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NOVEMBER | FEATURE

BEST way forward

Festival industry veteran Rob Da Bank discusses the strategy behind bringing his pioneering family-focused music festival Camp Bestival to Shropshire next year
Words : Christopher Barrett

Robert Gorham ( aka Rob da Bank ) has taken a long and winding music industry career path that has involved being a BBC 1 DJ and running independent record label Sunday Best , but he is perhaps best known for being the face of the Bestival ( cap . 40,000 ) and Camp Bestival ( 30,000 ) events .

Working alongside his illustrator wife Josie , the couple launched the first Camp Bestival in 2008 . The event saw the duo take the same creative zest that helped make Bestival such a success and combine it with a focus on family orientated facilities and an uncompromisingly strong music line-up . It was a formula for success . Since the outset , every edition of Camp Bestival has sold out .
With that in mind , and despite the challenges around the supply chain and ongoing threat of government reinstating Covid mitigation measures , Gorham is convinced now is a good time to launch a second 30,000-capacity Camp Bestival .
The plan is to run a Shropshire-based version of the event in Weston Park on 18-21 August next year , three weeks after Camp Bestival ’ s Dorset outing at Lulworth Castle .
“ I suppose it looks like a bit of a crazy time to be launching a new festival , but I think the reverse is true – Camp Bestival has never been more popular ,” he says . “ It has been a tricky two years and all festivals and promoters have been affected , so I ’ m not being glib about what everyone ’ s been through , but I am confident the demand is there for a second event .”
He explains that one of the main reasons for the move was that Camp Bestival ’ s existing catchment area runs up to Birmingham , but the event attracts a lot of interest from festivalgoers further north .
“ There ’ s a huge amount of people from northern England , and from Scotland and Wales , who have said to me ‘ I wish it was a bit closer ’ because they don ’ t want to jump in a car with their kids and drive for seven
Rob Gorham and family
or eight hours to get to Dorset . Shropshire will make it a lot easier for people from the Birmingham area , and further north , to get to us ,” he says .
While admitting to not being immediately convinced about the Shropshire location , Gorham says he didn ’ t have to spend long at Weston Park to fall in love with the place : “ The
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