to people owed money.

It was also a bit obvious with Camp Bestival having announced dates and tickets for next year, but not Bestival.

Shame, but the clientele for many festivals are just passing thru. Those ones will always struggle in the long term.

Edited by eFestivals
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1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

I'd heard strong whispers about this and also seen emails to people owed money.

It was also a bit obvious with Camp Bestival having announced dates and tickets for next year, but not Bestival.

Shame, but the clientele for many festivals are just passing thru. Those ones will always struggle in the long term.

Aye. I think in the same way that Bestival took a lot of The Big Chill's punters, and thus played a part in that closing down, Boomtown has had the same effect on Bestival...

I always worried that the Bestival team were spreading it too thin with the amount of events that they were putting on, given this news, that looks to be slightly true.

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1 minute ago, jackarmy said:

Aye. I think in the same way that Bestival took a lot of The Big Chill's punters, and thus played a part in that closing down, Boomtown has had the same effect on Bestival...

yep, that's exactly my take on things.

For the moment Boomtown looks solid and is expanding its appeal, but it's still dependent on a party crowd that could move on in an instant.

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This year's Bestival did feel like a general success though.. 

It was never going to reach the heights of five/six years ago in terms of scale etc. but I genuinely thought it had found a niche for itself that it could potentially operate from. 

A real shame if this is the end after the hard work that many have put in - I agree that 2018's was one of the better Bestival's of recent years..

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I blame Rob. He seems to have really struggled to market bestival in the past few years, also I think he’s grown a bit out of touch with the current music scene and thrown together lineups that are very unappealing. 

It needs to get called a day. In 2017 it was the worst festival I’ve ever been to. I think bestival lost the cool factor a few years ago and it never recovered

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21 minutes ago, gibble said:

Rob has replied to someone on twitter stating "the show must go on! And will..." in relation to Camp Bestival.

I think CB covers a gap in the market in a way that Bestival no longer does. It might be that they find it easier to keep that one going.

word I'd heard was that CB* would be kept going, and the others dropped.

(what I'd heard didn't actually say 'camp bestival', but it was an easy assumption that was the one).

Feeling sorry for those who aren't going to get paid. :(

Hope it doesn't force any of their suppliers over the edge.

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Sad but inevitable. When I first went to Bestival it was unique to many other UK festivals. It felt reasonably intimate but they seemed to have a knack of booking some really exciting acts (New Order, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Outkast, The Cure, Bjork, Kraftwerk) seemingly beyond their size. Couple that with some fun themes and a great electronic music lineup it was a cool, niche festival. But over the last five years it's become "just another festival" and that's a dangerous place to be. I think you have to have something unique if you want to survive in the current market and Bestival lost that.

The demise of Bestival definitely seems to correspond with the rise in popularity of Boomtown and I think many of those who used to take the ferry across to the Isle of Wight to get their yearly dance music fix chose the edgier and more exciting festival. The move to the mainland was clearly the last roll of the dice and unfortunately it doesn't seem to have paid off. 

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It seems POD's All Together Now festival in Ireland (same weekend as Bestival) is also having money problems, with artists and musicians complaining of not being paid although ATN are selling early birds for the 2019 festival.  It would be a pity if Bestival kicked the dust as I've always wanted to try this one, it used to happen the weekend after Electric Picnic and looked to have a very similar vibe seeing it also started in 2004.

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14 minutes ago, pothead pixie said:

It seems POD's All Together Now festival in Ireland (same weekend as Bestival) is also having money problems, with artists and musicians complaining of not being paid although ATN are selling early birds for the 2019 festival.  It would be a pity if Bestival kicked the dust as I've always wanted to try this one, it used to happen the weekend after Electric Picnic and looked to have a very similar vibe seeing it also started in 2004.

Festival No. 6 has also kicked the bucket, that's 3 of the September festivals having problems...

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3 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

nope, bestival is now early august.

I don't think it's date related, I think people just moved onto other festivals. It's not the first that's happened to and it won't be the last.

Yeah, although they faced quite a few problems in 2015/16 when it was September. 

I was more thinking that there's less choice for punters like me who enjoy a September festival to round the summer off, think it's only End of The Road now. Bit of a shame that.

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2 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

nope, bestival is now early august.

I don't think it's date related, I think people just moved onto other festivals. It's not the first that's happened to and it won't be the last.

I think Bestival lost it's way, which in turn made the people move on.  The final nails in the coffin were leaving the Isle of Wight and then moving to August. 

Either way, it's such a shame - it used to be such a perfect festival.

 

 

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The festival landscape has changed completely over the past decade. No more Sonisphere, T in the Park, V Festival, Global Gathering, Festival No. 6, Rock Ness, Glade and now Bestival among others. I'm very much of the opinion that you have to stay unique to survive in a saturated market. I wonder which large festival is next? Isle of Wight? Latitude? Kendal Calling? Do these have something different about them to keep the punters rolling in? Reading and Leeds seem to have steered themselves out of a bit of a rocky patch in recent years.

People are also now beginning to see that for a few quid more you can travel to Europe to get your festival kicks and usually guarantee better weather. 

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19 minutes ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

The festival landscape has changed completely over the past decade. No more Sonisphere, T in the Park, V Festival, Global Gathering, Festival No. 6, Rock Ness, Glade and now Bestival 

People are also now beginning to see that for a few quid more you can travel to Europe to get your festival kicks and usually guarantee better weather. 

Wickerman, Hop Farm, Big Chill, Secret Garden Party etc etc

Bubble burst? Smaller ones come and go.. still lots of independent ones around who can survive

 

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