Travel Information

- around the festival site — Photo credit: Steve Collins

Getting to the Isle of Wight.

Ferries

If coming by you do not live on the Island and you haven't bought a travel and ticket package from one of our ferry operators, you will need to buy your ferry crossings to and from the Island. It is cheaper to do this as soon as possible through one of the following:

Wightlink - www.wightlink.co.uk / 0871 376 1000

Red Funnel - www.redfunnel.co.uk 0844 844 9988

Hovertravel - www.hovertravel.co.uk 01983 811000

Please note that if you are bringing a car over you will need to book a time and stick to it - during the festivals the ferries are running at capacity, so if you miss your booking, you may face a wait of several hours until you get on as they will put the booked cars on first.
If coming by foot you do not need to book, however the queues for the ferries can be long and you may have a wait at peak times.

Wightlink foot passenger 'FastCat' runs from Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Pier Head in around 15 minutes. Wightlink car and passenger ferries run from Portsmouth to Fishbourne and Lymington to Yarmouth (for those living in the South West) in approx 35 minutes.

Red Funnel passenger/vehicle ferries go from Southampton to East Cowes. The crossing takes approx 50 mins and sailings connect with shuttle buses to the festival. Foot passengers can also travel on the 'Red Jet' service from Southampton to West Cowes which takes approx. 20 mins.

Hovertravel takes 10 minutes to reach the Isle of Wight. The foot-passenger hovercraft departs Southsea seafront in Portsmouth and travels to Ryde town on the Island.

Train

South West Trains operate services to Portsmouth Harbour, where you will be metres away from the Wightlink 'FastCat' service, to Portsmouth and Southsea, where a bus will transfer you to Hovertravel's terminal, and to Southampton Central where a free festival bus will take you the short journey to Red Funnel's 'Red Jet' and passenger/vehicle service. There are also buses which take you to the festival site.

Car

It's a bit of a drive to the site once you get off the ferry, remember that you still need to pre-book your Ferry travel. Once on the island follow the signs (or traffic) to the festival site, and be prepared to pay a parking fee. There is also the option of car sharing. Once parked up, there is a short walk to the campsites, however the ones closest to the arena are a tidy walk and will fill up early.

Campervan

Follow the campervan parking signs, and you'll eventually be parked in the campervan field, which is the furthest field from the arena, it has basic amenities on site, and is a reasonably level area.

back to Isle Of Wight Festival Information

For more general information and advice, see the main information section.

festival information by: Steve Collins