Car parks to open at 8pm on Tuesday?

[eFestivals]

I agree. Would solve a lot of the problems faced by locals just trying to go about their ordinary lives. Opening the gates on the Wednesday was an attempt to reduce traffic chaos on the Thursday/Friday but all it has done is shift the problem back a few days and effectively increase the duration of the festy.

Hazel

The gates have opened on Wednesday for years and years, so that wasn't what caused the problems this year.

What caused the problems this year was the festival advertising itself as a festival from the Wednesday rather than from the Friday - and so people turned up on the Wednesday. The festival created the traffic problems for themselves with that, and having taken that genie out of the bottle there's now no putting it back.

Opening the car parks - but JUST the car parks - on the Tuesday night is likely to lessen the Wednesday traffic problems to some extent. But if they opened the site as well, the same problem would remain, just earlier.

[hope]

oh c'mon - it was nowhere near 100,000 - there aren't 100,000 Maximo Park fans in the world.

And that tent only holds around 4,000 I reckon, not 10,000.

[norainplease]

The gates have opened on Wednesday for years and years, so that wasn't what caused the problems this year.

What caused the problems this year was the festival advertising itself as a festival from the Wednesday rather than from the Friday - and so people turned up on the Wednesday. The festival created the traffic problems for themselves with that, and having taken that genie out of the bottle there's now no putting it back.

Opening the car parks - but JUST the car parks - on the Tuesday night is likely to lessen the Wednesday traffic problems to some extent. But if they opened the site as well, the same problem would remain, just earlier.

[5co77ie]

the tent may only hold 4,000, but outside there must've been (approx) 20,000 if not more...

[eFestivals]

I think I also read somewhere that there were two or three accidents on near by motorways and that the diversions put in place by the police just added to the chaos this year too?

it was MUCH more than just that tho.

I left Bristol a half-hour earlier this year, hoping to get to the gates for 8am (and not earlier). I ended up joining a queue much further back than I did in previous years, and there was no accident involved with that much bigger queue.

Do you think Neil, that it will be a case of dropping off your car and staying somewhere else on the Tuesday night or would they be likely to lift the no sleeping in cars rule for one night?

I would think if it happens then they'd have to allow people to sleep in their cars that night.

If they were to enforce anything, I reckon it would be the no-tents rules, if for no other reasons than they'd obstruct cars &/or take up space that could be used for cars.

[norainplease]

it was MUCH more than just that tho.

I left Bristol a half-hour earlier this year, hoping to get to the gates for 8am (and not earlier). I ended up joining a queue much further back than I did in previous years, and there was no accident involved with that much bigger queue.

[DVG81]

I would think if it happens then they'd have to allow people to sleep in their cars that night.

If they were to enforce anything, I reckon it would be the no-tents rules, if for no other reasons than they'd obstruct cars &/or take up space that could be used for cars.

[incident]

I really can't see this happening. As you say they couldn't really allow tents due to spaces etc. However to allow however many thousand festival goers to turn up and effectively just wait in a car park with nothing to do.. it is asking for trouble. People will just hit the beer and before you know it someone will think it a good idea to go for a drive, cock knockers will also find it amusing to create there own music with car horns, its just a silly idea. Open car parks at 5am and just tell everybody that (insert artist here) is kicking off the fest or something on Friday as usual.. don't hide the fact that you can come on Wednesday but don't advertise it either.. people will just head when there ready for a Friday start.

[mynameisearl]

This is quite interesting. Bar last year when we flew down I have always driven before and as it's a 400 mile journey from Paisley we always leave on the Tuesday morning and stay in accommodation within a short distance of the festival, meaning we can get to the gates for opening or as close to opening as possible. If the gates were to open from 8pm on the Tuesday then I doubt we would aim to be there for 8pm. However it does mean that we could leave later on the Tuesday and do the best part of the journey in the evening/night (avoiding major traffic on the M74/M6/M5 etc) and aim to arrive between 3/4am. Grab a few hours kip in the car parks and be ready for the gates opening at 8am. Saves on accommodation or alternatively leave on the Monday, find accommodation nearby that night, and explore the local area on the Tuesday (something I've always wanted to do), then head to the carparks later on.

Edited October 5, 2009 by mynameisearl

[Celtic bhoy]

They should definately open the camper van fields early. That would take the biggest and slowest vehicles off the road early and as they wouldn't require tents to be set up next to cars there would be no issues with people spending the Tue night in their vans.

I understand there were about 3000 campers/ caravans this year. Even if a third of them turned up on Tues evening that would make a big difference on the roads around the site.

Edited October 5, 2009 by Celtic bhoy

[eFestivals]

I really can't see this happening. As you say they couldn't really allow tents due to spaces etc. However to allow however many thousand festival goers to turn up and effectively just wait in a car park with nothing to do.. it is asking for trouble. People will just hit the beer and before you know it someone will think it a good idea to go for a drive, cock knockers will also find it amusing to create there own music with car horns, its just a silly idea. Open car parks at 5am and just tell everybody that (insert artist here) is kicking off the fest or something on Friday as usual.. don't hide the fact that you can come on Wednesday but don't advertise it either.. people will just head when there ready for a Friday start.

while all those things could happen, i don't think they'd actually happen.

Firstly, the self-policing at Glastonbury works well - so if anyone did try to start acting a cock, they'd be plenty of other people to calm them down.

Secondly, it wouldn't happen without an amount of 'policing' by security & stewards.

And thirdly, if they made a threat of anyone acting a cock being thrown off site with their ticket confiscated (with the threat of this as a condition of early car park access), everyone would behave.

It's too late to say "don't advertise the Wednesday" - they've been promoting it as that since the last fest, and anyway, all those that came on the Wednesday last year for the first time now know about Wednesday.

[al_coholic]

I think its a good idea, something has to be done to stop the problems of this year repeating themselves, and the M4/M5 issue wasnt a major cause of the problem, because most of that traffic still used the A37 anyway just got there a different way.

One of the big problems is the bottle neck around Shepton Mallet, which is made worse because they close the road while the let the buses through from the Bristol & West Showground and Castle Cary. This allows the buses to use the other side of the road and shoot straight through, but the delay for everyone else is tanglible.

It took me 5 1/2 hours from Bristol to get on the site next year I am going a different way whatever time I leave.

[Glastoboy]

They should definately open the camper van fields early. That would take the biggest and slowest vehicles off the road early and as they wouldn't require tents to be set up next to cars there would be no issues with people spending the Tue night in their vans.

I understand there were about 3000 campers/ caravans this year. Even if a third of them turned up on Tues evening that would make a big difference on the roads around the site.

[random_man]

This is the best idea on this subject so far and one that the organisers should seriously consider. Well done Celtic Bhoy!

[ivan]

I think it is a good solution to a problem that has been building up over the last few years !

ie , more and more traffic just hanging around the local area waiting for the 8.00am open.

Organisers did apologise that they were a bit late this year.

As I said previoius Leeds opened the car parks etc from 2.00 am this year , and there was a steady

flow of traffic , and plenty of people took the organisers up on it and got in before the rush hour

, especially as the site is about 1mile from the M1.

[Pinhead]

while all those things could happen, i don't think they'd actually happen.

Firstly, the self-policing at Glastonbury works well - so if anyone did try to start acting a cock, they'd be plenty of other people to calm them down.

Secondly, it wouldn't happen without an amount of 'policing' by security & stewards.

And thirdly, if they made a threat of anyone acting a cock being thrown off site with their ticket confiscated (with the threat of this as a condition of early car park access), everyone would behave.

It's too late to say "don't advertise the Wednesday" - they've been promoting it as that since the last fest, and anyway, all those that came on the Wednesday last year for the first time now know about Wednesday.

[Langdale Wolf]

I don't understand why anyone would choose to come down 12 hours early to sit in their cars doing f**k all until the gates opened.

It'd be a good idea for anyone having to travel long distances etc, but I'd prefer having a few hours kip on the Tuesday night and heading down early on Wednesday.

They should make the car parks as dull as possible on the Tuesday night in order to maintain some sort of order. Play Simply Red over the PA system or something.

Still, if it keeps a few hundred/thousand cars off the road, good idea.

[norainplease]

I don't understand why anyone would choose to come down 12 hours early to sit in their cars doing f**k all until the gates opened.

It'd be a good idea for anyone having to travel long distances etc, but I'd prefer having a few hours kip on the Tuesday night and heading down early on Wednesday.

They should make the car parks as dull as possible on the Tuesday night in order to maintain some sort of order. Play Simply Red over the PA system or something.

Still, if it keeps a few hundred/thousand cars off the road, good idea.

Edited October 5, 2009 by norainplease

[Frenchie1973]

Better to open 6-7am Wednesday instead, and give peoples the chance to arrive earlier if they want before all the local daily traffic builds.

[Spuddy]

I think it's a good idea which will help to prevent the problems we saw this year.

Even though the gates open at 8 p.m. it doesn't necessarily mean that there are going to be loads of people sleeping all night in their cars, rather that it allows people to be more flexible as to when they arrive - I'd expect more of a trickle arriving throughout the night except for those people who really must get there as soon as they can.

What it will really help with is the rush-hour peak. Those who arrive at 7 a.m. or earlier should find it a lot easier to get to the site, and once in, they're not clogging up the roads along with the majority who will probably still set off at the normal time on Wednesday anyway. If just 1000 cars get onsite before 8 a.m. that's 3 miles less bumper-to-bumper traffic on the roads!

I'm not sure if we'll change our usual plans, but will be grateful to those who do decide to do so for whatever reason.

However, one downside of this idea is that there could be queues for wristbands at 8 a.m. as there will already be a lot of people there.

[random_man]

They should make the car parks as dull as possible on the Tuesday night in order to maintain some sort of order. Play Simply Red over the PA system or something.

[ArcticMonkeysUK]

You'd never get 20,000 people in the thoroughfares around the tent surely? Looked like around 2,000 or so to me.

[5co77ie]

There was far more than 2000 people around there it was chaos the reason MP were late on stage was because they drafted extra security to close off the corners to people coming towards the queens head - it was ridiculous!

Edited October 5, 2009 by 5co77ie