Festival Number 6 - Portmeirion, Wales

[sadimmock]

And still no tickets.... As much as I love this festival I do wonder about its organisation sometimes. 

[johnl]

The organisation has been a complete shambles this year - they are really letting themselves down, which is a shame as it's a great festival in a beautiful location.

sadimmock have you checked your emails? I have received e-tickets and my understanding is all the tickets have now been issued as e-tickets.

[dirty_dog]

it's like this most years regarding the tickets, everyone still gets in so nothing to worry about.

can't lose what you don't have either

 

[dirty_dog]

On 27/08/2016 at 1:05 PM, michael eavis' beard said:

http:///s/festno62016/

cool !!

[sadimmock]

Yup. Checked email and junk folders. Realistically if I do have to print something off then I need it by the end of tomorrow 

[johnl]

1 hour ago, sadimmock said:

Yup. Checked email and junk folders. Realistically if I do have to print something off then I need it by the end of tomorrow 

Eek sorry to hear that. Try logging into to your FN6 account via the website and see if they are in the docs there. Think other people have brought their email confs along and photo ID and been ok. I'm sure you'll be ok in the end!

[rocka-v1]

Hi All,

Me and my friend are heading down from North Yorkshire to festival no. 6 for the first time this year, can't wait!

Just wondering what are the camping facilities like? Is it far away from the arena? 

Any tips of what to bring/not bring, and any must see/do things.

Cheers in advance!

[sadimmock]

It gets better...... Logged in and got the eTicket only to find that they have missed one ticket off. Suspect I may be spending a lot of today on the phone. Utter shambles.

[generationgav]

17 minutes ago, sadimmock said:

It gets better...... Logged in and got the eTicket only to find that they have missed one ticket off. Suspect I may be spending a lot of today on the phone. Utter shambles.

I logged on and also only have one ticket (my main one) but definitely got e-mailed both. So think this is a system glitch. Probably worth double checking that you don't have the email with your tickets attached.

[sadimmock]

44 minutes ago, generationgav said:

I logged on and also only have one ticket (my main one) but definitely got e-mailed both. So think this is a system glitch. Probably worth double checking that you don't have the email with your tickets attached.

Cheers. Already have. Both my Inbox and my Spam folder lack an eTicket. Have been holding on the phone now for 15 min. This whole ticket fiasco has left a really sour taste.

One thing......Apparently there is going to be a boutique sale from 2pm today if anyone was interested in that kind of thing 

[johnl]

Really sorry for your pain sadimmock. I checked my account and it too only had one ticket on it so that's clearly a balls-up. I know you've checked a couple of times but the email should be from bookings@ outgoing if you want to check again. Mine came Friday and had pdf attachments at the bottom. If not you'll just have to bring your booking Conf and photo ID with you for the missing people. 

It looks like the wristband exchange will be carnage. It looks to me as if they are just moving the problem there but I'm sure everyone will get in who should do. 

Hopefully they will use different people next year.

[sadimmock]

Cheers johnl. I have looked and double looked. There is nothing there. Part of the problem is that we are going on the train, so we are supposed to get the shuttle bus and festival tickets on board. I can see this being a taxi from the station to the box office.

I really don't see why they couldn't have sent the tickets out and then issued an update if the parking location did have to change. Although I have a horrible feeling that they may have had to save money quite quickly.....

[johnl]

Oh I think someone on FB was in a similar position. I think they called Virgin Trains direct and found them rather more helpful..

[sadimmock]

Cheers! The train tickets are okay (Virgin sent them out as planned), it was more the ability to pick up the festival and shuttle bus bands on board that is the problem. I've gotten bored with the customer services line (have spend a long time waiting...). Will try again later but think I am just going to have to take screen-grabs and try and see what happens. 

[generationgav]

2 hours ago, sadimmock said:

Cheers! The train tickets are okay (Virgin sent them out as planned), it was more the ability to pick up the festival and shuttle bus bands on board that is the problem. I've gotten bored with the customer services line (have spend a long time waiting...). Will try again later but think I am just going to have to take screen-grabs and try and see what happens. 

If you're pretty tech- savy then I can tell you how to get you your barcode numbers for all of your orders. They might even be able to enter this manually. 

[sadimmock]

20 minutes ago, generationgav said:

If you're pretty tech- savy then I can tell you how to get you your barcode numbers for all of your orders. They might even be able to enter this manually. 

I am moderately savy! Any help would be much appreciated thanks!

[Green.flash]

Just back, rain didn't spoil a great weekend. Thought hot chip, blossoms and sfa were great on the main stage but it was the best advice to explore the quirky bits. 

Saturday might have been my best festival day ever, stone boat, piazza, afore mentioned bands with the end of Dr JCC and the choir in between, ending up at the vodka bar by the campsite dancing til we dropped. 

And everyone's so friendly. Even the tractor drivers this morning, who had been working through the night.

So much done, so much more to do. Thinking of booking up for next year. Chvrches to headline?

[dirty_dog]

yep weather didn't ruin my festival either,

got out pretty sharpish this morning straight on the bus and only waited 5 mins for a tractor to pull us out

[Green.flash]

The tractors were brilliant, was fearing that we could be stuck all day. 

Thanks for the tips dirty dog, be seeing you next year. 

[johnl]

Stayed off-site so wasn't affected by the car park issues. It's a great festival, I love it but I do fear the ticketing shambles and car park issues which have unfortunately affected quite a lot of people might prove difficult obstacles to overcome in PR terms.

Enjoyed spending time at the Estuary and even managed to catch a few bands!

Hope everyone gets home safe . I'd love to see Nick Cave headline next year. Be seeing you....

PS. I spoke to one of the Choir on the bus and he said they would be doing "something special" next year as it's the sixth number six.

Edited September 5, 2016 by johnl

[generationgav]

We packed up and was down by the park and ride queue by 6:30 yesterday morning. We then had security come and say anybody in the back field (that's us) needs to go to the welfare tent. We went to the information desk to find out where it was, they said entrance to the campsite. Went there and was told it's past the info desk. Turns out it was the birra moretti tent in the village green. After a couple of cold hours there we were moved to the gate house.

We were advised that they wouldn't be able to move all cars that day and we could either attempt to go home and come back or it'd be a night on the leisure centre floor. Although only back in Manchester our house keys are "safely" in the car so couldn't get home. We instead, to more expense, booked the last room in a Travelodge in Bangor (shuttle bus took people at 4pm) where we're about to try and go back to Porthmadog to see what state the car is in. Heard a lot of horror stories including a good number of cars being written off, mainly due to the floods.

We've been to a lot of festivals, first time at No 6 and all the way through it just felt like there wasn't enough organisation or updating of people. The walk to the campsite and the mud there was horrific and dangerous, they weren't putting wood chip down as it would affect the farmers we were told. However theres a tarmaced path going through we weren't allowed to use.

We paid a lot for this festival and between another night hotel and taxi and God knows what state the car might end up in it may end up a lot more expensive. The venue is beautiful and the idea is great, but just don't think I'd go back even before the car issues.

They said they're fully insured and I know there will be a lot of claims going in. I wonder how difficult it will be for them to get insurance next year.

Highlights (yes, we love festivals and we had a great weekend, just marred by the fact we're not home 26 hours and counting) were SFA, M Ward, Broken Social Scene, Dr John Cooper Clarke, Everley Pregnant Brothers and of course Paul Weller! 

[glasto-worker]

is it hit the news - ' Festival No.6: Inquiry call after hundreds stranded '

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-37274630

[robskyd]

We arrived on Friday in our campervan at the park and ride and told to park up and queue for our tickets, only to get near the front and be told that campervans should go straight to the campervan field which was not what was on the information provided. But hey, that’s ok they put a message out on Facebook. You know in an area where no-one has a data signal!

The campervan field was choker and we were lucky that the two vans next to us didn’t have awnings so we all had a bit of space. We were even luckier on Monday morning as we got up at 8, packed by 10 and then drove out without any bother – that’s once the motorhome that was blocking us in was pushed out of the way. We used the exit at the back of the field as opposed to the main entrance where everyone had headed to and got stuck.

 

So in between getting there and leaving we had a top time and although it did feel like a few corners had been cut (no temporary metal roads in the van field or up the big slope to the camping area) and a couple of acts not turning up it didn’t dampen our spirits. (Forgive the pun!)

 

The Good

Horsebeach, Swnami, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, The Burlesque tent’s comedy acts, Crazy P, John Cooper Clarke, John Bramwell, Bowie and the wood-stove pizzas to the right as you went in the main stage. We also met some great people throughout the weekend.

 

The Bad

The fact the organisers thought keeping us updated via social media was a good idea in a no signal area! Stewards not knowing what day of the week it was never mind anything else, why no metal roads like last year and the very expensive campervan field.

 

If they can manage to get insurance for next year then we’ll be back though we’ll probably camp in a nearby site and travel in each morning.

[sadimmock]

Interesting one this... On the whole I did really enjoy the festival (highlights Bowie, John Cooper Clarke, Hot Chip and just enjoying the village and some of the smaller talks/events). However in comparison to last year it was a noticeably worse experience; many acts cancelled, ticket fiasco, much more crowded, wide-spread disorganisation and generally more expensive (£5.20, for a Moretti...). 

We went be train so were lucky to avoid the car-park incident, but I'm not sure that I would go again. All in all it is a very expensive festival and I did feel a bit ripped off. My suspicion is that many of the cut-backs were issues may have been caused by money problems in the run-up, but I guess we will never know. A pity really because 2015 was one of my favourite ever festival experiences. 

[Green.flash]

i wasn't shocked at the beer prices tbh, not far off standard festival prices. 

Not got a previous number 6 to compare to, but stewards I came across were generally helpful, with a few exceptions ie not much help in directing to the campsites on arrival. 

Compared to other festivals I've been to I didn't experience any significant bottkenecks and thought the atmosphere was generally excellent. 

Got to agree that the flooded car park and not enough solid walkways were problems, but didn't affect our enjoyment.