Beer tent clearance on Sunday night

[Dipster]

I am just not going to respond any more to amateur detectives who were not there and have nothing of value to add.

Edited August 15, 2008 by Dipster

[mycomania2]

I know everyones probably sick of all this but I found security to be surly, agressive and rude all weekend.

Not what you would expect from such a small, cool festi.

[Peachy]

look you want to be sarcastic at my comments then great, but is itso hard for some people on here not to take every thing they read so literally, I was purley making the point I can fully understand why security or the forces use dogs for there own saftey

[Flounder]

I'm locking this thread as a serious topic is in danger of turning into a point scoring session - please take that to pm.

The official reply has been posted - please see there for information.

Any problems then do feel free to pm me.

[bongoman9]

Just a note to say thanks for another good festival in spite of the rain. I went to the Beachdown Festival and this taught me I’ve been taking EIID for granted. On one side it’s a really is a nice place. So thanks.

On the other side can I say something about your security. Generally they were friendly but it all went very sour on Sunday night. I was in the bar tent next to the main stage and things were nice and quiet and friendly. I was chatting to someone I didn’t know and the bar had just shut. No one was asking us to leave and people were happy to chat and finish their drinks.

Suddenly though security brought dogs in and somehow made them bark viciously at us all. I saw a young lady walk over and it appeared she wanted to pat the dog as she thought it was upset. What I saw then made me sick. The security guard grabbed her by the throat and punched her to the floor. She had done absolutely nothing wrong. Of course a large crowd went to her defence. You are lucky to have such nice people at this festival as I thought for a moment that the security man was going to get mobbed.

From this moment on the security were horrible. There was no trouble and yet they were treating us like anyone’s worst enemy. I quietly left the tent and walked to the wigon casino to see if anything fun was happening there. The music was just finishing and again people were happily chatting. Then the same sort of thing. Mad security guards with barking dogs and threatening behaviour.

I’m sorry to say that this has left such a bad taste I don’t think I’ll be coming back next year. EIID has always been a safe and friendly place. So relaxed men can dress up as women! The problem is now you have destroyed this. Normally the same people come back every year and I expect 2009 will be the same. Problem is that everyone is going to be a bit worried about security. This will make a negative atmosphere and hostility against your security and sadly when this happens it seems to spread and trouble starts. It’s your security who have created this and not the punters.

I’ve never had dogs set on me before and I was quite shaken after all this. I don’t intend to have dogs set on me again and the best way to avoid this is to avoid EIID. It’s such a shame as I’ve been for the past three years and now it’s sadly over.

[Flounder]

Both threads have been merged -

as stated in another thread

Direct from LGO Towers.....

EIID 08 was a fantastic event with a friendly vibe. We are often told that as a festival we have the friendliest punters, the friendliest staff and the most relaxed atmosphere of any small festival. Lost property is often handed in, many people who lost phones and wallets with money in this year have been reunited with their possessions, people look out for one another, children feel safe, parents feel safe, punters feel safe and the organisers feel safe.

The LGO team take any allegations made very seriously and would like to respond to some of the allegations and assumptions that have been made on this message board.

EIID is a family friendly event with a capacity of 5000

The organisers had no reports of drug dealing at EIID 08.

The organisers had half a dozen reports of tent theft at EIID 08 which is extremely low.

Police were called to the EIID site on two occassions this year.

1. Police were called to the EIID site and made one arrest on Saturday

2. Police were called to the EIID site on Sunday morning in response to an allegation, which turned out to be unfounded. These Police Officers carry crime fighting equipment, including pepper spray, stab vests for protection and Tazer guns. No arrests were made.

EIID utilised the security firm ESP security for both 2007 and 2008.

ESP security were given the authority to use dogs to patrol the woods at night. This was agreed after discussion with the organisers to address problems raised in 2007.

ESP security use stab vests for their own protection. Unfortunately this is becoming the norm for security whether working in a pub, club or festival.

Only security officers who are qualified to use handcuffs, may use handcuffs as a form of restraint.

A number of ESP security officers with the relevant qualifications carried handcuffs at EIID 08.

It is the norm for qualified security at festivals to carry handcuffs – visible or not.

Security were authorised to clear the main bar at 3.00am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in order to keep to license agreements stated by the council. Dogs were not authorized for use in this.

Nobody was bitten by an ESP dog at EIID 08

Regarding the incident in the bar – its has been very difficult to gain a clear picture of exactly what has happened due to the conflicting nature of the reports from all angles. We have however gained an overall idea of what occurred and the important end result of this is that dogs will not be used on the festival site again. LGO would like to thank everyone, no matter what their opinion, who has contributed information on this.

LGO cannot comment on or be responsible/accountable for the actions of individual security officers or complainants.

Any complaints received will be investigated internally between LGO, ESP security and the complainants

We hope that this answers some of the concerns raised on this thread and thank those who have given clear information, from whatever angle, upon allegations made.

If you have any complaints, queries or require further resolution please contact the organisers directly on info@lgofestivals.com

We've had an overwhelming positive response from people there ( bands, workers, punters etc) even those who were involved in Sundays site clearance, saying what a great time they had over the weekend. We appreciate all feedback given, once again thank everyone for coming along and here's to one of the best weekends that you can have in a field in Dorset.