A FESTIVAL in Dorset has long promoted itself as a "festi-holiday" where families can get away for a camping trip with something for everyone so ARRON HENDY travelled to the event to find out.

Camp Bestival is known as the top festival for families and encourages people to visit Dorset to mix enjoying the music with a host of other attractions both at the music festival and nearby.

It has a beautiful setting at Lulworth Castle on the Jurassic Coast, with views out to sea from the festival.

Music is the main attraction for the three days but there are woodland walks, yoga, fairground rides and a huge choice of food outlets that were of a great standard. And if you stay in Dorset for longer than the three days of music then there are all sorts of places within 20 minutes or so worth visiting.

First of all the music was fantastic across the three days in July.

The children particularly loved James Arthur and Paloma Faith on the Castle Stage. Arthur rose to fame after winning the ninth series of The X Factor in 2012. I was pleasantly surprised at how truly heartfelt his songs came across. His guitar playing and his band really making it an excellent performance. He apologised that his voice was showing the effects of touring and though he appeared to struggle at times it added to the authenticity for me.

(Image: Camp Bestival/James Bridle)

Paloma Faith was great fun in her bright red outfit, all smiles as she appeared and danced around the stage. She did have a serious side to her show, talking about the challenges of motherhood and having gone through difficult times of late, but ultimately providing the feelgood factor. Sophie Ellis-Bextor was brilliant too, playing her disco songs in the sunshine.

My highlights were McFly, who blew everyone away with their guitar-laden pop rock joy.The Darkness were as good as their heyday and Pete Tong’s Ibiza classics before the fireworks finale came with an impressive orchestral performance and lightshow.

But for me the Old Time Sailors with their three hour show at the Caravanserai area was a joy to behold. Their sea shanties get everyone moving and smiling. How do I describe the Old Time Sailors? There are more than 20 of them and they seem to take it in turns to front the band, sometimes heading out into the crowd to get everyone enjoying themselves. They have all sorts of instruments including what looked like a washboard.

They even belted out some well known rock classics in their own special style.

You may have witnessed the Caravanserai at a previous Brighton Festival, with two stages, one made out of an old Waltzer fairground ride. There are all sorts of caravan booths to sit in and one even serves as a hairdressing salon.

Aidan Hammond made his festival debut on Saturday evening with an hour-long DJ set as proud mum and TV presenter Alison Hammond watched on and partied in the crowd.

We loved taking a stroll around the Dingly Dell woodland area complete with children’s sensory musical instruments and a playpark.

The Slow Motion wellness area had ice baths and meditation to yoga sessions and sleep retreats

Camp Bestival is packed with children’s art workshops and musical shows in different fields.

My son loved the woodwork studios where he made an axe while others enjoyed carving wands and all sorts of toys.

The smallest weekend ravers in the crowd enjoyed hours of entertainment from family favourites Dick and Dom, Mister Maker and Utah Saints, Hacker T Dog and Katie Thistleton, Brainiac Live and Mr Tumble.

This year, Lulworth Estate was transformed into an other-worldly cosmos for an out of this world festival experience with the new ‘Intergalactic, Aliens and Space’ theme which families embraced en-masse throughout the weekend. Families took part in the annual fancy dress parade and competition where one lucky winner was awarded a family ticket to next year’s festival. Brand new for 2024, campers were encouraged to make their own clothing from recycled materials in the Camp Couture workshop tent and join in to parade their finished outfits in a magical fashion parade throughout the festival on Saturday afternoon.

If you do decide to go next year and include a few days either side of the event there are a huge number of tourist hotspots nearby.

Within about 10 minutes is the popular Durdle Door beach with its picturesque rock arch.

Also about 15 minutes away by car is Thomas Hardy’s cottage, where the author was born in 1840. it was from here that he wrote several of his early short stories, poetry and novels including Under the Greenwood Tree and Far from the Madding Crowd.

The county town, Dorchester, is close, as are the seaside towns of Weymouth and Swanage. Some say Weymouth is like a small Brighton with its Georgian architecture, while Swanage is small and cute, also with a sandy beach.

But as publicised, Camp Bestival really does feel like a holiday in itself for families to try all sorts of activities, enjoy top music and have great fun.

Early Bird tickets for Camp Bestival Dorset 2025 went on sale on Friday, August 2 including a new kids go free under 5 ticket offer for a limited time. For more information see www.campbestival.net/tickets

Camp Bestival 2025 (31 July – 3 August 2025) Ticket Information (Early Bird prices):

Adult Weekend - £199

Age 13 to 17 Weekend - £152

Age 10 to 12 Weekend - £125

Age 5 to 9 Weekend - £105

Age 4 & Under Weekend – FREE (but ticket required)

Babes In Arms (1 & Under) - FREE (but ticket required)

General Caravan - £143

General Campervan - £132

Weekend Car Park - £24

Front Row Campervan - £310

Front Row Campervan with power - £510

Kids’ Garden Campervan - £410

Kids’ Garden Campervan with power - £610

Camping Plus - £198

Camping Plus with power - £390

House Of Refresh - £58 (adult) / £36 (Child 5-17) / Free (Child 4 & under)

Camp Kids Extra Pass - £44.99

9 Month Payment Plans available on Weekend Camping Tickets only at £22 p/month for Adult Weekend Camping Ticket.