The good, the bad, and the tragic.

[Tug life]

The good- the new and improved woodlands/lost Eden is fantastic and the return of the soapbox is very welcome.

The bad- how many people???! The place was much busier than previous years and there simply wasn't room. Every stage was rammed full at all times of day and night. I don't know the actual head count, but I've heard figures ranging from 15,000 to 25,000; and it's too many for the site (at it's current size/layout), the facilities, and the entertainment to cope with. An increase in nobheads over previous years too. Security was variable, with infrequent wristband checks entering emporers/deer lodge.

The ugly- the tragedy that occurred on Thursday night/Friday morning pales all else into insignificance. Perhaps it's time the police stopped massaging their figures (and egos) by targeting cannabis users (an easy but harmless target) and concentrate on the scum that sell rat poison to our kids. The organisers could take their heads out of their arses and stop fighting a battle they will never win. Why not introduce testing facilities so people know what they are taking? There are some who may think this is condoning use, it isn't; it is acknowledging society's problems and probably saving lives. That wouldn't sit well with the official peddlers of legal drugs (alcohol), as it risks a reduction in sales (but would also reduce the inevitable belligerence that alcohol brings with it, which was particularly noticeable this year).

Edited August 3, 2015 by Tug life

[seasideral]

1st time i've ever been to a festival, I took my 14 year old daughter with me as KC is regarded as family friendly and I was amazed at the lack of security/checks etc.Our tent was pitched 11am thursday in the shire near the camper vans as recommended on here for reasonable quite nights sleep(3am ish) and on 1st night the neighbours tents were swarmed with 16 to 25 year old drug taking/selling idiots(Ecstasy,weed and cocaine) all being discussed taken and sold from 9pm till 5am within 5 foot of my tent(I learned a lot ). So disgusted by this we resorted to getting to sleep by 9pm if possible knowing that we would be woken by 5am by rowdy drugged up idiots, I reported this to security to be told "not my problem mate , tell it to someone when it happens by mobile !!!!  " really ? like they wouldn't hear my phone call grassing them up through the wall of a tent 5 feet away !!!!!!! in the end we left sunday morning as i didn't want to risk the big finale and what trouble it would no doubt bring.

Sorry for sounding like a baa baa grump but if this is festival life i've missed NOTHING

[jkb1]

Festival veteran but this was my 1st KC.

Thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Left glasgow at half 8, pitched in Emporer's & beer in hand by 1145. Mainly families & over 40's round us. We were next to a crowd of scousers (blues) who were very friendly, decent guys.

Like any festival, where you camp & the folk around you can make a huge difference.

The mud made it a bit of a slog but it's only a problem if you are not equipped to handle it.

I thought there could have been tighter security but never heard of any problems where we were.

Loved the layout & thought the amount of folk was just about right, dunno what it was like before without it, but the stages/events in the woodland were very good.

Timings of stages could maybe have been better, if I didn't want to see what was on the Main, I walked over to Calling Out, only to find nothing on.

I expected there to be lots of families with kids & I think it's never too early to show them how to behave at these things but it must be murder to pull/push buggies & sack carts through that mud.

Good to see most of the youngsters with ear defenders.

Teenagers taking drugs & getting smashed on drink. It's not pretty but if they are not in my face I tend to avoid them & leave them to it. I was at a daft age once.

Drink prices...... You are at a festival in the UK. You know before you go that it will be expensive. This will not change, no matter how many of us moan.

Really enjoyed the music I caught & found some new stuff I liked. Thought the sound quality at most stages was good, but if you were at the back of a crowd you got some noise bleed.

All in all, it's a big thumbs up from me & I will most certainly be back.

[viberunner]

The ugly- the tragedy that occurred on Thursday night/Friday morning pales all else into insignificance. Perhaps it's time the police stopped massaging their figures (and egos) by targeting cannabis users (an easy but harmless target) and concentrate on the scum that sell rat poison to our kids. The organisers could take their heads out of their arses and stop fighting a battle they will never win. Why not introduce testing facilities so people know what they are taking.

 

 

 

I was there last year and nobody but nobody but nobody knew of where the in-field water taps were.

 

According to eFestival forum experts there WERE some, apparently, but during the weekend I asked various members of crew, every on-field security person I could find, random bar-staff, and every punter I chatted to.

 

I wondered then if it would take an MDMA-related death to get a proper water policy other than "a quid for a sip" as the bars were going.

 

Of course it might be hydration was irrelevant to the events of this year, but even so last years lack of available water was even back then playing "Kendal Roulette" with people's lives.

 

http://www.efestivals.co.uk/forums/topic/188004-kendal-calling-feedback-2014/page-2

[chuckles07]

First time at KC after last 6 Glastonburys, and me and the gang I was with (11 folks from 6 - 56) all enjoyed it.

Camped in Shires and found it excellent, great people around us all looking out for each other, enough room to sit in the mud/rain when at the tent , and apart from usual domestic bust ups that happen when people are lacking sleep, very tired/pissed and have words (usually at 3am) then all sweetness and light.

Mud was hard work but fully expected and with right boots and determination all manageable. Thought that could have been a bit more wood chips/straw deployed to manage some of the quagmires but it's a festival in the lakes so am not sure what else to expect.

Tragedy about the poor kid who died. I hope the dealers on the ground who they seem to have arrested, and the bastards at the top of the chain, get banged up for a long time. A big part of the solution has got be to be education and the ability to somehow test what is being sold. Its never going to go way.....

Music was great, the crowd were 99.9% top people, are certainly the folks we spoke with. Really great vibe, I hope that this can be retained if they continue to build the crowd. There were a few busy spots but all in all it worked great, so didn't think it that crowded.

However I do think the arena needs to be bigger. The huge amount of sound bleeding/crossover particularly from Glow tent to main stage, but also elsewhere, was bloody annoying. Any artists that had relatively quiet songs were overcome by noise from elsewhere and unless you were pretty close the stage you could hear at least two acts at anyone time.

And the the three hour queue on Thursday from 12.30-3.30 - what a pain for apparantley no other reason that only 4 people checking car park tickets. Very slowly

But this is all solve able and with the benefit of hindsight, and a shower for first time since Thursday, they are all nit picky.

Really impressed and hope to be back very soon. And I believe that the Manic Street Preachers would be a fabulous headliner that would go down a storm there!

Thanks every one for a great weekend. Sorry didn't make the efest meet due to delayed entrance. Maybe next time.

Cheers

[Vamagus]

Firstly let me say we had a great weekend though tempered by the sad news.

Marshalling to get people in on Thursday was woeful - no clue. We were turned away twice at the deer lodge entrance despite having followed the printed directions and signs. Each time round the queue got longer

On the third attempt someone who had a clue has turned up and we got in.

Security in Deer lodge was non existent - barely had our wrist bands checked

Thursday night 4 youths broke into a Bunkpad & stayed the night for free - security knew as we over heard 2 security guards discussing it outside our pad at midnight and deciding "they might swing by in the morning". 2am the youths returned, lit up a barbecue which proceeded set off all the fire alarms - they seemed more worried that the fire alarms might draw attention to their rubbish barbecue rather than them waking up people with children - luckily they moved on Friday morning (though leaving all their rubbish behind)

Saturday night was had an individual working his way through deer lodge bellowing at anyone who had the misfortune to cross his path - last seen vaulting the barrier into accessible camping.

Finally had the misfortune of trying to get past the woodland stage during the Lancashire hotpots - the crowd was massive - way too large for the space and there was a real risk of injury. I was a bit scared and I'm over 6 foot. No sign of security.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Vamagus

[Poppops]

We stayed in Deer Lodge also and used the Emperor's entrance to the arena.

Last year we had our wristbands checked every time. We didn't get them checked at all this year. Not even once did any of the stewards even give us a cursory glance. We also didn't get our bags checked.

We had no children with us and we're a group of nine, the youngest being 21.

We could literally have had people hiding in the boots of our cars as we came through and they would have got away with a free weekend.

Really surprising. Especially after the sad events of the weekend