Should Bestival leave the Isle Of Wight?

[hawkzred]

Just been reading through another thread on the costs of Ferry crossings and the apparent resent from the Isle of wight residents towards Bestival and was thinking, is it time for Rob to consider moving the Festival to the mainland?

Bestival appears to be bucking the trend this year expecting to sell out; and remains popular inspite of the prohibitive ferry prices, but Should Rob consider the costs for the punters attending the festival and look to re-locate? or does its location add to its exclusivety and appeal?

[kaosmark2]

Have you been before?

The Robin Hill Park is excellent, and it's a great place to have a festival. All the hassle surrounding getting there is huge, and personally I would somewhat like it to be somewhere on the mainland, but I think they'd be hard pushed to find a site of similar quality.

Edit: And that's not mentioning all the licensing hassle.

Edited July 9, 2012 by kaosmark2

[grumpyhack]

I think the IoW ferry crossing is the wold's most expensive in terms of cost per mile (though someone may know better).

It does add a significant premium to the cost of getting there.

I've not been to Bestival, so don't know the site, but having been to the IoW Fest this year I wouldn't want to go again. That's in part because of the poor site and organisation this year.

The Bestival site and organisation may be much better but it would have to be very good for me to be prepared to add the £80 or so on top of the ticket price.

[eFestivals]

Have you been before?

The Robin Hill Park is excellent, and it's a great place to have a festival. All the hassle surrounding getting there is huge, and personally I would somewhat like it to be somewhere on the mainland, but I think they'd be hard pushed to find a site of similar quality.

Edit: And that's not mentioning all the licensing hassle.

I don't think the licencing hassle isn't anything that can't be standardly over-come as the laws currently stand, and with just about any landowner up for a festival nowadays finding a site as good - or better, even - is far from impossible (tho there might be a fair bit of work involved in finding one).

Whether Rob would want to move it is another thing, and I'd understand why if he didn't. The trip 'overseas' certainly adds something to the magic of Bestival I'd say, and the site is a good one - and is now embedded to a large extent as a part of what Bestival is.

But having said that, i'd say that the costs and hassle of getting to the island is holding Bestival back to some extent (how much is difficult to guess at). For example, in a non-Glasto year, the likes of Bestival should really be cleaning up - and it's not. The tickets might have sold a bit quicker this year (apparently they have, from what Rob has tweeted) but it's not sold out yet, which it (and some other fests) really should be doing when Glasto isn't there to compete with them .... then again this year has been mighty strange with ticket sales for near enough every fest, so perhaps this year shouldn't be used for comparison purposes (at least, not until next year gets to show whether it's a one-off, or if there's a new pattern emerging).

[kaosmark2]

I don't think the licencing hassle isn't anything that can't be standardly over-come as the laws currently stand, and with just about any landowner up for a festival nowadays finding a site as good - or better, even - is far from impossible (tho there might be a fair bit of work involved in finding one).

Whether Rob would want to move it is another thing, and I'd understand why if he didn't. The trip 'overseas' certainly adds something to the magic of Bestival I'd say, and the site is a good one - and is now embedded to a large extent as a part of what Bestival is.

But having said that, i'd say that the costs and hassle of getting to the island is holding Bestival back to some extent (how much is difficult to guess at). For example, in a non-Glasto year, the likes of Bestival should really be cleaning up - and it's not. The tickets might have sold a bit quicker this year (apparently they have, from what Rob has tweeted) but it's not sold out yet, which it (and some other fests) really should be doing when Glasto isn't there to compete with them .... then again this year has been mighty strange with ticket sales for near enough every fest, so perhaps this year shouldn't be used for comparison purposes (at least, not until next year gets to show whether it's a one-off, or if there's a new pattern emerging).

[Paul ™]

I think it should stay where it is, I go as a foot passenger and only costs £16 return. Obviously I have my travel costs to get there, but that comes in if it was down south anyway.

[Joe-]

The site is brilliant.

But, if they could find an exact same location on the mainland, then I'd like it more. Ferry and travel is the biggest fucking annoyance. It's totally worth it and everything, but just so inconvenient.

[Kowalski]

Yeah they should stick in the North East of Scotland.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

The Bestival site and organisation may be much better but it would have to be very good for me to be prepared to add the £80 or so on top of the ticket price.

[rug568]

It cost me £115 return this year for a car and 3 people for Bestival. I booked it in January too thinking it would be cheaper to book early.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

that is outrageous.

[hawkzred]

Have you been before?

The Robin Hill Park is excellent, and it's a great place to have a festival. All the hassle surrounding getting there is huge, and personally I would somewhat like it to be somewhere on the mainland, but I think they'd be hard pushed to find a site of similar quality.

Edit: And that's not mentioning all the licensing hassle.

Edited July 10, 2012 by hawkzred

[Dave The Hedgehog]

In a word, yes.

I've never been to Glasto before (Bestival being the logical alternative for people this year) but in theory, if it were on this year and I were going, it'd cost me the price of a tank of fuel to get there plus the cost of the ticket. Can I say the same for Bestival? Not a chance. I have my criticisms and perceptions of Glasto but ultimately, deep down of course I'd like to go to it, but compare what you get at Glastonbury how much you pay for it, line it up on paper alongside what you get and pay for at Bestival, work out how much the logistics will cost then tell me - is it worth paying more when you get so much less?

I don't buy the whole travelling overseas/magical experience bullshit either; it's not a fucking pirate ship we're travelling on; it's an obstruction, and the fact it's on the Isle of Wight is superficial. Change the location and you're eliminating a massive problem.

[kaosmark2]

Yes I went last year and like yourself it was purely on the basis that I had to see The Cure. I had been toying with the idea of going before that; everytime the cost of travel prevented us as a group making the journey.

Robin Park is superb, although I would not say it is a better festival site than Eastnor Castle (Big Chill) or Henham Park (Latitude). Those locations might not be able to manage 55,000 capacity but I am sure there are others that are equally picteresque that can.

There is also a gaping hole for a large festival in the South of Engalnd (Devon or Dorset ideally) and I dont know how much more Bestival can grow on Robin Park?

[eFestivals]

There is also a gaping hole for a large festival in the South of Engalnd (Devon or Dorset ideally) and I dont know how much more Bestival can grow on Robin Park?

there's a reason why there's few festivals in Devon (and Cornwall), and that's because they always bomb.

And, from the little I know, it seems that Dorset is quite hostile towards festivals and that's why there's few sited there.

[hawkzred]

there's a reason why there's few festivals in Devon (and Cornwall), and that's because they always bomb.

And, from the little I know, it seems that Dorset is quite hostile towards festivals and that's why there's few sited there.

Edited July 10, 2012 by hawkzred

[eFestivals]

As Bestival is already an established and popular festival, making it more accessible and affordable by moving it to Devon or Dorset (not far from it's 'spiritual home') should leave minimal risk of it bombing.

I suppose the issue is that festival's of a medium or large scale are unprecedented in that area, which could be an obstacle for licenses?

yeah, I'd guess that an established fest would transfer better than starting a new one in Devon, tho I reckon it would still have a negative effect over time. While it certainly doesn't apply with everyone, Londoners - which make up a big part of the Bestival audience I'd say - tend to get nosebleed syndrome if they venture too far from the smoke. For example, the move of WOMAD from Reading to Wilts lost it some of its previous clientèle, because they felt it was too far to travel.

In theory, the size of a fest shouldn't affect licencing (as long as the plans are suitable, of course), but I'd guess the reality is a bit different. I'd guess that council officials who didn't have experience of dealing with a large fest would express their concerns over their own inexperience by imposing tougher conditions onto a large fest than it might need.

[kaosmark2]

And Bestival has entertainment right through until 4am or something. Only the mainstage stops at anything resembling a standard curfew. Lots of other councils might have a problem with that.

[hawkzred]

And Bestival has entertainment right through until 4am or something. Only the mainstage stops at anything resembling a standard curfew. Lots of other councils might have a problem with that.

Edited July 10, 2012 by hawkzred

[kaosmark2]

I think it depends more on the type of festival site being away from Residential areas i.e. Big Chill, Glastonbury Rockness & Latitude all have music late into the night because they are all relatively isolated and rural. If a similar type of site could be found in the South then hopefully this should not be too much of an issue.

[hawkzred]

Aye. But it's another thing that limits options. None of these are absolute problems, but they add up to make it difficult to find somewhere.

Edited July 10, 2012 by hawkzred

[Dave The Hedgehog]

there's a reason why there's few festivals in Devon (and Cornwall), and that's because they always bomb.

[grumpyhack]

there's a reason why there's few festivals in Devon (and Cornwall), and that's because they always bomb.

And, from the little I know, it seems that Dorset is quite hostile towards festivals and that's why there's few sited there.

[eFestivals]

Just out of interest, few questions:

- Where, if anywhere else other than the Isle of Wight, would you put Bestival if it were on the mainland and how do you think it would change the festival?

I've no idea. I gave up on the idea of putting on a festival years ago, well aware that the regulation would make it something different to what I would like it to be.

- What new festivals are you actually looking at with interest to see how/if they develop, and which of these do you think will succeed and which will bomb?

I'm seeing nothing that's doing anything outside of what can be bought at the Standard Festival Kit Shop, and so I think to a very large degree it comes down to very little more than luck with what will succeed or fail.

There are some festivals which are doing those standard things slightly better than others - and some of those don't get the recognition they deserve for it - but it appears to be the case that innovation is dead, or has been regulated out of existence.

[eFestivals]

I'm off to Chagstock in Devon on July 20th. Lovely little festival

http://www.chagstock.info/about.aspx

going in its present form since 2007 and seems to be surviving.

'always' was of course an overstatement.

I was talking more about the various attempts over the years at holding big festivals in Devon and Cornwall - I'd guess the last attempts were around the eclipse in '99(?) - which don't seem to have done well financially, even if they might have been fun from a punter's point of view (which Treworgy certainly was ).

Edited July 10, 2012 by eFestivals