Bestival Tickets

This 4-day festival is held every September at Robin Hill country park in Isle of Wight, and was founded in 2004 by DJ Rob Da Bank, as an extension to his Sunday Best club nights. Initially attracting an attendance of around 10,000, this has since grown to 55,000 and is now considered a proper 'full-sized' festival in the UK music festival circuit. The music tends to be indie-based, with acts appearing at the early events including Fatboy Slim, Mylo, The Bees, Basement Jaxx, The Magic Numbers and Saint Etienne, but as the festival grew in recognition, more dance, pop and veteran acts were added to the line-up. The 2010 event included Dizzee Rascal, Brian Wilson, The Cure, Bjork, Public Enemy and Big Audio Dynamite.

Bestival is considered a more fun, less corporate festival than, sat Reading, Glastonbury or T In The Park, with specialised food stalls, interactive activity tents for kids, and fancy dress days, which also make it a popular family festival. The event has also been a stage for political and social causes, including a Stop The Iraq War campaign led by Brian Eno in 2006 and is also famous for its green-led ethos, with lots of recycling bins, and a long-term aim to become carbon-neutral. Other innovative facilities onsite include an inflatable church which is licensed for marriage, a Yurt where mothers can breastfeed their babies, and dressing up tents for both adults and children. Campsites are available, plus a family campsite and boutique camping site (with posh yurts and gypsy caravans for hire), and the organisers run pre-paid shuttle buses to the site from most places on the island. The main arena has numerous food, drink and merchandise stalls, and you can take your own food and alcohol into the campsites, but not the main arena.

Bestival 2012 will be held 6th - 9th September.