The Bestival 2008 was the fifth instalment of the

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. The name Bestival is a portmanteau of the words best and festival. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festi ...

a boutique music festival at Robin Hill on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. The festival was held between 5–7 September 2008 and over 30,000 people attended. The festival was nominated for Best Medium Sized Festival, Grass Roots Festival Award, Family Festival Award, Best Lineup and Best Toilets in the UK Festival Awards. 2008 marked the return of Bestival Radio. The station broadcast on-site and kept listeners camping at the festival up-to-date on news and events over the weekend. Bestival FM was sponsored by Jokers' Masquerade The event was marred by heavy rain on the Friday and Saturday causing stage closures and widespread misery for festival-goers.Review: Bestival 2008
The fancy dress theme was '30,000 freaks under the sea' so most were prepared for the ensuing aquatics.

Line-up: Main Stage

Friday

* My Bloody Valentine *

Pendulum A pendulum is a device made of a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate i ...

* Foals * Jamie Lidell *

The Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, by members of The Lost Pandas. The band has been led by vocalist and guitarist David Gedge, the band's only constant member. Closely linked to the C86 scene ...

* Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong, Bastila and The Shanklin Freakshow did not appear due to adverse weather

Saturday

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, she was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix ...

* Hot Chip * DJ Yoda *

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...

* Special Guest:

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

* Special Guests:

The Specials The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...

- although they played under the name of Terry Hall and friends due to legal constraints * The Cuban Brothers *

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the New wave music, new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two st ...

* Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip * Kitty Daisy & Lewis * Jeffrey Lewis *

Laura Marling Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is an English Folk music, folk singer-songwriter. She won the Brit Award for Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist, Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for th ...

Sunday

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

* George Clinton &

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, ...

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

* Roni Size * Baaba Maal * Sebastien Tellier * Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly *

King Creosote Kenny Anderson (born January 1967), known primarily by his stage name King Creosote, is an independent singer-songwriter from Fife, Scotland. To date, Anderson has released over forty albums, with his latest full length, '' I DES'', released in ...

* The Fairey Band (Acid Brass)

Line-up: Big Top

Friday

* The Dub Pistols * Slam * CSS *

Chromeo Chromeo is a Canadian electro-funk duo from Montreal, formed in 2002 by musicians David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel. Their sound draws from soul music, dance music, rock, synth-pop, disco and funk. As of 2024, the band h ...

The Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ( ...

Santigold Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut studio album, '' Santogold'' (2008), was released by Atlantic Records and met with widespread critica ...

* Ladyhawke * Ebony Bones *

Transglobal Underground Transglobal Underground (sometimes written as Trans-Global Underground) is an English electro-world music group, specializing in a fusion of Western culture#Music, western, Music of Asia, Asian and Music of Africa, African music styles (someti ...

* The Hat * Cazals

Saturday

808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. Taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and the "state of mind" the members shared, they released ...

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient music, ambi ...

* Hercules & Love Affair *

Lee 'Scratch' Perry Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

* Sub Focus * Bailey * The Count & Sinden * Slagsmålsklubben * Red Snapper * Chas & Dave *

* I Am Kloot *

The Qemists The Qemists are an English electronic rock group, hailing from Brighton, Sussex. They are signed to Amazing Record Co., an indie record label based in the UK. The band have a separate deal with Beat Records for distribution in Japan and with ...

Sunday

* Neon Neon *

Carl Craig Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980 ...

Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, ...

* Midnight Juggernauts *

The Coral The Coral are an English rock band, formed in 1996 in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside. The band emerged during the early 2000s. Their 2002 debut album ''The Coral (album), The Coral'', from which came the single "Dreaming of You (T ...

* Filfthy Dukes *

Ulrich Schnauss Ulrich Schnauss (born 8 September 1977) is a German Electronic music, electronic musician and producer based in London, England. He was a member of Tangerine Dream from 2014 to 2020. Biography Ulrich Schnauss was born in the northern German ...

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

* Emma J Mac

Line-up: other stages

* BBC Introducing:

Cage the Elephant Cage the Elephant is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2006 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. They moved to England and settled in London in 2008, shortly before their Cage the Elephant (album), self-titled first album was released. The ban ...

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Ido ...

, The Bees - a number of artists including

Black Kids Black Kids are an American indie rock band. Formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2006, the group consists of singer/guitarist Reggie Youngblood, keyboardists/backup singers Ali Youngblood and Dawn Watley, bassist Owen Holmes, and drummer Kevin Sn ...

, Sam Sparro,

Lykke Li Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson (born 18 March 1986), known as Lykke Li (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, model and actress. Her music often blends elements of indie pop, dream pop and Electronic music, electronic. Her debut studio album, ''Youth ...

, The Shortwave Set, Ida Maria, Natty, Noah and the Whale, Hadouken!, Late of the Pier and Pete & The Pirates had been due to play but were cancelled due to flooding of the lower part of the Bestival site * Red Bull 54 Speakeasy:

Alphabeat Alphabeat are a Danish pop band from Silkeborg, fronted by singers Stine Bramsen and Anders Stig Gehrt Nielsen. Their single " Fascination" was a major hit in Denmark during the summer of 2006, as well as the United Kingdom in 2008. Their 2007 ...

, Lethal Bizzle,

The Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group formed in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1979. Their hit " Rapper's Delight", released the same year they were formed, was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, rea ...

, DJ Yoda * Bandstand:

Yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

, Sophie Barker, Misty's Big Adventure, Lucky Elephant, MC'd by comedian Scott Anderson

References

External links

{{Commons category, Bestival 2008
Bestival Website
Music festivals on the Isle of Wight 2008 in British music 2008 in England