BoomTown 2014

[eFestivals]

no idea.

But I do now know that i'm going.

[jimmyt]

no idea.

But I do now know that i'm going.

Excellent stuff! Can't let the kids have all the fun. Thursday efests meet up then! Having chosen not to enter Sunday's Glastonbury ticket bun-fight (and, having made the decision, for a couple of reasons, sticking to it despite a phone call from someone with a page open inside a minute or so) my summer's all about Boomtown, now. And, possibly, Neil Young at Hyde Park.

[Paul ™]

no idea.

But I do now know that i'm going.

Cool.

Thursday meet sounds good

[eFestivals]

Thursday meet sounds good

it's only good for me if I'm there on the thursday night, which I wasn't last year. Not 100% on my plans as yet.

[Paul ™]

No worries.

What's the deal with drinks in Boomtown?

What sort of prices/range do they have, will I get a decent cider?

Edited May 1, 2014 by Paul ™

[5co77ie]

what's your definition of decent? ..with a dead rat floating in it, cloudy, and a comedown the next day that leaves you lying in the middle of Old Town wondering where you left your undergarments? That good? Try the cider bar... or look for the barrels mannn, there's a few hidden venues with boxes about

The kind of good that means clear, and expensive and nowhere near real cider - no probably not

Edited May 1, 2014 by 5co77ie

[eFestivals]

No worries.

What's the deal with drinks in Boomtown?

What sort of prices/range do they have, will I get a decent cider?

as far as I remember, the prices weren't too bad and they had decent cider and ales ... but only till they ran out, which they seemed to do each day.

[Paul ™]

what's your definition of decent? ..with a dead rat floating in it, cloudy, and a comedown the next day that leaves you lying in the middle of Old Town wondering where you left your undergarments? That good? Try the cider bar... or look for the barrels mannn, there's a few hidden venues with boxes about

Yeah that sounds like the one for me

as far as I remember, the prices weren't too bad and they had decent cider and ales ... but only till they ran out, which they seemed to do each day.

Cheers Neil

[jimmyt]

Last year there was an excellent choice at The Bad Apple in the Town Centre area of Old Town. The bars were generally good with limited waiting times - the small bars in the "beach" areas in the woods had a much smaller selection bit were good for shot and mixer, some of the cocktails in Mayfair were lovely. Oh, and a lot cheaper than most other festivals (although still not exactly Wetherspoons but then that's no bad thing!) which is why they limit you so much on what you're allowed to bring in.

Edit: my phone made it appear there were no replies to your drinks enquiries until after I posted! Neil is absolutely right about the running out of drinks far too early each day although that seemed to be more of an issue for ales than cider to me. The bars down the bottom never had a problem with lagers and fizzy alcoholic Apple flavoured drinks, if that's what you call cider!

Edited May 1, 2014 by jimmyt

[Paul ™]

Thanks jimmyt, very helpful.

Yeah won't be taking much with me as will be working away at other events both pre and post Boomtown so will be travelling very light

[knivesout]

far too excited for my first boomtown, fair few of my friends have been going for the last 2 years or so and after rapturous recommendations in real life and on here/urban75 i thought i'd finally take the plunge. see y'all there!

[ybelgrave1]

Hey all! looking forward to Boomtown this year, if it's anything like last year should be a blast (minus the police harassment of course)... it just struck me that no one has really talked about how badly it got hit last year by tent thieves (a long with a whole load of other fests). I'm sure they will tighten up on campsite security this year but there is a limit to how much they can do about it so for any newbies...

Keep your valuables in your sleeping bag at night. Can't stress this enough. Last year on the first night people came into our tent whilst we were sleeping in it and stole all of my friends' money a long with a few other things...One of my friends woke up while this was happening but the guy said he had got the wrong tent (he was also shining a torch in her face so she couldn't see him).

In total, about two grand in cash got taken from them and all the people in the surrounding area. Needless to say it wasn't the best start to the weekend. I got talking to lots of people over the weekend who had also been robbed in their sleep and I think the only campsite that didn't get hit (to my knowledge anyway) was Trenchtown- probably because of its proximity to the Police base.

Anyway I don't want to spook anyone, it's a fantastic festival. I just wouldn't want anyone else to go through that. Enjoy and see you all for the madness!

[gooner1990]

What's BoomTown like getting in 'supplies' - not been before but heard the police presence at the gates is heavy...can anyone enlighten me on the search procedure and if they have dogs etc at the gates?

[ybelgrave1]

What's BoomTown like getting in 'supplies' - not been before but heard the police presence at the gates is heavy...can anyone enlighten me on the search procedure and if they have dogs etc at the gates?

Pretty strict. They didn't have any dogs working on the Thursday when I went in with my friends but we went to pick up a friend at the gates on the Friday morning and saw dogs pull a good few people up.

[gooner1990]

Pretty strict. They didn't have any dogs working on the Thursday when I went in with my friends but we went to pick up a friend at the gates on the Friday morning and saw dogs pull a good few people up.

Do they pull your bags apart etc?? I'm only an occasional class-a user these days so will only be bringing in some for late night...but couple of my mates are weed smokers so bit worried some spaniel is going to have it at the gates!

[eFestivals]

Pretty strict. They didn't have any dogs working on the Thursday when I went in with my friends but we went to pick up a friend at the gates on the Friday morning and saw dogs pull a good few people up.

they had dogs working on the thursday when I went in, and *EVERY* vehicle entering that gate was getting searched first by security and then having the dogs go round it.

Essentially, every year Hampshire police take the biggest anti-drugs measures I've yet seen at festivals.

[gooner1990]

they had dogs working on the thursday when I went in, and *EVERY* vehicle entering that gate was getting searched first by security and then having the dogs go round it.

Essentially, every year Hampshire police take the biggest anti-drugs measures I've yet seen at festivals.

Makes you wonder how anyone manages to get anything in?! Do security pull the car apart? I'll be arriving by car........basically if it's likely that we will get caught then I may not bother brinigng anything at all!

Are dogs only trained to sniff out one thing?

[Harry3]

I think Neil is on about working/crew vehicles being searched?

We arrived by car midday on Thursday as punters and didnt get searched, but there was a Facebook post from one of the stalls saying that every crew van had a dog go round it...

Also the Bad Apple bar last year was awesome, I think it was £3.50 for a pint of 8% Jennys Jungle Juice.

[eFestivals]

I think Neil is on about working/crew vehicles being searched?

I am talking about what was mostly a crew gate, tho public campervans went thru there too, and the old bill with their dogs moved around to the various entrances at different times.

We arrived by car midday on Thursday as punters and didnt get searched,

it's luck of the draw for whether anyone gets searched. They were definitely putting the dogs over the punters at some points (because some people told me about it).

[JamieT567]

Hello all, first time going to Boomtown for me this year.

My biggest question is regarding the times of sets/days/lineups.

Does Boomtown work like a standard festival? A slow build up to a headliner in the night, or is it done differently?

Also will we find out the days and set times of the acts?

Thanks All

[Harry3]

Hello all, first time going to Boomtown for me this year.

My biggest question is regarding the times of sets/days/lineups.

Does Boomtown work like a standard festival? A slow build up to a headliner in the night, or is it done differently?

Also will we find out the days and set times of the acts?

Thanks All

Yeah the headline acts are on at the usual sort of late evening slots. Headline DJs at around midnight/1am.

But you wont find out set times/days until you get there and buy a program. Of course some of the acts/DJs will post on social media before the festival when/where theyre playing, but we wont get anything official like the bigger festivals do.

There are lots of "Inna City Mini Venues" which they never give info about on the website or in the program. Like this one https://www.facebook.com/events/741376082563790/ which isnt mentioned anywhere.

[jimmyt]

Last year, Stephen Marley was a headliner on the Lion's Den and he was on at about 1.30pm (early afternoon) and some slots were moved about during the weekend.

[eFestivals]

midday, wasn't it?

I had to dash to site that morning to get there in time.

[eFestivals]

PS: It was Julian Marley, not Stephen.

[jimmyt]

Excellent point. It was Julian and he was marvellous! What a numpty I can be! Can't remember the time but it was very early. Just after the wonderful Irration Steppas!