August has gone, the sun never really arrived, and so we creep into September with hopes for an Indian summer. And what does September mean? Get ready, Isle Of Wight, it’s Bestival time.
Bestival organisers are clearly a little confused about their festival alter ego. Their website - complete with cartoon wizards and hat-wearing owls - suggests boutique. Their organisational ethos suggests commercial - with lots of handy PDFs to download like timetables of acts and a site map. But their line-up suggests mega-budget, with twelve arenas full of talent.

The Main Stage daytime line-up alone is stunning: Mercury Prize nominees Bat For Lashes and Fionn Regan will play, along with Kate Nash, Massive Attack collaborator Horace Andy and the Soul II Soul Soundsystem Live. At night it gets even bigger - the Chemical Brothers, the Beastie Boys and Primal Scream are the headliners across the weekend.
Then in the Big Top there are appearances from upcoming stars Remi Nicole and Fujiya and Miyagi (hopefully without the flying audience members which marred their performance at this year’s Loop…) and DJ sets will come from the likes of Calvin Harris, Dub Pistols and Mr Scruff. And continuing the tent theme, co-creator Josie da Bank (wife of Radio 1 DJ Rob) has masterminded a Bollywood style tent group, one featuring a chillout cocktail bar, one with a dancefloor and one for ‘high tea and champagne’. How glam!
Radio 1 are all over it this year - unsurprising as their Rob da Bank is the co-creator and “curator.” Their ‘Introducing’ stage boasts a nice mixture of up-and-coming versus completely unknown - Jack Penate, Foals and the Radio 1 DJs will be doing sets alongside less well known acts like Architecture In Helsinki and I Like Trains. If you’re not going, the Beeb will also have all the performances to watch and download online after the event.
Something else new is the Rizla Arena - with a sparkling array of old school talent. Punk and dub legend Don Betts will join The Specials star Terry Hall, and original Hacienda DJ Greg Wilson. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a ‘hidden disco’ you have to search for. Mary Anne Hobbs, Boys Noize and Chris Coco will be spinning the discs in secret ready for discovery - in previous years it’s been accessed through a flap at the back of the casino and down a tunnel off the big top.
Also brand new for this year is Jestival - a comedy tent described by organisers as ‘the realisation of a dream’. Comics swing from heavy hitters like Phil Jupitus, through up-and-comers like Stephen Carling, to fresh-from-Edinburgh acts like We Are Klang’s excellently named Dick Party.
Music apart, the sideshows are once again a festival of contradictions. There’ll be women’s institute stalls alongside sushi bars and pubs alongside farmer’s markets. Or laze around Restival - the all-new chillout area with books, games and papers all in yurts, whatever those are. If you’ve still got energy to burn, learn African dance, tap or belly dancing in the Come Dancing Tent.
WHEW. Besides all that there are even more odds and sods I haven’t managed to get round to! It’s clear that whatever kind of festival it may be, Bestival has pulled out all the stops to make its fourth year better than ever. You’d be mad to miss it.

Possibly related:

1. Superstar DJs named for new Bestival arena

2. Escape Into The Park: Calvin Harris headlines Swansea’s contribution to the festival season

3. More Electric Proms announcements - Chemical Brothers & Ray Davies

4. Mark Ronson, Calvin Harris and The Futureheads added to Wakestock bill

5. Beware fake Bestival tickets

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Wednesday September 5th, 2007 at 9:22 am