Car park disgrace!

Got back from gig at 3 a.m. to Leatherhead. We missed collecting our daughter at Gatwick airport even tho we left gig early and missed some of Neil Young. 30,000 people at nearly £50 a ticket. How dare you abandon decent people like that! Never again. You'll get the worst adverse publicity you've ever known. There were marshalls littered all over the exit and the road outside the car parks, bored and underemployed, and ONE beleaguered apologetic marshall inside the car park. This is at best appalling planning and at worst imbecilic. All the enjoyment of Neil Young was forgotten in our desperation to get to our daughter and rage at your irresponsible, shambolic, GREEDY organisation. How difficult is it to put the same number of marshalls in the car park to exit as there were to enter? We're booked for the V festival and this has almost completely put me off going to any outdoor festivals. I should, however, go in order to restore my faith in people's intelligence and decency.
Suzie Williams

Blimey! Lighten up people - it was never going to be anything other than carnage getting out last night, with only one road leading to the site you were guaranteed a long wait. Shame some of you feel that ruined the day - the only thing that would have ruined the day for me was if Neil hadn't shown up!

£50 for a days entertainment of that quality is a bargain if you ask me - and praise the lord for no sponsorship - I was at the 02 festival in Hyde Park on friday, and the huge amount of advertising (adverts screened in between performances!!! wtf?) totally killed the atmosphere. I rather have slightly shambolic organisation and a bit of a wait to leave than ever go to some crappy corporate event like the 02 "festival".

cybr40hn wrote:No Sponsorship : No Branding : and we can now add No F#*king Clue. Mr Power couldn't care I imagine. He only relented on the No Food or Drink because of the response from the very people that he was evidently trying to attract, and of course this was quite some time before the event. There's no point in having entry into the car park well marshalled (good organisation) but leaving the exit to a complete free for all, and yes it was basically first in last out, we made it to the road at just before 2am. Thankfully we only live about 30 miles away, I feel sorry for those with a much longer journey.

Couldn't agree more - the car parking was a joke what with anyone wearing a flourescent jacket, and having an idea of how to move a relatively small number of people, disappearing at midnight. Strange phenomenon that it only seems to happen after the gig when no doubt VP et al are congratulating themselves on a good and presumably profitable day. We got home at 4.40am thanks to being trapped in the car park for almost 3 hours. Also other niggles include; some rather agressive security, got grunted at on entry my bag grabbed, opened and searched without even any eye contact (see Glasto for how security at a really large event should behave) also saw another punter get hassled by a large chap who didn't seem to have anything else to do, not enough loos and food and drink on the whole over priced and of poor quality.

We're regular festival and gig goers and genuinely haven't seen chaos like this for a long time (made the mistake of going to V once but that's for another day!)

What could of been really good (line up great and Neil Young sublime!) was tainted by the niggling doubt that the whole thing was ever so slightly cynical!

Hank Hendrix wrote:Blimey! Lighten up people - it was never going to be anything other than carnage getting out last night, with only one road leading to the site you were guaranteed a long wait. Shame some of you feel that ruined the day

The problem wasn't with the single road - it was with the lack of marshalling. From what I saw, order was partially restored by some altruistic punters who basically gave advice to the young, inexperienced and overwhelmed marshals who were in the wrong locations.

When we eventually got onto the single-lane track out of there (one of three), there were loads of marshals, and they really weren't needed there - they were needed inside the fields to stop the free-for-all stampede for the exits.

I wouldn't say it ruined the day - Young was fantastic - but to sit in a car, having left early, for two hours without moving one inch was pretty extreme, and is neither normal nor necessary. It was badly organised.

It was a f*****g disgrace trying to get out of that place. Like someone else said, I was expecting a *bit* of carnage, but what happened there was downright dangerous. I did try and speak to one of the 15-year-old "marshalls" to find out what was going on but he was doing his best to direct coach passengers at the time, so all I could get was "...it's the weight of traffic". There was someone yelling at the other end of his Walkie Talkie tho, "someones going to get killed here..."

I should have expected it really, school kids uninterestedly waving their arms at cars on the way in, coppers jamming up traffic and (on one occasion) telling traffic to move on straight into other traffic already on the entrance roundabout! Once I saw that and the narrow roads I pretty much knew we were in for trouble. Didn't see one single copper on the way out. Mind you, that may have been a blessing, who knows.

The exits such as they were were totally inadequate, and the "organisation" was non-existent. I followed an AA sign at the exit road saying M25 and ended up in f*****g Tunbridge Wells ffs!

Neil Young was awesome, so were My Morning Jacket. The rain was crap. We left before Neils encore, got to the car at 11:05pm, started moving out the car park around 12:45am, which actually sounds a bit better than some. Made it back to Essex around 2:30am, so thats 3 1/2 hours for the homeward journey. Crap.

Vince Power Media Group contact details here: http://www.vpmg.net/contact/ - maybe if enough of us bitch it won't happen again. I won't be going back tho.

Couldn't agree more with the rest.

The biggest farce I have ever seen to get away from a gig and I've seen some bad ones. We got out of the car park just after 3 hours after getting back to the car. Got home at nearly 4am and have had to take the day off.

Thanks for punishing those who arrived earliest by parking them in the most far flung part of the field.

No transport, abysmal parking arrangements and stewards who had no clue about stewarding and just disappeared.

Other aspects of this concert were also a debacle. Take the toilets for example. Where have you been to a 30,000 festival and seen most of the toilets with only cubicles. The length of the queues was testament to the fact that most of the blokes hadn't found the single toilet in the far corner with urinals.

The directions were also appalling. the festival website indicated there would be directions from all areas. After trying to follow their poor directions and getting lost we eventually stumbled on the place and lo and behold direction signs appear just as you are nearly there. After finally getting out of the car park, half of the local roads are closed even though it is 2 am and you are sent in totally the opposite directions you want to go with no help at all.

Nothing Vince Power could do about the weather but the ridiculous parking situation has placed Hop Farm firmly at the top of my worst organised festival list and one I shall vow never ever to attend again.

See you next year the PA announced as we left (expecting to be home within a couple of hours). Not a chance Vince. I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a hot poker than attend another gig at Hop Farm. You should be banned from organising festivals.

Bloody disgrace.

It wasn't just the car park that was a shambles. The gig was a last minute surprise for me from my parents so no real time to book taxis or anything. Hotel was 12 miles away. No taxis = walking along a pitch dark road (with no pavements) with the trickle of cars able to leave speeding along. Didn't exactly feel safe with that.

Neil was excellent, but I'm not sure I'd go back after that shambles. What happened to the Taxis, Mr Power? They all seemed to be booked. The ones that weren't booked didn't seem interested in taking people such a short distance (compared to those heading back to London, etc. in taxis) - one even told me that he would take me in 10 minutes if he couldn't get any other fares! Ridiculous!

Jethro wrote:Other aspects of this concert were also a debacle. Take the toilets for example. Where have you been to a 30,000 festival and seen most of the toilets with only cubicles. The length of the queues was testament to the fact that most of the blokes hadn't found the single toilet in the far corner with urinals.

All 3 main toilet areas across the site had urinal blocks in the "male" sections - the stupidity was in not have more urinals, and putting them in the middle of the cubicles which just made the queuing worse.

Car parking was madness, and the worst i've seen at an event like this (though I have spent big stints in cars at Reading and V before now). Unfortunately, VP isn't going to care less really - he's got his ticket money and we're all out of the arena area - hard cheese. Crap, but thats the way it is at all these things.

[quote="swinny"]

Jethro wrote:Unfortunately, VP isn't going to care less really - he's got his ticket money and we're all out of the arena area - hard cheese. Crap, but thats the way it is at all these things.

He is if he wants to sell anything else! Steve Lamacq was talking about next year, and I don't think VP's ready to retire yet. I suspect this forum might soon disappear due to 'inappropriate comments', though.

Paul_H_42 wrote:I suspect this forum might soon disappear due to 'inappropriate comments', though.

Hope not (although they can delete any post started by bloodfart). Apart from the parking and a little more thought needed on the loo-front, I've no complaints. Check out the news on the Zoo8 festival if you want to put it in perspective...

I can't speak for the cars as I got the coach back to Paddington which ran like a dream, no issues whatsoever. It was run by SeeTickets though.

Look on the bright side though, you weren't at Z008!

Whilst acknowledging that the car parking arrangements upon exit were pretty poor to say the least (inadequate marshalling etc etc), what struck me more was how quickly many of the people behind the wheels of the vehicles in the car park changed from (presumably) peace loving individuals embracing the all round good vibes of the event (let's be honest, and maybe a shortage of toilet facilities apart, up to that point it had been brilliant) to completely self-absorbed idiots, careering about the car park (well in Blue Car Park 18 anyway) cutting other drivers up, refusing to let them in and showing a complete and utter lack of courtesy to, not to mention a complete disregard for the safety of others.

Anyway, all of that nonsense was quickly forgotten when reflecting upon the day's music. I thought it was fantastic, from start to finish. My Morning Jacket were magnificent, almost as good as at Glastonbury a week before; Primal Scream showed what a truly wonderful rock n roll band they really can be when managing to hold it all together; and to hear Neil Young play Words for the very first time, having seen him numerous times over the years (from CSN&Y at Wembley in '74 through many tours with Crazy Horse, Booker T etc), was absolutely astonishing.

Instead of slating the organisers for poor car parking arrangements, we should be applauding them for putting on a fantastic day's live music.

I really cant believe there are so many people with little to do in there lives other than sit and complain on the website!! Surely you all have lives.

I myself went to the festival with a large group of friends in two different cars and we were prepared for the drive home...Yes its annoying to wait and Yes it takes a long time...but all of you clearly do not go to festivals and are just used to your outdoor concerts for a couple thousand people! (BTW it takes 6 hours to get out of Glasto)! Im sure next year things will be better in terms of transport etc...

I myself would like to say thanks to the organizers...not only was it refreshing to go to a festival that wasnt filled with branding and bombarded with VIP areas....it was a great ( and wet!) day that me and my group enjoyed. Great gigs and well worth my money.

SUPERGRASS was brilliant and Neil Young took us back....a wonderful day..thanks Vince Power.

clearspot wrote:completely self-absorbed idiots, careering about the car park

I think it was a vicious circle - a few idiots (which is what marshals should have been there for) caused a bottleneck, and then queuing became pointless. Once things get beyond a certain point, behaving in a civilised manner doesn't work.

it certainly was a disgrace. marshals bending over backwards on the way in - nowhere to be seen on the way out. we left Neil Young a bit early to get a head start . no chance. also, before we got to the car i headed off to a hedge to go for a quick wee and plunged into a fucking stream. was my fault cos it was cordoned off and that but ended up having to take all me clothes off in the car - and then sit there for a two and a half hours! i've stll got a tingly electric shock feeling in my fingers! happy days!