Camp Bestival - is it too soon to be excited?

Call me an over excited child, but Camp Bestival is something that I've loved going to since our first visit in 2009. Some years are more exciting than others of course, for varying reasons, acts I like more, or fancy dress themes I prefer. And for 2018, for me at least, it's looking pretty amazing!

I've been nagging for a sea theme for a while. Loving the idea of mermaids in decorated festival trolleys, of transparent umbrellas turned into jellyfish, of sailor suits and bearded sea captains, and so I'm super excited about that.

Also 2018 will see the return of Jaguar Skills, who is totally fabulous and I just love him, last time he was at Camp Bestival I stayed up until the wee small hours to see him, and poor DD was forced to sleep in the trolley as she was so tired (excellent parenting I hope you'll agree), now that DD is 18 I assume she can either accompany me or do her own thing while I boogie the night away
.

DD is looking forward to Clean Bandit, The Cuban Brothers (I love them too), and of course Dick and Dom. I'm amazed to see that Rick Astley is on the bill! Along with all of my usual favourites, the inflatable church for lovely weddings, beard and moustache competition, fancy dress parade (see above) , the world's biggest bouncy castle, and the Insect Circus.

And so yes, I'm excited already! And this is just the early lineup! I'm planning fancy dress ideas (I even started a Pinterest board for that) and excited to be setting sail in 2018 on the good ship SS Camp Bestival, captained by Rob da Bank and his able first mate Josie (With her bar skills!)

You can join us (all aboard!) grab an early bird ticket here. Join me in a countdown until the happy day!

 

In 2018 DD and I will be official crew, blogging and sharing on social media in exchange for our passage on the high seas! See you there!

Camp Bestival 2017 as a family holiday

When I tell people I'm off to Camp Bestival I get varying responses. Anything from "festivals? aren't they full of drugs and drunks?" to "how much?! I can't afford that for a few days in a field!" so I thought I'd look at some of the myths around festivals, and explain why Camp Bestival is actually the perfect holiday for you and the kids.

The popular stereotype of a festival is of muddy drunken revellers, peeing on tents and raving late into the night before falling over guy ropes, peeing on your tent and then crashing out on someone else's inflatable bed, only to awaken to a vomit stained sleeping bag, your car keys missing, and it's raining again for the 3rd day. The portable chemical toilets are overflowing and you lost your wallet so you can't buy a beer.

And while it's true I might (have) been to a festival or two that are similar to that (not the losing my wallet bit - I'm very security conscious at a festival) Camp Bestival is very far from this sad damp image. (A big plus point is that the festival site is on chalk, so never muddy!)

Camp Bestival is predominately a family festival. So most people have kids with them. They tend to be happy to have a drink, but take their mummy and daddy roles pretty seriously, so there is a lack of vomiting drunks, in fact, wailing toddlers are more common.

As the festival is aimed at families with kids, there is loads to do for children. So the wailing form the aforementioned toddlers is more likely to be because they can't fit all the fun into their day than because they are bored.

The price of any festival is going to be higher than camping alone, because they are providing a camp site, toilets, water points, as well as activities, musical acts and insurance. If you look at all the things a festival provides it's easier to see it's value for money.

Camp Bestival starts on Friday and finishes on Sunday night, but you can arrive from Thursday lunchtime and camp until Monday lunchtime so actual nights camped can be 4.

There are loads of free things to do. You can bring your own food and drink which can save some money.

Free things include all the musical acts of course, and this year we are looking forward to Madness, Mark Ronson, Louisa Johnson and Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer to name just a few. Surfing dudes will be thrilled to hear Brian Wilson is performing on Sunday. But music almost takes a back seat at Camp Bestival, which Rob da Bank (its founder) designed as part way between a festival and a holiday camp (hence the name), with the holiday camp feel in mind there are Blue Coats to entertain the children in all manner of silliness, an Insect Circus (with real insects), tree climbing and all sorts of woodland and outdoor fun, many different craft activities, comedy acts, Punch and Judy shows, clay modelling, silly science shows, musical theatre, early morning cinema, discos and more! all included in the admission price!

There are extras you can pay for, such as face painting, helter skelter rides, a big wheel or a bounce on the world's biggest bouncy castle too, but the strong minded parent can use distraction techniques to avoid spending too much extra if they are prepared!

For the grown ups there are all of the above (I love the cinema in a tent early in the day with a coffee and a croissant) and a Jam Jar cocktail bar, excellent food stalls, late night discos and stand up comedy.

Camp Bestival is one of the least stereotypical 'festivals' I've ever been to and I love it. We have been going for years now and DD still likes to go even at 17 because she likes the lack of unpleasantness you usually get a festivals, I don't think I've ever seen anyone drunk (Unless you count me tipsy - in which case, it happens every year) and I rarely get a whiff of weed. Security staff there are always polite but firm (ooh er!) and I've always felt safe as a single woman camping with my daughter.

And loos? well a festival loo is really what you make it and most mums and dads seem polite enough to leave a loo as clean as they can. After all - parents are made of wet wipes! The loos are cleaned and emptied regularly and over the years they have improved as festival staff have learned from the odd problem encountered. So yes they are portable chemical toilets, but they are generally well cared for.

So for your money you really are getting a good deal. Why not consider it as a family holiday? Maybe have the start of the week at an ordinary campsite and then finish the week on a high with a family festival that really is first class.

Find out about all of this years acts and grab tickets at Camp Bestival's Website

Disclosure : I'm an official blogger for Camp Bestival and so this year I'm attending as their guest

Camp Bestival 2016 - out of this world

I have been going to Camp Bestival with DD since 2010 when I first head about about it. Every years there are new things to surprise us. For several years the Dingly Dell was a quiet arty location but lately it has been full of excitement and fun and extreme tree climbing for example!

The lovely layout with fields of different types lends itself to discovery and for some reason we seem to spend most time in the same field for most of the festival, though the field we pick has varied by year! This year we spent a lot  of time in the main castle field, and in the lower kids field.

A highlight for DD and for me too was Mr Motivator on the main stage, getting an entire field of adults and children alike, swinging our arms and leaping around to music. Dick and Dom were as chaotic as always with plenty of laughs for the children and innuendo for the adults, once again they made a small child cry on stage (which always makes DD and I feel bad when we giggle).

Fatboy Slim's set was a triumph and quite possibly my favourite act of the weekend.

Though Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer and his 'chap hop' was certainly a contender for most fun set of the weekend.

This year the theme was Space and so our fancy dress Saturday costumes were R2D2 and a StormTrooper. The fancy dress costumes and buggy pimping just get better year after year and this year my Morphsuit costume, while wonderful, was put to shame by a real stormtrooper! and even Chewbacca on a rare day off.

Me as a Stormtrooper

An actual Stormtrooper

Chewbacca

The theme didn't put me off wearing my Deadpool Morphsuit though, and so one day was made more surreal as Deadpool met the Clangers, and Camp Bestival does do surreal very well, with giant spacemen too!

The food was great, plenty of simple choices for small children (and fussy teens!) and more fancy fayre in the  Feast Collective tent. 

As always the end of the festival was marked by an amazing firework display around and even on, the castle.

Some people have remarked that for 4 days it's an expensive festival. But I honestly think you get value for money. If you look at how much you would pay to go to a circus, watch several well known bands, see comedians, meet the Clangers, go to a movie (we watched Pete's Dragon, the new Disney movie 2 weeks before it's UK release date!!) as well as have a camping pitch I think you'll see you are getting a bargain.

Saturday Morning Pictures Camp Bestival Style - in the Big Top

Tickets for next year are already on sale! Why not take advantage of the payment plan and spread the cost over the year. (from as little as £5 a week)

Disclosure : I was invited to attend the festival for free in exchange for promotional blog posts and an honest review, but in previous years I've been happy to pay!

Pete's Dragon. A Camp Bestival movie treat

One of the things I like at Camp Bestival is watching movies in a tent in a field. It has that childlike joy of the Saturday morning pictures with the added benefit of being able to have a beer as you watch.

This year I was pretty excited to discover the movie they chose to show was Disney's Pete's Dragon. I assumed it would be the old Micky Rooney version from 1977 which I love (I own it on VHS!) , but imagine my excitement when it was the 2016 version with Robert Redford! (released in the UK on 12th August)

I was a teensy bit worried that glossy CGI would spoil the joy of Elliot the Dragon but I need not have worried, his face even resembles the cartoon version, and his expressions and quizzical noises just as good and sweet as the original.

The film started pretty slowly, and there are a lot of 'in the dark' scenes (they may be easier to watch without sunshine leaking in around the edges of the tent), and obvious omissions are the rough hillbilly family that used Pete as a meal ticket in the original, in this version he is just a lost child. There is also a fairly well signposted 'eco message'.

The plot bumps along following fairly closely to the original though, and both DD and I wept at both sad and happy scenes even though we knew the ending!

The finale of this new version was better than the 1977 version in my opinion.

You can watch the trailer here.

For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales…until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley). Pete is a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete’s descriptions, Elliott seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham’s stories. With the help of Natalie (Oona Laurence), an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon. Disney’s “Pete’s Dragon” opens in UK cinemas on 12th August 2016.

Smaller children may prefer the 1977 version, with a colourful clowning dragon and plenty of musical numbers, but older children and adults will no doubt enjoy the more realistic (!) 2016 version.

Pete’s Dragon flies into UK cinemas on August 12, 2016

Camp Bestival is only days away and yet still new things are being announced!

Camp Bestival keep emailing me and each email is better than the last!

Now they are unveiling that not one, but two utterly awesome Giant Astronauts built by Shipshape Arts will be joining the space cadets and festival fans at Camp Bestival.

Resplendent in gleaming space suits, and stationed in the Magic Meadow, Camp Bestivals very own super star-sailors stand at an astronomical seven metres tall and will be bathed in their own special cosmic light under starry skies.

Sure to be an awe-inspiring sight, you won’t be able to miss these twin emblems of exploration and discovery.

But that’s not all, I've been told to be prepared to be dazzled by the elegant beauty of Celestial Dreaming. A stunning, interactive installation designed by glowing friends And Now: take your family on a voyage through the infinite possibilities of an enchanting solar system filled with glistening constellations, cosmic relics and storytelling star gazers.

As the sun sets Celestial Dreaming will radiate the burnished light of 450 points of fire arranged in incandescent orbits, celebrating the majestic brilliance of the universe. One of the most exquisitely breath-taking spectacles you’re likely to see at a festival, Celestial Dreaming is your chance to get lost in space.

I'm sure these two cosmic treats will spark some out of this world costume ideas for Saturday’s
fancy dress parade. As you know I'm all set with mine!

See you there?

Summer at Camp Bestival

It's still raining. I find it hard to get excited about the summer when the long lighter evenings are so ... damp. The thought of pitching the tent and doing all the fun things that happen at festivals normally fills me with glee but I'm finding even that hard to summon up today. The only solution is to read cheerful blog posts about Camp Bestival. That glorious festivals and holiday camp by the sea in SUNNY Dorset.

So I wandered the interwebs and grabbed the best posts to read, so you don't have to hunt about. Just sit back, sip our tea and click...

First off let's zoom on our festival bus over to You Baby Me Mummy for a glorious look at photos of 2015 that will be a great start, a reminder for us all and a teaser for anyone that hasn't been before! After a few jam jar cocktails we will stagger on ...

and would you believe it - 76 Sunflowers only has a fab set of photos too! Well now I really am getting more in the mood.

Seeing those gorgeous blue skies....

Now I have never taken a toddler to a festival - so struggle to think of the sorts of things that parents of young kids need to know - luckily I found a great blog with advice for you! Hooray! Grab the suncream, wet wipes and juice cartons, pack the trolley and trundle down to the main stage with your little ones. For some tips on taking babies and toddlers to a festival check out Enchanted Pixies hints.

And Louise over at My Gorgeous Boys took her little ones and wrote about her experiences. Some lovely photos there to inspire you too - look at the joy on those little faces!

I have been going to Camp Bestival both as a regular festival goer and as an official blogger every year since 2010. I love it every year, even more now that Rob Da Bank realised that the older kids needed something extra - and they now have the Den for teens, perfect for DD as she's now 16.

And Penny over at A Residence Blog has been going for a fair few years, checkout her video from 2012 here.

Over at The Parenting Trials excitement and planning is the order of the day! As a list of 5 things that are essential not to be missed is emerging...what would yours be? Have you seen the official Camp Bestival Line up? Amazing! I challenge you to only pick 5 'must sees'!

I'll leave you with a list of top tips of things to do see or take to Camp Bestival, have you forgotten anything? Got your glo-sticks?

OK I'm proper in the mood now - sod the rain, grab your wellies (just in case) and join us! Oh and before I go - here is a link to 2012 at Camp Bestival in which I dressed as a horse - I wonder what I should dress up as this year?

Let me know if you are going to be at Camp Bestival - I'm on twitter at @tattooed_mummy or like my facebook page.

Fancy Dress for Camp Bestival

Out of this world! The theme for Camp Bestival this year is Space. I'm sort of hoping that Tim Peake will surprise us all in the big top, but whether he does or not, the theme leads to some cool fancy dress ideas.

Every Year Camp Bestival has a theme and there is a fancy dress day, It is one of my favourite bits of the festival. To see all the costumes, some fabulously homemade, some bought, and some very basic, but everyone having the best fun, being someone else for a day.

In previous years I have dressed as Cinderella in rags (with DD as a mouse for the Fairy tales theme), as a horse (with DD as a rider, for the Olympics theme), as a ring master (with DD as a tiger, for the circus theme), as a Victorian explorer, complete with pith helmet and net (with DD as a butterfly, for the Wild theme). This year DD and I are thinking of Star Wars as our theme, with her opting for an R2D2 dress while I'm trying to decide between a Storm Trooper Morphsuit (remember when I fell in love with Morphsuits?) or Captain Phasma.

But Space has a lot of possibilities, from proper space exploration, NASA and ESA, there are so many movies, books and cartoons. Alien, The Martian, Predator, Superman, Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvin the Martian or The Jetsons and let us not forget Star Trek or Dr Who.

I love fancy dress so much at festivals that I don't confine it just to the Saturday 'Fancy Dress Day,. I plan each day with some sort of 'out of the ordinary' atire. I have a ballgown for pointlessly swanning about the fields, and so this year I'm trying to think of ways to space theme it (it is black - so maybe stars and planets on it? a galaxy?)

I have also bought a couple of space themed T shirts, I'm also looking at gold boots for no reason other than they look amazing. Do I also need a space suit? A space helmet? Maybe I do!

I always like to get some themed accessories too, things like handbags, shoes, umbrellas, jewellery.

If you are going to be at Camp Bestival will you be joining in with fancy dress? if you need some ideas, check out my pinterest board.

Deadpool my new favourite anti hero

If you follow me on social media (and if not why not!) you will know I'm a tiny bit excited about the upcoming film of Deadpool.
I confess that I am a new fan to this wise-cracking super hero, he only came to my attention during the trailers while I was at the new Star Wars movie in December, but I fell in love instantly and have been doing homework.
Homework mainly consists of reading all the comic books about Deadpool I can find (happily my local library stocks them!), finding and reading online articles and chatting about him to my mates.

Of course true research requires properly becoming immersed in a character and it was with this in mind that I asked Morphsuits if I could review one of their suits. If you have never heard of these costumes, they are a simple yet genius concept, a skin tight lycra body suit, encasing you from top to toe! They were initially only available in plain colours but impressive new fabric printing techniques have changed the playing field!

I've seen Morphsuits at festivals of course, usually the plain colours, sometimes a spider man or two, but the Deadpool Morphsuit really did look a bit special. There are three versions at three prices, and I'm now the proud owner of the deluxe version. The basic one is fine of course, but it is , well, basic, at £26 it's pretty affordable, but for a little extra (£10 extra) you get a really snazzily printed muscles that really do give you the appearance of my newly favourite antihero, and the deluxe costume benefits from an extra little treat - an app that shows you with a sword in your hand and some special effects! Pretty cool.

But don't just take my word for it. When the suit arrived my teen daughter was so excited she put it on straight away! And this weekend I tried it on too. I think you'll agree we look...erm...super

Me on the left and DD on the right in case you wondered!

Me as Deadpool

Things to know - You need smooth underwear and a strong bladder - there are two zips at the back but it's not an easy task when you are in the suit to undo the zip (you have gloves on!) and you will need to get nearly naked to wee. I advise having a mate with you if you go out! The suits come in 4 sizes and they are based on height as well as weight, which is why DD and I can fit into the same suit! Check the sizing on the page.  You can see through the suit to look out, but it's far from clear! Cosplay websites suggest using a hot needle to make extra holes in the eye area (not when you are wearing the suit, you idiot) for improved vision. I was planning on wearing the suit to the film, but it turns out DD describes the suit as 'empowering' and so she has demanded to wear it - and she'll have to lower the head piece to be able to watch the film properly. (Talking of masks, Morphsuits sell the mask section separately if you fancy just wearing it with your normal clothing) The suit is tight (obviously) and squashes your nose a bit! When I first put it on it felt a bit claustrophobic but that wore off pretty quickly and I got used to it.

Using the Zapper app with the suit

So, do I think the Morphsuit is good value? Yes. Would I buy one? Yes in fact I'm spoiled for choice, For festivals this year the plain colours do appeal, but so does the Stormtrooper version (if only there was a Captain Phasma Chrome suited version!) and DD is already looking at another super hero...of the ninja turtle variety!

What do you think? Do you have a Morphsuit or do you 'need' one? Pop over to Facebook or twitter and let me know - I'd love to see your pictures!

Disclosure - I was given the suit for the purposes of this review - but the views are all my own, and DD really will be wearing it to the cinema, more pictures to follow!

The Deadpool movie is released in the UK on 10th February 2016.

Everything you've ever needed to know about Deadpool

I'm not  a rabid superhero fan. I like some of the comics and I've watched the odd movie, but they never grabbed me the way Judge Dredd and his ilk did. And then at the new Star Wars screening I saw the trailer for Deadpool. I was hooked. He's the super anti-hero I've been waiting for - why had I never heard of him before?
( You can watch the 'very unsafe for work and not for anyone of a squeamish disposition' here.)
Some people have said I haven't heard of him because the comics lack the humour of the movie, time will tell as I'm going to catch up with the comics before the movie comes out. Until then, here is a rather spiffing info graphic from those chaps at MorphCostumes (who make a simply dashing licenced Marvel version of the Deadpool outfit) so that we can all be up to date and not fail our nerd exam when the movie arrives on out screens on 10th February.

Apple Pancakes - Just scrumptious

Recently at a festival I encountered a pancake stall, well crepes if you want to be pedantic, and they had many flavours from savoury tuna melts with cheese and spinach to the super sweet Nutella and banana (I know most people love that but I hate it!)

Anyway, one of the options was 'Apple Pie Crepe' so I went for it, and it was the business! Best pancake ever, simple enough to rustle up for breakfast and also easy to glam up for a dinner party dessert (I can see myself on Come Dine With Me serving this up...)

I paid careful attention so that I can share the recipe with you. If you are in a mood to be fast, you could use pancake mix and/or apple sauce. If you are feeling more 'Nigella' go for the batter made from scratch and your own stewed apples.

So either mix 2 heaped tablespoons of flour, eggs (2) and just over half a pint of milk with a dash of olive oil to create a batter .... or mix up a batter mix.

Have to hand either home stewed apples (diced cooking apples, a tiny bit of water, boil for 20 minutes or until soft, add sugar to taste)  .... or some apple sauce, the sort they sell in jars to have with pork works fine. (I used a jar this time as our apples aren't ripe yet)

You will also need some oil, some brown sugar and cinnamon.

Add some oil to the frying pan and start cooking the pancake, turn it once and spread apple across one half of the pancake, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Fold the pancake in half, covering the apple. Fry slightly to warm the apple then fold again. serve with marscapone cheese (my favourite!) or icecream, or fresh cream.

Delicious! Why not add some brandy to the apple for a decadent after dinner treat!

The Night Circus By Erin Morgenstern - A Book Review

I have been struggling to read books lately, and yet my book pile keeps growing! Luckily it is moving into summer festival season where I have time off and sunny days in a tent away from digital devices and usually lacking a phone signal. This weekend was the first of many summer festivals and I was able to finish a book I started a while ago. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which I confess I bought mainly because of its intriguing cover and when I dipped into it at random (a technique I favour in book selection) I loved the style of the writing.

Having finished it I was keen to review it so you can share the joy. First things first, this was not my favourite story. I have read stories that grabbed me more. There is a story but it's quite mixed in time and place and it didn't grab me and drag me along as some books have. That said, the dreamlike style of the writing matched the smooth and ethereal feel of the plot.

The tale begins with a competition between two people who we barely know, though of course we learn more about them as the story builds. The competition is not played out by these powerful characters though, but rather, by young stand-ins that themselves don't know all of the mystery, or of the full scope of the competition.

The Night Circus is the chess board and we are drawn into its magical collection of tents and acts, of art and scents, of music and melody. For someone that loves festivals I was really taken with the images. The writing itself is gorgeous, creamy and rich. I normally hate books that focus on description too much but I could honestly have read this forever. I reread several paragraphs just because they were so perfect, so beautiful.

I don't want to spoil anything in the book for you (because you simply must read it if you haven't already) but I did tweet this...and was excited to receive a reply.

And I'm not lying, it was scorchingly written, but not over the top or flowery, just wonderful.

But I'll leave you with something I loved from the beginning of the book. And then you can run off and grab yourself a copy, make some hot chocolate and popcorn, and enter the Night Circus, weather permitting. Take a red scarf.

"He had expected it to be a show.

Something to sit in a chair and watch.

He realized quickly how wrong he was.

It was something to be explored.

He investigated it as best he could, though he felt woefully unprepared. He did not know which tents to choose out of dozens of options, each with tantalizing signs hinting at the contents. And every turn he took through the twisting striped pathways led to more tents, more signs, more mysteries.

He found a tent full of acrobats and stayed amongst them as they twirled and spun until his neck ached from staring up. He wandered through a tent full of mirrors and saw hundreds and thousands of Baileys staring, wide-eyed, back at him, each in matching grey caps.

Even the food was amazing. Apples dipped in caramel so dark they appeared almost blackened but remained light and crisp and sweet. Chocolate bats with impossibly delicate wings. The most delicious cider Bailey had ever tasted.

Everything was magical"

When your child goes to her first festival without you.

I blog a lot about camping and festivals over at www.tentsandfestivals.co.uk but this post needs to be here.

I've been taking DD to festivals since she was about 7. And she loves them, she loves the music, the dancing, the food, the people, the dressing up, the not washing, the chaos, the queues, the weather....she loves them for all the things that make them a festival so it shouldn't be a surprise to me that when her friend asked if she wanted a spare ticket to Wildlife Festival she leapt at the chance.

DD is 15. Her friends are a similar age. The festival was a two day affair but did not involve camping, so she'd sleep over at her friend's house, and her friend's parents would be taking them, and while they wouldn't all stay together in the festival itself, it all seemed pretty tame and safe. So at midday on Saturday, clad in short shorts a crop top, black and silver wellingtons and shades, my daughter, now looking at least 17, set off for the festival.

At 3pm I sent her a text hoping she was having fun. My internal monologue was saying
don't text her, she's fine, she doesn't want to be fussed by her mum, what could have happened in 3 hours? nothing that's what, leave her alone, the sun is shining, she's fine

No reply.
At 5pm I sent her a text saying I hoped she wasn't too cold. (She did pack a jumper)
internal monologue : she's fine, she didn't reply because she's having fun, she's with her mates, she hasn't been raped and left for dead behind the portable chemical toilets,stop it! where did that thought come from, she's fine, good grief, give it a rest, stop texting her.

No reply.
At 10pm I went to bed, I sent a text to say good night and would she text when she got back to her mates...so I knew she was alive.
internal monologue : well now you've blown it, she'll know you are worried, you've spoiled her day, her friends will think you are nuerotic and she'll hate you, but what if she's taken dodgy drugs and is in the hospital even now? for goodness sake her friends mum would have text you, go to sleep!

Waking at 3am I glance at my phone ...no reply.
Internal monologue : go to sleep, she's not dead...she's probably dead, you'll blame yourself about this forever, go to sleep she's fine.

at 8am my phone buzzes ...text "Sorry we got back at midnight, had an ace time, we were right at the front by the barrier, best festival ever, can't wait for more today"

Yeah...me too