Boomtown Fair 2017

[Jamieyorkshire]

We have never been to Boomtown Fair before but the tickets go on sale for 2017 this evening.

I have been looking on the site and been unable to find out if the tickets for the camper van on sale at the same time as the main tickets or if these are sold later.

Also, has anyone ever stayed in the campervan field at Boomtown before? If so what's it like, although we will be taking a caravan rather than a camper van.

 

 

[Paul ™]

Yes they will be on sale at the same time. 

Last year they had 2 areas, one near sector 6 and a larger one near trenchtown. 

Early arrivals were in the former as we were. No issues at all with it from our group of around 7 vehicles. 

 

Id prefer or if they did it like Glastonbury though where you specify what one you want to be in.

[deebeedoobee]

6 hours ago, Paul ™ said:

Yes they will be on sale at the same time. 

Last year they had 2 areas, one near sector 6 and a larger one near trenchtown. 

Early arrivals were in the former as we were. No issues at all with it from our group of around 7 vehicles. 

 

Id prefer or if they did it like Glastonbury though where you specify what one you want to be in.

agreed. we'd love to be in sector 6 again.

[Jamieyorkshire]

Thanks both for your comments. 

We've just managed to get Tier 2 tickets, as Tier 1 seemed to sell out in about 5 seconds, and even Tier 2 said sold out for a while before coming back available. We also got the camper van pass. 

One other question, is we are considering either the Zooloos add on or Boomtique facilities wristband, so we can use the showers as the shower in the Eriba, isn't really practical. 

Has anyone had any experience of these add ons, and suggestions of which is best?

[Paul ™]

If anything like last year, both ZooLoo locations are a fair distance from the campervan fields. I found the toilets (all composting) really good this year, so guess it depends on how much u want a shower..

[deebeedoobee]

There's far too much madness going on to waste time going for showers. and as Paul said, the compost loos were absolutely spot on unless you are very precious.  this is an important factor in having a good time.

[Jamieyorkshire]

Thanks for the comments.

Compost toilets are definitely fine and I can assure you deebeedoobee we are certainly not too precious for them.

Sounds like the shower option may be scrapped, now to break the news to our lass!

 

 

[CrazyHedgehog]

We were on a bit of a slope last year and the ramps still didn't get us level enough for the fridge to work (back end of Sector 6) but have bought bigger ramps this year just in case.  Make sure you take your own tissue to the compost loos as rarely any in there and a full wash down in the camper each morning is a lot more than most people get!

[lucyginger]

I got tickets for Boomtown! My first one! Very excited! 

[tjamest]

7 hours ago, lucyginger said:

I got tickets for Boomtown! My first one! Very excited! 

If you like Glastonbury you will also love Boomtown - A totally immersive weekend away from reality.

I went in '14 and '15, took a break from it this year and am feeling the love for it again next year.

 

[dumski]

On 1 November 2016 at 7:37 PM, Jamieyorkshire said:

One other question, is we are considering either the Zooloos add on or Boomtique facilities wristband, so we can use the showers as the shower in the Eriba, isn't really practical. 

Has anyone had any experience of these add ons, and suggestions of which is best?

I too need a shower, it just makes me feel normal again (aka not hungover)

we had the camper in trench town Cv field. It was flat. V handy for lions den and kids field/ boomtique. 10 min walk to BT 

Queues were large for showers in hilltop boomtique but I hope that was down to the super hot weather all weekend. Now they've put the prices up a lot of our lot are going with the zoo loos shower option. Those that did last yr said an extra 5 min walk. 

if you like a hot tub/sauna to really get rid of the hangover, BT can't be beaten.

only down side to Trench town CV field was the bridge over the road to lions den. Not good for those less able

[Paul ™]

The bridge apparently won't be there next year

[dumski]

Interesting, I presume they have to move that through road outside the fence? Sounds good to me. My friend had a hip replacement so fricking hated that

[renrutbor]

The Specials are the first band to be announced for next year. Can't say I'm too excited by the prospect personally, they lack the energy they used to have without Neville Staple. 

I reckon it's pretty likely Toots and The Maytals will be there after cancelling last time, this is the first festival since they started touring again. And I wouldn't be surprised to see Bonobo headlining the Town Centre. Any other ideas as to who would be likely to play?  

[tjamest]

I think it is only Lynval, Horace and Terry left from the original Specials now and they are all in their 50s so a little bit of energy may well be lost, however their 2009 reunion shows in Brixton were some of the best gigs i have ever seen in the last 40 years. To me they were as good as i remember back in the day, but without the threat of violence in the crowd which always seemed to be present at all the Two Tone  gigs at the end of the 70's   

[renrutbor]

Yeah, the 2009 reunion shows were incredible. Wasn't around for the original era sadly so can't compare to that. Saw them again a couple of years ago though, maybe 2014, after Neville left and it was just dull, Terry didn't have the charisma to pull it off on his own. By contrast we saw Neville Staple band a couple of months later and they were much better despite the fact that he clearly wasn't healthy and couldn't get around well at all. Will give them another chance at if there's nothing better on, Boomtown crowds are always great so they may well win me over again. 

[tjamest]

I know what you mean, I saw them again in 2011 or '12 and although really good  it felt a bit like they were going through the motions so have not bothered since. 

However i'll definitely be at the front for them at Boomtown next year.

 

[hoils]

3 hours ago, renrutbor said:

The Specials are the first band to be announced for next year. Can't say I'm too excited by the prospect personally, they lack the energy they used to have without Neville Staple. 

I reckon it's pretty likely Toots and The Maytals will be there after cancelling last time, this is the first festival since they started touring again. And I wouldn't be surprised to see Bonobo headlining the Town Centre. Any other ideas as to who would be likely to play?  

For the Town Centre I reckon they might try for DKM, Rancid and Underworld. I guess Frank Turner will play some year, being a Winchester (Tory) boy and all that jazz. 

[man next door]

Totally agree with these comments - boomtown really missed the boat on this one. They should have put their hands in their pockets years ago and got them when they were still worth seeing... 

... but they don't though - the headliners have never reflected the size of the festival at all 

Edited December 22, 2016 by man next door

[renrutbor]

19 hours ago, hoils said:

For the Town Centre I reckon they might try for DKM, Rancid and Underworld. I guess Frank Turner will play some year, being a Winchester (Tory) boy and all that jazz. 

Rancid is a great call, fingers crossed for that! Would love to see Avalanches there too. 

 

15 hours ago, man next door said:

Totally agree with these comments - boomtown really missed the boat on this one. They should have put their hands in their pockets years ago and got them when they were still worth seeing... 

... but they don't though - the headliners have never reflected the size of the festival at all 

I remember reading that they deliberately hadn't gone for the biggest names at first as they (rightly) realised that given the restrictions of the types of music represented there is only so many headliner sized bands.

They're already getting towards the point where most of the biggest names in Reggae, Ska, Folk, etc have already played big spots and will likely have to start repeating headliners in the next few years. As the festival and capacity have increased so has the size of the bands which is the best way they could have managed it.  This wouldn't have been possible if they'd booked the likes of the Specials, Madness, Damian Marley or Wailers in the first couple of years. 

Fortunately it's not a festival that is really focused on the big names, there is more than enough other stuff going on and the lineups have been consistently strong enough to ensure plenty of people buy tickets without anything being announced every year. 

[tjamest]

15 hours ago, man next door said:

Totally agree with these comments - boomtown really missed the boat on this one. They should have put their hands in their pockets years ago and got them when they were still worth seeing... 

... but they don't though - the headliners have never reflected the size of the festival at all 

However, I prefer it that they put their hands in their pockets to create the whole festival experience and not just get the biggest bands they can

[Chavmeisterdeluxe]

I've heard Skindred are playing. 

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

22 hours ago, Chavmeisterdeluxe said:

I've heard Skindred are playing. 

Really? Great live band. Was seriously considering getting tickets, this would definitely persuade me I think

[Paul ™]

On 05/11/2016 at 3:36 AM, Paul ™ said:

The bridge apparently won't be there next year

Along with Banghai Palace... so what's peoples thoughts on that? 

Site shuffle again with S6 moving down there or something new altogether?

[eFestivals]

no idea, but line-up announcement is 1st Feb.