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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
So this is me, Caroline Millar. Your (slightly less than prepared) average, festival goer. Armed with a few token items frantically packed in the morning before we left, I was certain I'd forgotten something vital. Luckily, as all hardened campers know, as long as you've got the essentials you can pretty much survive anything! As the winner of Colgate's Max White One Blogger in Boots competition for Bestival, I at least knew I hadn't forgotten my toothbrush!
A regular on the scene, I feel I've earned my festival stripes over the years having battled the harsh British weather at everything from small local hippy festivals, the one night only party-in-a-field, all the way up to the mighty King of all Festys; Glastonbury.
This, however, was my first foray into the world of Bestival. And it really was like stepping into another world from the minute we arrived....
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
From the moment we set foot on Bestival ground, everything became a photo opportunity. Everywhere we looked there were bright lights and colourful displays, something Bestival thoroughly endorses year on year. The main stage in particular was like a giant beacon of happy images, which during the nights was pretty spectacular to see from across the fields.
Headlining Saturday night was The Cure, who naturally drew the crowds to witness their legendary songs played out in the epic surroundings. I was still reeling from the knowledge that on our way to the Isle of Wight we had just missed them at the ferry crossing. According to one of the stewards I befriended in the queue they had just squeezed onto the boat before us :(. That really would have been a photo opportunity!
I still managed to put my Olympus Tough to good use though. I somehow managed to stealth my way to the front of the main stage for Crystal Castles on the Saturday and anyone who has heard their music can understand how wild the audience can get. I was convinced I would at some point lose my footing and fall face-first in the mud, camera in tow. Luckily I managed to stay upright, but I have no doubt that my Olympus Tough would have survived if I hadn't. That coupled with the sporadic downpours we were graced with throughout the weekend meant I needed a durable camera that would live up to the challenge of taking great photos in all conditions. I'm now convinced this camera could probably withstand a nuclear fallout after what I've put it through!
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
The first day was largely spent ambling around the immense site, exploring as much as possible in between catching our favourite bands.
Curated by Rob da Bank of Radio One fame, the organisers really do put a huge amount of time and effort in making the venue into something of an adventure, full of various displays and imaginative art installations to keep you constantly intrigued and amused.
Walking over to the Swamp Shack, I felt as though we had haphazardly strolled onto a film set. Dotted around were various parts of a scene from what seemed like an American scary movie, set in the 50s. The eery, decrepit house had haunting background music playing all around, with a smoking vintage mini carefully hoisted up into the grass nearby as though it had crashed in a ghost town.
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Anxious about what I might come across next, I tentatively made my way over to the house. I was convinced at this point that we would be entering a theme park style haunted house and that someone would be purposefully trying to scare me into shrieking uncontrollably and running back to the safety of the colourful stage.
The reality wasn't far off. Three haggard looking ladies moving in slow motion creepily watched over the passers by, whilst a mock country and western duet sang some unexpectedly dark lyrics, in keeping with the spooky atmosphere.
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Making a sharp exit from that scene, I found that inside was much more approachable. This was one of the many smaller stages and bars Bestival disguises as something else, in which I came across a familiar face- DJ Derek!
Despite his age (I'm guessing circa 70 – 80 years old), Derek is actually one of the coolest DJs around. A regular on the festival scene, I'd seen him before and knew that his set would actually be really good so decided to stick around. Never one to let his youthful audience down, Derek rocked the decks with some classic tunes, which everyone appreciated. If you ever get a chance to see him, I'd recommend you go. Before you do- be sure to check out the Google Images of him. Not only does he DJ really well, but he's also a secret comedian with several one liners coming out on the mic!
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
As the evening approached, we headed back into the main site. Drawn like moths to the pretty lights, we trekked towards the heart-lit field.
From here, we spent most of the night stalking down a healthy mixture of our favourite artists and new music that sounded like it was worth a listen. I would have to say that as far as festival line ups go, Bestival this year has been one of my favourites ever. It becomes a military style operation trying to fit in everything you want to see and do, and a nightmare trying to decide between clashing set times.
Although the music was second to none, there are still loads of other distractions to keep you occupied. From Spoken Word with Scroobius Pip to learning the Charleston, there is almost too much to choose from.
We did manage to stop off in between a phenomenal Pendulum set and Annie Mac for a quick go on the roller disco. In hindsight, this was probably not such a good idea when you've got the balance and poise of Bambi on ice...
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
One of my fave bands who have only recently started getting airplay is Crystal Fighters. Playing in the Big Top, I was ecstatic to be watching them for the first time ever and once again, by some sort of miracle, I managed to wriggle through to the front to capture some great shots of the band. Once again, the Olympus Tough proved its worth in my 'Camera Endurance Test' No. 3: Hot and muggy tent air. The clarity of my pictures were exceptional given the circumstances!
I'm still not entirely sure how, but I managed to blag my way forward to meet a couple of the band members at the end of their set. I really wanted to see how they found the gig and chat to them for a bit, but unfortunately they had to leave straight away to go to France...or that's what they told me anyway.
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
By the end of the first night I was caught somewhere between feeling absolutely shattered from walking loads, running around and dancing all day, and too excited to sleep. This inevitably results in the latter winning over and taking the party back to the campsite.
The next day was made much easier with the ultimate find- an abandoned wheel barrow! Carefully navigating the tents shoehorned into the campsite, we had some great fun just soaking up the atmosphere away from the crowds and enjoying the time to chat and play games. And I knew how much I would appreciate having something to wheel my heavy bags up to the car in when it came to leaving.
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Believe it or not, this tree is actually another tent. A classic example of how Bestival take the festival concept and sprinkle it with their creativity-fuelled fairy dust. Passing this during the night, I didn't quite understand why they dumped a huge tree stump in the middle of the field- bit inconvenient to place it there! But with the clarity of day I took a closer look and realised there were people peering in and wondering out of said tree stump. Curiosity got the better of me and I went over, only to find that inside there was a small crowd of people dancing away to a two-man DJ set! Now that's attention to detail.
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Continuing my random exploration into new experiences, I stumbled across these guys. They're a group from London called Gaggle that are kind of like a fusion of collective spoken vocals in a choir format, using electro, bassy beats with an alternative twist- but this is only a fraction of what you could say about them.
A little post-festival research on these guys has shown that they're doing really well on the music scene and will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall soon, but they're incredibly hard to pigeon hole into one description. Highly innovative and different to anything else you will see at the moment, The Times has quoted them as “Beyond Description”. Well worth checking out in my opinion.
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Unfortunately, the weather didn't quite hold out for the entire weekend. Some girls have the forethought to overcome this by either not wearing any make up, or wearing really good waterproof make up. What you can't see in this picture is me, who had neither.
Taking the bedraggled look one step further, I made a significant fashion error with my choice of outfit. Note to self: Heavy rain + faux fur = drowned rat. Bad move. At this point, I really admired the dedicated girls who stuck to the fail-proof Kate Moss patented festival trend of wellies and super-short shorts. Comfortable, fashionable, practical; and those three can hardly ever be used in the same fashion description.
Once I had dried off and got changed, I donned some glitter, brightly coloured eye shadow and lip gloss to kick start my inner festival style gene into action. Instant improvement! And with a little help from my trusty bottle of dry shampoo, I was ready to take on the elements once more.
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bestival is well known for it's dedication to fancy dress, and this year was no exception. The theme of 'Popstars and Rockstars' left a wide scope for some crazy outfits. Some of our original ideas that didn't make the cut were; Daft Punk, Lady Gaga, The Flaming Lips, The Doors and The White Stripes. You have to think a bit laterally for the last three! In the end, we fashioned a radio device out of cardboard boxes and stuck them on our heads. Unfortunately, so did quite a few other people so we weren't the only ones 'thinking outside the box'.
Having recently passed what would have been Freddy Mercury's 65th birthday, it was good to see so many variations of his iconic style. These guys were my favourites though, so I cheekily papped them from afar for Company Magazine
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Another one of my favourite performances from the weekend was these guys, who fall under the name of 'The Gentleman’s Dub Club'. Refreshingly normal looking, all of the band members were dressed simply in white shirts, black trousers and ties which compliments their name and sophisticated-dub style of music. Not to be mistaken for a chilled out or particularly formal band, they gave a fantastically energetic performance, which naturally rubbed off on the crowd who were as enthusiastic as they were from watching them jump around all over the stage.
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Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Bloggers in Boots: Bestival Photo Diary
Well it wouldn't be a complete album without the token big Bestival photo in there!
After an unbelievable weekend of listening to great live music, dancing like lunatics and living in the 'Bestival Bubble', I can honestly say that this festival really lives up to its name.
Big thanks to Company for making it all happen, hopefully I'll be back next year to bring you all the highlights from Bestival 2012!!
Bloggers in Boots 2011: Bestival
We sent Caroline Millar along to Bestival to be our Blogger in Boots - and let everyone know what really goes on at the festival...
by Theresa Caney
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