Wilderfest is back for 2023 at Chessington World of Adventures Resort and with it is a new selection of musical and dance acts that will be headlining the Wilderfest stage where we the audience decide who’s crowned this year’s Wilderfest champion.
Performing at Wilderfest 2023 are, TurtleTok, Dolly Baaarton and Justin Beaver, with DJ Sharky performing in the centre of the park with his famous Foam Party!
Back to host the show, Mr. Fox is back by popular demand showing off this year's best acts. Performing at the mane stage again this year’s acts consist of two singers and a dance act that’s been inspired by TikTok. Of course, it wouldn’t be a concert without special effects, dancers and the great British weather. Come rain or shine this festival isn’t one you can miss out on!
Who wins you decide is back again for 2023 and is a big hit!
TurtleTok is the first act up on the stage who’s been watching and building up her fan base on the popular app TikTok. She’s always one shell ahead of everyone else in the game and is always keeping up to speed with the latest viral songs and dancers. TurtleTok dance set is full of popular sounds from TikTok in 2023 such as musical from the stage musical Matilda. Out of all three acts that performed TurtleTok was our favourite and we can’t wait to see them again.
Making her way from America to London, Dolly Baaarton is making her way to the stage. Cowgirl boots at the ready, Dolly and her friends will dance the night away. The song choices used in the Dolly Baaarton act were really good, and the dancing was great but we wish there was more than 2 songs. A firm favourite in our group! The actress playing the character nailed the accent both times we saw it during the day, it was as if Dolly was actually performing on stage!
He’s put off making a dam for the year and made his way to Chessington to perform, Justin Beaver is our third and final act for 2023. Singing a song with his backing dancers Justin gets the audience ready for a plot twist. He’s back to perform his biggest hit, Baby. Karaoke style! Justin involves everyone from the audience to join in with him and perform some live karaoke. His two fabulous assistants go into the audience armed with a microphone to get volunteers to help Justin out. We really liked Justin Beaver and it was definitely a cool throwback. It's nice to see a male singer involved in this year’s Wilderfest lineup.
At the end of the performance, it's time to vote for your winner, This is done by clapping, stamping your feet and cheering as loud as you can for your favourite act. Of course, we cheered as loud as we could for TurtleTok! The costumes and dancing in this year’s show were really good, the only thing we would like to see change for next year is maybe to have 4 performers just to get a bit more variety in the show. But this year was definitely our favourite Wilderfest event out of all 3 years so far!
DJ Sharky is back performing his famous DJ set in Adventure Point. Back with a bigger crew of dancers, this year's DJ Sharky show is the biggest we’ve ever seen it, features dancing, music and a foam party there’s something for everyone in this year's DJ Sharky set. Everyone always loves a foam party so it's great to see the park expand this section for it to be a 360 stage. Wherever you stand you will be able to join in on the foam party if you wish to. Before the foam party begins DJ Sharky does give a warning to guests who don’t want to be involved to take a step back. We can’t wait to see DJ Sharky again next year.
Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any new merchandise for this year's Wilderfest event. A small range of merchandise from previous years' events can be found in the Adventure Point Gift Shop. Stickers are of course given out by the groups at the end of most shows, so keep an eye out and grab a sticker of your favourite act of 2023 Wilderfest. Food Street is back for 2023, although a bit smaller than previous years there's something for everyone to like!
It's not just the mane stage and Adventure Point that have live music and shows this year, a small pop-up stage has been installed in Wild Asia where there's some more music and a different act than anything we've ever seen at Chessington before! A skeleton dancing to Elvis's music. Random but it somehow became a highlight of the trip and a talking point among our group.
We thoroughly enjoyed Wilderfest 2023, the event feels very fresh and you can tell that Chessington ents management has worked out what works and what doesn't. And they definitely know that DJ Sharky is a big fan favourite and we don't think he will be going anywhere for a long time! The music and shows where great fun, something for all of the family to enjoy. We can't wait to see how the event changes for 2024!
See you at the next festival.
