The post-festival capacity thread

[Infinite Jest]

Now that we've all actually been to the festival, what do we think of the capacity increase/new layout?

Obviously, there were a lot more people there. I overheard staff in the Friends of the Earth tent say that last year there were 7000 people on site, this year there were 12000. They also said that no one had told them about the increase. I can certainly believe that. It felt like a huge increase from last year.

So:

Stages were generally fine. Big Top and Tipi were same as ever, though maybe more crowded (no bad thing). I didn't mind the Woods stage - it lacked a bit of atmosphere but you could get close if you wanted to, lie in the sun at the back if you wanted to, whatever. I think the Garden stage suffered: too many people either just sitting and chatting, or passing through making noise, while the bands were playing. (In my authoritarian daydream, they ban talking and sitting in front of the mixing desk...). Comedy stage was much better. Film tent was good.

Food/bars: I didn't drink much, but the queues all seemed fine and the food was amazing as ever.

Toilets: seemed like these were dirtier and there was more jerkish behaviour (rubbish left in cubicles, toilets and urinals blocked by paper or beer cans). Not terrible, but EoTR has always had nice toilets - which are important dammit!

General facilities: phone-charging was much better this year. The walk into the site was annoying, but at least the exit was easier. Campsite didn't seem overly crowded, the site could certainly handle that many people.

Vibe: I don't think it was as good as previously, though not by much, and it wasn't as worse as I'd feared. It did seem like there were more people who were there "because it's a festival" and just wanted to get really drunk or talk loudly to their mates. I camped next to a few teens who'd got really drunk at Herman Dune and ended up dancing into people a lot. Drunk fine, dancing great, crashing into people not so good...

Plus I'm not a big fan of costumes or flags, and I'd rather EoTR didn't turn into a Reading or Bestival clone. But that's maybe me just being a curmudgeon

Overall: I'm not unhappy with the increase but I wouldn't want to see it get much bigger, or to pick up either a hipster crowd who are there to pose and talk, or a teen crowd who are there to get really drunk and run around shouting...

What say you lot?

[Nonlondoner]

Just back too.

It was much busier, but after a few worries on Friday evening when it seems packed it was generally fine. I'd urge the organisers to leave it at that in terms of increases. It was just at that tipping point that Latitude crossed in 2008.

Camping was okay though I'd suggest a bit more land is needed. It was much more crowded than before and that was a bit of a shame.

Queues were okay. The real ale tent was the longest wait (about 10 minutes) but otherwise no problems. Toilets got busy during band changeovers but with a little forward planning you could catch them when they were quiet. Toilets were generally very clean.

Food and drink. No real complaints. Tibetan stew was my favourite, lots of other excellent stalls. Just a bit disappointed that I couldn't have goat curry again this year. Beer was as good as always and not unreasonably priced.

Stages were good, lots of space to move around. My favourite is still the Garden.Timings were well thought out allowing you to dabble in 20 minutes of one band before strolling to see another.

Music was as good as ever. Highlights were Midlake, Gruff Rhys, Beirut and Tuneyards. I personally wouldn't have gone for Mogwai or the Joanna Newsom as headliners. The latter, in my opinion, sounded like someone strangling a cat from the tent and I can only assume that hype has won her so many fans. Mogwai would have been better suited to the Garden Stage but, hey, I'm not the booker.

In summary. Excellent but please, please, no more capacity increases and please let me know if anyone can find a way of legally carrying a taser gun to "deal" with the tw*ts who stand right in front of the stage to chat about hair product and mobile phones and shout "Oh My God" every thirty seconds. People like that should be sent to V Festival as a punishment.

[SweepingTheNation]

My only problem with Woods is that it's just a big stage on one side of a field, whereas in Garden you've got the naturally enclosed space and it's designed beautifully for purpose. I know we talked a bit in advance about possible noise overspill but provided you were close enough to the Woods paddock it wasn't that much of a problem - until Sunday, for some reason, where as Josh T Pearson alluded to you could hear Wild Nothing and before them some of Kurt Vile quite clearly across most of the site, though that may have been meterologically related, certainly the Big Top's position didn't seem to shift.

Was there a security problem during Sunday? There came a point just as evening approached when the fences went up at the garden entrance and the stewards stepped up wristband sight requests, and later there were a couple of security people guarding the woods side entrance/exit (not the one from the Garden Stage end, the one by the gate) Also don't recall seeing the man with the laser pen in the Big Top before Brakes.

[ljsawyer]

Pretty much agree with the above posts, and yeah, no bigger please! The change of vibe/type of crowd wasn't drastic but still noticeable, and best summed up when I was asked for some fags on Sunday night by two girls who looked about 12.

With the music EOTR has once again cemented its place as the best in the UK although I'd like to see more Richard Buckner and Jim White and less Best Coast and Lykke Li. That's probably just me though.

Queues were fine, never had to wait longer than 5 mins for the toilets and the Garden Stage never overflowed like it did for Fleet Foxes back in 2009, which is one positive to take from the increased capacity.

Food was better than ever, those impossible-to-eat veggie chilli dogs were my favourite.

All in all a great festival again and still easily my favourite on the UK circuit. I'll always be coming back for more if the line-up is good, but End of the Road has so much more to it than just music, and I don't want it to become 'just another festival'.

Edited September 5, 2011 by ljsawyer

[geofelgie]

I really liked the new set-up - especially the fact that the Garden stage is still special but not the main stage - it made it easier to get to the wooded area.

My only criticism is a non-new one - having the disco where it is ruins the piano stage late at night.

As for everything else - fabulous! Given that the line-up was the least me-friendly one in the six years it's been going I still saw a whole heap of fantastic stuff.

I do have two gripes mind:

1) The sound quality in the tipi stage was awful (unless a band brought their own sound guy). The person in there even had to be told during Slow down molasses that there was no trombone coming through front-of-house. He was saw there chewing his nails and hadn't even noticed!

2) There were too many wasps.

[magick melvin]

I think the increased capacity has definitely changed the vibe of the festival. For me, it's slightly lost that magical feel. It might have been down to me not finding the music as great this year and having only one or two really fab music moments. Didn't like the new Woods stage at all. A big featureless field with a stage at one end. Big top and Tipi was great. Garden stage too busy. Food fab as always.

Gripes:

1. Campsite teenagers playing music much too loudly at 2am in the family camping area.

2. Very long waits for the showers.

3. The new entrance layout with the pathway of doom. Did the rocks have to be quite that big? I twisted at least three ankles.

For me only 3 out of 5 this year whereas it's always been 5 out of 5 in the past.

[Fareham Grecian]

Still 5 out of 5 for me, and while I agree that the Woods stage had little character it was an additional one so the Garden/Big Top were just as magical as ever, with the bonus as someone mentioned that with clever stage timings there was no Fleet Foxes lockout moment this year (AFAIK).

I'd agree there were slightly more twats this year, but nowhere near enough to spoil it. And I didn't see any wasps!

Please, please, please don't increase capacity any further!

[Maoster]

Pretty much what MagicMelvin said. Really enjoyed it. Fantastic music (apart from headliners IMO). BUT - it's now a great festival, no longer a magical one. I saw so many wasted people and very open class A drug usage that I am glad my kids are now a lot older than they were at the first EOTR. Security seemed a lot heavier too, which is a shame but suppose understandable given the theft issues last Year.

So will continue going (unless any more increase in capacity), but if a new boutique festival with great music and 5,000 max capacity starts, I would be very tempted...................

Oh I seem to remember I got completely flamed on this board for suggesting capacity might be as high as 12,500

Edited September 6, 2011 by Maoster

[Nick07]

There was not 12000 people there. Thought it was 8000 this year.

[SweepingTheNation]

I heard the 12,000 figure from a security man as well, but that was all in on site, traders, techies etc.

[sadwitch]

"slightly lost that magical feel"

This would be my only, somewhat selfish, complaint. I love that the festival listens and improves each year.

Good:

The Local is a much nicer, appropriately sized venue than it has been.

The Tipi as a covered sitting area is a good idea.

The fire and stones- nice.

The new Woods stage. Disconcerting! We don't like change! However it meant you could see any band you wanted on the Garden/Woods stage and get a good view and have the experience you felt like at the time (sitting at the back/standing at the front/dancing about etc) without it being too crowded. Well done. I know we all love the magical Garden stage but really you can't have a main stage where a large proportion of the crowd can't get to see a headline act that they've paid to come and see very well.

Bars had good selection of beers and mixers (though the barstaff constantly tried to overcharge me but were perfectly nice about being corrected)

Food and stalls good.

Comedy area so much better now than in it's early days though all the canvas hangings combined with the trees meant you often couldn't see a lot and had to pretend you were listening to Radio 4. Great selection of performers though.

Toilets were clean and kept clean for the main part for the majority of the time- quite impressive for a festival with a larger crowd like this year.

The people, everyone friendly and tolerant and polite. Only had one lady get in a tetch because she dodn't understand the toilet queue system that we had rather Britishly adopted one night

The woods were decorated wonderfully as usual.

Staggered stage timings. Not many other festivals are so considerate.

Ringo Bingo coffee time was ace. The coffee was very good too so it took the edge off the 20 minute wait!

Not so good:

It doesn't feel so special anymore. It's still the best festival out of all that I've attended in the last decade but there's no longer the wonderful feeling that we're all enjoying a brilliant secret. You used to be able to sit quietly and have a drink and suddenly an amazing act would turn up and do an unannounced set in an intimate setting. I know there's still an element of that going on but it used to seem like you were always wandering into somewhere and finding something great you hadn't expected. Now hundreds of people stand to watch these "intimate gigs" which is nice that more people can enjoy it but it's less enjoyable. There's more of a crowd looking for a party at night. At other festivals I am that crowd but not here.

The rocky path of hell. Ouch.

Not enough banjos. I saw 2 the entire weekend and one of those I didn't get to see played. Plenty of harmonicas though, was there a sale on backstage?

The Scandinavian element seems to have been cut right back.

The forest disco is too near the other stuff and was absolutely rammed with people standing still on the dancefloor wearing giant rucksacks looking blank when I visited.

The f**king f**king bus company fiasco. I may rant about this in more detail but in essence leaving at 11am meant we didn't get to see a band until 5pm friday. Not acceptable. I know there was traffic but this is bullshit. The coaches were a shambles on the way back; they left late, all the luggage got randomly shoved onto other coaches so we all had to "meet up" at Fleet services so we'd all arrive in London together despite leaving at different times so we had farcically long rest stops, we were shoved on to a tiny uncomfortable mini coach, our driver used his mobile (not hands free) the entire way back to direct other coaches "did you see which way I went at the roundabout?" etc. Then we had to stop for petrol. All the delaying and then looking for luggage meant people were in danger of missing coaches and trains booked for late afternoon despite being ready to leave at 9.30am. £42? Nice.

I really miss the tiny bimble inn stage. Perhaps it could be brought back just for totally secret sets/scrabble etc.

Edited September 5, 2011 by sadwitch

[Fareham Grecian]

There was not 12000 people there. Thought it was 8000 this year.

[Nick07]

I think we established it was 8000 (or 8500) adult tickets. With kids, bands, staff etc the total was 12000 or 12500 I believe, in accordance with the site licence.

[MissB]

Thought I'd have a say as a first timer...

I loved it.. for me the toilets were very clean (comparatively) and always well stocked, the food and drink was reasonably priced, all my favourite stalls from other festivals and some new ones and never had to queue for long and the site was probably the most beautiful I have ever been to. I will be buying an early bird ticket for a return trip next year.

Obviously I don't have the benefit of understanding the capacity increase but generally as I say, didn't feel I waited too long for things and moved around the site quite easily. I didn't like the Woods stage as much as others but expected to see a stage like this as most festivals have a large capacity main stage.. I can see how this would disappoint those that have been previously I guess.

My comments for improvement would be:

The comedy stage was gorgeous and I wouldn't want to see it change it was amazing and we spent a lot of time there (although I just don't understand how any disabled person would get there?)I do think it would benefit from an exit on the far side with perhaps a controlled entrance and exit system since it was gated with security anyway and one clear pathway through the middle. We were there for Robin Ince at 11pm on Saturday and it really filled up to the point where you just couldn't get back out until the end when it cleared out. I did think if there had been a fire we'd have been in serious trouble with just the one exit and it also meant any one needing the toilet on the far side was basically forced to go in the trees!

The road in was horrendous... I guess maybe it was an anti rain precaution but the rocks were very OTT.

There really wasn't much signage to say what was family and general camping. We arrived Friday afternoon walked about halfway into the camping and then decided to pitch. We realised it was family when the people near us came back with several children mid pitch. It wasn't really a problem for us as it was just the two of us and we aren't exactly noisy but for it might explain the groups of teenagers camping in the family area. We asked where to pitch on the way in and were told 'plenty of space left, go anywhere' so maybe better steward directions to each camping area too?

Otherwise, this was a perfect festival with a lot of thought effort and charm and some superb music and entertainment

[zahidf]

As a first timer, i loved it.

Hello to all the happy campers who made me feel very welcome!

Great site and atmosphere. Really lovely.

Music was pretty brill thorughout.

Stages were all lovely.

Bad points:

Too cold in the night.

Too many talkers. Not Field Day bad, not ATP good either though.

Green Bus Company need ot buck their ideas up. Going on the Thursday was ok, but the going back on the Monday, they were useless.

[Maoster]

12000 over the weekend with staff / kids but there was never 12000 people in there at one time in my opinion.

Would have been very crowded if so. And I didn't think it was.

[airwaves]

So this was my 4th in a row. How did I feel about the changes.

I didn't mind the increased size. Never really felt crowded anywhere, though the q's for the popular foods seemed longer this year.

Thought the staging of the Woods stage was nice (planking etc) and I'm always up for a field based stage where the field slopes the right way. Sound seemed pretty good to me.

But the Woods stage lacks the 'special' setting, atmosphere and acoustics that the Garden has always had.

Looking back my Woods to Garden bands count was 10 to 13, so Garden stage edging it there.

The crowds seemed as attentive as ever. This was particularly noticeable during the quieter moments when a proverbial pin dropping ... eg Josh T Pearson, John Grant and even, I'm surprised, Joanna. But there seemed to be much less dreamily sitting on the ground and listening to the band through the fest, especially at the Garden.

Comedy stage was a good un except that it was somewhat of a trek. Also would like comedy to go on much later.

That pathway of doom was a real killer. And what was with the q to get in on Thursday afternoon. Thought I done enough q along the path from the car park - then I turned the corner and saw I had more to do than already done!!!!!! More wristband stations next year please

I too camped in the Family area - didn't realise until after I had pitched up and was able to peruse the site map in the programme.

Site staff as friendly as ever though I did witness a somewhat jobsworth security guy shine a torch onto a couple's roll(ing)-up at around 2am near the tipi tent and start asking them somewhat aggresively what was in it (from my brief glance it looked like a legit roll-up rather than a joint).

[Nick07]

Agree we don't really know what the actual numbers were but the point to me is it was a lot more than previous years and hopefully won't get any bigger. Well that's only my view, I suppose some people might have enjoyed the increased capacity- would be great though to get a heads up on plans for 2013 soon so can book the early birds without worrying if it is going to increase again.

[tomtrumps]

Seemed much busier this year and the biggest gripe about this was the general state of the toilets, nowhere near as good as last year and I appreciate they are better than some festivals but we expect better! Only other problem was the large numbers of noisy kids in general camping- after the rocks of doom did everyone just give up and pop the tent up in the first available spot?

Enough moaning, really enjoyed it, preferred the atmosphere last year but thought the ale was better this. Loved the veggie curry place. Best food of the two years I have been!

Oh one more moan, I hated the fact JN had exclusivity at the end of Sunday. Hated her and was enjoying the music at the cider bus but they were asked to turn it off. Left with nothing to do we went back to the tent and retired earlier than we might normally. This should NEVER be allowed to happen again!

[Maoster]

Obviously in my previous post I meant 2012 not 2013 - am not that much of a forward planner. Blame post festival knackerdness!

[SweepingTheNation]

Lot of assumption going on that capacity is going to immediately expand. Given capacity last expanded two years ago and we didn't realise for a year and a half I imagine they know how far they can take it (hence No Direction Home, I suppose)

[binaryRooster]

i thought the Woods stage worked well. The idea that you have a headliner that people couldn't get to see (the Fleet Foxes fiasco) was ridiculous, and i think the organisers have done exactly the right thing in creating a stage that everyone can get to (extra points for putting in a sloping field!). i didn't ever have to queue too long for food or drink and could get good positions for all the bands i watched.

[Maoster]

"Site staff as friendly as ever though I did witness a somewhat jobsworth security guy shine a torch onto a couple's roll(ing)-up at around 2am near the tipi tent and start asking them somewhat aggresively what was in it (from my brief glance it looked like a legit roll-up rather than a joint)."

Had a similar situation. Went back to my tent for a coat about 11pm. as I was inside with the flap open a security patrol shined torches inside my tent and noticed that in our food box we had a small glass jar for sugar (yes I know it's banned, agree it's wrong and blame my wife). Quite aggressively made me tip out the sugar into a bag and took the jar. Now in one way we were caught bang to rights and it was our own stupid fault not to double check before leaving for EOTR. BUT - security generally were a bit more Gestapo-ish than previous and (IMO) a bit OTT attitude wise.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Maoster

[MattL80]

I quite liked the woods stage, although it did make it feel a bit more like any other festival, rather than the magic of the garden. However it was nice to have a bit more choice of who to see, and as others have said the staggered timing is great.

The size increase was very noticable. That in itself wasn't much of an issue for me, but I didn't feel that the facilities had increased accordingly. There seemed to be fewer toilets this year, the bars seemed smaller and there were definately one or two food stalls missing from last year.

I also camped in the family by mistake which meant getting woken up at 6 each morning by noisy kids (and even noisier parents). As far as I could tell the family area was as big as the non family, with very little indication which was which.

Musically it was great as always, although Midlake were the only act who really blew me away.

All in all it was brilliant, but almost every aspect was just a tiny bit less brilliant than previous years.

[jazzycatbristol]

Warning - rant alert!

I've only been last year and this, so don't know what it was like before then, but I think the difference was really noticeable. Everywhere was definitely more crowded and you had to queue for everything. If you have more people, you need more facilities and if anything, it seemed as though there were less. You always had to queue for the toilet and they were always filthy. I'm sure they were cleaned more often last year. I had to wait 30 mins for a coffee one morning, so mostly didn't bother. One woman I spoke to said she queued for two hours for a shower. Would it be too much to ask for more toilets and showers?

Definitely also noticed more young, drunk people especially towards the end of the evenings when they tried to push their way to the front of the stage. In the Tipi on Sat night, one woman got hit in the eye by a can which some yob chucked backwards.

Agree with others about the path and the queue on Thursday afternoon for wristbands.

Not sure if there was more security as I saw quite a lot of glass bottles and also class A drugs.

Didn't spend much time in the Woods as preferred the atmosphere in the Garden stage, but it's hard to engage with an act when you're so far away. Overall, this time last year I knew I was going to buy early bird tickets. This year, not so sure. Maybe I should sit and reflect. Thanks - rant over.