Read
our 2008 camping special
Obviously, it could be sunny. But are you willing to risk your festival
experience being tainted - again - by floods, something that looks like
trench foot and the sight of everything you own sinking into a belching mud
pool?
From luxury tepees with furniture and furs to carpeted cabins, via your own
10-man tour bus complete with booze rider, here are the best options for
kicking back in style on the UK festival circuit.
DOWNLOAD
Donington Park, Leicestershire
June 13-15
In a masterstroke of marketing, this heaviest of rock fests is providing a
unique accommodation option. Once you’ve taken your fill of Kiss, the
Offspring, Lost Prophets and Motörhead, you can slink back to the VIP area
(or, as they call it, the RIP area) and kick back in your own luxury tour
bus. Sleeping 10, your superstar package comes with a £100 drinks rider,
DVD, PlayStation, kitchen, lounges and bunk-style beds, as well as a
three-day festival pass. And commemorative T-shirts. What could be more
“rock” than that?
Cost: £6,150 (sleeps 10). Tickets: £130; 8-12s, £75; www.downloadfestival.co.uk
GLASTONBURY
Worthy Farm, Somerset
June 27-29
There’s a danger that once you enter Camp Kerala, set up on a privately owned
farm three minutes’ walk from Gate C on the main site, you might not bother
with all that festival malarkey at all. There are 75 Indian shikar tents
(20ft x 13ft) here, similar to those used by maharajahs on their hunting
trips, each one containing a bedroom with a king-size double bed, a mattress
from Italy and a duck-down duvet from Hungary — and they all, obviously,
have an ensuite bathroom. A pair of VIP festival tickets with backstage
access is included in the price, as is — with the exception of booze —
pretty much everything else. Yes, even slippers.
Cost: £8,225 for two; www.campkerala.com
WAKESTOCK
Blenheim Palace, Oxford
June 27-29
A festival with a difference, this one, as it comes with added wakeboarding (a
cross between snowboarding and water- skiing). This is the first event
of its kind to be held in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, with the watersports
taking place on the lake in front of Winston Churchill’s birthplace. Last
year’s sister event (in Cardigan Bay, North Wales) drew the Bravery and Mark
Ronson, so the music side of things will be tasty. For cool campers, there
are tepees and customised double-decker buses that sleep 11, with power
points and bunk beds. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.
Cost: price for the bus to be confirmed. Tickets: £85 (no
under-16s); £110 for camping; www.wakestock.co.uk
LARMER TREE
Salisbury, Wiltshire
July 16-20
This five-dayer is as much about self-expression as it is about lying in a
field and listening to music. There are stacks of workshops for kids and
grown-ups, a dressing-up day, massage tents and street-theatre troupes. At
bedtime, there are posh tepees, with matting, rugs, a table and lantern, and
extras such as sheepskins, cushions and hangings available, too.
Cost: three-man tepee, from £338. Tickets: £172; children
from £117; www.larmertree
festival.co.uk
CAMP BESTIVAL
Lulworth Castle, Dorset
July 18-20
New this year, Camp Bestival takes the success of Bestival — the three-day
jamboree on the Isle of Wight every summer — and brings it to Dorset, with
plenty of attention paid to the camping side of things. As well as regular
camping, the plush options include camper vans, tepees and bivouacs, but our
favourite is the podpad. Solar powered, with fitted carpet, shelving and a
lockable front door, this dinky little two- manner will make recovering from
the attentions of the Dorset Cream Tea Appreciation Society all the more
bearable.
Cost: podpads, £325; www.podpads.com.
Tickets: £120; 13-15s, £60; www.campbestival.net
THE SECRET GARDEN PARTY
Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
July 24-27
Smaller in scale but no less bonkers for that, the SGP draws about 6,000
people and does a rather good job of picking up-and-coming acts that go on
to be bigger and better: KT Tunstall, Lily Allen, the Hoosiers and Hard-Fi
have all played before their star was fully bright. On top of your
bog-standard patch of grass, there are yurts and buses available.
Cost: prices for yurts and buses are to be confirmed. Tickets: £125;
14-17s, £100; www.secretgardenparty.com
CROISSANT NEUF
Usk, Monmouthshire
August 15-17
Having run the romantically named alternative-technology field at Glastonbury
for the past 15 years, Croissant Neuf is into the second year of its own
environmentally friendly festival. All the power on site, including the
sound and lighting rig, comes from solar panels, and all the food and drink
is organic and locally sourced. There’s a burlesque-themed masked ball, a
lantern procession, workshops and loads for kids and families, as well as
bands such as Nizlopi and Banco De Gaia performing for just 1,500 people.
For those looking for upgraded camping, there are posh yurts, complete with
wood-burning stoves, carpets, rugs, tables and beds.
Cost: yurts, from £200 for two. Tickets: £75; 5-16s, £30; www.partyneuf.co.uk
ELECTRIC PICNIC
Stradbally Estate, Co Laois, Ireland
August 29-31
This year’s line-up is still being pieced together, but last year saw Björk,
the Beastie Boys and Primal Scream do battle, so you can expect some decent
names to serenade you before you head back to your chosen boutique-camping
option. For that authentic “Bournemouth circa 1981” holiday experience,
we’re saying get yourself a beach hut. These brightly painted, two-man
beauties have a double bed and a veranda, and aren’t going to blow away
if/when the weather does what our weather does.
Cost: beach huts, from £978 for two. Tickets: £173; under-
12s, free; www.electricpicnic.ie
- Some prices are still to be confirmed for this year. All prices for
accommodation are for the duration of each festival
Does anyone know of a Steel Band festival in the UK? I would be very pleased to hear about it...
Mike C
M Campbell, Huelgoat,