At the tail end of the festival season: it takes place from Thursday September 8–Sunday September 11 on the Isle of Wight.
Headliners are The Cure, Major Lazer and Hot Chip. Craig David is bring his TS5 Party, and MØ, Skepta, Wolf Alice, Years & Years and Fatboy Slim are all on the line-up.
Bestival is full of colour and intrigue and their fancy dress themes are serious business. This year’s theme is ‘The Future’ and you’ve got to go all-out: Bestivalistas frown on off-the-shelf polyester costumes. The Isle of Wight’s more colourful festival offers the best party vibe this side of Glastonbury, but it’s not all dancing till daylight: revellers can enjoy some anarchic fun at the carnival of small stages, stuff their faces at street food vans or visit the inflatable church for a quickie festival marriage.
Bestival © Carolina Faruolo
You can get festival tickets online here. Earlybird tickets are currently £190 including booking fee.
The journey to the site from the mainland is a difficult musical pilgrimage: be prepared, travel light and get used to queuing. Ferry and train slots get booked up quickly but you’ll usually be bundled on whatever’s avaiable anyway. That’s unless you fancy swimming there, which you can (for charity) with Swim To Bestival.
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