Just booked and am excite. Brand new festival for us (taking the kids too).
I know there’s a few regulars on here - any tips? Food/drink options? Best stages? Secret spots?
Probably going to try and whip the children out of school at lunchtime on the Friday and drive up from London so won’t be arriving particularly early unfortunately, but nice to have a festival so early in the year!
My first time too (and arriving on Friday, coincidentally), so double request with a side order of “how busy is arrival on Friday?”
Only been once and didn’t camp but it’s a really nice chilled out and friendly festival. Make sure you see a band at The Woodlands stage, very atmospheric.
All the food I had was good, but expensive from what I remember.
Good info - thanks 
I’ve been to every BT since 2010, it’s my favourite festival. It’s changed hands over the last couple of years, and the previous volunteer crew have been replaced by a commercial outfit (DHP promotions), so there was a bit of trepidation last year, but it turned out to be one of the best ones I’ve attended. It has undeniably gone more mainstream, but there is still a bit of a ramshackle counter-cultural edge. (although I think it’s still in a transitional stage so we’ll see what this year is like). There’s a few different stages - the Pallet is the main stage, which is what you expect from the main stage, and the Meadow is the second stage, a big capacity tent. The Woodlands is a stage unlike one at any other festival I’ve been to, a lovely wooded (duh) area with lanterns and a chilled vibe. Convoy Cabaret is a punk tent, firmly rooted in anarchy, DIY and old mannequins. The Blunders will be playing here, and they are one of my low-key must sees for the weekend. Gail’s Something Else Tea Tent is its quieter sister, offers cake, boozy coffee, and more DIY artists, usually with more of an acoustic bent but I have seen it get rowdy in there! The dance tent is one thing that has changed completely this year - used to be all psytrance and glowing mushrooms, but there’s something else in place now, so we’ll see how that turns out. You can get between all the stages quickly and easily, it’s not a massive site. Don’t know how old your kids are, but the children’s area seems to be very well thought of.
Foodwise, there are plenty of vendors, prices are comparable with other festivals I go to. That can stack up though, especially if you’re doing it en famille, so I’d advise bringing a camping stove and stuff you can cook up at the campsite, even if it’s just basic pasta for a meal or two to lighten the cost. I do BT with a mate rather than family though (the family do always used to be Beautiful Days, but the line up is a shocker this year, and we’re looking for something else), and our usual routine is to have a decent breakfast at the tent (veggie sausage baps, porridge pots, that kind of thing) and then eat on site during the day. The bars have a decent selection of beers and are reasonably priced, about £5.50/pint iirc, but there are also no restrictions on taking your own food and booze into the arena (no glass on site though), so check out the deals on crates of Thatchers in Tesco next week.
The campsite will be pretty full by Friday evening, but you will find somewhere. Don’t camp anywhere near the Magic Teapot if you can help it though, it’s full of hippies playing bongos and acoustic guitars till about four in the morning. In fact, don’t go anywhere near it full stop. It can get cold at night, so decent sleeping bags and / or extra blankets are a very good idea. The walk from the car to the campsite isn’t too bad, and it’s all on the flat.
Really looking forward to it - I’m arriving on the Wednesday this year and there’s a good chance I will be utterly destroyed by Sunday night.
Good info on the stages - thanks. Our kids are 8 and 11 and grizzled veterans of numerous Latitudes and Camp Bestivals, but still young enough to go for a bit of childrens area. We’ll be in family camping I would imagine, assuming there’s still space.
Lots of acts I’m looking forward to seeing, although reckon we’ll probably miss Lambrini Girls and possibly Panic Shack on the Friday 
rough clash finder is up (times are guesswork, but based on previous years so they’re unlikely to be wildly wrong)
Weather forecast is…not what I would like it to be. Pack sensibly!
That…doesn’t look like a disaster?
What’s it like underfoot if wet? Might have been spoiled by Latitude that just drains away water. Assuming it’s not as claggy as Glastonbury 
yeah, the weekend itself doesn’t look too bad but today and tomorrow were looking very iffy. I’ll probably be putting the tent up in the rain later today, which I just love.
I’ve only ever had one wet year there, and the worst of it was an inch or two of mud, especially at the high traffic points. The Woodland stage in particular dried very slowly, probably because it’s in a grove of big old oak trees. That was ten years ago, and the site owners have reportedly done a lot of work on drainage since then so hard to tell.
Don’t reckon I’m too far from the site (relatively) and it’s chucking it down here.
Yeah, a couple of stages were briefly paused, but there was nothing like the predicted rainfall and a couple of distant rumbles rather than two hours of thunderstorms.
Apart from the sopping mud, the car park Somme (I jacked it in before Amyl so I could try and get out in daylight) and the very brief existential fear from realising you’re the closest person to Tim Harrington (who ended the set on the children’s carousel a small distance beyond the far end of the tent) I like what they’re doing there.
Arrived on Wednesday in absolutely biblical conditions.
All the Wednesday and Thursday scheduled events in the Woodland got moved to Convoy Cabaret, so at least enjoyed them in the dry. The weather was a lot drier on Thursday and Friday, and then actually properly nice on Saturday, but the damage was done, and the site was really muddy, especially the pinch points as you move between areas. Our car park was a swamp, and so we left on Sunday instead of our usual Monday morning and still had to get towed out, my first time ever at a festy. Last year I was lying around on the grass drinking cider and idly wondering if I’d put enough suncream on, but not this time round. You’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt though, and I think the organisers did well in some really difficult conditions, and punters mostly seemed to get on with enjoying themselves instead of moaning.
Music highlights for me were Henge, Pet Needs, Sprints, Dutty Moonshine Big Band, New Model Army, Green Lung, Janes Addiction, Bar Stool Preachers, Orbital, Veeblefetzler (good chance I’ve spelt that wrong), Bob Vylan, Ibibio Sound Machine, LSF, Ist Ist and someone I’ll probably remember as soon as I’ve clicked reply on here. Already booked the time off for next year.
First attendance and had a blast - already planning to return next year. We arrived on Friday and left on Monday so avoided all of the rain. Admittedly it was muddy, but I’ve been at much worse festivals. There were still plenty of indoor areas and places to sit down. The mud didn’t phase the kids who also loved it - apparently it is officially a better festival than Latitude, which we’ve taken them to the past few years.
Highlights for me were seeing for the first time Amyl & The Sniffers, Green Lung, System 7, The Orb, English Teacher, Bodega, Gentlemens Dub Club, Ferocious Dog. Nice to rewatch some old friends also - Orbital, New Model Army, Stereo MCs, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Goat Girl, Therapy?, Bdrmm. Only real disappointment for me was Dexy’s (extremely boring) and Jane’s Addiction who didn’t feel as thought they totally landed with the crowd.
Felt noticeably more chilled out than most recent festivals I’ve been to - probably because the average age was about ten years older than those. Good vibe all round. Particularly enjoyed the Worst Record Covers exhibition…
Snagged some super early bird tickets for 2025 this morning!
