TO55ER

[Sawdusty surfer]

Giddings said earlier on the BBC, Facebook etc that he would refund money to anyone who didn't go. Now he has changed his mind. I bet loads of people didn't go because of that.

[roughyed]

He doesn't come accross as someone with any thought of PR! Saw an interview this afternoon and was just saying how great the Thursday night bands were, despite so many people saying they missed it. I know if I had missed the show, to have the organiser saying how great it was, would slightly annoy me!

Then he has backtracked on the refund comments, saying the gates are open and people have no reason not to get there.

[SammyNHunter]

I don't think he gets the damage done. A lot of people will stay away next year.

[mrtourette]

I can't understand why people still believe what festival organisers say. Of course he's not going to refund tickets unless he's done a full investigation into how many people didn't attend. Imagine if it turned out that 15,000 people didn't make it, he'd be screwed.

If you look at what he said:

Prompted about the possibility of refunds he said, “If you’ve got your ticket, I have to refund you if you send it back to me … I mean, that’s outrageous.”

He continued, “If someone has suffered that, I don’t believe I should keep their money. What do you think?”

Edited June 23, 2012 by mrtourette

[Flaminglippy]

I reckon this could be the end of the festival in its current form. Reading other forums with posts from people there, loads have said they won't be going back. Out of the big ones its always seemed to be the one that takes longer to sell out. Theres even rumours it only sold out this year because they palmed a big bunch of tickets off to Via-gogo).

Its causing chaos for the Islanders as well....can't imagine many of them will be laying down the welcoming mats next year....kids are walking home in the rain because the buses can't move...people can't get to work etc.

I went for the last 3 years and had a good time...but the line-ups are generally poor in comparison with similar sized festivals (V, T, Reading etc) both in terms of the quality of the bands and the number actually on. (only 5 on the main stage Friday for example compared to 9 at Reading). Can see it either downscaling, moving or just being cancelled.

[thetime]

I reckon this could be the end of the festival in its current form. Reading other forums with posts from people there, loads have said they won't be going back. Out of the big ones its always seemed to be the one that takes longer to sell out. Theres even rumours it only sold out this year because they palmed a big bunch of tickets off to Via-gogo).

Its causing chaos for the Islanders as well....can't imagine many of them will be laying down the welcoming mats next year....kids are walking home in the rain because the buses can't move...people can't get to work etc.

I went for the last 3 years and had a good time...but the line-ups are generally poor in comparison with similar sized festivals (V, T, Reading etc) both in terms of the quality of the bands and the number actually on. (only 5 on the main stage Friday for example compared to 9 at Reading). Can see it either downscaling, moving or just being cancelled.

[Freewheelin]

Glastonbury had the same problem with locals pretty much until the last 10 years, I think they pretty have a permanent license now although someone else can confirm this.

[rug568]

Mean Fiddler hold the Glastonbury licence.

Anyway of course a promoter would never refund tickets. Firstly the touts would have a field day, and also it would be massively damaging to them financially.

Was quite tempted to go. On reflection i'm bloody glad i didn't.

Also it's a bit harsh to blame the promoter for what happened. It's called freak weather for a reason.

Edited June 24, 2012 by rug568

[eFestivals]

Mean Fiddler hold the Glastonbury licence.

Not quite.

Firstly, what was Mean Fiddler is now called Festival Republic. There is still a Mean Fiddler, but now owned by MAMA Group.

And secondly, it's Melvin Benn as an individual who holds the licence, and not Festival Republic.

[thetime]

Mean Fiddler hold the Glastonbury licence.

Anyway of course a promoter would never refund tickets. Firstly the touts would have a field day, and also it would be massively damaging to them financially.

Was quite tempted to go. On reflection i'm bloody glad i didn't.

Also it's a bit harsh to blame the promoter for what happened. It's called freak weather for a reason.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Glastonbury had the same problem with locals pretty much until the last 10 years, I think they pretty have a permanent license now although someone else can confirm this.

[ministe2003]

Does anyone else think that IoW could have problems getting a licence next year? I dare say if Glasto had caused such carnage and chaos, they'd stuggle getting one the year after. If they do get one I wouldn't be surprised if they have to go back down to 70k people and have loads of extra precautions and red tape put upon them.

[mrtourette]

They'll certainly have to prove that they have a contingency plan to cover this sort of thing if it happens agian, but the money and exposure the festival the frstival brings to the island will probably mean that it continues as long as they can show a plan of action if there's a repeat of this year.

[Medina]

I would think it's fairly certain there will be a Licence review. What the outcome of that will be is anyone's guess. Ultimately it is the local Council who decide whether to grant a Licence and with what conditions imposed on it. The conditions can cover everything from site capacity and opening times to noise levels, traffic management and emergency planning.

Many years ago I was the local Councillor for the Fairlee Ward in Newport where the Festival is now located (hence my name 'Medina'). I also played a small role in persuading the Council to support the reintroduction of the Festival ten years ago (the Council Leader at the time used to work with me for the former MP for the Isle of Wight). It had taken nearly 30 years from the last Festival in 1970 to 'persuade' the Island that it could cope with a Festival again.

The 1970 Festival actually created as many problems for the Islanders and those attending as the 2012 Festival has done but one thing is common to both. Many Islanders are hostile to the Festival despite the income it generates for the Island. A sizeable chunk of the Island population is either totally opposed to any festival on the Island or believes that with Bestival et al there are now too many festivals on the Island and the Island infrastructure cannot cope with such a massive number of visitors all arriving at one time.

My guess is that the Festival will be granted a Licence again but, with an eye on public opinion, stringent extra conditions (and costs) imposed on the organisers. Those organisers will have taken a hefty financial 'hit' this weekend with all the extra costs they've incurred coupled with the fact that the Festival did not sell out. They may well have a massive bill for additional policing to pay as well - the police wanted £143,000 upfront from another (now cancelled) festival on the Island this August. I doubt whether there will be much public sympathy for John Giddings right now but those who wish the Festival to continue will need to support him in the months to come against those who are anti all festivals full stop.

[windy_miller]

Supposedly they increased the capacity this year. I imagine if they do get a license next year, it will be with a smaller capacity.

[Medina]

I'd think that's quite possible. This year didn't sell out and in the present economic climate the promoter can probably live with a reduced capacity.

If it had sold out the traffic and access problems would have been even greater.

[rug568]

Cheers Medina that is very interesting.

I do feel a bit for the locals. It must be such a massive hassle with all the traffic and everything.

[strummer77]

It was terrible. Stuck in queue for near enough 12 hours, nobody bothering to come and tell us what was going on or if we could leave car (for all we knew it could move any time) and therefore stuck without food or water and absolutely knackered after missing acts and a night of a festival I've paid for.

They also fucked up with arena openings, hence why Feeder opened to an open field. These delayed openings were badly communicated to. I know a couple of people who run food stalls and they started cooking for the stated opening only to find out they had to throw it all away as it wasn't opening until 4. Overall hey reckon they took around 50% of what they had in previous years whilst bars were down 40% overall.

There's going to have to be some grovelling to get a festival next year.

[Flaminglippy]

It was terrible. Stuck in queue for near enough 12 hours, nobody bothering to come and tell us what was going on or if we could leave car (for all we knew it could move any time) and therefore stuck without food or water and absolutely knackered after missing acts and a night of a festival I've paid for.

They also fucked up with arena openings, hence why Feeder opened to an open field. These delayed openings were badly communicated to. I know a couple of people who run food stalls and they started cooking for the stated opening only to find out they had to throw it all away as it wasn't opening until 4. Overall hey reckon they took around 50% of what they had in previous years whilst bars were down 40% overall.

There's going to have to be some grovelling to get a festival next year.

[Bobs]

I must admit, i wanted a substitute for Glastonbury this year, and as opposed to something like V, Leeds or T, i wanted something were less dickheads would go to (in respect to the majority of people who go, i also go to Leeds and have been to V), I thought i'd try the Isle Of Wight based on the lineup (well headliners) in Bruce and Petty...

My friend lives in Southampton, so he thought he'd get a non-camping ticket as opposed to a Camping one, so i got the short straw and stayed with him whilst my mates camped.

The weather was horrendous on the Thursday, that bad that they turned me down for getting on the ferry for going to see Primal Scream! Nightmare...

Apparently they 'forgot' to put the metal sheeting down in the carparks, and it sounded completely attrocious on the setup, but that was our only real flaw, as we got to sunday, we found the cheap spots, cheap travel and it was great...

But i found the staff really rude when getting the coach, a rude fella at the bus stops wouldnt let me use the side path next to the stop even though i showed him my ticket and sent me into a dark bog where everyone was falling over, missed my ferry and subsequently my trip back to Liverpool was delayed by 4 hours! Arsehole

But overall great weekend, although the campsite was a mess! Would return if lineup was right!

[grumpyhack]

I haven't read all the IoW postings yet - only just got home and finished unpacking. I certainly won't be going again - this was my first IoW and mainly because there was no Glasto. If Giddings reverts to an earlier date it will probably clash with Wychwood, which I also tried for the first time this year and loved. A great example of how to do it.

A brief reflection on the IoW (I'll probably post in more detail another night but I've still got to scrub up) ....

On the plus side some good bands - Springsteen was a his best, Tom Petty excellent, Pearl Jam very good and Madness engaged the crowd.

On the minus side just about everything else.

Commercialised and lacking soul or spirit.

I'm astonished the local authority and police signed off the festival as fit to open.

Health and safety seemed to be non-existant. No firebreaks in the camping fields or a fire extinguisher in sight. If just one tent had caught fire it could have been potentially disasterous.

Little sign of any awareness or preparedness for bad weather - and for Giddings to simpy say they'd been lucky for the last 10 years with the weather shows an astonishing complacency.

Little attempt even during the festival to mitigate the quagmires - no sign of tracking, bark or even hay to soak up the worst so everyone was still fighting the mud after three days.

I saw three cars damaged by the cavalier way they were being towed out. One car was towed straight into another, a BMW was pulled at speed across ruts over a foot deep, probably destroying its suspension and another car was dragged along ruts over a foot deep so that its wheels didn't touch the ground and it was simply dragged along on the floorpan. I dread to think what that would have done to brakepipes and the exhaust.

I could go on but piss up and brewery seem to sun it up with blame to be shared between Giddings, the licensing authority and the police for what was clearly a disaster waiting to happen.

Edited June 25, 2012 by grumpyhack

[YetAnotherOldHippy]

I was fortunate enough to stay a day at either end on a different campsite, but was camping at the festival from Thursday lunchtime to Monday morning.

Shocking lack of toilet facilities in the camping fields, no shuttle buses from Newport and there appeared to be two different security firms with no communication whatsoever between the two.

To be fair to the locals, they were very welcoming before and after and I can guarantee I'll be going back to the island on holiday. I won't be going to that festival again, although a lot of similar-thinking types recommended Bestival to me.

I too heard the rumour about the promoter punting tickets on the internet cheap to manufacture a sell-out. That should help anyone trying to get refunds, as well as making sure that particular festival is not far too big for the site again.

I should add, despite losing a dear old tent to the wind, I still had a great time. I also know where I'll be at the same time next year for a much better organised festival.

[grumpyhack]

I lost my old tent to the wind too and one of our gang had a brand new pop up gazebo battered and bent.

Agree on the lack of toilets and some of them were piled high but talking to the cleaning crew one of their problems was that they were struggling to get their empying vehicles around the site because of ther quagmire.