Bestival - Isle of Wight, 9/9/2016...11/9/2016

  by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 8 / 11 / 2016

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Despite appalling weather conditions, Nick Dent Robinson still finds much to enjoy at this year's Bestival on the Isle of Wight, which saw performances from Damian Marley, Caravan Palace, Ride and a three hour set from the Cure

The Isle of Wight’s Bestival is for most of us the last major festival of the summer and always helps end the season on a high. The event takes its name from Rob da Bank’s 'Sunday Best' club nights – though for many it has come to mean “Best Festival” – which its regular attendees are convinced it is. Possibly it is the island setting – and many festival-goers do appear to leave all inhibitions behind at Southampton or Portsmouth as they board the Isle of Wight ferries – but there does always seem to be something a little other-worldly about this September event. It is not in the least posh and manages to be a bit anarchic, hedonistic, yet somehow respectful, family-friendly and gentle plus occasionally quite beautiful too. The dress code for 2016 was described as “futuristic” with the field full of glitter, sparkly tops, shiny dresses, amazing shoes and gold or silver leggings – and that was just the men! And there were astronauts, martians and many types of alien plus characters from every sci-fi film or space-related TV show you ever heard of. Though the festival’s sound track tends to be a broadly based mix of club classics plus a lot of Prince! All with very broad appeal so Bestival fans include a big range of ages with a wide variety of tastes. Where else would you find The Cure, Major Lazer, Katy B, Leftfield, Wizz Khalifa or Crystal Fighters on a single programme? This year’s Saturday weather was appalling – continuous heavy rain with the grass fields fast turning to mud. But somehow this seemed to have a bonding effect and the festival felt even friendlier than usual. And with summer sunshine either side of Saturday’s downpours the Bestival grounds were always manageable. Plus there was still crazily happy dancing of all kinds to the likes of Eskimo Dance, Richie Hawtin, electro-garage duo the Caulfield Beats, Damian ‘JR Gong’ Marley, David Rodigan, Caravan Palace, Ride and Glass Animals. The Cure’s final three-hour set was amazing, too.

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