Bestival saves the best til last

Even factoring an hour’s ferry ride, it doesn’t take long to get to this scenic spot on the Isle of Wight, and the presence of a smattering of Oxford acts ensures local festival-buffs are guarenteed to bump into friends. And those with enough end-of-season energy to venture to Robin Hill Park last weekend were rewarded with not only the greatest music event of the summer, but a textbook example of how to stage a festival.

The line-up - featuring Oxford’s Foals, hip-hop heroes Outkast, disco legend Chic, soul-pop act London Grammar and dance artists Discloure and Basement Jaxx - was superb; the site was stunning; the stewards and security friendly; the catering better than at many food-festivals; and the crowd friendly and enthusiastic, practically all entering the Bestival spirit by donning fancy dress - this year along the theme of Desert Island Disco (cue some fabulous nautical/ marine/ clubland hybrids complete with truck-loads of glitter).

Soul diva: Candi Staton

For many of us, all eyes were on Saturday night headliners Foals.

While the boys played a blinding set, things did not get off to an auspicious start for frontman Yannis Philippakis, who was initially turned away from the backstage entrance for failing to have the correct wristbands. It was only when the gathering crowd yelled “That’s Yannis from Foals!” that the conscientious member of security let the poor lad in.

Yannis and the band repaid fans with one of the best sets of their careers, with a gorgeous rendition of slow-burning Spanish Sahara and a finale featuring a shower of confetti.

Other highlights came from London Grammar for a show of spine-tingling beauty, and Discloure who had a rammed field dancing hard, arms aloft, and brought on assorted special guests included a beaming Sam Smith for anthem Latch.

But some of the best moments came further down in the bill. Veteran soul diva Candi Staton radiated cool glamour as she served up classic tunes like Young Hearts Run Free, an Elvis medley including a sparkling Suspicious Minds, and, best of all, a dancey You Got the Love - the crowd singing along to her spine-tingling lyrics ("sometimes I feel like putting my hands up in the air...") to a rumbling bass.

Also veterans of the business, but poles apart were the analogue geeks of the BBC Radiohphonic Workshop who delighted a select but devoted Sunday afternoon audience with gems from the BBC vaults - including a freshened-up, ground-trembling and eardrum-piercing version of the Dr Who theme which they originally wrote. Startling stuff.

At times the site was a sea of dancing - whether in the sunshine to back-to-basics hip-hop adrenaline freaks Too Many T's and deck-acrobat DJ Yoda (who filled in for an absent Buster Rhymes), or after dark to the oscillating psychedelic dance music of Caribou (aka Canadian Daniel Victor Snaith) or crowd-pleaser Annie Mac - who had thousands of us in the palms of her hands with a bouncing late night set which packed out her field and had revellers raving around the helter skelter and wall of death of the neighbouring funfair.

Special mention must also go to Oxford artists Glass Animals for a bold opening night show of deliciously textured indie-trip-hop (the main stage must surely beckon) and vintage jazz and country artist Stuart Macbeth who made two appearances with his own Stuart Macbeth Band and a storming 1am set with vintage jazz-rabble rousers The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band.

Both did the Oxford music scene credit for showing the rest how we party. Now it’s time to enjoy the winter hinbernation before doing it all again next year. Maybe....