Reading sum up, funny so thought I'd share!

[meatyparson]

Just reading therough the Reading festival forums, and it just seems the place just turns into a complete lawless wasteland for 3 days, with feral youths getting trollied, starting fights and setting fire to anything hey can get their hands on. Amazed it is allowed to go and recieves no adverse publicity from papers etc. Just wondering how it would play out if similar things happened at say the Notting Hill carnival, The Daily mail would have a field day.

[5co77ie]

Just out of interest....

Do any veteran festival-goers have any idea....

.... at which festival did this "let's burn all our stuff on the last night" begin?....and what year.

.....and when did it transform into "let's burn other people's stuff too"

I've been on a long long break from festival going (between 94 and 2008!!!!!!!!)

From some of the Reading/Leeds posts it seems like security is pretty damn poor in these campsites.

Are these festival organisers waiting for someone to die before they get a handle on this??

[meatyparson]

no it doesn't

[benissright]

Security has doubled in the campsites and it's still not enough, do you think that should double again? Where does it stop? 1 security to each punter perhaps?

No matter how many security that are in the campsites, it will never be enough to stop every single scumbag causing trouble. There is already over the recommended allocation (which 95% of these were SIA badged), to increase this again would only increase the costs of the festival.

To say they are poor is insulting to the people who were working their arses off to try and stop the trouble, not to mention the abuse and assaults our staff encountered while dealing with these scumbags.

Thanks

Edited September 3, 2009 by benissright

[amfy]

So could setting fire to tents with people in them, or lobbing exploding cannisters.

The Reading behaviour we're hearing about here would certainly be termed a "Riot" at Notting Hill and would recieve media attention that clearly marked it as such.

I think that's probabaly because it was contained to the (non-residential) festival site, wheras Notting Hill is a residential area and now a pretty upmarket one into the bargain. If it spilled out onto the streets of Reading it'd probably be seen a bit differently.

[meatyparson]

I think that's probabaly because it was contained to the (non-residential) festival site, wheras Notting Hill is a residential area and now a pretty upmarket one into the bargain. If it spilled out onto the streets of Reading it'd probably be seen a bit differently.

[halfpint]

just got back from reading after a 3 year absence, in favour of glastonbury - went primarily because of radiohead.

pros:

- younger more energetic crowd, first bands on getting people going, massive singalongs (MUCH more so than glasto)

- damn good lineup

- radiohead

cons:

- lord of the flies on sunday evening, we left then because people were just burning everything

- ZERO after hours entertainment (maybe that's why people burn stuff?) excluding the silent disco which is impossible to get in to

- lots and lots of dicks and general w*nkers up for causing trouble. I overheard some guy having a rant at a girl who asking him to stop jumping so hard and bumping into her as she was pregnant (this was fairly far back in the crowd, past the sound desk) and he had a go at her telling her she shouldnt be at a festival, etc.. etc..

- the sound at times was awful. painfully quiet on friday until the deftones when it got turned up - we theorised this was potentially because of surrounding offices/workers? if you weren't in the right place (speakers very directional) then at other times also painfully quiet (prodigy for one)

- less of a party, more of a lets get f**ked atmosphere

- throwing piss. during and before bands at the main stage, cups full of the stuff. my mate got absolutely covered in it when a cup landed on him, ruined his evening.

[5co77ie]

TBH i'm not entirely sure a lack of entertainment is to blame. At leeds they have stuff going on til 6am every morning - and yet still they burn things. I was part of the recycling team on the Monday / Tuesday and it was like a scene out of a disaster movie. And there were still fires going at 9/10am monday morning.

[Ringo_Spar]

AND WHY THE f**k DO I READ THIS???

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/8230210.stm

[LusciousLucy]

And it wont ever get cancelled/given a year off cos the Early Bird tix are released within 48 hours of the fest finishing....see the same for V and T too!