News

Zippos Festival Circus Hits Camp Bestival

• 19th Apr 2010

Camp Bestival HQ is all aquiver as we gear up to announce some super-exciting new additions to this year's line-up including incredible acrobatic manoeuvres from Zippos Festival Circus and some fairytale news for parents with the introduction of Boutique Babysitting. Plus we have even more amazing musical turns that will join Madness, Friendly Fires, Human League, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic and Calvin Harris from July 30th to August 1st at Dorset's stunning Lulworth Castle.

No stranger to juggling, our very own ringmaster Rob da Bank says: “I've taken the da Bank juniors to see Zippos twice this year and I couldn't drag them out of there at the end. Roll up, roll up for the classic old school circus experience!”

We are very excited to be able to announce that the stunning Zippos Festival Circus will be bringing their breathtaking show to Camp Bestival for a UK Festival exclusive. Drawing on 250 years of circus tradition Zippos Festival Circus will astonish with a fast-moving and spectacular show featuring a host of circus skills that will keep you on the edge of your seats, including daring trapeze stunts, amazing juggling, dazzling acrobatics and, of course, the circus clowns! It's an all-human show in the traditional circus style, guaranteed to delight young and old alike, with laughter, thrills and spills! With 12 shows spread across the weekend, space is limited to 500 people per show, tickets for performances will be £7.50 each (under 2s are free) so be quick to make sure you catch this amazing, exclusive spectacle! You can pre-order your tickets from link

We're also very proud to announce the arrival of Boutique Babysitting which is just the first part of a master plan to make life that bit easier for parents at Camp Bestival. The veteran festival lovers behind the project will be providing their “Kids Club Under Canvas” service offering fully qualified, CRB checked childcare professionals to look after your little ones, giving you time to explore or relax whilst they enjoy a mini-festival of their own. Set in a secure, fenced off 'camp' in their beautiful giant tipis, they will be offering four-hour babysitting sessions filled with magical music based activities. The children will be able to explore and experiment with their own music studio, production, wardrobe and stage areas, make even more new festival friends, play games or just kick back and chill out.

Here's what Lisa Merrick-Lawless co-founder of Boutique Babysitting had to say: “We are very excited to be adding more amazing festivals to our calendar this summer. We think that they are a perfect fit and it gives even more parents and children the opportunity to use us. The award winning Camp Bestival has re-written the rulebook on what a family festival should be”.

Boutique Babysitting are taking bookings now for morning, afternoon and evening sessions so be sure to book soon to guarantee your chance to sing along to Madness without embarrassing the kids! More info can be found at link.

And the fun for all doesn't stop there as we have more brilliant live acts that kick off in the shape of the magical force that is Gruff Rhys vs Tony Da Gatorra. Tony Da Gatorra is a Brazilian TV and VCR repairman, musical freedom fighter and the inventor of his own unique 'Gatorra' instrument. Part drum machine, part guitar, the Gatorra provides the unique sonic style of Tony's peace-loving protest songs and features heavily throughout their duo's live show. Gruff became a huge fan of Tony and tracked him down on a visit to South America which resulted in an album, The Terror Of Cosmic Loneliness. So, we are very pleased indeed that the pair will be bringing their unique collaboration to Camp Bestival fresh off the back of the album's release. Also playing live are poetry-fuelled electro funksters dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip, razor-edged rhyme purveyors Sound of Rum, gutsy American acoustic upstart Lissie who is being widely tipped for stardom by one and all and the darkly funny and beautifully melodic folk singer The Widowmaker. Adding to our enviable collection of vinyl spinners that will guarantee some heavy rug-cutting all weekend long, we have mixtape master Jaguar Skills, acid-prog-funker Rev Milo Speedwagon, Bestival's favourite party starters Sombrero Sound System and the Mix it Up DJ's.

Finally for now we are honoured that Tate Britain will be presenting Rude Britannia: British Comic Art. This informal lecture by Tate curator Cedar Lewisohn will explore the links between art and humour past and present. Inspired by Tate Britain's exhibition Rude Britannia: British Comic Art the lecture will ask can art be funny? And if it can, what are the jokes about?
There will also be a selection of films from the exhibition Rude Britannia: British Comic Art jointly selected by curators at the Tate and comedian Harry Hill. The program includes works by artists including Oliver Michael and Edwina Ashton, who tells the story of twig that works in a Library!

Full Line Up So Far:
Featuring: English National Ballet /// River Cottage Café /// Mr Tumble /// The East Lulworth Literary Institute /// Zippo's Festival Circus /// The House of Fairytales /// Let's Go Crazy /// Son et Lumiere /// Boutique Babysitting /// Freestyle Sports Park /// The Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company /// Tate Britain presents Rude Britannia: British Comic Art /// Operaupclose: La Boheme /// Simon Raymonde /// Fairy Tale Fancy Dress Theme /// Videopia /// Bill Drummond/The17 /// & fun and games for all the family!
Live Music: Friendly Fires /// Madness /// The Human League /// George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic /// Calvin Harris /// Chipmunk /// Marc Almond /// Billy Bragg /// The Blockheads /// Lee Scratch Perry /// The Fall /// The Cuban Brothers /// Gruff Rhys vs Tony da Gatorra /// dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip /// Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick /// Hypnotic Brass Ensemble /// Brian Eno's 'Apollo' performed by Icebreaker feat. BJ Cole /// Chas & His Band /// Example /// The Wurzels /// James Yorkston /// Stornoway /// Beth Jeans Houghton /// Gold Panda /// Sound of Rum /// Countryside Alliance Crew /// Hurts /// Field Music /// Lucky Elephant /// Kid Carpet /// Gentleman's Dub Club /// Pete & The Pirates /// The Apples /// Nell Bryden /// Lissie /// The Widowmaker /// Caravan Palace /// The J-Cats /// The Boy Who Trapped The Sun /// Laura J Martin /// The Lost Brothers /// Colourmusic /// Chris Wood
DJs: DJ Yoda /// Annie Mac Presents… /// Rob da Bank /// Greg Wilson /// Mr Scruff /// William Orbit /// Ragga Twins /// The Nextmen feat. MC Wrec /// DJ Derek /// Joker /// Jack Beats /// Jaguar Skills /// Mark Lamarr /// Nigel Godrich /// Joy Orbison /// Jakwob /// Mistajam /// Cooly G /// L-Vis 1990 /// Boy 8-Bit /// Jonny Trunk /// Greg's Greats /// Reverend Milo Speedwagon /// Sombrero Sound System /// Mix It Up DJs
Comedy: Tim Minchin /// Rufus Hound /// Andrew Maxwell /// Jim Jefferies /// Marcus Brigstocke /// Andre Vincent /// Carl Donnelly /// Craig Campbell /// Papa CJ /// Mitch Benn /// Rob Rouse /// Matt Kirshen /// Pete Cain /// Tiernan Douieb /// Tiffany Stevenson /// Tim Fitzhigham
Spoken Word: Scroobius Pip /// Kate Tempest /// Itch (King Blues) /// Ventriloquist /// Chris Hicks /// Tim Clare /// Ross Sutherland /// Dizraeli /// Sarah Olowofoyeku /// Poem Inbetween People