Bestival 2012 with Echo Falls

My Echo Falls Bestival survival kit[/caption]

Musical Bingo:

Fancy dress day:

Apparently, there was music too…

Congrats if you’ve made it all the way to the end of this post. I know, I know, I went a little overboard on the pictures, but quite frankly, there’s no amount of pictures that could accurately depict the crazy, mad, amazing, beautiful wonderland that is Bestival, where I was a guest of Echo Falls who host one of the tents. It was my first trip to Bestival (and even the Isle of Wight), and even though I’d kind of decided my festival days were long behind me, I’m so happy I decided to go. Bestival was a revelation.

Yes, it’s a music festival, but that’s not what makes it great – there’s so much else going on, music almost takes a backseat (almost). Walking around the site offered a constant stream of surprises – wherever you look, you’ll discover something new. From the giant 20-person hammocks hidden in the forest to the random crazy golf, from the Wall of Death to Musical Bingo (my new favourite thing to do), from the band playing in a caravan to impromptu weddings in a blow up church, the list goes on and on.

The food wasn’t your average festival grub, but actually nice (hello, Meatliquor!), drinks didn’t just consist of beer and cider (there’s a cocktail bar and of course the Echo Falls wine bar) and then there’s Fancy Dress Day… quite frankly, there are no words to describe what it looks like when thousands of people dress up as “wilderness” whilst disco dancing to Sister Sledge, but needless to say it’s pretty insane. My highlights of the 3 days include an impromptu Forest Rave (thanks to the glowsticks from our survival kits), Musical Bingo, Stevie Wonder and the trip on the ferris wheel. At times the whole experience felt completely surreal, as if someone made your weirdest fantasies come to life.

A big thanks to Echo Falls for inviting me and converting me to festivals all over again (and setting up my tent so I was spared that nightmare). I would definitely recommend Bestival to anyone who’s after more than moshpits and flat beers… see you there next year!

If this epic post wasn’t enough for you, there’s plenty more pics over on the Alex Loves Facebook Page as well as this beautiful little film the guys over at Echo Falls made, which sums my Bestival 2012 up perfectly…