Bestival blasts-off with a bang on final night

As one of the Cuban Brothers rockets into space!

14 September 2009

Bestival came to an explosive end last night (Sunday) as organisers staged a cosmic blast-off in a rocket.

Amidst a sea of fireworks the Mike Cuban Brother appeared to rocket from a burning launchpad, making sure the intergalactic edition of the festival went off with a bang, before Rob da Bank rounded things off with his traditional set in a packed Bollywood tent.

Over at the Big Top Carl Cox pulled an equally heaving hoard for a special old school set. The superstar DJ mixed tracks like New Order's 'Blue Monday' with the Prodigy classic 'Out Of Space' before bringing things back up-to-date by ending on anthem of the summer 'Warriors Dance'.

Elsewhere Elbow were on sterling form on the newly-positioned main stage, peppering their set with tracks from their latest LP 'Seldom Seen Kid'. Guy Garvey looked laid-back during their headline show getting the crowd to help out on 'Grounds For Divorce' before running through fan favourites 'Leaders Of the Free World' as well as 'The Stops' and 'The fix'.

Earlier in the weekend Kraftwerk made their first appearance on the Isle of Wight crowning their set with the likes of 'Tour De France' and 'Model' while Massive Attack used their friday night show to wow crowds with a triumphant 'Unfinished Sympathy' at the end of the set.

Bestival's newest stage, the Afterburner, was another of the weekend's success stories with sets from the likes of DJ Derek, Altern-8 and Jaguar Skills as blasts of fire from surrounding pillars kept those below warm.

Bestival 2009 also had saw memorable performances from Fleet Foxes, Doves, Chase and Status, The English National Ballet and many more. Check back for our full review, interviews and photos from the festival, which remained triumphantly dry and sunny throughout!