Bestival Survival Tips

If you’re a first time Bestivalgoer or this is your first ever trip to any festival then make sure you are prepared.  Festivals can be a fantastic experience or a pretty uncomfortable one if you don’t know what you’re doing and end up without essentials like waterproof gear or running out of money at the end of the first day.  Here are a few tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your trip to Bestival this year.

What To Take?

Once you arrive at Bestival, you don’t want to be spending your time trying to sort out problems from having forgotten to bring essential items, so make sure that you think about what you’re going to take in advance.  The Isle of Wight has its own microclimate which – in theory – means that you have a better than average chance of a sunny festival.  HOWEVER, as it takes place in September, Bestival is the last festival of the season and there have been some years where it has been rain, rain and more rain, despite a sunny forecast, so it’s always best to be prepared for both.  Having said this, don’t go overboard.  It’s only 4 days so there’s no point taking everything but the kitchen sink.

Rain

  • Wellies
  • Waterproof
  • Lots of black sacks/plastic bags to keep everything dry or put it away when it gets wet or muddy.

Shine

  • Sunscreen
  • Cheap sunglasses
  • Hat

All Weather Essentials

  • Painkillers
  • Refillable water bottle
  • Inflatable mattress and pillow
  • Baby wipes
  • Hand cleansing gel
  • Something warm to sleep in
  • Toilet roll

How To Get There

One thing people often forget with Bestival is that before you even get to the outskirts of the festival site, you have to get across the Solent.  Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to make the train journey from wherever you are starting out from to Portsmouth or Southampton and then another hour to get across the water on the ferry.  The last ferries go around midnight and the first ones around 4am and you will then need to get yourself from your arrive point (Ryde, Cowes etc) to the festival site.   Leave yourself enough time to get there and don’t arrive in the middle of the night (after midnight) or you won’t be able to get in!

There are regular shuttle buses that run from the major ferry arrival points, as well as other towns on the island.  Most of these don’t start until 9am so if you arrive any earlier you’re going to need to take a taxi.  There are plenty of taxi companies on the island and you can pick one up when you arrive, although you might have to queue.  Bear in mind though that the festival site doesn’t open until 9am each day and if you get there before this time you’ll just have to sit and wait.

How To Leave

This one might seem a bit unnecessarily for anyone who’s got half a brain, but if you haven’t been to Bestival before then you won’t know that most people try to leave around 8am – 10am on the Monday morning.  That’s around 40,000 people trying to get onto a couple of ferries…Because you’re on an island, waiting for the ferries can create a bit of a bottleneck so put a bit of thought into how you want to leave.  If you want to avoid the crush then Sunday evening is a good idea, or any time on Sunday.  If you have to stay until the Monday morning to see your fave band, but still want to avoid the crowds then you will have to get up at around 6am.  On the Monday morning there are shuttle buses from the site to the ferries from 7am.

Camping At Bestival

Bestival has lots of options when it comes to camping.  You can generally camp wherever you want  – in any of the green, red, black, orange and purple campsites – and there are special family areas and boutique camping options.  If you are planning on wreaking some havoc then head to the green campsite and if you want some peace and quiet the black campsite is for you.  Some of the sites are bumpy and you will need to walk up a slight incline to get to them so have a careful think about where you want to camp before you put your tent up.  Also bear in mind that campsites are very different in the dark and you’ll need to position yourself near a better landmark than ‘that yellow tent’ if you’re going to find your way back after dark, as this will look just like all the others once the sun goes down.

The Boutique Campsite at Bestival is a great option if you’re not keen on lugging a tent to and from the site and you want a bit of extra luxury.  This special campsite has Tipis, Yurts, Squrts, Cloudhouses, Yurtels, PodPads, BellePads and Gypsy Caravans, as well as hot showers and flushable toilets, with 24-hour stewards.

Music At Bestival

Bestival is a fantastic festival when it comes to music and there are so many bands and DJs to see.  There are a whopping 20 arenas at Bestival, including the big ones like the main stage and the Bollywood tent, as well as the likes of the Black Dahlia Cocktail Lounge and the Rock n Roll Tent.

There are a few different approaches you can take to seeing your favrouite bands here:

Militant Bestivalgoer: often seen with a print out of a personal programme they have compiled themselves that takes into account the distance between stages and the time it will take to walk to a stage, as well as allowance for toilet pit stops and the exact times at which it will be best to travel to a certain stage to get themselves in the right position for a certain band.  This kind of approach requires plenty of research beforehand, a psychic ability to estimate set times, ruthless efficiency when deciding which bands you are going to see, working out the clashes and picking the correct camping spot.

Stageside Bestivalgoer: normally tends to hang around a particular stage for long periods of time to avoid traipsing around the site or losing a prime position.  If this is you then you need to work out in advance which stage is going to suit you best, whether you’re a mainstager or plan to spend all your time at the Bestival Bandstand.

Casual Bestivalgoer: tends to wander from stage to stage, depending on a number of factors, including the weather, the flow of other people, where the best drinks are, which food stages are nearby.  If this is you then all you really need to do is equip yourself with a programme, beer money, waterproof, sun cream and a few similarly minded friends and you’re good to go wherever you end up.

Inside Bestival

Food is a big part of the festival experience, whether you want to eat as many pies, Mexican, noodles and pizzas as you can in four days, or stick to traditional festival burger and falafel fare.  Because of the captive audience at festivals, you can expect to pay well over the odds for your dinner so it’s a good idea to allow around a minimum of £30 a day to cover soft drinks and snacks (bearing in mind you might be staying up until the early hours, which means you’ll need at least an extra meal).  If you want to save some cash then take some supplies with you – cereal bars are useful, as are crisps, chocolate etc – anything light that won’t go off.

Booze is also a big part of the festival experience and Bestival has a great range of fun drinks to sample, much more than just the usual cider and beer.  You can take your own booze into the campsites, as long as you’re only taking in a reasonable amount, but you can’t take this into the main areas.  People often get carried away with booze at festivals and there are a LOT of casualties.  Remember to drink plenty of water and eat regularly to try and pace yourself – there’s nothing more wasteful of a Bestival ticket than someone who peaks on the first day and spends the next 48 hours being sick in their tent.

Fancy dress is one of the things that sets Bestival apart from other festivals.  Each year there is a theme and the fancy dress competition is judged on the Saturday afternoon.  According to festival organizer Rob Da Bank “dressing up and escapism has always been a big part of Bestival and our faithful crew are mega inventive to the point of eccentricity!”  Themes from previous years have included ‘Fantasy,’ ‘30,000 freaks under the sea!’ and ‘Out of Space’ and pretty much anything goes here so set your inner kid free and go wild!

Other Important Things To Bear In Mind

  • You can take BBQs to Bestival but there is a no naked flames policy, so leave the flares at home.
  • Bestival is a friendly festival so if you’re the kind of person who likes to drink 16 pints of cider and pick a fight this is not the festival for you.
  • Be respectful of those around you – don’t push in when queuing for the toilets or for food, don’t squash or jostle people when you’re watching the bands and DJs and be forgiving of others having a bit too much fun.
  • Most of all ENJOY!