I had such an amazing time at Bestival last year so I decided to take the plunge and book tickets to go again in September. My friends and I only paying £7 a week rather than all the money upfront so I don't need to worry about  my student friends not being able to afford to come because we can all spread the cost, there is a big group of us going and even though it's months away I'm already excited and have started to make preparations. Me, too keen? Never!

Every year on Sunday the festival has a fancy dress theme, last year was wildlife but this year the theme is H.M.S Bestival and I can't wait to get stuck in putting my outfit together.

There was a wildlife fancy dress theme on Saturday and I must admit that I didn't put as much effort in as some and had a butterfly hairband, butterfly nails and butterfly face paint and added a wig in the evening. I was going for a woodland nymph/Katy Perry kind of look...










Writing this post has made me realise that Summer is finally over, no more festivals or holidays for me. I'm feeling rather sorry for myself!

My first Bestival post was a bit of a thank you to Echo Falls who invited me along and to all the girls who I spent time with that weekend. This time I'm going to share what I got up to and who I managed to see at the festival.
I left Cardiff early on Thurday and met Sarah at Porstmouth Harbour ready to catch the ferry to the Isle of Wight. I'd not been to the island for years and I'm easily pleased so I was really excited by the ferry. As soon as we arrived on site I was blown away by how beautiful it was. Josie Da Bank really does a great job as creative director of Bestival. There are so many flags and beautiful decorations on site. I loved the Bollywood Cocktail Bar, fancy dress and Ambient Forest. It's such a unique festival.



I met up with team Echo Falls at blue camp which was supposed to be quiet... There is a much nicer vibe on the campsite compared to festivals like Reading and V with a older crowd choosing to go to Bestival which made for a more fun and relaxed atmosphere instead of a GSCE results party.




I was surprised at how well I ate all weekend. Festival food is normally dodgy and from a van but I had a Wagamama veggie katsu curry and an amazing Byron Burger (may have had two... they were so good!) There were lots of cute stands with names like Crumpets for Strumpets and Tea and Toast but my favourite place on site was the Time For Tease tent where you could enjoy a spot of afternoon tea accompanied by burlesque.



Musically, I think my highlight of the festival was seeing New Order who are one of my favourite bands. I was close to tears when they played Ceremony and Age of Consent although Bernard Sumner had a little dig at Morrissey who is another one of my favourites, leave it out Bernard!


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I don't really know where to begin talking about my Bestival experience... I'm going to split Bestival into two posts because I have so many photos and things to share. I need to say a big thank you to Echo Falls and to Charlie and Simon in particular for organising it all. I don't think it would have been much fun pitching fourteen tents and booking all the trains and tickets but I really appreciated it. (sorry for smearing you in glitter Simon...) I also want to thank Sarah for just generally being lovely all weekend and for putting up with me.







This is the very pretty Echo Falls Social Boutique tent where we got to hang out and charge our phones which is a bit of a luxury for a festival. There was lots going on there with DJs in the evening and you could get your face painted, have feather hair extensions and have some photobooth fun. You can see all the photobooth photos and all the bloggers who attended Bestival here.













I love this photo that Claire took. I loved meeting Claire but I never thought I would because we live so far apart. Can't get rid of Sarah though, see her all the time... ;) It was so nice meeting bloggers who I've never met before and seeing some old faces.


Will do another post about what bands I saw and all the fun things I did at Bestival. Just want to say a final thank you to all the people I spent time with at Bestival.

I didn't really do many posts about Reading Festival and what I took with me and wore there etc so I'm being more organised this time and plan on taking plenty of photos! I've put together a post about all the important things I'm taking but I've also giving you a sneak peak at my fancy dress costumes and what I'm going to be wearing.


I've got miniature versions of all the toiletries I use, even if you take half empty full versions they are still to heavy and take up way too much room. I bought products that I already use so that when they are empty I can fill them up again to take on my next trip. I go away quite frequently so the miniatures were a good buy even though they are about the same price as some full size products. I've also packed some pain killers because you don't want to traipse across the festival site when a headache/hangover looking for some of these. Jokers' Masquerade sent me some facepaints and a wig to review which was very handy considering there is a Wildlife fancy dress theme at Bestival on Saturday. I've got enough facepaints to paint forty full faces so if you're going to Bestival and fancy some face paint send me a message on twitter I'm @Gemma_DS I will also be tweeting throughout the festival. Expect moaning about showers and love for lots of bands. I picked up the butterfly nail transfers in poundland which will fit in with my butterfly/Katy Perry wide awake video theme very well.

Make sure you check out Surfdome's festival page for loads of essentials like this inflatable mattress which is invaluable for a good night sleep.

As I have already mentioned, I'm rather lucky and off to Bestival courtesy of Echo Falls who have been very generous and sent me a festival survival pack and some rather fetching pink wellies. I'm going to be encouraged to 'Take the Moment’and enjoy spontaneous fun and new experiences (don't need to be encouraged to do this really).


I've bought myself a very pretty Crown and Glory headband for the fancy dress day and it comes with some pretty clip on butterflies. It is so well made and I'm glad I spent a few extra pounds on this because all the ones on the high street just couldn't compare.
I've got some healthy snacks packed after scoffing loads of bread and cheese at Reading, trying to behave a little bit and represent Team WAMK. The survival pack that Echo Falls and Superdrug sent was amazing and contained all the essentials like face wipes and hand gel but also contained an amazing penguin torch (I'm easily pleased)
I'm getting into that fancy dress spirit and want to go animal themed for a few days so I'm taking my new asos leopard print dress and headband that Sarah (my tent buddy for Bestival) sent me a while ago. I will also be taking denim shorts which you can wear more than once so I can save space in my bag and my new shirt which I picked up in Brighton at Beyond Retro.

Are any of you going to Bestival? Are there any essentials I need to take that are missing?

The gorgeous butterfly headbands are both from Crown and Glory and I just can't decide which one I like more, going to see how much I have left on payday after bills and treat myself to one of these. If I'm a tad skint I can opt for the New Look version in the sale, not quite as pretty though. The beetle earrings are from New Look, they would fit in great with the wildlife theme but I would also wear them again.


The butterfly and leopard print top are both from ASOS and again I think they are a subtle way to get involved in the fancy dress theme without buying a fancy dress outfit that you would never wear again. Getting into the spirit of things without going over the top. The bird print cover up is from AX Paris and I'm thinking of wearing this with a skater dress and will cover my shoulders if it's sunny (wishful thinking) The tie top is another New Look item.

Of course you need some sturdy shoes for a festival and the obvious choice are Hunter wellington boots. Practical and I like the croc effect. My final pick is the owl t-shirt from New Look which I might buy and not even take it to Bestival. It's only £7 and I can't resist.

Have you seen any lovely wildlife themed clothes that I could get for Bestival? I'm not very creative!