Zoo Thousand and Eight festival branded a shambles

This weekend's Zoo Thousand and Eight which took place in the grounds of Port Lympne Wildlife Park in Kent over the weekend of Friday 4th to Sunday 6th July has left many attendees disappointed, and been branded by many a 'shambles'.

The festival suffered act cancellations, health and safety problems and organisational chaos that has left many fans disgruntled. The Zoo Thousand facebook, (here), has some vitriolic comments from festival goers.

It would seem that the festival's organiser Matt Dice was taken off the site by Police on Saturday, and the Port Lympne Wildlife Park took over the event on Saturday afternoon (from here), although this has since been denied by the organisers.

The festival billed in some quarters of the press as 'the festival of the summer' started two hours later than scheduled on the opening day and one of the main stage headliners, Dizzee Rascal, failed to perform, so Lethal Bizzle, due to perform in the Tap'n'Tin tent, went on in his place.

The problems continued on the Saturday, when the Tap'n'Tin tent, the second biggest stage at the festival was closed in heavy winds for health and safety reasons. The closure meant that much of the acts due to perform there were moved to other stages and rescheduled. However many of the band's fans say they missed their sets.

One of the day's main attractions, Chas'n'Dave, were moved into the VIP area which was inaccessible to most ticket holders. Festival goers have also complained about a lack of facilities in the campsites, with hardly any toilets and no taps, while the toilets in the main arena have been described as "full to overflowing".

Sunday's headline act Athlete failed to play, and the other main attraction for the weekend Pendulum were thought by many to have not played, though the organisers say they did; it might be the case that they were moved into another tent and people were unaware of it. Local news service Kent online, (here), have highlighted further details of the problems, saying the event goers have called the festival a "shambles" and are demanding refunds. The website says:

The three-day gala featured Mark Ronson, and was due to star Dizzee Rascal. But the rap star failed to appear, and there were other mishaps which marred the first festival of its kind at Port Lympne.

Gareth McCarthy from Kent said: "It was an absolute shambles from start to finish. We had to queue for over four hours on the Friday just to get into the camp site.

"On the second day the second biggest stage was closed due to some problem or other and there was no details of where the acts would be playing, so we missed the artists we had actually come to see.

"The third day we had to queue for over two hours to get into the arena as there was another health and safety issue!!! Dizzee Rascal didn't turn up, Pendulum didn't turn up.

"The food was extortionate. It cost £11 for a burger and chips."

Nathan Davis, of Chatham, said: "It was dreadful, complete waste of money. I want my money back. I have a complaint as long as my arm."

Rachel Collings, of Canterbury, said: "There was bad organisation, lack of security, acts not playing, nothing special for the VIP campers (it was standard camping but with a fence round it), the stewards were not informed properly of where to direct people."

Meanwhile, Jodie Doubleday of Sittingbourne said it was the worst festival ever.

He added: "As a seasoned festival goer (14 and counting) I expected a little something and got nothing. Three hours queues to get in, the second stage closed for two days, acts moved to stages we can't get to - and Sunday was a shambles. Next year call it zoo thousand and HATE!"

Others complained of dirty toilets, and there was a general cry for a refund.

No-one has been available to comment on behalf of the organisers.

The BBC are reporting (here) that a spokeswoman for the park has said: "As with all music festivals, there were some hiccups. This being the first Zoo8 at the park, there were bound to be some problems but they were all resolved quickly and efficiently, mainly by our own staff who stepped in to sort things out.

"According to St John Ambulance, Health and Safety, the licensing office, environmental health and the police, they were all happy."

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