Should the festival increase the capacity again next year ?

[LOCHLAND5]

Well as we all know the festival was granted a 35 k licence , this years capacity was rumoured to have been around 25k I don't know if that was the real figure though.

Apart from when snoop was on I always thought there was plenty of space at the mainstage so if I'm honest the arena could handle more .

Yes toilets were busy and it appeared that in some areas there could of been more needed .

But this year you can't get away from the fact that the line up made a massive step forward compared to the last few years and the headliners seemed to meet people's expectations, dunno if it was that they had more money to spend or whether more bands were available and what they wanted paying was more realistic.

My opinion is they should increase the capacity again next year and push the line up even higher in quality.

I know it was slow moving traffic and a nightmare to get in especially on the Thursday but with a couple of tweaks to the traffic management plan it would run much smoother with more staff on the gates .

I know with some folk what I'm saying will be unpopular but I want to see a strong line up again .

[johnboy1981]

They keep saying the capacity was 20k on facebook links, id personaly like it to go back to being music on the 3 days (fri to sun) with thursday being the relaxed early bird, they could then use the acts from the thursday to strengthen the line up for the rest of the weekend, although they can have the real ale tent open on the thursday.

Edited August 18, 2015 by johnboy1981

[LOCHLAND5]

It's the way you tell it ! Capacity was 20k tickets sold ! When you add on staff , artists and guest list it's getting nearer to 25k .

[johnboy1981]

I didnt think it was to bad this year, the year before looked empty, i don't have any complaints qbout it being 25k then, would like to see a few more acts on to strengthen the stages but not overly fussed as its more drinking time at the tent.

Edited August 18, 2015 by johnboy1981

[SloopJohnB]

If capacity is to increase then smaller venues need to be bigger. It was difficult to get into the house party and that area by the lake at times.

I also think three days of stronger music is better than having music on the Thursday....although I'd happily take a main stage DJ set by the Baggy Mondays on Thursday as a warm up

[ramragon]

They might as well progress it a bit more, if they hiked the capacity to 25k in the festival we've just been to and the major complaints were that people queued too long to get in, the beer was expensive and that the place could have done with extra toilets then it's hardly a damning verdict.

A few years ago in the times of the urine fountains I remember the feedback being horrendous, they ironed the problems out and came back stronger.

To top it all when your festival sells out quicker and quicker every year with a crowd increase built on then why not push it a bit every year as there's got to be a comfortable growth level to progress towards. They tweak bits and pieces every year, move a few bits around to deal with the increases.

Go for it ! They know the sort of bands the crowds want to see and larger festival means they've got more chance of booking them.

[Lowther Calling]

They might as well progress it a bit more, if they hiked the capacity to 25k in the festival we've just been to and the major complaints were that people queued too long to get in, the beer was expensive and that the place could have done with extra toilets then it's hardly a damning verdict.

A few years ago in the times of the urine fountains I remember the feedback being horrendous, they ironed the problems out and came back stronger.

To top it all when your festival sells out quicker and quicker every year with a crowd increase built on then why not push it a bit every year as there's got to be a comfortable growth level to progress towards. They tweak bits and pieces every year, move a few bits around to deal with the increases.

Go for it ! They know the sort of bands the crowds want to see and larger festival means they've got more chance of booking them.

 

Pretty much sums my views up!

[Comfy Bean]

Aye good topic this and I can see sense in all the posts. This year's line up was first class. For the size of fest kc is it was a topper. Hats off to the bookers.

I'm with you folks in wanting to see them continue to book the bigger bands. psb and Gaz Coombes were great calling out bookings as well.

But.....and not just to be awkward :-)....I'll say no to much more of an increase in capacity. The site is cracking to look at. On a nice night with a decent band, that main arena is really something. But conditions under foot are shit. It's nobody's fault and they can't drain the lakes or put a roof over it. Beside a lake in a place that gets so much rain is a shit place for a big crowd camping all weekend.

They were towing cars out of emperors on Saturday and I'd say the weather was pretty decent this year.

For me, more cars and bodies in that site will not be a good thing.

Can they really repeat that standard of line up next year? I doubt it but fingers crossed :-)

[halfpint]

They were towing food vehicles on site on the Tuesday .... I hadn't realized it hasd been that wet but Ground was very boggy. There was a very long wait to get on site because it.

There was a round of this years event that was finished off by one of the organizer (Andy?) saying that it can't get any bigger in the current site and they have no plans to move.

[LOCHLAND5]

There was a round of this years event that was finished off by one of the organizer (Andy?) saying that it can't get any bigger in the current site and they have no plans to move.

You gotta take what that Andy bloke says with a pinch of salt ,it's all smoke screens and mirrors he's a master elusionist! He's like the Harry potter of Lancashire and as for his brother I think his names Jamie he's like bloody Dumbldore the pair of them are like Jedi ,black magic , ninja , butter beer drinking time lords !

[ramragon]

You gotta take what that Andy bloke says with a pinch of salt ,it's all smoke screens and mirrors he's a master elusionist! He's like the Harry potter of Lancashire and as for his brother I think his names Jamie he's like bloody Dumbldore the pair of them are like Jedi ,black magic , ninja , butter beer drinking time lords !

You been smoking the deer crap again fella ?

[LOCHLAND5]

You been smoking the deer crap again fella ?

No mate it's bad for you that stuff !

I've heard the tale of it not increasing in size for 6 years and it does every year ,and it's always the same old it's not getting bigger !

I want it to get to its full potential as I've said more people stronger line up and more areas and so on !

There's nothing wrong in my eyes with it increasing or making more money .

I guess 1 year they will actually mean it and it will remain the same but I doubt that will be before 2017 ! I just don't understand why it gets played down and why the fans moan about it getting bigger !

[Comfy Bean]

Suppose we would be better with a steady increase in capacity than the price going up.

They will need to keep standards high to justify a price increase. How much is a ticket for next year including the expensive booking fees? I never worked out how much I paid last year for adult camping plus emperors plus extra for Thursday and the car park ticket I didn't need!

Everything had its own booking fee attached and I'd to pay for the weans as well who are normally free at other fests.

When you add it all up I doubt it was much cheaper than glastonbury where the kids went free and same number of nights etc.

Anywayz, I think kc does offer value for money and my only concern with sticking 5000 more on the gate is the state of the ground under foot.

Weather like 2014 and crowd figures like 2016 could be a shambles.

Ramra makes a good point about their ability to improve things year on year. I was there in 2012 when the toilets were all flooded. They got that all sorted so maybe they will be able to manage extra numbers as well. Perhaps I'm just being a negative nigel grumpy git who's festival season is at an end for another year :-(

[fumps]

Mr numb has hit the nail on the head for us.

As a group of 17+ people (who will be bringing more next year) we really are locked in a Glasto vs KC battle at the moment.

KC isnt cheaper than Glastonbury in real terms, when you consider the price of beer/food/booking fee's etc, KC isnt much cheaper. when someone from our group told me this I thought he was being ridiculous, but when you add up all your expenses it isnt that much differant.

 

I really enjoyed my first KC & would love to make it a regular thing but event for event the cost isnt stacking up which is a shame. Glastonbury is an awesome event and if you like it you kinda love it forever. KC in comparrison isnt in the same division.

 

I thought the event was the right size for what its worth, the camping areas were getting a little snug on Saturday night so I'm a little concerned where the extra 10000+ people will fit in. if organised well and like everyone says the line up is anywhere near as good as this year, then I wish the event all the luck in the world & I think growth is a good thing, they just need to keep a close eye on the cost to the festival goer because it isnt a cheap event.

[stuwilky]

I dont understand why anyone who was involved in organising it would ever say to anyone they didnt know that the site couldnt cope with more folk..... they have a license for 10k more attendees (regardless of staff/artist/paying customer) so they can get them in if needed.

 

Suspect we'll be giving it a miss in 2016 after 5 on the bounce, too many others to go to and while we've enjoyed it I just fancy something different.  Will see what the line up is like I guess, but fancy something smaller, and by smaller I mean three rather than five figures!

 

For what its worth -they need to sort access, many more people will need another entrance to spread the people about - the quieter areas will get too far from the entrance so people wont bother and we know what happens when folk that want a bit of kip mix with folk that cant get a bit of kip!