Proud owner of 2 tickets... tell me about the festival!

[kittycat100]

Hi all!

Been on efests for ages, but new to the IOW festi!

Anyhoo, through a stange sequence of communication errors, I find myself the proud joint owner of 2 tickets (not such a bad thing, granted!). I have been to the Carling festival for the past 7 years, but know nothing about IOW. So can you lovely people tell me something about it?

What is the site like?

How many stages are there?

What sort of food/drink is available

What are the campsites like? and where is best to camp?

How close to the parking do you camp?

Is there a general FAQ thread for this festival? I know the general things about what to bring etc, but don't have a clue about the loigistics of this festi!

It feels really wierd being so new to it again after so long!

PS where do I need to get the ferry to? Cowes, or Ryde? or does it not matter?

Edited December 21, 2007 by kittycat100

[russellelly]

Hi all!

Been on efests for ages, but new to the IOW festi!

Anyhoo, through a stange sequence of communication errors, I find myself the proud joint owner of 2 tickets (not such a bad thing, granted!). I have been to the Carling festival for the past 7 years, but know nothing about IOW. So can you lovely people tell me something about it?

What is the site like?

How many stages are there?

1 Main Stage, plus a few tiny ones

What sort of food/drink is available

The usual selection of burgers and fast food. Drink is Strongbow or Carling on-site IIRC

What are the campsites like? and where is best to camp?

Campsites are great! Best place is where the eFest camp is (of course).

How close to the parking do you camp?

Pass. Bus is very close though.

Is there a general FAQ thread for this festival? I know the general things about what to bring etc, but don't have a clue about the loigistics of this festi!

I don't think there is one unfortunately, but plenty of people here can answer any Qs.

It feels really wierd being so new to it again after so long!

PS where do I need to get the ferry to? Cowes, or Ryde? or does it not matter?

Doesn't matter if you get the bus. For driving, I guess there's not much difference - it's a pretty small island.

[Hammer]

Parking to camping distance is a mixture of luck and your ability to put a tent up in small spaces.

If you get there early, you park further from the campsite, but equally get to put your tent in one of the closer fields. If you arrive later, you park closer, but then have to pass all the erected tents to find a space. Eitherway, the walk is about 15 minutes, minimum.

I'd suggest travelling light, keep trips to and from the car to a minimum and dont assume that a trolly will help too much because there are long stretches of cow fields which will do your little wheels in. Unless you got a barrow or some kind of off road trolly!

Olé

[chownsy]

Just get there nice and early and the rest will fall into place! If your driving, get the car ferry from Portsmouth(Wight Link), and book it SOON! Its no drama for foot passengers, but the ferry does fill up quickly!

[manda]

The 2 main ferry terminals are Cowes and Ryde and the only real difference is where you plan to get the ferry from.... If you're coming via Southampton you'll be going to Cowes via Red Funnel, if you go via Portsmouth you'll go to Ryde on Wightlink. It really doesn't matter which way you go as they're both a short drive to the festival site. They both do shuttle buses as well if you're going as a foot passenger.

If you have a car though, book it ASAP. If you're foot passenger you can't actually pre-book but may have to wait at the terminal for a whle if the ferries are full (or at least that's certainly how it is with RF). Friday afternoon will be the busiest on the ferries. They run through the night on the sunday after so you can head straight off if you want.

[5co77ie]

Is you're coming from the South West it's a much shorter journey to Lynmouth/Lymington than to Southampton.

For the festival read:

this and this

[kittycat100]

Thanks for all the info!

Not sure I want to book a ferry till I have found out whether we got Glasto tickets, can't afford to do both! But if it comes to it could always make it a bity of a holiday and go a couple of days early and B&B it somewhere I'm sure. Haven't been to the Isle of Wight since I was about 11!

We're coming down from Sheffield, but will probably stop at my Mum's in Sussex, so probably head over from Portsmouth.

I guess that as we didn't have to provide any info for it there is no major security system to stop us reselling the tickets if we do go to Glasto instead?

I would sell for face value if at all possible as we didn't get the tickets to tout them on!

Oh yes, when does the site open? Is it Thursday or friday?

Cheers again guys, feel like such a 'noob'!

[kittycat100]

Is you're coming from the South West it's a much shorter journey to Lynmouth/Lymington than to Southampton.

For the festival read:

this and this

[carmenb]

Thanks for all the info!

Not sure I want to book a ferry till I have found out whether we got Glasto tickets, can't afford to do both! But if it comes to it could always make it a bity of a holiday and go a couple of days early and B&B it somewhere I'm sure. Haven't been to the Isle of Wight since I was about 11!

We're coming down from Sheffield, but will probably stop at my Mum's in Sussex, so probably head over from Portsmouth.

I guess that as we didn't have to provide any info for it there is no major security system to stop us reselling the tickets if we do go to Glasto instead?

I would sell for face value if at all possible as we didn't get the tickets to tout them on!

Oh yes, when does the site open? Is it Thursday or friday?

Cheers again guys, feel like such a 'noob'!