I went to Bestival on Friday with our son, Romané and two of his friends, Tommy and Max, plus Max’s brave parents and their two other children, Bella and Toby. None of us had ever been to a festival before and we weren’t quite sure what to expect.

Despite the weather turning from lovely warm sunshine, to gusty wind, to pouring with rain and then gale force winds (well if felt like it in a 2 man tent), all in the space of 24 hours, we all had the most tremendous fun. The atmosphere was brilliant, the whole event was well run and managed, the event was family focused and even the camping bit wasn’t so bad….. the air bed we hired on arrival definitely helped, although that said it did collapse after the first night and we had to have a replacement for the next night. The music continued until 4am, I eventually slept at 6.45am only to be woken up by two excited boys at 7am, full of energy as they had slept like babies all through the night! However, for two nights I managed and whilst my own bed and home comforts were most welcome by Sunday afternoon, not to mention a hot shower-ooooh that was bliss, even the camping bit wasn’t as painful as I was expecting. I was quite a Happy Camper.

We heard some great bands, including the Village People (we all had to dress up for them), PJ Harvey, plenty of bands I didn’t know the name of but, who were very entertaining and The Cure and Bjork were also in the line up, as were FatBoy Slim and Rob da Bank to name just a few….. however the Village People were the highlight for me (I know I’m showing my age). Whilst not quite as good as the original band, (no one could fill their shoes), they were fabulous on stage and so many people had dressed up and joined in the fun of the event that it was just a magic moment- the boys were amazed that we knew ALL the words to their songs and the dance moves to YMCA and we had fun teaching them the dance steps and arm moves……they tried to disown us, but secretly they were having as much fun as us, it just wasn’t good for their “street cred” to show it.

Thus despite the mud, the rain, the wind, the dodgy loos (there were lots of them and they were cleaned regularly, but still not quite the “throne” that you would wish for at home) and the lack of sleep, I will definitely be booking next year… I only had a couple of  Diva moments, one when I stepped out of the tent on Sunday morning and realized that the field had become a quagmire of mud and sludge and my lovely new wellies got all muddy- they weren’t supposed to get dirty! Oh and I did get cross when my fancy dress wig kept blowing in the wind and I was eating blonde ringlets with my pizza- I remember now why I have short hair, but I reckon I was allowed a couple of Diva moments as that was my fancy dress choice so I was only in character!

The hotel ran smoothly without me (and I thought I was indispensable!) AND Gerard even managed to match up his socks- I’ll have to go away more often…..

Here’s some photos to laugh at- till next week

Nx (Lady Gaga wannabe)