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BEST-IVAL MAN: Chuck Berry and his band at Lulworth Castle

JUST why Dorset has not been home to a big summer music festival is something of a mystery.

You would think its countless idyllic rural settings and the best weather in the country would make it a safe bet for organisers.

At least Rob Da Bank and his Bestival crew have seen the light.

And the success of this weekend's inaugural Camp Bestival party at Lulworth Castle should see it firmly installed on the festival calender for a few years yet.

A sell-out 10,000 crowd - a fair proportion of which was made up by children and families - shook off a grey and drizzly start to enjoy a weekend of sun-infused jollity.

The classic festival activities of knitting, medieval jousting and Punch and Judy sat nicely alongside more maverick offerings like music and comedy.

Sold very much as a family-orientated event, the child army were given their own field - a play nirvana of circus shows, tricycles and ice cream.

For the big kids, the eclectic line-up brought entertainment from across the spectrum - from a bonafide musical great to Roy Walker's Catchphrase.

POTS OF FUN: Festival goers at Lulworth

Chuck Berry's headline slot on Friday night was a huge filip for the fledgling festival and he proved there is still some magic in his 81-year-old fingers yet.

John Lennon once said if you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.

And while the rocking and rolling may have had to let up a little, the grizzled voice can still rip through the likes of Roll Over Beethoven and Rock and Roll Music.

For the weekend at least, Chuck was installed as unofficial king of the Castle.

Saturday's line-up managed to match the welcome sunshine, with the day-glo Cure-isms of Radio One darlings Black Kids and the classy disco of Hercules and Love Affair.

But headliners Flaming Lips stormed the barricades with their pantomime performance, frontman Wayne Coyne making the grandest of entrances by rolling through the crowd in a giant balloon.

While the fancy dress entourage, confetti cannons and lasers would have kept the children happy, the grown-ups got to wallow in one of the finest festival bands in barnstorming entertainer form.

The communal joy of mass sing-a-longs to Yosh-imi and The Yeah Yeah Song was tempered only by the frustrating 11 o'clock cut off time, which cut the Lips off in full swing.

Sunday's top billing Kate Nash rounded off the weekend nicely, her melodic mini-dramas a charming soundtrack to the setting sun.

True, things took time to warm up but a timely intervention from Billy Bragg - for versions of Nash's number one Foundations and Bragg's A New England - rescued things.

Gripes for the weekend were few and far between - though many were stuck in long traffic queues trying to get in to Lulworth on Friday night, and charging for parking and programmes didn't go too down well.

But having aimed for the family-fun, holiday camp vibe Camp Bestival largely succeeded in its mission.

I'm sure Dorset will be only too pleased to offer it a return invitation for 2009.

10:52am Tuesday 22nd July 2008

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