New Restricions on Alcohol

[cavey]

It's all kicking off on Facebook!

Have a look at the new T & C's regarding alcohol - We were assured here earlier in the year by Rob Challice that this WOULD not be happening and yet SSW have announced these measures with less than a week to go, letting down all the customers who bought their tickets in good faith that previous policy would not be changed

Attendees will be allowed one entry with their alcohol allowance. The checks will be made at the main entrance and the campsite entrances.

The allowances are as follows:

No Glass is allowed on site whatsoever. No bottles of spirits.

WEEKEND TICKET HOLDERS CAN BRING:

• 12 Cans of beer/cider/lager

• OR 2 litres of wine or mixed drinks

• AND soft drinks as desired

DAY TICKET HOLDERS CAN BRING:

• 4 Cans of beer/cider/lager

• OR 1 litre wine or mixed drinks

• AND soft drinks as desired

Chaos and bad vibes all round I would say!

Edited August 4, 2011 by cavey

[ashjake0]

too right- i feel ripped off- the idea was that the ticket price for this size venue is a little dearer than others but this was compensated for the fact you could bring you own tins in... now we are gunna feel trapped into paying over the odds prices for beer in plastic cups... a con really considereing what was staed earlier in the year.

not happy

[gama]

Come on , be a happier person ~ ~ ~ *

Edited August 4, 2011 by gama

[ashjake0]

as a week end ticket holder does that mean i can bring 4 cans on each 3 days = to my 12 can allowance or do i have to bring in 12 cans in one go??

[ceph]

got to be honest but whats the problem? if you go to a festival to spend most of your time tooing and froing at the offie on london road to reduce costs surely thats missing the point? its getting extremely rare these days that bringing your own beer into the area is allowed.

4 cans to set up the day and then enjoy the awesome cocktails and ales on offer within the festival. Its not like the bars are sponsored by a horrible corporation they're run by orange tree and the musician (?) if this means that summer sundae will be here next year then i'll happily do this.

ONE WEEK TO GO!

ceph

[ashjake0]

"4 cans to set up the day and then enjoy the awesome cocktails and ales on offer within the festival"

i agree its just that the policy seems to read that a weekend ticket holder has to bring in 12 cans all in one day-

"Attendees will be allowed one entry with their alcohol allowance. The checks will be made at the main entrance and the campsite entrances."

and-

WEEKEND TICKET HOLDERS CAN BRING:

• 12 Cans of beer/cider/lager

• OR 2 litres of wine or mixed drinks

• AND soft drinks as desired

i just want confirmation i can split my 12 can allocation over the whole 3 days?? can anyone help??

Rich

[Niblet]

It's just galling that these restrictions are being put in place, I understand that you can but Alcohol on site and you are allowed to take in a small amount, but one of the factors that kept me going to SSW is the fact you could bring in your own booze, have a nice variety of whatever you fancied.

I was looking forward to making up a nice 2 litre bottle of Skittles Vokda and lemonade, something which I would quaff and share amongst our friends. Now I'm rationed to a 1 litre bottle and no beer, or beer and nothing to accompany it (I can only make if for a day this year).

This is another nail in the coffin of SSW.

I will be looking elsewhere next year, I can see this becoming a very teen oriented festival, it seems as though these measures are being put in place as they have to control the children that attend...

[ashjake0]

"it seems as though these measures are being put in place as they have to control the children that attend..."

i think you are right, but most of use more mature drinkers don't need this control.. also as i have said previously SSW is a little more pricey for the line up & being a mid-table festival, so a compensation has always been that you can bring your own tinnies in.

if they had introduced this next year as a fresh policy & not, as they have done this year, almost under the radar,after most have bought tickets,then people could make their own minds up before buying a ticket... i feel a bit conned to be honest.

[CuttersChoice]

I am outraged by this decision, to the fact I have written post, I've lurked on this site for 5 years but never felt the need to say something till today!

This would of been my 5th summer sundae but alas last year was my last.

I have tickets but will be asking for a refund as the terms and conditions to which I bought the tickets have changed.

Our plan was to go to summer sundae (staying in a campervan), head staight down to to Torquay for a few days then onto Beautiful Days, there are 4 adults in our group and all the alcohol has been purchased, spirits have been decanted in plastic bottles. I am not in a financial position to take my new 'allowance' into the festival and buy at the festival or in a postion to buy more for the second part of our trip. I'm not going to risk trying to hide it and then have it confiscated.

I feel completely conned, I have in previous years encouraged friends to come along but not anymore, I might as well go to V.

I urge everyone to write to the organisers and make their complaints, whether or not that changes anything is a different matter but they need to know how incensed we all are.

[ashjake0]

too right... the conditipons too which the tickets were marketed, sold & eventually purchased have changed on this issue. People have obviously planned for the original policy & now they say they want to confiscate our property!!! sounds like a con

[James_SSW]

Hello All,

We will be issuing a statement tomorrow which will endeavour to answer many of your comments regarding the festival information. Responses were given to several comments yesterday, following the initial announcement.

[CuttersChoice]

James_SSW

Where was the intial announcement? I haven't seen an announcement anywhere.

I have emailed the festival organisers and hope they take our concerns seriously and reply

[ceph]

WOAH how can people complain that the festival doesn't care about them? When after a rule change, means suddenly it changes everything and they want to go elsewhere? haven't people kept up with the troubles summer sundae has had. The glory days lost money, you can't keep going if you lose money.

Lets not forget its still very priveledged that they allow booze into the festival, plus not accepting any corporate sponsorship for the bars!?! the money you buy at the festival goes back into leicester/summersundae instead of the offie along london road. Its not even that the prices are expensive either. I'd choose a cocktail freshly made from orange tree or a nice ale from the tent anyday over some warm cans of carling out of a blue bag.

How much do people usually bring in 12 cans to me seems very reasonable? if you've got enough hands to carry more than 12 cans per person then you need to enter a strong man competion and quit drinking.

Totally being blown out of all proportion yet again, really saddens me that people can get so excited about this especially on a day when the festival season loses Truck.

[butchwade]

It's just galling that these restrictions are being put in place, I understand that you can but Alcohol on site and you are allowed to take in a small amount, but one of the factors that kept me going to SSW is the fact you could bring in your own booze, have a nice variety of whatever you fancied.

I was looking forward to making up a nice 2 litre bottle of Skittles Vokda and lemonade, something which I would quaff and share amongst our friends. Now I'm rationed to a 1 litre bottle and no beer, or beer and nothing to accompany it (I can only make if for a day this year).

This is another nail in the coffin of SSW.

I will be looking elsewhere next year, I can see this becoming a very teen oriented festival, it seems as though these measures are being put in place as they have to control the children that attend...

[butchwade]

I was looking forwards to your skittles vodka too Niblet!

[cavey]

How much do people usually bring in 12 cans to me seems very reasonable? if you've got enough hands to carry more than 12 cans per person then you need to enter a strong man competion and quit drinking.

Edited August 4, 2011 by cavey

[little car]

How will they know if your soft drinks are laced with vodka? Or if your 2 litre bottle of shandy pop has something a little stronger in it? Not that I would advocate that sort of thing of course...

Wouldn't be so bad if there was a selection of veggie-friendly beers on sale inside the festival.

[DungenessB]

How will they know if your soft drinks are laced with vodka? Or if your 2 litre bottle of shandy pop has something a little stronger in it?

[flannel]

The rules are not clear regarding spirits - can't we take any in?

[hellcats]

Aside of the fact that this has been changed at the last minute (and, in my opinion, it's probably on purpose so that most people have already made all their travel plans etc so they will lose even more if they cancel and demand refunds) and that it may well be illegal to do so...if they were to double that amount to 6 cans per person per day how would everyone feel about that? As someone pointed out, it's nice to go and have a few beers before bed with your mates and given that most people will have drunk their quota within the first day or two this is now unlikely to happen for most!

I have to say that if this new organiser promised people that things wouldn't change then this is indeed a very poor show - everyone's suffering financially, not just the festivals! If he has any sense then he will rethink this policy, and fast - before next week! (And this comes from someone who is not affected by this either way)

[beautifulloser]

I have to say I am quite surprised by the reaction to this. Whilst the timing could have been better I don't don't what has gone on behind the scenes and I imagine it is simply a case of generating income principally which I understand. The festival has to make money to have a chance of even existiing next year and i for one would rather it did! The general laid back feel to the festival will still remain and hopefully with less drunk kids everywhere ( god I sound old!). I was never one for bringing drinks in, did it once and it was depressing drinking warm larger from a can and carrying them round but that's my view.

Also no disrespect to those on here and Facebook who are unhappy and considering storming the barricades but my guess is that the dissenters will account for less than 1% of the total attendance, you can't please all the people all the time.

This is a music festival not a beer festival!

Frankly more annoyed by the pierces withdrawal but then again I haven't got over the hold steady pulling out either years ago, I might ask for a refund........

[Rob ic]

Hi All,

Still reading your comments this morning and writing a statement that hopefully will address most of the points. Should be up by midday.

Meanwhile, there was an article in today's Mercury and some comments:

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Summer-Sundae-puts-strict-limits-brought-booze/story-13078456-detail/story.html

Some of the comments do hurt. But recognise that a number of you are p*ssed off.

Thanks Ceph for your comments.

And if you thought it any easier out there for other festivals, please read the news in the last day.

Truck bankrupt. Festinho and Ignition cancelled.

HOWEVER. We are looking forward to a good weekend. It will be an expensive weekend for me, but this is what I signed up for. Summer Sundae has always relied on subsidy and this year is no different.

best

Rob

[beautifulloser]

Ps not suggesting the organisers are to blame over band withdrawals! I think they are doing a great job in tough times

[Rob ic]

*****AMMENDMENT TO BELOW:

We have listened to your comments and as ever are keen to take action where possible to alleviate your concerns.

We’ve taken note that one of the main issues is that we are asking weekend attendees to bring in only one load of alcohol. As many of you have said, this would affect the non-camping attendee the most.

We are therefore going to adjust our policy for weekend ticket holders as follows. If you want to split your allowance per day we will “mark” the wristband per day. Three marks and you have used up your full weekend allowance.

In order that the policy is also fair to those who still want to bring their allocation in all at once, the restrictions have now been amended to the below.

We hope you understand that we are doing all we can to make this policy fair whilst also ensuring that Summer Sundae continues as a successful event. We hope that we can move past this issue and focus on producing another great festival which we look forward to welcoming you to.

No glass is allowed. No bottles of spirits are allowed.

Weekend Ticket Holders:

This quantity can be brought in over 3 days as desired and will be marked off accordingly on customer wristbands

12 Pack cans beer/cider/lager

OR 3 Litres wine or mixed drink in a plastic bottle AND soft drinks as desired

Day Ticket Holders:

4 pack cans beer/cider/lager

OR one Litre wine or mixed drink in a plastic bottle AND soft drinks as desired

*******************************************************************

We have just posted this: http://summersundae.com/the-alcohol-policy-explained

We sincerely apologise to any Summer Sundae fans that are upset about our decision to limit alcohol at the festival this year, and the lateness of its announcement.

We hope that the below will answer most of your questions and comments about this.

One of our main reasons for putting a restriction in place is that we are aware of growing problems at Summer Sundae with underage drinking in both the campsites and main arena. We feel it is our responsibility as event organisers to take some action on this. One option we have considered is to implement a restriction similar to many other festivals, whereby alcohol is allowed into the campsites only, and not the main arena. However, we decided that this would not sufficiently address the issue of underage drinking on the campsites. Plus with 75% of our attendees being non-campers with no access to the campsite, we realized we needed to implement a reasonable solution across the board.

Another reason revolves around the fact that, after a very successful Summer Sundae 2010 we received a number of comments about the bars, with customers calling for a return of the Orange Tree in 2011 and stressing how important it was to them to have quality reasonably priced bars on site. We have done our utmost to honour this request and have brought Orange Tree back this year with some excellent new structures and spaces, along with their usual selection of cocktails, real ales and beers. We also do our utmost every year to keep prices on all food and drink at the festival reasonable, and this includes all bars on site. Our aims to give you what you want in terms of well priced quality refreshments served in a welcoming and well designed environment simply cannot stand side by side with allowing you to bring in an unrestricted amount of alcohol on site.

It must also be remembered that the revenue made from the bars at Summer Sundae goes towards funding other parts of the festival, including The Garden and Village which again we really want to continue to provide for you. There have been a few comments posted recently which assume that we the organisers of Summer Sundae are implementing this change as some kind of ploy to make a great profit from the festival. We would like to assure you that we are not. The festival will this year as in previous years be making a loss. As many of you know we have taken over the management of the festival from Leicester City Council this year which includes a large share of the financial risk. Please rest assured that this decision is not borne from a desire to make financial profit, but from a desire to ensure that Summer Sundae, an event we care a lot about, can continue and have a successful future.

For those of you worried that you will be treated in a heavy handed manner when arriving on site, please be assured that our security and stewards will treat you in the same friendly and respectful way as they always have. There will also be an increased number of staff available at the front entrance to help and answer any questions you may have about what you can bring on site. And for those of you confused about what you are allowed to bring with you, please see below a further explanation on how the policy will work.

Lastly, we feel it is important to say that any alcohol taken into any festival or event is at the discretion of the respective organisers. As you will know many organisers deny alcohol outright, and some allow it only on the campsites. We have attempted to find a reasonable solution to solve the issues raised above and to allow us to deliver a quality event this year and beyond. We will not cut corners on the quality of entertainment and production provided at the festival. We are truly sorry if you feel that we have undermined the trust you have in an event by announcing these restrictions this late, however we do believe that we are acting for the good of the festival as a whole.

How the alcohol restriction will work:

Attendees carrying alcohol will be allowed to bring one amount into the festival. Their wristband will be marked accordingly when they bring alcohol in. That does not have to be on your first visit, it can be your 2nd or 3rd, however we are restricting that to one load per person.

Restrictions per person are as follows:

No glass is allowed. No bottles of spirits are allowed.

Weekend Ticket Holders

12 Pack cans beer/cider/bitter

OR 2 Litre wine or mixed drink in a plastic bottle.

AND Soft drinks as desired.

Day ticket holders

4 pack cans beer/cider/bitter

OR one litre of wine or mixed drink in a plastic bottle.

AND Soft drinks if desired

Edited August 5, 2011 by Rob ic

[beautifulloser]

sorry double post

Edited August 5, 2011 by beautifulloser