What happened at Bestival… can’t just stay at Bestival. Not when it’s as spendidly sparkly, crazily costumed and blastingly beat-filled as this. So here are ELLE’s favourite moments from last weekend’s fest – just in time for the super-early-bird ticket sale for 2016, on now at bestival.net
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THE LURVE
Give Bestival-goers a theme, and boy do they run with it. This year, the fancy dress was all about the Summer of Love – cue fields full of flares, round specs and ensembles psychedelic enough to make Austin Powers look understated. Tie-dye clad hippies in front of a 30-foot toy robot? Sure. Conga-line of human Love Heart sweets (geddit?) circling the world’s biggest glitter ball? Why not. This is Bestival, maaaan.
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THE UNLIKELY HERO
Picture it: a tent full of hardened festival-goers, uber-aloof hipsters and the odd John Lennon lookalike (well, it IS the Summer of Love). When, suddenly – ‘Re-rewind, when the crowd says bo selecta!’ And with that, the place goes absolutely, positively BANANAS. Because there is no one too cool to resist the power of Craig David.
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THE TIGHTEST TROUSERS
…did not belong to some Shoreditch trendster or even an indie-band bassist. Nope, the Bodyform award for tightest white trews of the weekend goes to the one and only Simon Le Bon, headlining Friday night with Duran Duran. He strutted, he preened, he demanded of the crowd, ‘What’s my name?’ (the memory starts going at his age). But we loved every moment of Rio, Girls On Film and Hungry Like a Wolf regardless.
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THE BADASS BRASS
So it’s the Saturday morning after the Friday night before, and we may have had one fruit cider too many. But not for us necking Alka-Seltzer in a sweaty tent, oh no. Because a wander over to the sun-soaked Caravanserai area (surely the only place you’ll find caravans made of tapestry and mobile homes with turrets) uncovered the most uplifting, smiliest, funk-swingiest of sets from the New York Brass Band. It’s hard to stay hungover when men in matching tartan are trumpeting Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing.
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THE UNEXPECTED SPECIAL GUESTS
Rumours had speculated about everyone from Basement Jaxx to Muse. But as the sun shone on the Saturday afternoon Main Stage, no one predicted the mayhem that would meet… drumroll, please… House. Of. Pain! Yep, the rap heroes made like it was 1992 again – causing 80,000 hippies to pogo in unison to Jump Around. That, you just don’t see every day.
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THE EXPECTED SPECIAL GUESTS
While there was plenty of ironic ’90s nostalgia to be had around the site (see: Snap, Baby D, Chuckle Brothers…), there was one act that kept tongues firmly away from cheeks. Storming Saturday night with a set that proved that, yes, they’re still relevant, The Chemical Brothers pounded out reverb-drenched twists on their roster of hits. Block Rockin’ Beats and Galvanize never sounded so good.
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THE GRATUITOUS SPANDEX
Less a ‘moment’ than a movement – at Bestival, if it ain’t stretchy, they ain’t wearing it. Rainbow leotards, lycra catsuits, lamé EVERYTHING. Sure, there were plenty of sweaty-looking folks on the sunny Friday and Saturday, and we can only imagine the nightmare that would have been a trip to the Portaloo. But it made for a shiny, fluoro-filled kaleidoscope of a Carnival Parade, and for that, Bestival-goers, we salute you.
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THE SINGING IN THE RAIN
Realistically, it was always going to happen. After two blissfully sunny days, on Sunday the heavens opened for a downpour biblical enough to make Noah look caught in a mere drizzle. (OK, that may be a little dramatic – but trust us, it was heavy.) But who better to lift soggy spirits that Mr Mark Ronson? Sending The Port stage’s crowd loony with his dance-along hits, it was enough to banish any umbrella-longings for good.
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THE TWERK AEROBICS
This one, we shall leave entirely to your imagination. Suffice to say we DEFINITELY pulled something.
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THE SHEER BLISS OF IT ALL
Four days in rolling fields filled with left-field sonics, magical Ambient forests, Marrakesh-themed piano lounges, human cockerels (yes, really), dancing pandas, confetti-filled tents… And that really is just for starters. No wonder every single person – us included – had a great big blissed-out smiles on our faces the whole time. Thank you, Bestival – we’ll be back.