Well, that was fun. My Camp Bestival highlights included the wine tasting I did for 50 fellow knackered mothers on Saturday evening; seeing the children race around the Kids’ Garden in their circus outfits (one elephant, two human cannonballs and a clown); and sitting outside our tent in the evening sun sipping bag in box red from plastic tumblers with slices of (really delicious) pizza. We managed to miss James singing Sit Down because we were actually sitting down, sipping wine and eating pizza. Still, we raced up to the Castle Field and danced our flip flops off for the rest of the show. Oh, and then there was the Feast Collective, a tent stuffed with brilliant street food (Breddos tacos were my favourite, Baba G’s indian wraps my sister’s) and a rather lovely wine bar with my name on it, literally. And I must mention Pelican Post (click here for details), a project where children can buy a book and send it to a school in Africa for shared reading. Here are the Boys (and their cousin, Raff) posting their books, which they loved doing:

One last picture, because it’s hilarious. My sister, with DJ BBQ from The Feast Collective:

Current white in the fridge: Tesco Premier Cru Champagne Brut NV, £19.99, Tesco
This was one of the wines featured in the KMWC wine tasting on Saturday evening and we tasted it right after a really great Prosecco, to show just how very different these two things are. Bubbles are pretty much the only thing they have in common. What I loved was that half the audience preferred the Prosecco, half the Champagne. It wasn’t about the price, it was about the taste. Anyway, this one is lemony at first, biscuity afterwards and really smart stuff for the money. Definitely worth it (flicks hair like Cheryl). 

Current red in the rack: Matua Pinot Noir 2013, £7.98 on offer, Asda
This New Zealand producer sponsored Camp Bestival and had a Matua Sessions tent featuring up-and-coming music talent. For a wine brand, that’s so very rock and roll and a completely brilliant idea. Both the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir were featured on the KMWC bar and went down a storm. This Pinot’s got typical raspberry fruit but with enough oomph to make it seem serious rather than skinny (which some of the cheaper Pinots can be). Lovely stuff, perfect with pulled pork as it turned out. 

Peace out, winos x
ps – thank you to everyone who came to the wine tasting and book talk, making them such fun things to do. Thanks to Annie, T, Penny and Mari; more thanks to the kind wine people who gave me some brilliant wines for the tasting and finally thanks to the Camp Bestival team for asking me to join their circus.
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13 Comments

  1. glad you enjoyed it.
    it really is a special event.

  2. Oh what fun we had! As newbies to Camp Bestival it was The Most Amazing Experience for us and we'll most certainly be joining in again next year.
    Lovely, lovely to see you again and thanks for the shout out xx

  3. I keep resisting this festival business but must admit to being drawn to this one. You know I would never leave your stand tho right? Congratulations on the gig and glad you enjoyed yourself 🙂 xx

  4. I wish I could taste all the flavours in wine, I do get the biscuity finish thingy but probably because I eat Penguins while I drink.

  5. Really enjoyed seeing you talk at Camp Bestival in the Guardian Literary Institute Helen. I'm giving you a shout out in my upcoming review post (I was an Official Camp Bestival Blogger this year!) as it was one of my festival highlights (along with Zoe's Ghana Kitchen and The Fabulous Lounge Swingers!) Great job!

  6. I may not technically be able to remember the wine tasting (teaches me to drink on an empty tummy!) but I do have a memory of you being heckled by your mum!

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