Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. The name Bestival is a portmanteau of the words best and festival. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was organised by DJ and record producer Rob da Bank along with his wife Josie and was an offshoot of his Sunday Best record label and club nights.[1] The initial Bestival attracted 10,000 people, growing to 50,000 in its final year, 2018.[2] Bestival won 'Best Major Festival' at the 2015 UK Festival Awards, having won 'Best Medium-Sized Festival' in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009, 'Best Major Festival' in 2010, 2012 and in 2015, 'Fan's Favourite' in 2011 and 'Best Innovation' in 2005.[3]
Origins
The festival had been held annually in the late summer since 2004, in a small country park called 'Robin Hill' on The Isle of Wight. The event was organized by Rob da Bank and was an offshoot of his Sunday Best record label and club nights.[1] Creative Director and wife Josie da Bank and co founders / partners John Hughes, Ziggy Gilsenan and Ben Turner were also involved in organising the event. The Isle of Wight holds more carnivals per capita than anywhere else in the United Kingdom.[4]
In 2004, the festival was attended by 10,000 people, a figure which subsequently increased to 43,000 in 2009[1] and 50,000 in 2018.[2]
A family-friendly sister festival "Camp Bestival" launched in 2008.
In December 2016, the organisers announced a move to The Lulworth Estate in Dorset.[5]
In 2018 Bestival moved from its usual September date to the first week in August, a week after its sister festival, Camp Bestival, took place on the same, Lulworth Estate site.
In 2018 The Bestival organisation went into administration, leaving many workers unpaid. Bestival as a result ceased, however Camp Bestival continued on the same Lulworth Estate site and equivalent weekend in 2019. The event was again curated by Rob da Bank and his wife Josie. All remaining Bestival brands were bought out of administration in late 2018 by the US/Irish entertainments group Live Nation/Gaiety along with SJM concerts. As such they are now brand owners for Camp Bestival and, the currently inactive, Bestival.
Festival ethos
Bestival 2008 at Robin Hill Country Park
Bestival was well known for its fancy dress themed days (usually the Saturday of the festival). In 2005, an attempt was made to set the Guinness World Record for most people in fancy dress at any one event. By 2010 this was achieved, when 55,000 festival goers set a new Guinness World Record.
The festival was also heavily involved in supporting social and environmental causes. Rob da Bank and Bestival supported several Isle of Wight-based charities and youth organisations; for example Rob da Bank's Music Club, Isle of Wight Toy Appeal, Isle of Wight Youth Trust, St Catherines School and Barter For Bestival. On site at the festival, Bestival supported Oxfam, RSPB, Amnesty International, Water Aid and the Legacy Project. Bestival actively reduced its carbon emissions and impact on the environment; for example schemes such as Bike to Bestival, Swim to Bestival, LiftShare, exchanging recycling at the campsites for cups of tea, recycling and waste management, commissioning Environmental Impact Assessments, monitoring power usage and limiting water usage with push button taps.
Bestival was a founding member of the Greener Festival Alliance.[citation needed]
Bestival was often described as a "boutique festival" due to its non-corporate feel. It was also known for piloting odd and innovative ideas, including an inflatable church where people can get married. Other features included the "Breastival", a quiet Yurt designated for mothers and their breast-feeding children. The local Women's Institute had also been involved by providing refreshments for a minimal price.[citation needed]
Performance venues
The main venues in 2014 were:
Main Stage – an open-air main stage
Big Top – the second venue, a large capacity tent
Invaders of the Future
The Bandstand (hosted by compere Scott Anderson)
The Port – an outdoor DJ stage made from a boat (2013–2015)
The Spaceport – Updated version of The Port (As of 2016)
Bollywood
Temple Island
Reggae Roots
Red Bull Music Academy Stage
BBC Introducing
Awards
Bestival has received the following awards:
UK Festival Awards 2005: Best Medium-Sized Festival
UK Festival Awards 2005: Best innovation
UK Festival Awards 2006: Best Medium-Sized Festival
UK Festival Awards 2007: Best Medium-Sized Festival
UK Festival Awards 2009: Best Medium-Sized Festival
UK Festival Awards 2010: Best Major Festival
UK Festival Awards 2011: Fans Favourite
UK Festival Awards 2012: Best Major Festival
UK Festival Awards 2015: Best Major Festival
DJ Mag's Best of British Awards 2012: Best Festival
Artrocker Awards 2012: Festival of the Year
AIF Festival Congress Awards 2014: Smart Marketing Campaign of the Year – Bestival Disco Ball
Live Music Business Awards 2014: Best Festival (cap 40,000+)
2010 also saw Bestival win 'best major festival' beating Glastonbury and Reading in a public vote; sister festival Camp Bestival picked up 'best family festival' as well.
Ben Howard and Benjamin Francis Leftwich both performed on The Bandstand which is hosted every year by Isle of Wight Comedian Scott Anderson.
2011 saw Bestival win "Fans' favourite festival award" in the UK Festival Awards.
Bestival 2012
6–9 September 2012
The main stage headliners were Florence and the Machine on Friday, New Order on Saturday, and Stevie Wonder who closed the main stage on Sunday, playing as a UK festival exclusive. Sigur Rós and The XX both performed UK festival exclusives on the main stage. The following also performed (this is not a complete list):
Azealia Banks and Frank Ocean were among a few artists who cancelled their performances. Wiley was announced as a special guest.
Bestival 2012 was awarded "Best Major Festival" at the UK Festival Awards,[6] "Best Festival" at DJ Mag's Best of British Awards,[7] and "Festival of the Year" at the Artrocker Awards.
Three people were killed while returning from Bestival when the old and worn tyres of their coach caused it to crash.[8] A fundraising night was set up to remember the victims, taking place at Nation in Liverpool on 30 March 2013.[9] Michael Molloy, an 18-year-old musician from Liverpool, was among those killed; his mother subsequently established Tyred, a charity which campaigns to outlaw old and unsafe tyres.[10] The charity received more attention after it was publicly supported by actress Jodie Comer,[11] who hails from the same area of Liverpool. In September 2013, a park bench in Woolton Woods (behind Comer's old school, St. Julie's)[12] was turned into a memorial to Molloy.[13]
For 2013, Bestival introduced a weekly payment plan for tickets, the first music festival to offer this.[14]
Bestival 2014
4–7 September 2014
Bestival 2014's theme was Desert Island Disco. The headline acts were Outkast, Foals, Beck and Chic Featuring Nile Rodgers; Nile Rodgers also challenged Bestival to create the world's largest disco ball for Bestival 2014, in which they succeeded with a disco ball of 10.33m. The previous record was 9.98 metres.
Bestival 2014 was awarded 'Best Festival' at the Live Music Business Awards[15] and 'Smart Marketing Campaign of the Year' at the AIF Festival Congress Awards for the record breaking Disco Ball.[16]
Louella Fletcher-Michie - the daughter of actor John Michie - died after taking the recreational drug 2C-P at the festival. Her boyfriend, Ceon Broughton, was convicted of her manslaughter by gross negligence on 28 February 2019, having videoed her over a period of six hours hallucinating and then begging for help, rather than taking her to the festival hospital tent only 400 metres away. He was also convicted to supplying a Class A drug, and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. In August 2020 the manslaughter conviction was quashed on appeal, but the conviction for supplying a Class A drug stands.[18]
