Day three at Bestival started out with a bit of a chilled out vibe. Saturday’s dress up theme was no more and the festival was more toned down with people generally wearing the de rigger festival attire and the wellies came in handy with the rain lashing down for 10 minutes spurts, before the glorious sunshine made its way back through the clouds. Although we did spot our fare share of people who wanted to continue with Saturday’s special nautical themed dress up day and everyone was looking forward to what was to be the pinnacle of this year’s festival. Fletwood Bac at the main stage kicked the day off with some lovely covers and sounded great live, after our sing-a-long, we headed over to the comedy tent, to see what was happening. We were wonderfully entertained by the hilarious Paul Mccaffery, his observational humour was spot on and coupled with his down to earth sense of humour, provided an early afternoon of fun.
Over at the Bestiversity, there were plenty of people who were ready to chat in the tent. One of the highlights was Howard Marks a.k.a Mr Nice, who was on hand for an hour of tales, stories and banter. Further up the hill, at the Gipsy Camp there was an array of creativity going on. If you wanted to create an animal mask, have your fortune read by a gypsy traveller in a caravan, or be entertained by pirate reinactors or Hux Magician, this was the place to be! Tucked into the Ambient Forest, this gave the Gipsy Camp a relaxed vibe, added with the sofas, hammocks and fairy lights which adorned the trees and surrounding areas. Nearby, we also discovered that Bestival is also a place where you can learn things. If you ever fancied learning how to do beat boxing, break dancing, or learn to how to sing, then the RdB Music Club was the place to be.
Lissie provided a great set at the Big Top and she now has another few fans under her wings. This was followed by Tennesse lady Valerie June, who got her country and soul roots on and both gave a stunning performance at the Big Top. We loved Valerie’s debut album at EF and it was wonderful to see that the feel of her voice carries over and is made to feel more heartfelt and rugged, when heard live. She also looked stunning, in a blue fitting dress and her guitar playing made for a very classy and cool look. Tom Odell back at the main stage continued the chilled out Sunday vibe and played a great set, which had people swaying and had their arms up in the air, in unison.
What we had really been waiting for, for most of the day, was Elton John and we couldnt wait for him to take to the main stage. The legendary singer and pianist had a spot of il health over the summer and had to cancel several shows, but we thrilled to see that he made a full recovery and was fit to play at Bestival. To say that we were excited to see him performing is an understatement. Elton Johns band whipped the crowd up into excited anticipation, playing the likes of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, particularly by the two strikingly handsome men playing the cello! Elton John arrived on-stage, to a heroes welcome, wearing a suit, adorned with glitter words on the back, but we couldn’t quite make out what it said. Elton played so many of his classics and it was the quickest two hour gig we had ever been to. Among the favourites that he played included Bennie and the Jets, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – which the crowd sung in perfect harmony with him, Saturday Night’s Alright, Candle in the Wind made many people well up with tears, but our absolute favourite was that he closed with the beautiful Your Song. It was such a truly special gig and one that will certainly stay with us forever. We could have watched Elton play for another few hours at least, but alas, this was not to be. It was time to count-down to the fireworks and grand finale of the evening.
A beautiful selection of fireworks shot up through the sky, to mark the official closing of this year’s Bestival and it brought further smiles to the revellers. Over near the I Love Bestival sign, was a catherine wheel, which featured a glowing ’10’ in the middle, in celebration of Bestival’s 10th year anniversary. Bestival has certainly been one of the best festival’s that we have ever been to and Rosie and Rob da Bank deserve every praise for creating such a wonderful event, enjoyed by thousands of people.
Who better to keep everyone dancing, none other than Carl Cox at the Port and Pete Tong over at the Bollywood stage. The two legendary DJ’s kept the tunes spinning until 2:00am and The Port area was a mass of dancers and people enjoying every moment. Meanwhile, one of our surprise favourites from Friday’s Bestival – The Wolf, were on hand at the Swamp Shack until 3:00a.m. The Swamp Shack was a great place to be, resembling a giant, moving, grey swamp – pumping out fog and steam, which covered the area and made a fun mark in the area.
Now, it’s time to hang up our wellies and pack up our tent, for the festival season is all but over for another summer. Bestival and the Isle of Wight, it has been a pleasure!
