Predicting something very special as we charge inexorably towards The Future, the Bestival crew are set to whet your appetite with a hearty helping of amazing bands and DJs that will be joining The Cure Major Lazer, Diplo, Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim, Bastille, Skepta, Wolf Alice and many more at Robin Hill this coming September.
Rob da Bank says: “I love booking Bestival. It’s proper ‘kid in a sweetshop’ time when I look at all the acts out there and try to curate a line-up that makes sense across many genres… which is how I think Bestivalites like it. It’s not just booked for you, it’s for me too, so I cannot wait for a weekend encompassing Kano, Goldie, Mura Masa, Evian Christ and Reggie and Bollie. If you fancy it too, I’ll see you on the ferry!”
Upping the grime ante, renaissance man Kano will be joining us to showcase his skills with some super-sick bars. His recent Fire in the Booth for Charlie Sloth was a total masterclass that set the standard for the young pretenders, making his appearance at Bestival truly unmissable.
We’ll also have future perfect live performances from much vaunted Seattle duo Odesza, the lush and sultry Snakehips, wunderkind producer Mura Masa, London collective WSTRN, superfly freestyler Lady Leshurr, BBC Sound of 2016 nominee Billie Marten, Brits Critics' Choice nominee Frances, soul-funk-jazz-pop fusionist Izzy Bizu. and X Factor’s real superstars Reggie & Bollie.
Also taking to the stage will be the inimitable Los Hermanos Cubanos, The Cuban Brothers, the sublimely intimate This Is The Kit, South African folkster Jeremy Loops and our old mates the Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band.
Stepping up to the platters that matter to keep you dancing all night long expect DJ sets from beat juggling behemoth DJ Yoda, Metalheadz legend Goldie, Southampton’s finest deck destroyer James Zabiela, sonic adventurers Mount Kimbie, and Ellesmere Port’s boldest export Evian Christ.
There will also be sets from Radio 1’s Heidi, bass marauders Oneman b2b My Nu Leng, on the fly edit merchants Melé & Monki’s NRG Flash, architect of grime and recent Bestival FM guest Artwork, and Honey Soundsystem, Applescal, Poté and Venum Sound.
And, adding a soupçon of off the wall behaviour, we will have Bestival antics from spandex-clad force of nature Mr Motivator, crack of dawn ravers Morning Gloryville, and Circus Raj.
HMS Bestival has vanished in mysterious circumstances. Investigations are underway, but as the enigma deepens and the conspiracy theories grow, the ship’s fate remains unclear. As the future unfolds, and human horizons expand beyond the planet, The Port, devoid of its antiquated maritime attraction, will evolve into a new kind of universal berth. A colossal cosmodrome. The Spaceport.
Rob da Bank says: “Be under no illusions my futuristic friends… This stage is going to blow your mind and take you interstellar like no other stage before… This is The Future of the dance. HMS Bestival, our trusty old ship, has sunk or otherwise been sucked down a Bermuda Triangle shaped whirlpool, and thus we are reinventing Robin Hill’s sacred rave space once more with a spaceship the likes Planet Earth has never witnessed.
“A veritable space oddity standing seven storeys high The Spaceport will beam out music day and night, lit by lasers with giant astronauts floating across the sky. Prepare for take-off, take your protein pills and put your helmet on. See you at The Spaceport in t-minus 196 days and counting…”
Featuring a vast rocket standing more than 20 metres high at its centre, The Spaceport is a laser-loaded mega-structure featuring a truly state of the art db audio array processing sound system, guaranteed to smash out epic low-end, with lighting design from Lite Alt Design’s world renowned Paul Normandale, whose previous credits include the Chemical Brothers, Coldplay and the Tate Modern Turbine Hall. The Spaceport is a unique step in the advancement of sound and vision, where next-level partying isn’t just an ambition, it’s a promise.
As well as a main stage date with Major Lazer, the mighty Diplo will also be making a separate appearance headlining our brand new stage. A true innovator and originator, when Diplo first brought his Mad Decent Soundsystem to rip up Bestival 2009 the night was truly legendary, so expect more of the same and a lot more besides.
Rave pioneer, three-deck wizard, label don and über producer, Carl Cox is lined up for some very special headline excursions at The Spaceport. A mainstay of contemporary dance culture over the last three decades, we’re super-excited that he’ll be joining our futurescape playing an unmissable, career-spanning House Classics set.
He’s headlined the main stage (twice), he’s played Bollywood, the Big Top, and even a sneaky set or two in the hidden disco, so when we asked our great friend and serial rave god Fatboy Slim back this year, there was only ever one place we wanted him to play; on our epic new stage, The Spaceport!
The omens are good, The Future is happening. WithBestival 2016’s Future theme unveiled, we can hurtle headlong into the good times, revealing three massive headliners and an incredible cast of musical pioneers, forward thinking funksters and precognitive pop stars, who will be journeying with us into Bestival’s glamourous machine age, where everlasting gobstoppers signal eternal bliss, this September 8-11, disembarking fromRobin Hill on the Isle of Wight.
Future swashbuckler Rob da Bank says: “So, here we go again, but this time we’re going far… far away… into the future. Prepare yourselves for a Bestival unlike any other with futuristic new stages, and as ever it’s a broad church of music from every decade and every genre. Saturday night headliners and one of my favourite bands ever, The Cure, played Bestival five years ago and almost had to be dragged off stage after a three-hour mammoth greatest hits set. Robert Smith popped down last year and we shook hands on it all happening again… bring it on!
“Friday honours go to Major Lazer who have killed it every time they’ve played, on a bigger stage each time – I remember going to see an exhausted, sweating Diplo after his last main stage show for us and he said ‘headline next time?’, so here we are!
“It’s not all about the headliners, as we know, so I’m super-pleased to have acts as diverse as Hot Chip, Years and Years, Animal Collective and Damian ‘Jr Gong’ Marley, through to the hottest DJs Kurupt FM and the Black Madonna. This is just the start of the trip – see you in The Future!”
The Cure’s Robert Smith said: “We are very very happy to be back at our favourite festival; we can’t wait to play a special set to show the future IS what it used to be…”
Major Lazer commented: "We started at Bestival five years ago, and it was one of our favourite shows to date. Feels like home for us… Rugged and real music fans… Since then we finally impacted in England, and we can’t wait to do our new show and play all the records for the fans at one of the best festivals in the world!!”
One of Bestival HQs favourites and, frankly, one of the greatest bands of all time, The Cure will headline Saturday night when Bestival heads to The Future. From Three Imaginary Boys in 1979 to their most recent album 4:13 Dream, they’ve forged their own path, dragging everyone else in their wake. Covering the gamut of emotions that take in the heady pop of Boys Don’t Cry and Inbetween Days, the heartbreak of Pictures of You and Bloodflowers, the ferociousness of Give Me It and Fascination Street and the dreaminess of Underneath the Stars and Lovesong, their live shows are legendary, taking the crowd on a beautiful rollercoaster ride. So, we really can’t wait to welcome them back to the main stage at Robin Hill this September.
Ensuring that Friday night’s main stage behaviour goes off with the requisite bang that will fire us forward into the unknown, we’re ecstatic that Major Lazer are making their return in 2016. Their last appearance driving willing Bestivalites to the edge of abandon has passed into Bestival lore, making them one of the most incredible live spectacles we’ve ever witnessed. Powered by the inimitable ingenuity of Diplo and Jillionaire, Major Lazer’s Peace Is The Mission album ruled sound systems throughout 2015, producing one of the year’s anthems in Lean On, and launching the band into truly big leagues. Guaranteed to be a mindblower, you don’t want to miss our Friday night headliners.
They’re practically Bestival’s house band, having appeared with us at Robin Hill more times than almost anyone else, so we really couldn’t be happier that the incredible Hot Chip are very much a part of Bestival’s Future headlining Thursday night in the Big Top. From some truly impressive fancy dress action to trailblazing virtual reality band members they always pull out all the stops. Last year’s stripped back Why Make Sense? album was their sixth piece de resistance earning them universal acclaim, add to that their arsenal of kinetic electro-pop bangers and you have a nailed-on guarantee of good times, to help kick of our future adventures in stupendous style.
With one more headliner still to announce, we have a litany of musical treats, all presented in alphabetical order for your delectation, that will keep you reaching for the stars all weekend long, including Animal Collective, Aurora, Bastille, Beaty Heart, Benjamin Damage, Bicep, The Black Madonna, Bodhi presents ROOTS, Caravan Palace, Craig David’s TS5, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley,and David Rodigan MBE presents Ram Jam.
Plus, we’ll have Eats Everything,Eskimo Dancefeaturing Wiley, Section Boyz, Chip, Big Narstie, Newham Generals, Frisco, P Money, Elf Kid, AJ Tracey, Jammz, Fekky, Logan Sama & Maximum, Ghostpoet, and HospitalityPresents: Camo & Krooked, London Elektricity, S.P.Y B2B Nu:Tone, Danny Byrd B2B Brookes Brothers, Maduk, Dynamite MC and Wrec.
There will also be performances from The Human League, Jagwar Ma, Katy B, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Krept & Konan, Kurupt FM’s Champagne Steam Rooms, Loyle Carner, MØ, Petite Meller and techno genius, Richie Hawtin.
Shoegaze pioneers Ride will be travelling with us into the unknown, and there will be high octane action fromShy FX’s Party On The Moon, Skepta, Skream, Slamboree, Tourist, Wolf Alice and Years & Years.
Bestival 2015 was a psychedelic wonderland that brought the third Summer of Love to life! With a passionate crowd of hippies, ravers and lovers, it was four days of sun-drenched joy.
Rob da Bank says: “Thanks a million for making our Summer of Love so spectacular… It was a crazy colourful explosive ball of fun and love and music and mad things happening. With truly memorable moments and amazing new things like Slow Motion, Missy, the Carnival Parade, the Port, the Blind Tiger, the Chemical Brothers, Revolution Ride, the Love-Bot and a thousand other things I could list, I think we’ve taken it up another level this year and having such a lovely crowd was no small part of that. I’ve already got some amazing things lined up for next year, so watch this space!”
Featuring incredible headline sets from Missy Elliott, Duran Duran, the Chemical Brothers and Underworld, and mind blowing performances from Boy Better Know, Tame Impala, The Jacksons, Flying Lotus, Skrillex Annie Mac, Future Islands, Duke Dumont, Mark Ronson, Charli XCX, Action Bronson, our special guests House of Pain and so many more, not forgetting what can only be described as an utterly insane reaction to the Chuckle Brothers, it’s a been a truly vintage year!
With a mass busk, an eight metre tall Love-Bot, the return of our record breaking disco ball and our beloved I Heart Bestival sign, totally delicious food, our brand new arena Slow Motion, cuddly llamas, jaw-dropping night parades, glitter-strewn cabaret, Carnivale, fantastic comedy and most of all you, our summer-loving crowd, filling our lysergic land of awe with delight, we don’t think it could have been any better! So we want to say a massive heartfelt thank you for making it another absolute corker.
We’re already chomping at the bit for Bestival 2016, and, if you’re anything like us, you’ll be pleased to know that limited Early Bird Tickets go on sale at special prices from 10am on Friday 18th September. Do. Not. Miss. Out.
And, if you’ve already got the Bestival blues, make sure you catch Seth Troxler’s two-hour Essential Mix recorded at The Port, which is going out on BBC Radio 1 next Saturday 19th September at 4.00am and our Channel 4 Bestival Special coming soon.
We’re very excited indeed to reveal the line-up for legendary beat supremo Shy FX’s Party on the Moon Bollywood takeover.
Bringing the action to a close on Sunday 13th September, the latest in our Bestival’s Summer of Love Bollywood takeover series, the Party on the Moon will see dancefloor lunacy provided by the Digital Soundboy don and Original Nuttah himself, Shy FX going back to back with some very special guests, who we can guarantee will send you into orbit, with microphone control courtesy of MC Stamina.
There will also be sublime moves on the ones and twos from chart-conquering musical polymath Mark Ronson, multi-platinum recording artist Craig David presenting his much admired TS5, the Leonine be-locked Lion Babe and Chloe Martini taking on Sinead Harnett.
From old skool tear-ups to thoroughly modern floor-spankers, Shy FX’s Party on the Moon is a sure-fire celestial end to our Summer of Love that’s not to be missed.
Bestival’s Summer of Love is all about going back to our roots. It’s about remembering all the things that got us super-excited about our amazing festival life in the first place, and one of our true loves that’s floated our boat since day dot is off-the-wall carnival action. So we’re massively thrilled to be able to announce a brilliant, brand new attraction for 2015 – Carnivale!
Our king of the carnival, Rob da Bank says: “We all know Besti-goers love a good party and any excuse to dress up, so gradually over the years we’ve been building our carnival activity up, till this year things have just gone off the scale with a fantastic Arts Council grant enabling us to put on our biggest carnival ever, and to have a mega pirate ship base for everything carnival to operate from. Combine that with our annual Saturday afternoon parade, and brand new illuminated night parades, soundtracked by yours truly, then things are going to go well and truly crazy for carnival this year!”
Produced by Kirsty Henderson in collaboration with Bestival and one of Europe’s leading and most original carnival groups, Shademakers, Carnivale is situated smack bang in the wonderland that is the Wishing Tree Field. Featuring a huge pirate ship stage with a cast of oddball performers and dancers providing mind-bending entertainment all weekend long, prepare to be bowled over by all manner of amusements, from morning shakedowns and eye-catching exploits, to our Carnival Day Parade and our incredible Night Parades. Plus, there’s an inviting workshop tent where you can get involved in the madness, learning mysterious carnival arts and making your own costumes. An enchanted hive of the unanticipated, Shademakers menagerie of wild and wonderful creations will scamper through the crowds, as Commedia Dell’Arte inspired pirates romp from the rigging, and acrobatic monkeys scale the heights, all as carnival music from around the world, sea shanties and drums fill the air.
Visit the Carnivale’s rhubarb and custard big top, and experience the Galleon Gallery, join in with the creative workshops, make a mask, flag, lantern or withy sculpture, or have your face painted as a cherub or glittery devil! Watch or take part in the many dance and musical workshops… Have you danced to tikitak, played the spoons or a kazoo? There will also be a History of Carnival exhibition where you can kick back and watch some stunning film footage of carnivals from around the world and discover the history of the truly fantastic costumes on display – come and be inspired to join the Carnival!
Whatever you do, don’t miss this year’s Day Parade with more sparkle, more music and more energetically colourful performances than ever before thanks to some of the UK’s top carnival companies. A collaboration across several art forms, the gates to the Carnivale will burst open and the fields of Bestival will be filled with one big summer of love explosion and the joy of the carnival featuring Spandy Andy, Sink the Pink, Mr Wilson's Second Liners, Mariachi El Pinche Grin Go, Shademakers, Area 51, Cirque Bijou, Emergency Exit Arts, Batala Portsmouth, Kinetika Bloco, Mandinga Arts, Preston Carnival, Brouhaha, New Carnival Company, VIP Puppets, Artemis, Quture, CTD Dance Company, Rainbow Connections, Utopia Mas, The Love Float (a collaboration between Shademakers and the IOW Police Volunteer Cadet Force) and The Parlour Make Up, all rocking along to an amazing soundtrack designed especially for the occasion by the man himself, Rob da Bank.
Each night as the sun sets over Bestival, our carnival revellers will come out to play in nocturnal disguise for our glorious Night Parades commissioned by Bestival in association with Roundhouse, Gideon Reeling and Shademakers. Cast your eyes to the horizon and watch as illuminated dancers appear, spreading their glorious wings, marvel as ethereal beings float past your eyes, radiating joy into the Bestival twilight. Heading for the hills of Slow Motion, they’ll gather together there to perform their Rituals of Love, in a spellbindingly wondrous display replete with a jaw-dropping fire finale that will enrapture anyone lucky enough to witness it.
Witness the Spirits of the Summer of Love, here to spread their message of freedom and joy, and to capture you in their playful web, as they dance their way through the festival. And keep an eye out in the Ambient Forest for the spirits as the wonderful Gideon Reeling and The Roundhouse team up to sprinkle magic and a bucket-load of love throughout the thickets, clad in the glorious flamboyant creations of Shademakers Carnival Costumiers.
She’s the best around with the crazy style and her music makes us lose control, so we’re unutterably excited to announce that the incredible Missy Elliott will be headlining Sunday night at our Summer of Love in a European festival exclusive. One of the greatest artists of all time, and a true musical innovator, we couldn’t be more ecstatic that she’s coming to Robin Hill for her first UK show in nine years, and what is destined to be one of the most epic Bestival finales of all time. Ever.
Commenting on her headline appearance, Missy Elliott said: “I'm very excited to be performing at Bestival this year! I can't wait to see all my fans I haven't seen in some time… new ones and my day one fans! We are gonna have a blast together! Bring your dancing outfits and kicks!”
Bestival b-boy Rob da Bank says: “So, putting the final pieces together for the world’s most intricate jigsaw puzzle that is Bestival, I’m mighty proud to announce our Sunday headliner Missy Elliott. Needing no introduction Missy is the epitome of hip-hop royalty, the first lady of party-starting club bangers and a downright legend. I cannot wait to watch the most successful female rap artist ever to Work It at Bestival 2015!”
Hailing from Portsmouth (calm down Pompey crew, not that one) in Virginia, Missy Elliott is one of music’s most successful MCs, songwriters, and producers. She’s racked up five Grammy awards, one double platinum and four platinum albums, and over 166 awards from VMAs to MOBOs and beyond, but more importantly she drops bombs. With tight beats and sick flows, Missy is a one-woman hit machine, who has had pop music’s greats including Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Beyoncé queueing up to work with her.
Her production innovation has had a huge impact on music globally, firing out guilt edged monsters by the truckload from The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly), Hot Boyz and Get Ur Freak On to Work It, Pass The Dutch and Lose Control the stamp of her influence can be heard loud and clear to this day. Her surprise guest appearance at this year’s Super Bowl was mind-shatteringly amazing and blew us all completely away, proving that she’s just as vital right now as she ever has been, and you know she really is gonna work it for the final Bestival main stage set of the year. Joining Underworld, Duran Duran and the Chemical Brothers to complete 2015s set of headliners, Missy’s not just big in the game she’s unparalleled, and we really couldn’t be more ridiculously overjoyed that she’s coming to Bestival. So don’t you dare go home early, this is gonna be legendary.
The very lifeblood of Bestival is new music. A passion that runs deep within the entire Bestival team, our head honcho Rob da Bank’s knack for spotting the most exciting new bands known to humanity is legendary, and has seen Bestival history littered with debut, or very early, festival appearances by some of what are now the world’s biggest acts. These days cunningly entitled the Invaders of the Future Stage, our new music mecca is where you need to be this September 10-13 at Robin Hill, if you want to see the next big thing before they become stadium-filling mega-stars.
A very modern Rob da Bank says: “OK, so this has to be my favourite stage at Bestival. It’s the beating heart of what Bestival is about – breaking new talent and exposing the undercard. It takes me about six months to book, on and off, wondering who the next wave of breaking bands are going to be, and trying to get the right mix of electronic, folk, soul and indie, dub and grime… and already I can see loads of these acts being on much bigger stages next year. Everyone from Ed Sheeran and Alt-J to Kate Tempest have played early gigs on this stage. So, from the wildly different sounds of Ratboy and Lion Babe, to The Skints, Clarence Clarity and the Island’s very own Plastic Mermaids, I promise you, this is the sound of the future”.
Currently causing a stir for those in the know there will be music from West London’s forward thinking alt. rockers All This Noise, our BBC Introducing twin Bearcubs, quirky funkers Boxed In, Ventnor duo Champs, singer-songwriter Clarence Clarity, Leeds five-piece Eagulls, folky grunger Eaves, gothabillys Eighteen Nightmares at the Lux, funk-inspired twosome Ekkah and sibling double act Formation.
We’ll also have punk rockers Girlpool, Norwich’s own Graceland, Glasgow pair Honeyblood, future-soulsters Honne, North London sisterly trio Jagaara, Manchester folky JJ Hodari, synth classicists Kate Simko & London Electronic Orchestra, rude boy Kiko Bun, BRIT school alumni Kimberly Anne and erstwhile Late of the Pier dude LA Priest.
Don’t miss out on fiery electro-ravers LIA:Life Imitates Art, singing cellist Laura Moody, Pharrell Williams collaborators Lion Babe, beat slayer Mura Musa, the woozy, bluesy Palace, Isle of Wight sons Plastic Mermaids, and Polar Maps, NYCs Ratboy, soulful popsters Real Lies, the super-seductive Secaina Hudson and intricately melodic people Shelter Point.
And be sure to catch those down-to-Mars girls Skinny Girl Diet, Bridie Monds-Watson AKA SOAK, Grime MC Stormzy, ambitious rockers The Bohicas, reggae-ska-dub-punk-hip-hoppers The Skints, indie troubadours The Slow Show, alt. popster Thomston, stratospheric-folk five-piece To Kill A King, Irish pop-rockers Walking on Cars and south coast psyche-surfers Wild Smiles. Giving a leg-up to the stars of tomorrow, the Invaders of the Future stage is where you might just discover your new favourite band.
With over 25 stages, revolutionary soundsystems, zombie love-ins, psychedelic woodland adventures, 24-hour free haircuts, and a host of dazzling new attractions, Bestival’s Summer of Love is already looking pretty damn fit. But as ever, we want to get everyone we love involved, including this rather sultry bunch of musical marvels that will have you rockin’ Robin Hill all weekend long this September 10-13.
Love commando Rob da Bank says: “I’m well excited with this new batch of acts we’re announcing tonight. With so many identikit festivals about with similar acts and bills I’m proud that 12 years on we don’t go with the flow. If the indie amazingness of Drenge isn’t your bag then grimy faceslaps from Skepta and Wiley might be, and if you’re insane and don’t like the legendary junglist brilliance of Roni Size and his live Reprazent show then perhaps, just perhaps, you’ll be singing ‘to me, to you, to me, to you’ whilst dancing in a pair of ill-fitting tropical shorts to the Chuckle Brothers. No matter what, there’s plenty more fish in the sea to come, as our Summer of Love really starts to heat up. See you down the front.”
Bringing on the love with big fat beats, we’ll have main stage appearances from grime pioneer Wiley, who completely smashed it as our secret guest in 2012, plus the unstoppable skank machine, Dub Pistols.
Dub Pistols legend Barry Ashworth commented: “The Highlight of the year for us will always be playing Bestival, this year we are back on the main stage, it doesn’t get bigger than that, and if that’s not enough you can always catch me spinning tracks and drinking in the Sunday Best Cardboard Record Shop! There’s only one Bestival!”
Not quite true, Barry, there are two Bestivals, but we know what you mean! Big love to all our Canadian brethren! More Isle of Wight-based Bestival main stage action will come from cool chanteuse Gabrielle Aplin, sing-along faves Dodgy, and the Isle of Wight’s own Xockha and Yrslf.
Old blue, Bestival’s beloved Big Top will be playing host to some mighty sounds this summer, too, including the much requested return of Joseph Junior Adenuga AKA Skepta and an absolute must-see live set from drum n bass hero Roni Size & Reprazent. We’ll also have recently expanded noiseniks Drenge, our favourite scratch master DJ Yoda Presents: Breakfast of Champions, with his brand new hip-hop band busting up the Big Top live, and then the man himself will be taking on Bollywood for a typically special DJ set, and we’ll have one of the coolest bands ever to grace a festival, Sunday Best favourites, the utterly incomparable Kitty Daisy & Lewis.
Commenting on their latest Bestival appearance, Kitty Daisy & Lewis uttered as one: “We’re so excited to be coming to Bestival again this year, we always have a great time. Sunday Best know how to throw a festival!”
The Big Top will also welcome a high-voltage rock assault from Dinosaur Pile-Up, plus sets from Kero Kero Bonito, Lloyd Yates, Seafret and – we’re not sure it’s possible to express quite how excited we are about this – The Chuckle Brothers! Yes, it’ll be history in the making with be-mulleted slapstick to me, to you. CAN. NOT. WAIT.
As if all that wasn’t enough to get you all giddy with joy, he was one of the smash hits acts that started our summer in finest style at Common People, so we’re extremely pleased that turntable ninja, Jaguar Skills, will be joining us to destroy the dancefloor at The Port.
47SOUL / ALICE JEMIMA / ANDY VOTEL PRESENTS TWISTED NERVE / BADOW / COCO AND THE BUTTERFIELDS / ESTHER JOY LANE / FICKLE FRIENDS / FLIGHT BRIGADE / GALLOWS GHOST / GECKO / GOLDRAY / L.A SALAMI / LAZLO / LAUCAN / LUCKY ELEPHANT / MISPERS / PORT ISLA / SAMUEL WALWYN / SHANTY / SOLKO / SOLAR BEARS / THE EPHEMERALS / THE FONTANAS / WILL VARLEY / XYLAROO
AMBIENT FOREST & WONKY DISCO DJs:
APIENTO / BALEARIC GABBA SOUNDSYSTEM / CHRIS COCO / DANNY WHITEHEAD / DAVE SEAMAN / FLYING WHITE DOTS / MOJO FILTER / NICK WARREN / OLAF STUUT / PAUL GODFREY (MORCHEEBA) PETE GOODING / PHIL DOCKERTY / PHIL MISON / PHIL SOUTH / STEVE COBBY / STILL:LIFE / THYTHE / TOM MISCH
MORNING CHAKRA SHAKE-DOWNS WITH SESSIONS BY FRAME:
BOXFIT / 80s AEROBICS / DANCEFIT / JANE FONDA TRIBUTE / DYNAMIC STRETCH / ASS & ABS / GET LEGGY / YOGA-LATES / HIP-HOP AEROBICS
Our brand new arena, Slow Motion, is all about taking the festival experience to a whole new plane, creating a festival within a festival dedicated to connecting mind and body. As part of that trip we’re super-excited about our brand new psychotropic stage attraction, The Kaleidoscope. Featuring energising morning pursuits, pastoral musical vibes by day, wonky disco joys into the night and rapturous bespoke animations to amuse the mind’s eye, the Kaleidoscope stage will add a whole new dimension to Bestival’s bag this 10-13 September at Robin Hill Country Park.
Summer lover Rob da Bank says: “I’m more excited about our new Slow Motion festival within a festival than I have been about a new area at Bestival for years. Add to that the fact that Mrs da Bank has invented a new, insanely cool audio-visual stage called The Kaleidoscope, and I’m ready to pop… The Kaleidoscope will be populated by a mix of the best ambient, electronica and chill-out DJs known to man, offset by folk, soul, psychedelia and new wave electronic rhythms. Prepare to get horizontal and vertical all at the same time…”
Brimful of prismatic pleasures, by day the Kaleidoscope will be the place to catch synesthesic sounds from right across the musical spectrum, including sets from 47Soul, Alice Jemima, Andy Votel presents Twisted Nerve, Badow, CoCo and the Butterfields, Esther Joy Lane, Fickle Friends, Flight Brigade, Gallows Ghost, Gecko, Goldray, L.A Salami, Lazlo, Laucan, Lucky Elephant, Mispers, Port Isla, Samuel Walwyn, Shanty, Solko, Solar Bears, The Ephemerals, The Fontanas, Will Varley and Xylaroo.
When night falls, it’s woozy does it, by way of the Ambient Forest, as our consciousness-expanding circle of selectors take charge of the ones and twos at Wonky Disco time. Geared up to induce epic mind excursions, bathed in psyche-twisting light projections, our vibrantly vivid visions will be soundtracked with polychromatic inspiration from Apiento, Balearic Gabba Soundsystem, Chris Coco, Danny Whitehead, Dave Seaman, Flying White Dots, Mojo Filter, Nick Warren, Olaf Stuut, Paul Godfrey (Morcheeba), Pete Gooding, Phil Dockerty, Phil Mison, Phil South, Steve Cobby, Still:Life, Thythe and Tom Misch.
And for the truly enlightened Bestivalites, the Kaleidoscope stage will host morning gatherings to warm up your senses and get that all-important chakra shake down with sessions by Frame, including Boxfit, 80s Aerobics, Dancefit, a Jane Fonda Tribute, Dynamic Stretch, Ass & Abs, Get Leggy, Yoga-Lates and Hip-Hop Aerobics, plus the wonderful AcroYogaDance.
A varicoloured world of joy at the heart of Slow Motion, the Kaleidoscope is a mesmerising delight not to be missed.
