3 things you would change

[juliadevitt]

Maybe the organisers look at this forum, you never know:

1. More taps in the campervan field. This is a must for next year. One tap for hundreds of vehicles was ridiculous

2. The Tipi - we need a bigger stage there or have it open to to the far side. Too hot, too difficult to get into.

3. Another covered area. We didn't need it this year but maybe next year we will. Why not have another covered area by the food stalls. This will 

    help with the tipi problem too when it rains.

 

 

 

 

 

[WM Hall]

aye the Tipi should be opened up on the side (perhaps that jeopardises the integrity of the "tipi" name but it'd help with the queuing problems

[Thruxton Appleby]

Great idea for a topic. It's almost the perfect festival, but there's always a few improvements to be made. 

1. Sort out the ridiculous one-in-one-out system for the indoor stages. I can recognise the need for safety, but there was no attempt to find out if the tents were actually full before stopping people getting in. I made sure I got there early for anything I wanted to see, but many people were kept out when there was always plenty of room round the sides. I would have been furious if I had missed, say, Hookworms, as some did, for absolutely no reason.

2. A family area in the camper van field. There is one for campers, so why not vans as well? We were put next to a family, with no other options offered. Wasn't great being woken up early by kids after a late night. Not their fault either.

3. Some sort of ventilation in the Big Top. There seems to be more and more interesting stuff in there (for me), but it was all but unbearable mid-afternoon when the sun was shining.

[Anotherciderlife]

It feels disloyal to find fault with probably the most near-perfect festival in the UK but in the spirit of constructive criticism, here goes...

1. Drop the Beavertown Bar and replace it with an alternative, particularly now they've sold out to Heineken and aren't really an independent. The Wild Beer Co would be a great alternative and more local, being based in Somerset.
2. As others have said, do something to make the Tipi more accessible. A few years ago, it used to be a great stage just to be able to wander in/out of but that's not possible with the current queuing system.
3. Bring back the prints/posters tent! The new style posters are nothing like as good as the Switchopen/Jacknife screenprinted posters that were available until around 2015. I used to buy at least 2 posters every year but haven't bothered for the last 2 years.

Other than that, just don't get any bigger please!

[Guy Incognito]

just don't get bigger

Edited September 8, 2018 by rhg_99

[JimiC999]

Put a ski lift type thingy in for when arriving and having to get up that hill with all your equipment ?

[The Nal]

23 hours ago, Anotherciderlife said:

 

1. Drop the Beavertown Bar and replace it with an alternative, particularly now they've sold out to Heineken and aren't really an independent. The Wild Beer Co would be a great alternative and more local, being based in Somerset.

NOOOOO!! Its a minority stake, doesn't effect the product apart from being able to make more of it. Neck Oil is great all day beer. 

15 hours ago, rhg_99 said:

just don't get bigger

Very difficult for it to get any bigger? Garden Stage has a limit. Houses etc on site mean they cant grow it. Too much.

[robith]

23 hours ago, The Nal said:

NOOOOO!! Its a minority stake, doesn't effect the product apart from being able to make more of it. Neck Oil is great all day beer. 

 

Yeah I don't get it? Drop it for an inferior product because they took some investment. Yet every food stand and bar is selling coca cola!

[The Nal]

41 minutes ago, robith said:

Yeah I don't get it? Drop it for an inferior product because they took some investment. Yet every food stand and bar is selling coca cola!

The shop was selling Malboro! What ever happened to proper tobacco like Frog Mortons eh?

Sell outs.

[robith]

Genuinely struggle to think of anything beyond banning DJs from playing god damn rockabilly. As a first timer I thought it was a wonderfully run, fun and relaxed festival. I had a ball

[gigs]

3 things to change?

Someone mentioned sinks on another thread? A possible logistical nightmare, but would be great if they could be utilized somewhere on site for washing/ cleaning teeth etc. Would save having to wait to fill the kettle in the morning while 6 people ahead of you wash there hair and go about there daily beauty regime (you know who you are, chaps...)

Another covered area would be an excellent idea, in case of another rainy sunday. Possibly up by the rough trade/ big top area? Appreciate space is at a premium..

Improve the WiFi and dont charge for it.

 

 

[LowerMead]

I didn't venture into the Big Top at all this year, but it's always frustrated me in the past that they haven't had a Stage Manager give a quick, "can you all move a bit closer so people can get in" style announcement. Am guessing they didn't?

[robith]

52 minutes ago, LowerMead said:

I didn't venture into the Big Top at all this year, but it's always frustrated me in the past that they haven't had a Stage Manager give a quick, "can you all move a bit closer so people can get in" style announcement. Am guessing they didn't?

I was gutted I couldn't get in for Idles (though secretly grateful as I had a bad back and I needed a rest post Ezra) but my main beef with the Big Top was it pitch dark in there. So when I walked in during the day I almost always tripped over a pram/blanket I couldn't see, and at night pissed, it was like walking into a nightmare

[RedRockRick]

4 hours ago, gigs said:

3 things to change?

Someone mentioned sinks on another thread? A possible logistical nightmare, but would be great if they could be utilized somewhere on site for washing/ cleaning teeth etc. Would save having to wait to fill the kettle in the morning while 6 people ahead of you wash there hair and go about there daily beauty regime (you know who you are, chaps...)

It may be my dodgy memory, but I have a vague idea that in the pre-Woods stage era there used to be a sink in the current Woods stage area? The showers used to be in that vicinity too.

 

 

 

[paulwa]

18 minutes ago, RedRockRick said:

 

They used to have sinks on the path leading through the campsite towards the monument at the far end of the field. It was a few years back, but they were a regular feature at one stage.

[Suggestives]

On 9/8/2018 at 8:34 AM, juliadevitt said:

 

1. More taps in the campervan field. This is a must for next year. One tap for hundreds of vehicles was ridiculous

That single tap was bizarre this year. Previous years there's been a bank of taps and the pressure was certainly sufficient for multiple outlets. Taps and loos at the other end of the field would be very welcome also.

The other major improvement would be to exclude chairs and blankets from the Garden stage completely, or relocate the stalls at the back and create an area there for them.

[robith]

10 minutes ago, Suggestives said:

That single tap was bizarre this year. Previous years there's been a bank of taps and the pressure was certainly sufficient for multiple outlets. Taps and loos at the other end of the field would be very welcome also.

The other major improvement would be to exclude chairs and blankets from the Garden stage completely, or relocate the stalls at the back and create an area there for them.

The only time I got angrier for longer than 30 seconds all weekend was trying to get to a place where I could stand and watch a band in the Garden during the day. An impenetrable wall of chairs and blankets

[The Nal]

1 hour ago, robith said:

The only time I got angrier for longer than 30 seconds all weekend was trying to get to a place where I could stand and watch a band in the Garden during the day. An impenetrable wall of chairs and blankets

Always lots of room if you go down either side. Theres a rat run from the woods and from Beavertown. 

[SighMo]

Yes, The Nal. This was my direct route of attack straight from the bar. Remember legging it up there trying to minimise spillage, when I thought the Oh Sees had started 10 mins early, due to their epic sound check. 

[Declan]

Stop having rotten headliners on both main stages one night and crackers on both stages the next. 

[IBee]

7 hours ago, robith said:

The only time I got angrier for longer than 30 seconds all weekend was trying to get to a place where I could stand and watch a band in the Garden during the day. An impenetrable wall of chairs and blankets

Yeah it is a proper Maze of Zagor, like others have said better to go down the side. I do feel at times that absolutely nothing would shift some of those buggers from their chairs.

Only major things is the capacity issues at the Tipi and the Big Top which others have mentioned (and in previous years, the comedy stage, though that didn't seem to be so much of a problem this year.

[RedRockRick]

1 minute ago, IBee said:

 

Only major things is the capacity issues at the Tipi and the Big Top which others have mentioned (and in previous years, the comedy stage, though that didn't seem to be so much of a problem this year.

Not really sure what can realistically be done with either, and personally I think the Tipi has become a very good venue and works sympathetically for the artistes who get allocated to it. I'm mindful of what it was like at the outset, and the issues that existed then, and even as it got larger. It's fine.

As to the Big Top, apart from getting a bigger tent, the Big Top is what it is: a black hole which could be fine if more thoughtfully administered. It's really only since the advent of the in/out entrance tubes that you've created that feeling of claustrophobia.

I have slightly fond memories of The Local, which was halfway between the two and encompassed the worst aspects of both. That unfortunately was always a space in search of a solution. 

[SighMo]

The Big Top (Far Out) works much better at GM. One side open let’s in more light and air. Easy in and out and you can always get down the sides if you’re late. 

[IBee]

6 hours ago, RedRockRick said:

Not really sure what can realistically be done with either,

I think what people are asking for is for a few more people to be let into both venues when there is clearly room for them. That's all.

[Yokel Again]

17 hours ago, RedRockRick said:

.

I have slightly fond memories of The Local, which was halfway between the two and encompassed the worst aspects of both. That unfortunately was always a space in search of a solution. 

Was that the tent that used to be kinda along the strip where the food outlets are in the earlier years (pre Woods stage)? I remember seeing Caitlin Rose in a tent along there late on evening before Jarvis & Richard Hawley DJ'ing and it was BRILLIANT! Maybe 2010?