Now in its 18th year, Camp Bestival has settled into a rhythm that goes beyond nostalgic parents and bouncy castles, carving out a space where music and intergenerational creativity genuinely coexist.
The eighteenth edition of Camp Bestival continued to refine a model that many events chase but few deliver: a festival not just tolerant of families, but built around them. The Dorset gathering has long outgrown its reputation as a playground for former ravers pushing buggies. This year’s edition showed a site designed for shared experience, where children’s activity zones and main-stage bookings hold equal weight.
Bastille’s set, complete with a guest appearance from Bluey, drew one of the weekend’s largest crowds. Mister Tumble led a mass Hokey Cokey that treated the main stage as naturally as any headline slot. Elsewhere, MC Grammar turned children’s stories into hip-hop, a reminder that the festival’s music programming takes even the youngest listeners seriously.
Beyond the stage, DIY instrument workshops in the woods and a smile-operated beat machine from the Royal Society suggested a broader definition of what a festival can be. The Farmyard Circus and a new textile zone added craft and performance without drifting into theme-park emptiness. The result is a rare event that meets families where they actually are—not by lowering standards, but by widening them.
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ROMBO Editorial Staff
The collective voice behind ROMBO Magazine’s news, reviews, features, and cultural coverage.
