Blue Dot Festival

[DDave]

5 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

I can say with certainty that feedback being given in this thread is being noticed by the festival organisers - presumably so that it can be given consideration.

 

Definitely. Not much they could have improved on, and the little niggles were dealt with quickly and taken on board. We had to use both the welfare tent and the first aid tent and both were mega helpful so big shout out to them too.

[Becki7000]

We really enjoyed it as well, only minor issue was 3 toilets in the Campervan field, a lot of people complaining as most had vans without toilets, but I never noticed a huge queue to be honest

Some noise from the music in the lectures, but could always hear them so not a huge issue.

Easy to get in and out, minimal queuing from camping into the festival

I would say the food prices were higher than at Glastonbury, but not extortionate.

Minimal queues at drinks places, no issues there

A couple of lectures (which were obviously going to be very popular - doctor who one and one on the dark web) were on quite small stages, so not everyone could get in, would probably put them on the larger ones next time

Loved the cup idea, no rubbish anywhere!

 

Overall excellent festival, not really my scene music wise, but mainly went for the science side and enjoyed the music we did see

 

[Zoo Music Girl]

What was the bar situation this year? Last year I think they had two normal beer tents and one real ale in the main arena. The real ale one was always rammed and the other two empty. Was hoping they would redress the balance a bit?

[danceonfire]

Never had to to wait more than a couple of minutes for a beer. Was very impressed with the selection also. Maybe a bit steep price wise though. 

[danceonfire]

7 hours ago, shoptildrop said:

You weren't too far from us either lol as we're just right of the light grey tent out of frame

I really enjoyed this weekend as such a great festival and it's going to becom5a regular date in the calendar for us

I actually found the night owl area quite subdued th as on the Friday we came back quite late and not a soul in sight lol... it was really misty too as all you could see is the tops of the tents in the dip

I was camped at the other end of the field. Think I took this on my way back from the toilets. Was a lovely sunset.

[phil the shrew]

Went to last years festival and really enjoyed it, and was pleased to see some of the issues of last year - such as the difficulties parking in wet fields - had been addressed.

Really like the mix of music, science, comedy and a certain element of mystic whimsy. For an event with a science focus it could be quite conservative but doesn't take itself too seriously and has a good sense of fun. Tim O'Brien's talks in particular were great fun and then later saw him dancing away to Orbital. It was also nice to see so many young women now getting into science of all types. It was clear the organisers had made efforts to have a really good diverse line up of speakers.

There was a wider range of food and drink stalls this year and extra bars which made waiting to be served much quicker, although prices were a bit steep I guess that is a festival wide issue

There is still a bit of a problem with noise from the music stages impacting on the lecture spaces, and I perhaps wonder if taking one music stage out might be an idea. At times the music line up seemed a little weak and maybe three music stages with good quality during the day would be better. Think having people on the stages to introduce the music acts and get the crowd going would be helpful too - some acts just seemed to start their sets unannounced which led to a lot of the crowd chatting away which is a tad irritating.

Banning those annoying air couch things would be good too and while I know its a festival the amount of people smoking in the main tents unchallenged by stewards was a struggle for someone like me who gets a coughing fit with cigarette smoke. Last two issues maybe down to me being grumpy though

Overall though a really nice weekend and looking forward to 2018

[dingbat2]

4 hours ago, eFestivals said:

I can say with certainty that feedback being given in this thread is being noticed by the festival organisers - presumably so that it can be given consideration.

 

"...PUT THE FESTIVAL ON DURING THE SCHOOL HOLIDAAAAYYYYYS........."

I won't stop until they announce the dates for next year....

....sorry if I am sounding a bit selfish

 

[dingbat2]

3 hours ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

What was the bar situation this year? Last year I think they had two normal beer tents and one real ale in the main arena. The real ale one was always rammed and the other two empty. Was hoping they would redress the balance a bit?

Good, apart from the Blue Moon Bar running out of Blue Moon Beer, the only drink they served, on Saturday night

 

... Did make me chuckle though

PS that was a superb Bar when it could serve you beer!

 

[shoptildrop]

5 hours ago, eFestivals said:

I can say with certainty that feedback being given in this thread is being noticed by the festival organisers - presumably so that it can be given consideration.

 

They definitely made huge improvements this year from all the feedback they got last year. Bar selection was awesome but they do need to realise how much people drink lol as Blue moon bar ran out quickly and even some of the real ales ran out quite early too

My only main gripe was the food not being as good at last year and it was expensive too.. £5.50 for a slice of pizza or £4.50 for a cup of lukewarm chips with some cheese on top

Apart from that it was awesome 

[Zoo Music Girl]

2 hours ago, dingbat2 said:

Good, apart from the Blue Moon Bar running out of Blue Moon Beer, the only drink they served, on Saturday night

 

... Did make me chuckle though

PS that was a superb Bar when it could serve you beer!

 

Cheers! Seem to remember them running out of that raspberry cider last year

[Paul ™]

Food - well was only there for the day so went to the Tibetan Kitchen as used them before at other fests and know they were good. Had the Chicken Combo, £8.50 but was filling and very tasty.

Drink - I only drink Cider, the Symonds is decent but not worth £5 a pint, there was 1 strawberry cider in the Real Ale tent at £4.50 but they could do with a few more craft ciders across the site.

Sound - Was good for the bands I seen

Layout - I liked it, very easy to get about but too many of those blow up chairs all over the place

Crowd - As mentioned, not my usual type of festival, it did get better at night time though

[Zoo Music Girl]

Symonds is a definite improvement. They only had Strongbow last year I think... I only drink cider too so this is always an issue for me! 

Think the worst offenders in recent times was Field Day where the only cider I could find was bottles of Bulmers for £5+.

[shoptildrop]

12 hours ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Cheers! Seem to remember them running out of that raspberry cider last year

they did again by Saturday afternoon

[shoptildrop]

11 hours ago, Paul ™ said:

Food - well was only there for the day so went to the Tibetan Kitchen as used them before at other fests and know they were good. Had the Chicken Combo, £8.50 but was filling and very tasty.

Drink - I only drink Cider, the Symonds is decent but not worth £5 a pint, there was 1 strawberry cider in the Real Ale tent at £4.50 but they could do with a few more craft ciders across the site.

Sound - Was good for the bands I seen

Layout - I liked it, very easy to get about but too many of those blow up chairs all over the place

Crowd - As mentioned, not my usual type of festival, it did get better at night time though

They were selling them in a specific stall in the Star field for £20 each so think that is why there were so many - it was so funny watching people trying to "inflate" them lol

[Paul S]

To echo what others have said on here: absolutely brilliant festival, great organisation and best festival toilets I've ever seen!  Incredible job all round.  Only small problem was you couldn't hear some of the science talks due to music in the next tent - might be an idea to have a separate quiet 'spoken word' tent for comedy and science talks away from the music?  A small point but would help.  Everything else was absolutely fantastic - food, beer, music, talks, comedy - would definitely go again.

Here's a short video I made of the weekend:

 

[DDave]

59 minutes ago, Paul S said:

To echo what others have said on here: absolutely brilliant festival, great organisation and best festival toilets I've ever seen!  Incredible job all round.  Only small problem was you couldn't hear some of the science talks due to music in the next tent - might be an idea to have a separate quiet 'spoken word' tent for comedy and science talks away from the music?  A small point but would help.  Everything else was absolutely fantastic - food, beer, music, talks, comedy - would definitely go again.

Here's a short video I made of the weekend:

 

Great video. We were stood not far from you during the Orbital set. Wish I was there now.

[Flaminglippy]

Was lucky enough to win tickets. Whilst musically the line up wasn't completely up my street there was enough to get me there and so glad I did.

Went with my partner and 1 year old and we absolutely loved it. Quite middle class, one of the first things I heard in the campsite was somebody say 'Kids, if you don't help me put the tent up you can't have any brioche'. 

Music highlights were The Pixies, Post War Glamour Girls and the bloke out of Post War Glamour Girls spoken word set (one of the best unexpected things I've ever seen at a festival). The Welsh guy who opened up the music on the main stage on the Friday was brilliant, as was Ezra Furman.

Generally speaking, found the crowd to be very friendly. Some of the kids were right little gits, what kind of a helmet sits and watches whilst his kids use somebody elses tent as a goal and keep twatting a ball into it (we were sitting in the tent next to it and had to tell them to sod off as the parents did nowt!)

When we got there I said there weren't enough loos and they would struggle over the weekend but I was wrong. Don't think we queued longer than 10 mins and they were almost without exception immaculate.

The queues are the bar were non-existent almost all weekend. Not sure if this is because it didn't sell out but we definitely spent more as a result. 

Great layout...never felt crowded.

Special shout out to the staff. They were exceptional. Really, really friendly helpful bunch (even the one who found the couple of cans we had forgot about in the bottom of the pram).

I said to my missus on the way back its the kind of festival you would want to take festival virgins to to give them a false impression about how good all festivals are.

We'll definitely be back...hopefully they'll get The Flaming Lips back again.  

On the downside, I did get stung by a bloody wasp on the Friday and its still itchy. And a very minor point, it was a ballache not having a lanyard (especially as my copy of the timetable in the programme was covered in babby scribble by the end of the first day) 

Edited July 13, 2017 by Flaminglippy
correction

[dingbat2]

On 03/07/2017 at 7:37 PM, naarjtie said:

Very good point! It will be going out on facebook and twitter too but for completeness we'll get it sent to previous attendees too

Hi naarjtie, firstly thanks for another great festival, we had a great time again, even bettter than last year which I thought couldn't be beaten

Did you send the questionnaire about 2018 dates to last years attendees in the end, I would be interested to know what feedback you got? I assume that because you had 4 or 5 suggested dates, all must be available to put on the festival next year? If this is the case I would have thought a school holiday weekend would be a better date and would ensure more tickets sales, I am sure it would sell out if you moved in back to school holidays

[somethingsomething]

On 11 July 2017 at 4:51 PM, DiscothequeDave said:

Quite something aren't they?  4th time I've seen them and have seen them DJ over a dozen times. Never fail to impress. I mean they're for me the best DJ's in the world but I prefer them as a band. They were absolutely shit hot before but with the three drummers (one from Sepultura if you weren't aware) they are on another level. Was lucky enough to meet Stephen Dewaele and had a short chat and a photo when he was wandering around before the gig. The nicest famous person I've ever met and a massive hero of mine. Pity I couldn't track the other brother down.

Indeed. On the back of that, I'll happily go and watch them again. I heard afterwards one of the drummers was formerly in Sepultura, though I was on the far side watching the girl drummer who did everything the other two were doing - but with extra comedy faces/air headbutting the drums/pumping the crowd up. Totally get your comment about them as a band too. 

[naarjtie]

5 hours ago, dingbat2 said:

Hi naarjtie, firstly thanks for another great festival, we had a great time again, even bettter than last year which I thought couldn't be beaten

Did you send the questionnaire about 2018 dates to last years attendees in the end, I would be interested to know what feedback you got? I assume that because you had 4 or 5 suggested dates, all must be available to put on the festival next year? If this is the case I would have thought a school holiday weekend would be a better date and would ensure more tickets sales, I am sure it would sell out if you moved in back to school holidays

We diiid. We were planning on announcing dates Monday morning but there's just so many variables and different partners it's very difficult. We will get there soon though, but can't make any commitments at this point.

Some brilliant feedback in this thread, thanks everyone! Had a really good weekend - what a wonderful crowd, pleasure to share a field with you all. Just wish someone had offered me suncream before Sunday, I'm falling apart. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

6 hours ago, Flaminglippy said:

I said to my missus on the way back its the kind of festival you would want to take festival virgins to to give them a false impression about how good all festivals are.

I think this comment really nails it actually. I loved it there so much last year and it really made up for missing out on Glastonbury tickets. It was a really timely reminder that Glastonbury is not the be-all-and-end-all of festivals and that there's other great stuff going on out there. Great to be able to support something new as well.

I agree it is quite middle-class, but to be honest I can't remember the last time I attended a festival that wasn't... if ever.

6 minutes ago, naarjtie said:

We diiid. We were planning on announcing dates Monday morning but there's just so many variables and different partners it's very difficult. We will get there soon though, but can't make any commitments at this point.

I went last year and didn't receive a questionnaire? Would echo what others have said, though, that keeping it in the school holidays would be great (I don't have kids myself, but really recognise the value of them being there).

[dingbat2]

1 hour ago, naarjtie said:

We diiid. We were planning on announcing dates Monday morning but there's just so many variables and different partners it's very difficult. We will get there soon though, but can't make any commitments at this point.

Thanks, for my kids sake please make it school holidays (I think I may have mentioned this a few times on here already!). My kids will be in tears if they cant go again next year, which we wont be able to do again if its in term time. Apologies for the emotional blackmail!

My kids still have their wrist bands on, I cant see them taking them off for a while, and they took the programme, cups and tickets to "show and tell" at school yesterday! We also managed to bring home over 20 Bluedot cups this year which beats last year!

[DJL]

4 hours ago, naarjtie said:

We diiid. We were planning on announcing dates Monday morning but there's just so many variables and different partners it's very difficult. We will get there soon though, but can't make any commitments at this point.

Some brilliant feedback in this thread, thanks everyone! Had a really good weekend - what a wonderful crowd, pleasure to share a field with you all. Just wish someone had offered me suncream before Sunday, I'm falling apart. 

Thanks so much for this festival. Glastonbury aside, I have never wanted to return to a British festival as much.

I don't remember walking past a tent/stage and disliking the music at any point.

Sci-fi stuff like the star wars talks/jedi class and back to the future deloreans/puppets were highlights too. As was hearing the doctor who theme performed 3 times. 

It makes a real dilemma for me to return with the kids (who would love it) or without (as this year) and enjoy the late night stuff. Having that outside the arena with the fire garden and close to several campsites was great for us.

[frostypaw]

37 minutes ago, DJL said:

It makes a real dilemma for me to return with the kids (who would love it) or without (as this year) and enjoy the late night stuff. Having that outside the arena with the fire garden and close to several campsites was great for us.

You gotta bring them. I didn't have a single sit and relax last year that didn't involve a happy chuckle as Yet Another gleeful kid went running past with a spaceship and possibly a cape. 

The only change I'd want to make is to put something like the Glastonbury Park area's Greenhouse in the empty patch between the big bar and the Lovell stage. More shelter in sun/rain, somewhere to sit and no dead patch in the middle. It felt slightly odd passing through it last year, and more so seeing it right there all the time on the stream this year.

[shoptildrop]

4 hours ago, frostypaw said:

You gotta bring them. I didn't have a single sit and relax last year that didn't involve a happy chuckle as Yet Another gleeful kid went running past with a spaceship and possibly a cape. 

The only change I'd want to make is to put something like the Glastonbury Park area's Greenhouse in the empty patch between the big bar and the Lovell stage. More shelter in sun/rain, somewhere to sit and no dead patch in the middle. It felt slightly odd passing through it last year, and more so seeing it right there all the time on the stream this year.

That's a really good idea actually adding some shaded area (also would help in rain situations too)