Kate Nash to Headline Sunday!
More Top Bands & DJs Added:
Kate Nash, Hercules and Love Affair (live), DJ Yoda, Dub Pistols Sound System, Kid Carpet, Grand National, The Nextmen, Ross Allen, Tawiah, Emiliana Torrini, The Hat, Christopher D Ashley, Sportsday Megaphone, Alice & the Majesty, Rod Thomas, Cut A Shine, Lucky Elephant, Bastila, Freefall Collective, Sombrero Sound System, Fear of Theydon
Plus: The Laughter Library – New Arena!
Our Ace Comedy / Spoken Word / Literature Tent
'Jestival' Comedy Line-Up:
Roy Walker’s ‘Catchphrase’, Andrew Maxwell presents ‘Full Mooners’, The Pros from Dover, Ida Barr & Tina C, Phil Nichol, Glenn Wool, Craig Campbell, Dave Fulton, Jason John Whitehead, Andy Askins, Adam Bloom, Sol Bernstein, Pete Cain, Susan Murray, Jonathan Mayor, John Fothergill, David Hadingham, Jeff Innocent, Carl Donnelly and more…
Spoken Word Line-Up:
Scroobius Pip presents... Polar Bear, Poem Inbetween People, Peggy Sue & The Pirates, Gideon Conn, Kate Tempest, Matt Lloyd, AF Harold
Literature Line-Up:
Howard Marks, Richard Milward, Joe Stretch, Neil Boorman, Gautam Malkani, Damian Barr, Bookslam, M J Hyland, Sebastian Horsley, Henry Hemming, Dan Rhodes, Edward Docx , Marie Phillips, Nigel Spriggs / Daniel Clay, Tom Leveritt, Michael Smith, The Pan I Am, Cathi Unsworth, Peter Wild, Tom Hodgkinson, Andy & Dave Hamilton, Paul Kingsnorth, Gabriela Blandy
Plus:
Kamp Karaoke Night – Ukelele Karaoke, Folk-aoke & Hip-Hop Karaoke too!
Howdy Campers! Spring has finally sprung and Camp Bestival chief Bluecoat Rob da Bank has been busy putting the finishing touches to the bill for this year’s inaugural Camp Bestival, our new family-friendly midsummer shindig.
Hot from her double whammy Award fest last week (winner of both Brit Award ‘Best British Female’ and NME Award ‘Best Solo Artist’) we are delighted to announce that our favourite singer/songwriter Kate Nash is taking the stage for the coveted Sunday night Headline slot. With a clutch of massive UK Top 30 hits such as ‘Foundations’, ‘Mouthwash’ and ‘Pumpkin Soup’ under her belt (all taken from her platinum selling No1 album ‘Made Of Bricks’), the previous 12 months have seen the 20 year-old Londoner explode onto the UK music scene with her unique blend of raw, observational pop. This will be Kate’s first ever festival headline slot, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it sure won’t be her last.
As Rob da Bank said today: “One of my most memorable moments from Bestival 2007 was seeing Kate Nash being lovingly pelted with lemons on the main stage when she sung her line about being bitter ... I was the first person to play her on BBC Radio 1 and am a massive fan, so it’s made my day to land her for the Sunday night grand finale at Camp Bestival”
Kate will hit the Sunday night main-stage straight after Mr Billy Bragg takes part in what looks set to be one of this summer festival season’s most stunning sets, an audio-visual history of British folk music by folk supergroup The Imagined Village. This mighty ensemble boasts an embarrassment of the richest British musical talent, in the shape of the aforementioned Mr Bragg, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Sheila Chandra & Chris Wood plus band, with video contributions from Benjamin Zephaniah & John Copper amongst others.
And we are totally thrilled to announce that ace new DFA Records signings, NYC disco kings Hercules and Love Affair will be sprinkling a some of their Studio 54-style retro-disco magic at Camp Bestival when they hit the main stage before The Flaming Lips on Saturday night. The band’s debut single 'Blind' (which features a stunning vocal by Antony of Mercury Music Prize winning Antony & The Johnsons fame) is destroying dancefloors worldwide at this very moment in time, and this will be the band’s first ever UK festival performance.
“Hercules And Love Affair has been one of those acts that I’ve been banging on about for months ‘cos their record is just one of the best electronic disco records ever made... Well in the last decade anyway! Prepare to dance!” said a delighted Rob.
And we have added some of Bestival’s oldest and best musical chums to the bill too, including the mighty DJ Yoda (check out his amazing audio/visual spectacular), feel the amazing energy of the Dub Pistols Sound System and enjoy top Casio friendly and toy talented artisan Kid Carpet alongside his Sunday Best label mates Grand National, The Hat, Christopher D Ashley, Sportsday Megaphone, Alice & the Majesty, Lucky Elephant and Bastila. Plus Icelandic super songstress Emiliana Torrini, Rob’s hot tip for 2008 Taiwah, and proper ceilidh action in the shape of Cut A Shine, guaranteed to blow away any lingering winter cobwebs.
Continuing our commitment to the unique and extraordinary we are also chuffed to announce a new arena The Laughter Library. As a certain Welsh beat combo sang a few years back; “Libraries gave us power”, and boy have we got a library for you, only ours will be powered by laughter as well as intelligent discourse and playful spoken word from some of the greatest and most curious minds currently at large in the UK. With quite possibly the most eclectic line-up of top British Comedy talent ever assembled at a UK festival, The Laughter Library will play host to our fantastic Jestival Comedy line-up, designed to entertain and amuse you throughout the weekend. In keeping with the retro feel of Camp Bestival we have broken the proverbial bank and are delighted to announce we have confirmed the 'King of Deadpan' Roy Walker who will perform a version of his internationally renowned TV Show Catchphrase live. Come and see just what will Mr Chips will be doing at Camp Bestival!
Over the course of the weekend we will have a great eclectic mix of musical, surreal, physical, sketch, high & low octane stand-up comedy including 'Perrier Award’ winners, 'So You Think You're Funny' winners, 'BBC Act of the Year' winners and 'Hackney Empire New Act' winners. And to finish up the weekend (and indeed the Camp Bestival weekend) in what seems to be becoming a fitting festival tradition is the cherry on top, Andrew Maxwell and his cult late-night show Full Mooners, starting at midnight on the Sunday night. Come howl at the moon with us!
And have we got a Spoken Word line-up for you as well… This area of The Laughter Library bill will be ably curated by Scroobius Pip - one half of the sharpest act to arrive on the UK scene in 2007. The dynamic duo, dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip, are newly signed to Rob da Bank’s own Sunday Best record label and their new single 'Look For The Woman' is all over a radio near you now and their debut album 'Angles' is coming your way soon! Pip has scoured his extensive contacts book to bring us a mouth-watering selection of fresh Spoken Word talent - including Polar Bear, Poem Inbetween People and Gideon Conn.
And what’s that I hear you bookworms say – you’d like to listen to exclusive readings by some of this country’s finest writers too? Well, that’s where The Laughter Library comes up trumps yet again. Top of the bill in our Literature line-up is a true national treasure, author of the best-selling Mr Nice and veteran of many a sold-out arena tour, Howard Marks. Some of this country’s hottest authors such as Richard Milward, Joe Stretch, Neil Boorman, Gautam Malkani and Damian Barr etc will also be immersing The Laughing Library in a celebration of our greatest writing tradition. Looks like the pen will truly be mightier than the sword in Dorset this summer…
And next up, another worldwide festival first… We predict that knitting will be officially hip again in 2008, so why not come along and try your hand in our Knitting Tent? Renowned knitware fan Rob da Bank (often to be found in a comfy cardy) said of this new initiative: “We’re always on the look out for new things for our mates to try out at our festivals and there’s definitely not been enough knitting at festivals – so we’re about to change all that as our chums at I Knit London are gonna run knitting lessons all weekend (and make some nice tea too)”.
And from Knitting to Science as the Physics in the Field team from the Institute of Physics pitch their tent at Camp Bestival this summer, where they plan to perform eye-catching physics tricks to an unsuspecting audience. These will be hand-held demonstrations using things you can find at home - some are messy, some are noisy, but all of them are proven crowd pleasers. Festival-goers will also be encouraged to find out how to do the tricks themselves and give on-the-spot performances to their friends and families.
"It’s brilliant working with festival-goers because they are really interested in what we are doing and want to find out more," said Liz Jeavans, outreach officer at the Institute of Physics. "What is really satisfying is when you show someone a trick, and they relate it to something they have come across in everyday life – but just hadn’t thought of it as physics before."
And if you want to score a quick heads-up, all the tricks performed by the team (including making balloon kebabs, launching Alka Seltzer rockets or turning pints of water upside down over a friend’s head without drenching them) are available on www.physics.org with full explanations.
Blimey – can we fit much more in? Frankly yes - we are proud to reveal that that Great British institution (and top weekend read) The Sunday Times will be our exclusive media partner for Camp Bestival 2008 so expect some super stylish and cultural antics with our favourite broadsheet buddy.
That’s it for now folks – keep checking this website for more info and don’t forget to buy those all important tickets… while you still can.
Hi De Hi Campers!!
Photo of Kate Nash by Alisa Connan