Camp Bestival 2026

Camp Bestival has been bringing the festival experience to families for 18 years at the gorgeous location of Lulworth, Dorset. Impressive for any summer music offering to exist that long, but to persevere Rob da Bank has had to make changes and collaborate with unexpected bedfellows. Has it been worth it? Let’s look.

I first attended CB ten years ago, sans children. I was there writing press coverage, as we were scheduled to also attend Rob’s flagship: Bestival. The adult one. A bit weird being a childless adult at the kids fest, but there was still great music (an actual tear-inducing set by Tears for Fears), and a beautiful countryside space to enjoy. I was enraptured by the way the organisers had created a music festival, with all the cider and dancing, that one could safely and comfortably bring children to, because there was so much on offer for them. Kids squealed at crafts and nature and children’s shows, while Dorset locals appeared at night to dance hard at the excellent DJ sets. It was perfectly balanced, as Beans on Toast beamed six years later (2022) when I arrived with three-year-old twins in tow. My partner, recognizing faces in the crowd, exclaimed “this is great, it’s all the burnouts who used to go to Bestival and now have kids. Like us.”

Our little family has attended every year since. And each year, things change a bit. More “attractions” are added, which shove out much of the beautiful artwork always on display. 2025 saw “Debenhams” as the corporate sponsor. B’okay? Hey if it pays da Bank’s bills I don’t care who’s name is on the marquee. But perhaps that’s what is pressuring the move away from the idyllic, tranquil offering of a proper music festival for families and turning it into… “Funderworld with Bands.” Yeah. It’s not cute anymore. It’s stressful. Let me explain.

Many attendees arrive at Camp Bestival the first weekend of Summer Holidays to take their kids for some nature, away from the fight against screen time. What’s at CB now? A Nintendo Switch stall. Which is easy to avoid on the lower kids’ field except… there were constant ads for it between bands on the Castle Stage. By the third day my kids were asking when we were going home so they could have their tablets back. I’m not just being an almond-mom — this has changed the very nature of the festival. Nine or ten years ago I watched families dancing together, where parents could change nappies or breastfeed while listening to live music. In 2023 I was boogying around the pram to The Kooks and Grace Jones. But this year, people on site were arguing and queues for the Art Tent were 60 families deep for 20-person spots to paint tote bags, all so we can wait for Bastille to play the one hit. Because that’s what we’re here to do: let our kids take in the crafts, nature, music. To throw Rob a bone, much of the old stuff is there, like the musical woods, the outstanding yoga tent (best festi-yoga on the circuit, I will say), and I give them credit for erecting an allotment next to the Switch tent. But still, in staying financially afloat, the festival has killed off what made it special. On the Sunday run to pack up some bits in the car, both dealing with various levels of tantruming, a mother looked at me laughing and said “We come here just for them and look how they act?!” I laughed, then took a deep breath, remembering that once upon a time the grownups weren’t just going to CB for the kids. It was for everyone. 

Let’s get into the music. Okay, the Saturday headliner epitomised “meh”, but there were good acts sprinkled throughout. I absolutely loved Fulu Miziki, a theatrical African band who make instruments from garbage and put on one hell of an interactive show. Nubiyan Twist performed an equally entertaining set. In the Big Top, I discovered a melodic young rock band, Mokat, who I hope to catch elsewhere. The vocalist has pipes that can mimic Axl Rose in his prime or growl like the hardest of hardcore punk. Oh, and Billy Ocean was beautiful on Friday evening, Caribbean Queen bringing the whole crowd together. On Sunday evening, despite some technical difficulties, De La Soul delivered those fun-as-hell 90s hip-hop tracks that had all the crusty Gen X parents like myself shaking our asses and relieving the stress.

Then arrived the Sunday headliner: Fatboy Slim. I’d seen him here before. This is his crowd, and he produced a perfect set for who was in attendance. Even the antisocial chair-campers blocking off space for their enclaves jumped up to dance. My seven-year-old boys stayed up throughout to watch the fireworks, which were spectacular, as always.

Walking them back to the tent after that satisfying conclusion, I reassessed my earlier insistence that this was my last Camp Bestival — an event I described to friends, just a few years ago, as so magical. It wasn’t fun this year, and that’s not because my family has outgrown it. It’s because I’m not going to put myself through “Funderworld with Bands”. Here’s how it can be saved:

1. Get rid of the Nintendo ads. Gross.
2. Bands. Okay. You all have a problem booking bigger acts, and I suspect it’s because many artists don’t want to be seen on a “Debenhams” stage. There’s good stuff during the day, well done there, but you do need to find a way for headliners to be more satisfying, or the faff of the whole thing isn’t worth it. In 2024 you offered a brilliant bit of balanced programming: while the nostalgic millennial mom-fluencers enjoyed McFly on the Castle Stage, your burnout Bestival base partied to Orbital on the Big Top, where they gave as fantastic a performance as anything they’ve done at Glastonbury. Will Phil and Paul return one day to the “Debenhams festival”? Your base hopes so. 
3. Expand the creative offerings. Those Art and Sewing tents have been there as long as I’ve attended, and they are swarmed because that’s what we’re all here to do. Well done for increasing attendance, now increase all of that fun, interactive playtime.
4. No trolleys in the Castle Field. You had a sign up about it — find a way to enforce it. Tensions got high just before Fatboy Slim as groups tried fencing off their spaces. That can easily be mitigated with enforced rules, then everyone has space to enjoy themselves and the field won’t feel as antisocial as it’s become.

Will we be back, or will 2026 be my last Camp Bestival, seeking out other offerings with a similar spirit of the original event? There’s loads on the festival calendar now. This winter Festivals and Gigs will be publishing a guide to all the festivals on the circuit that offer experiences for families, so stay tuned.