Blue Dot Festival

[Memory Man]

showers are not a standard festival offering, you should expect to pay in my opinion. we are going to do the hot tub on sunday so will get a shower as part of that but as its only a friday to sunday event you'd only be going 2 days without one anyway if you don't pay.

(well you might be going thursday but i cant imagine take up for that has been very large)

 

[chestwig]

So is it an additional wrist band that you get?

[dingbat2]

Yes, they give you an extra wristband, so you cant transfer it between people. And you can buy them when you get there, so you might want to see how you get on after a day or two. My missus has always bought one at Bluedot, but me and the boys weren't bothered about it. The toilets were OK last year and there are taps around when you need to freshen up.

[Memory Man]

the campsites and toilets are the cleanest and tidiest ive seen in 12+ years of festivalling

[frostypaw]

Apparently this is rushing up to meet us this week, and I feel totally unprepared! Er......

[robskyd]

Does anyone know if they take contactless/ card behind the bars? 

 

And speaking of which are the bars any good or is it a 45 minute wait every time you want a drink?!? 

Cheers ?

[DDave]

2 hours ago, robskyd said:

Does anyone know if they take contactless/ card behind the bars? 

 

And speaking of which are the bars any good or is it a 45 minute wait every time you want a drink?!? 

Cheers ?

Bars are pretty decent. The bar I found to be the best was the one facing the main stage, close to the nebula stage.

[shoptildrop]

4 hours ago, robskyd said:

Does anyone know if they take contactless/ card behind the bars? 

 

And speaking of which are the bars any good or is it a 45 minute wait every time you want a drink?!? 

Cheers ?

I think most bars do contactless and queues didn't seem too bad, probably the worst ones are in the real ale tent but nothing like 45 mins. Was quieter last year, but 1st year I think the longest I waited was 10-15mins.

Food on the other hand (at peak times only) can be busier, so try to think in advance what you want and try to grab something out of peak - which was bet 5.30-8pm (from what I could see)

Have fun, as I can't wait  

[DDave]

Can't believe they've put Slowdive on at the same time as the Chems. what a waste.

[sparkythetortoise]

Acid mother temple - vessels - george fitzgerald - slowdrive - orb

That is an unbeatable run of marvellousness

Shame about Numan and Lamb, though

And can anyone tip me off when Dawkins is on - I can't see him on the Clashfinder but that doesn't mean he isn't there

 

 

 

[Memory Man]

bar ques were pretty fast i dont recall waiting long, and yes you can pay on card. no issues there at all.

food ques vary from non existent to a fair wait, but by sunday people have figured out whats good and whats not so any ques by then will be for the good shit. The food is actually listed on the website and sounds better than last year including some scottish street food stuff that sounds absolutely bangin. Many stalls you will recognise from other fests if you go to a few. Chic Kebabs were amazing last year.

https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/stage/the-g'astronomy-village

[Memory Man]

4 minutes ago, sparkythetortoise said:

can anyone tip me off when Dawkins is on - I can't see him on the Clashfinder but that doesn't mean he isn't there

 

 

 

Sat 3pm mission control. I recommend you get the app as the clashfinder doesnt have everything. Clashfinder covers all the music and most of the comedy but misses the talks as if you sat there and typed them all in you'd be there all day.

[sparkythetortoise]

39 minutes ago, Memory Man said:

Sat 3pm mission control. I recommend you get the app as the clashfinder doesnt have everything. Clashfinder covers all the music and most of the comedy but misses the talks as if you sat there and typed them all in you'd be there all day.

Cheers mate - much appreciated

 

[Tent Peg]

This will our first year camping at Bluedot. Does anyone know how busy it usually is on the first day getting to the site and queuing to get on the camp site? I usually only go to Glastonbury so I'm unsure how the roads are for a much smaller festival.

[DDave]

1 hour ago, Tent Peg said:

This will our first year camping at Bluedot. Does anyone know how busy it usually is on the first day getting to the site and queuing to get on the camp site? I usually only go to Glastonbury so I'm unsure how the roads are for a much smaller festival.

We got straight on site at about 11 am on the Friday last year with no queues. And got off in equal speed on the Sunday afternoon. Opening on the Thursday should make it even easier a chunk of people will have already set up camp.

Queues took about 25 mins to get in on the first day. Nothing at all for the rest of the weekend if you want to go back to the car etc.

Edited July 17, 2018 by DiscothequeDave

[Tent Peg]

8 hours ago, DiscothequeDave said:

We got straight on site at about 11 am on the Friday last year with no queues. And got off in equal speed on the Sunday afternoon. Opening on the Thursday should make it even easier a chunk of people will have already set up camp.

Queues took about 25 mins to get in on the first day. Nothing at all for the rest of the weekend if you want to go back to the car etc.

Thank you very much ? we'll be arriving on Thursday so hopefully getting in and setting up the tent should be easy then.

[DDave]

3 hours ago, Tent Peg said:

Thank you very much ? we'll be arriving on Thursday so hopefully getting in and setting up the tent should be easy then.

Very jealous, it's a great festival, just not enough pull for me this year. May try and get some cheap tickets over the next couple of days. 

 

[Memory Man]

put it this way, i'm more worried about rush hour traffic on the way there than I am any event specific traffic in the locality of the festival itself.

it is a 10k capacity even that has not sold out and some of that capacity is day tickets, i.e its not very big at all and not big enough to cause traffic issues. that and the car park / surrounding roads are well managed.

The thursday arrivals should make it even better. I did see some fairly sizeable ques on the friday morning last year at the gate after you get out of the car but before you enter the festival. don't know how long they took as we are on guestlist so have a separate entrance ?

Edited July 18, 2018 by Memory Man

[jules76]

What's the deal with bag checks going into the arena from the camping area? Are they strict on checking bags? I can imagine that can cause queues which isn't ideal if you just want to pop back to the tent to grab something.

I've been to other festivals where you can't officially bring booze and/or food into the arena area but they haven't bothered checking so it would be good to know if that's the same at Bluedot.

[Memory Man]

hardly any checks at all. They will have a cursory glance and you hardly wait long. To re-iterate, its really not a big festival at all. You will see when you get there.

you can get booze in if you make a reasonable attempt to hide it on your person. They look in bags but don't pat you down. If its in a bag they will probably find it. Food either have it at your tent or buy inside. Its quick back to the tent from the arena no more than 10-15 mins each way.

They do have the Roots stage which is outside the arena, so you can booze there on your own supply and eat your own food there if you like.

Edited July 18, 2018 by Memory Man

[frostypaw]

<whispering>weather looks alright</whispering>*cough*

[jules76]

1 hour ago, Memory Man said:

hardly any checks at all. They will have a cursory glance and you hardly wait long. To re-iterate, its really not a big festival at all. You will see when you get there.

you can get booze in if you make a reasonable attempt to hide it on your person. They look in bags but don't pat you down. If its in a bag they will probably find it. Food either have it at your tent or buy inside. Its quick back to the tent from the arena no more than 10-15 mins each way.

They do have the Roots stage which is outside the arena, so you can booze there on your own supply and eat your own food there if you like.

Thanks. I'm going with family so it will cost a bomb to buy multiple meals a day for everyone (I was counting on buying 1 hot meal a day each) and its a waste to get a full meal for my 3 year old. Surely they don't mind you bringing in kids food (especially with young kids being fussy eaters). I think I'll just have to hide it all in the buggy! ?

[Memory Man]

to be honest i think they will be lenient with young kids food, they have to exercise a level of discretion and common sense. As long as you are polite and don't take the piss you will have no problems.

[croiz]

Any particular good/bad camping spots I should/shouldn't head for? I'm on site around 6pm.

[hermano]

Getting there does not seem easy ☹️

Anyone driving from Leeds tomorrow morning with room for one? 

Can pay more than my own share!

Chemical Brothers vs Slowdive is making me upset!!!