Beachdown Festival 2009

[Tasha141]

Hello

I was just wondering if there is a fancy dress theme for this festival?!

Who is going to this festival and is it worth the £100? I'm just a bit put off by their 'no drinks policy' more info to this here. Was the policy the same last year?....Hmm... just bit annoying I think. You dont want to spend hundreds of pounds on drinks while there. never heard other festivals have that policy... ?!

I'd appreaciate any comments from people who are going to Beachdown or who have been there last year

Tasha

[cavey]

We went last year.

It had a nice vibe although it was a bit disorganised to start with. Campsite 8 hour late in opening, not enough toilets at the start etc. The organisers did respond quickly to problems and generally it was good fun. Weather was awful at times and it was the coldest I have ever been at a festival as the wind whipped straight up from the sea.

The alcohol ban is set by the local council as one of the licensing conditions - I can only think that they want to stop this festival by foul means if not by fair.

We had already bought tickets on the basis of last year before this ruling was announced and to be honest we would not have done so if we had known there was no alcohol on the campsite.

I resent not being able to take my own stuff into arenas at the best of times, but to be told you can't have your own drinks whilst sitting around the campsite is not on, and makes for a very dry or expensive weekend.

I think they will struggle, hence the attempt to justify it on the website, it would be interesting to see how sales are going. Having said that, last year there were a lot of ravers and scenesters and I don't think alcohol was their drug of choice, I don't see the point in an alcohol ban when it just pushes people towards class A drugs instead.

I am just hoping that they won't try to enforce the booze ban to rigourously

[Corporal Clegg]

Going to this one as it's on my doorstep.Hopefully they'll make a success of this one and not ruin it with too much regulations. The alcohol thing is probably just a requirement of the license like a lot of festivals.Some friends went last year and didn't have any problems.

[thischarmingman]

I went last year too and for the most part it was a lot of fun. I'll be going back this year.

The whole alcohol thing is annoying but not difficult to get around. My girlfriend and I went back to the car at regular intervals during the weekend and smuggled several cases in without too much effort.

We were also able to drink them within the stage areas without anyone saying anything. I don't remember spending more money than at any other festival. Not sure how strict they'll be this year, but I imagine it will be fine as long as you don't take the piss.

On the whole nice vibe about the place, but I do have to agree - it was cold at times - even in the sunshine. On the flipside of that, the main stage was set down in a valley and resultantly the sound was pretty impressive for a little festival.

There's also a pub right next to it which proved to be lovely when the heavens opened on the Sunday. I know this defeats the object a bit but hey.

There were quite a few 'ravers' there, but I certainly didn't think the ratio was any more than at any other festival. There's the added bonus of having music for 4 days, so it's pretty good value for £100.

And the toilets were great! I even managed my first ever shower at a festival!

..showers..taking shelter in pubs.. I'm going soft!

Go along! You'll enjoy yourself!

[Corporal Clegg]

I think the weather was bad everywhere last year but this one is more exposed than most festivals if the weather turns . Glastonbury for the most part was a scorcher this year so goods signs for the rest of the summer let's hope! If the weather is nice up there the views are spectacular.

[sdaveak47]

Yeah i'm thinking of giving it a whirl this year as its on my doorstep, the no booze in the campsite thing takes the piss, but as i'm camping im not too fussed.

a mate of mine say's cypress hill are playing its just not been annouced yet, dont know how true that is

[cavey]

a mate of mine say's cypress hill are playing its just not been annouced yet, dont know how true that is

[sdaveak47]

I know for a fact the specials were lined up to headline, they even shook hands on the deal but then the manager doubled the fee and the whole thing fell apart

[Abensie]

I have two tickets for Beachdown and i cannot afford to go now. Will sell them for £100 for the pair if anyone is interested? Please PM me and i will send contact details. Live in London for pick up. Really gutted but just had another hol that cost me more than i bargained for.

[stillill]

Just got an email saying this had been CANCELLED [maybe?]

#Dear xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We're writing to let you know that due to unforseen circumstancecs BEACHDOWN FES

at DEVIL'S DYKE, BRIGHTON on 28/08/2009 has been cancelled, and

won't be rescheduled.

Please return your 1 ticket(s) for a face value refund,

along with a

copy of this E-mail to See Tickets,Customer Services, 4th Floor,

Norfolk House, Upper Parliament Street, Nottingham NG1 2AB.

We strongly recommend that all tickets are returned by a secure postal

service to ensure delivery. Refunds will not be issued if we do not receive

the ticket(s).

Edited August 24, 2009 by stillill

[eFestivals]

Just got an email saying this had been CANCELLED

I don't necessarily disbelieve you, but as yet haven't been able to get any confirmation that this is indeed true.

[stillill]

I don't necessarily disbelieve you, but as yet haven't been able to get any confirmation that this is indeed true.

Edited August 24, 2009 by stillill

[cavey]

I just rang the festival office 01273 666363.

They are apparently "in a team meeting" and was told to call back after 1pm.

Not looking too promising at the moment!

[eFestivals]

yet Beachdown Myspace where updating on day-ticket sales etc after 11am...

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseact...logId=507038430

hmmmm ..... all that gives me is the smell of bullshit, given that the Beachdown website says "last few tickets available".

Edited August 24, 2009 by eFestivals

[Marathon_Man]

They've confirmed on Twitter that it's not cancelled so all is now good in the world again!

[stillill]

SeeTickets diddies say:

Dear *************

We are writing in reference to you order for BEACHDOWN FESTIVAL at

DEVIL'S DYKE, BRIGHTON 28/08/2009 .

You may have received an email in error advising you that this event has been

cancelled, please be aware that Prince Buster has cancelled his performance

but the rest of the festival is still going ahead. If you wish to claim a

refund because of this please call our 24 hour ticketline on 0115 9129000

Yours sincerely, See Tickets Customer Services

-------------

[eFestivals]

right, have got to the bottom of it .....

The festival is still happening. Prince Buster has pulled out.

Due to some sort of miscommunication error, See Tickets managed to send out the email posted above, but only to around ten people. Those people will be getting another email, comfirming that the first was an error.

[beetroot76]

Friend has bailed on me so will be going alone... anyone else on their own and fancy meeting up?

[cavey]

Oh bugger - looks like we may have lost our money as we bought through trinity direct who went bust a few months ago. Anyone know how we stand legally?

From: Joe Pidgeon <joe@beachdownfestival.com>

Date: 25 August 2009 20:06:40 GMT+01:00

To: Alix Wenmouth

Subject: Announcement

Dear All

It is with immense personal regret that the Directors of Beachdown Festival have been advised that they must announce that due to slower than forecast ticket-sales and lack of support at a critical time from our bank and certain suppliers that despite being so so close to being able to deliver Beachdown Festival we are unable to do so. Very simply we were unable to meet the demands that the current economic climate put against us and at the eleventh hour despite having most of the infrastructure in place we have been forced to cancel the event.

We wish to say at this time how desperately sorry we are to all those who have bought tickets or were participating in the event and to say that we all here are personally shattered expecially after eleven months of battling against the recession to try and put this event on and coming so close. We also wish to advise everyone that we explored every possible avenue to finance the event including re-mortgaging our houses to combat the unwillingness of banks to support us.

We will do everything in our power to give the best information that we can via the web-site and via email but we ask that people understand that we will also be inundated with enquiries but we will endeavour to communicate to everyone as best we can.

We ask all ticket-holders to get information from the outlet that you purchased the ticket from in the first instance and once again we will do everything we can to get as much infrmation as we can to everyone as quickly as we can.

Directors

Beachdown Festival

[SFrench]

Have our own party at Devil's Dyke and show the organisers all is not lost. I've already brought my food and drink, got a tent etc. Why not ?

[SFrench]

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=122968961774

[eFestivals]

Oh bugger - looks like we may have lost our money as we bought through trinity direct who went bust a few months ago. Anyone know how we stand legally?

if you paid with a credit card your credit card company will refund.

[eFestivals]

We heard around yesterday lunchtime from a very well-placed source that this was going to happen, tho we couldn't find anything to verify what we were told, so didn't run a story. We don't want to undermine an event that is OK by running a story like that if we can't be 100% certain of what we've been told.

What we have known since the end of last year is that ticket money from sales for this year was being used to pay off some of last year's debts (some debts still haven't been settled and are proceding to court), which made this year's event seem unviable to us.

You might have noticed that eFestivals didn't run any news on the various Beachdown announcements for this year, and that was deliberate - knowing what we do know, we always felt it was unlikely to happen or if it did go ahead it probably wouldn't be much like it was advertised as - and so we didn't think it was wise to encourage our readers to go by running news stories about it.

We did seriously consider not listing it at all, but if we took too strict a line then very few events could be listed, because so many (even very established ones) exist in a somewhat precarious financial area.

It's worth noting that there are some festivals that we don't list - if we've not listed a festival, there's normally a VERY good reason, and it's probably one to avoid. However, as it's possible that it's simply the case that we're not aware of it, it's worth checking with us (email newsroom@efestivals.co.uk) as to why it's not been listed.

[kyjenni]

So another festival bites the dust! Neil - do you guys have a count going of the number of festivals cancelled this year so far and the reasons (or believed reasons!) why?

[eFestivals]

So another festival bites the dust! Neil - do you guys have a count going of the number of festivals cancelled this year so far and the reasons (or believed reasons!) why?

yes and yes.