"We want to carry on the fun during the winter rather than just having two big parties in the summer. It's a good excuse to carry on the party, really," says Bestival founder Rob Da Bank of his Reunion Tour.

The Brighton date has arguably the strongest line-up of the lot, with Rob being joined by Radio 1's Annie Mac, Hot Chip (DJ set) and Sinden.

"A lot of people play at Bestival, so it's quite easy pickings to get a good line-up together," he explains.

There will be an even bigger tour to follow in October, with bigger bands and more DJs. Before then, Rob's launching his latest venture, Camp Bestival, which will take place on July 18-20 in the grounds of a Dorset's Lulworth Castle, as a more sedate companion to the main festival. The acts already confirmed are impressive - including Chuck Berry, The Flaming Lips and Andy Weatherall - and the focus will be on "friends and family vibe", with a 10,000 capacity and around 100 acts playing.

"Me and my wife, who created the show, have a young kid and another one on the way," says Rob. "We love doing Bestival but we never get to relax that much and enjoy it. So we thought if we did another show which was more family and camping-orientated, we might get the chance to sit down and have a glass of wine ourselves. It's quite selfish really," he laughs.

The Bestival Bluecoats, who he describes as "very Hi-De-Hi", will be on hand to help out and there will be a huge kids' playing field, as well as an attempt to create the world's largest marching band.

"We're asking people to bring down a musical instrument of their choice and join the band on the Saturday and hopefully we'll get most of the site marching around playing some tunes, which we need to decide on yet, anything from a triangle to a trombone," says Rob. "Bring something to bang or blow into."

Rob started off running the Sunday Best parties in a Battersea tea-room back in 1995. Its anything goes music policy turned heads and he soon set up the record label of the same name, introducing the likes of Groove Armada, Lemon Jelly and Bent to the world. He went on to host the first weekly chill-out night in Ibiza, attracting record crowds in the process.

After beginning his Radio 1 career in 2002 he started up Bestival at the Isle of Wight's Robin Hill Country Park in 2004. It has become the benchmark for boutique festivals in the UK and the acts confirmed for Bestival 2008, which takes place September 5-7, include My Bloody Valentine, George Clinton and Funkadelic, Aphex Twin and 808 State. Package tickets which include ferry transport are on sale now via Wightlink and Red Funnel Ferries.

"It has grown a lot quicker than we could have imagined. We've done a lot of things right," Rob says.

"Looking back, we have created something that's quite different to most of the festivals and parties out there."

  • 10pm-3am, £10 after 11pm/£8 members/ £5 before 11pm.

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