Rewind North

[mouse_rat]

Just come back from the first Rewind North, and definitely a Gordon Gekko approach to the 80s.

From arriving in torrential rain on Friday night to find no clearly marked route into the campsite from the carpark, meaning we had to squelch back and forth under fences. To enjoying a great view of the stage from near the Rewind stage, whilst similtaneously watching a steady procession of festival goers relieving themselves against the fence because of the lack of toilets within the Arena area. It really was an every expenses spared type of experience.

Food and drink prices were horrendous. £4.50 for a pint of Doom Bar, £5 for 500ml of Kopparberg and £4 (I think) for 330ml of Carlsberg. Wine was £25 - £35 a bottle and there were also cocktails available. Soft drinks were generally £2.50 for a 500ml bottle. Main meals were £8 upwards, and the choice was largely burgers or noodles. The wood-fired pizza at £7 for 3 toppings, and the Rib Shack were the only two food vendors that we were impressed by. Having said that, whilst all bags were being searched, it was quite obvious that many audience members had flouted the ban on bringing their own food and drink into the arena. I don't mind supporting a festival by buying food and drink - if there's a reasonable choice at reasonable prices. But at these prices and with this limited choice, I admired the woman who extracted a bag of wine AND a litre of gin and tonic from underneath her dress.

Although the lineup was announced on Thursday, there was no access to the lineup / running order on site unless you forked out more for a festival programme. True, they did announce a free Rewind app - on Saturday, when most people were already on site, and had discovered there was very little phone or data signal at all. The very least I expect when I pay for a ticket is for you to tell me what's on and when.

The food in the breakfast village, outside of the arena, was OK - £4 upwards for breakfast baguettes, to £7 for a fried breakfast. However, there were no toilets at all in this area (other than the When Nature Calls ones - another complaint people had was about the location of these - neither in the arena or the campsite area, making it inconvenient to use them at any time of day) - meaning a five minute walk into the arena or back to the campsite. The limited number of toilets, both in the campsite area and the arena, was one of the more unpleasant aspects of the festival - not only were people relieving themselves all over the arena area, but also against the fences in the campsite areas, and very little was done to prevent it.

Lots and lots of people worked really hard to make Rewind North a pleasant experience - from bar staff, to perfomers, to food vendors, to entertainment staff. But I felt like the organisers were trying to extract as much money as possible from me at every stage, whilst not providing the level of facilities that I would expect. Having previously been to Rewind South, I understand that Rewind is a small festival. But I won't be going back to Rewind North, and the experience has put me off the other Rewind festivals.

[Damsonz]

The Rewind organisers seem to have nothing but contempt for their customers. People post genuine questions on their FB page and are ignored.

I've only been to the Henley one, and every year it ends on a bad note because of the shambles trying to leave. They don't bother trying to marshal the traffic out of the various car parks, and it can take literally hours to get out.

But they don't give a shit because they've had all your money.

You can get decent food at a reasonable price if you look around, but the drink situation is a disgrace.