Revellers braved the downpours this weekend to enjoy the weird and wonderful world of Bestival.

Ray BLK kicked off proceedings with a storming set on the Temple Stage on Thursday evening with the Pet Shop Boys being the perfect way to round the four-day festival off last night.

Along with the music, there was plenty of comedy capers with a line-up of comics and clowns.

The drowned fields only provided more fun for festival goers who decided to toboggan through the mud on an inflatable giraffe.

Dorset Echo:

Picture: FINNBARR WEBSTER

Highlights of the weekend included Dizzee Rascal, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, The xx, Twin Atlantic and Pet Shop Boys. 

Performances through the weekend didn’t disappoint and only left fans shouting for more. 

Ashley Lewis from Manchester was at the festival with her university friends. The 19-year-old said: “It wouldn’t be a true festival without horrendous weather would it? We’ve had an amazing time and we definitely don’t want to go home.”

She added: “I’m a big fan of Jamie T so seeing him on Thursday was the highlight for me.”

Dorset Echo:

Picture: FINNBARR WEBSTER

This is the first year, of hopefully many, that Bestival is being held in Dorset - after moving from the Isle of Wight. Sian O’Callaghan and her partner Richard Hand had come over from the Isle of Wight.

Sian, 27, said: “We come to Bestival every year so when we heard it was moving to Dorset that wasn’t going to stop us.

“We are professionals when it comes to festivals so we came fully prepared for the worst of weathers. I didn’t expect it to be so bad but at the end of the day we’re having fun and it is a fantastic festival.”

But the main arena at Bestival was yesterday evacuated over safety fears.

Visitors to the music festival, which is now based at Lulworth Castle, faced days of high winds and heavy rain.

The site became swamped in mud.

On Sunday afternoon, performances on the main Castle Stage were halted before the main arena was completely evacuated.

A post on the festival's Twitter page read: "Due to current high winds and safety of all our festival-goers the Castle Stage and Ambient Forest are both temporarily closed.

“We’ll reopen the stages and areas as soon as possible. Due to high winds and for everyone’s safety the main arena is temporarily closed. Please make your way to the campsites until we reopen gates.”