A definite summer highlight for us was Camp Bestival in Shropshire!
You might have seen our review last year with 10 things to know if you’re heading to Camp Bestival
2023 did not disappoint! It was about 7 hours closer than Dorset, we got there in under 2 hours!! There is so much to share about it, but hopefully the photos sum up what am amazing time we had…we had sunshine, we had rain, our tent leaked?!? but despite that we had a brilliant family weekend.
***Early bird 2024 Tickets NOW ON SALE from 10am Friday 29th September ***
When you think of festivals, you think of the music obviously and the line up this year was brilliant. We really enjoyed Sam Ryder, Ella Henderson, Primal Scream and dancing to an actual Spice Girl Mel C!
Besides the music though, there was just so much going on.
Woodland Tribe! You’d think that giving kids hammer and nail to build their own play area was a silly idea…but no..genius! We did have to queue up at the beginning of each day to get a slot but the kids absolutely loved this and it was free.
Spinney Hollow. We had a lovely time in here making swords and making wreaths. These activities were bookable in advance in person, and were an extra charge but we enjoyed doing something a bit different.
Slow Motion: This was a delightful area with yoga, ice baths and a wild spa! I had paid for the wild spa in advance via the Camp Bestival app as a treat. We were sitting in a hot tub, overlooking a beautiful lake, surrounded by nature and it was a perfect relaxing end to our Friday. There was a sauna too and an ice cold bucket shower…we loved it. You got to slow motion over a bridge too which took it away from the main area so it was a really peaceful zone.
The Mumbler wedding! If you book in advance, there is the opportunity to use the huge inflatable church! This was a lot of fun…Harrogate Mumbler’s Sally and her husband (the one in the dress!) renewed their vows. A lot of fun, with the wedding party invited to dress up too with outfits from a big huge dressing up tent! Great opportunity to see all of our Mumbler sister sites together! Makes you realise just how many areas we cover!
Axe-Throwing and Wall of Death! Two things that don’t sound mega child friendly but were fantastic! My son was so pleased to hit the target a few times and it was really well managed. It’s always nice to bump into people from Doncaster when you’re not IN Doncaster and I bumped in to a few! I spotted Louise (pictured on the right) from Inner Sunshine in the Wall of Death tent! They had a fab area inside the woodland trail with craft activities for kids. The axe-throwing was chargeable, but the Wall of Death was free…we went in twice!
Nerf Gun Battle! Now this was my son (and husbands highlight!). A full on nerf battle – you had to take your own nerf gun and it’s generally on the Saturday morning. It was hilarious and they had such a good time. A free activity for anyone to join in and it wasn’t bookable, we just turned up.
Tree Climbing! I thought it was great that this activity was free. We did have to queue early in the day to get a slot but it was really worth it. Mr Mumbler and my daughter did it and climbed to the top of a huge tree. If you’re wondering what the monkey is, he’s our travel monkey! He goes everywhere we go and we get a pin badge to put on his t-shirt…he’s got a Camp Bestival one now! Seemed only right they took him up the tree!
Skateboarding Lessons: Another free activity and we didn’t really have to book in advance, just turn up! The guy teaching was absolutely brilliant, very patient considering he was running these back to back and had an amazing way with the kids. My one ended up coming back home with renewed interest in his skateboard and spending the last few weeks of the school holidays practicing.
Puppets, Shows and Circus Skills. There were various shows all over at all times of the day across the festival ground. There was never a moment when there wasn’t something to watch. There were lots of areas in which the kids could just play with circus toys or bikes or watch a circus show.
We really had an amazing time. We were kindly gifted our tickets for the purpose of this review, but if you’re considering going next year I think that it’s great value for money. It was really a full weekend making family memories (we’re blocking out the leaky tent one though!)
Early bird tickets are available for 72 hours giving everyone the chance to buy tickets at the lowest possible prices before they change to Tier 1 on Monday 2nd October.
There is a 9 month payment plan available
