Boomtown 2018

[vintagelaureate]

 

[mr flow]

Ticket resale tonight at 7pm

 

https://www.boomtownfair.co.uk/news/2018-05-23-official-ticket-resale/

[eFestivals]

14 hours ago, mr flow said:

Ticket resale tonight at 7pm

ticket resale right now, too.

Looks like no one wants those over-hyped tickets.

[Sku]

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

ticket resale right now, too.

Looks like no one wants those over-hyped tickets.

The cheapest option sold out in 2m. I guess they allocated the majority of the tickets into the more expensive £290 category... 

I'm starting to think the event is fake sold out. They are trying to flog the remaining tickets at inflated costs with the illusion of a sell out. I mean, I don't doubt its near sold out, but they are sitting on more unsold tickets than they would admit I think.

Wednesday £290 initially sold out too around 7:15pm, but there appear to be loads now. I think they keep messing around with the allocations to maximise what they can make off the remaining tickets. 

Edited June 7, 2018 by Sku

[eFestivals]

1 minute ago, Sku said:

The cheapest option sold out in 2m. I guess they allocated the majority of the tickets into the more expensive £290 category... 

they're 'standard' early-entry tickets ....and there's still normal-price Wednesday & Thursday coach tickets.

 

1 minute ago, Sku said:

I'm starting to think the event is fake sold out. They are trying to flog the remaining tickets at inflated costs with the illusion of a sell out. I mean, i don't doubt its near sold out, but they are sitting on more unsold tickets than they would admit I think. 

Yep, that's my thinking too. I reckon they saw it was selling faster and decided they could cash in.

But I do think - probably - that there's other themes going on with the owners, where they've decided to get serious rather than have the whole thing perhaps blow away in a moment, which I think there was a high-ish risk of happening.

I'm expecting it to see the line-up broaden by a chunk more towards 'mainstream'* next year, for example, because it's a transitory thing to rely solely on a party crowd as other festivals have discovered to their cost.

(* don't mean chart-topping pop bands, I mean more more-recognisable names).

[mr flow]

I think they may have been relying on the increase in capacity, so are trying to make up the shortfall in that via other ways. I also agree the line up will be more pitched to a more mainstream line up as you've mentioned. Be interesting to see how things change over the coming years.

[eFestivals]

6 minutes ago, mr flow said:

I think they may have been relying on the increase in capacity, so are trying to make up the shortfall in that via other ways.

yeah, that's something I've mentioned in convo with someone this morning, and it's quite understandable if they'd planned the finances around the higher capacity.

Where i think they've probably messed-up some is with it becoming clear that they jacked-up the prices half way thru the sales process. If they'd been less candid initially about where prices were going that would have remained hidden and probably caused them a bit less flak.

(there's been a few festies this year who have been playing some games with their tiered pricing, but as they've not said how the tiering would work what they've done has remained hidden to anyone but the closest observer)

6 minutes ago, mr flow said:

Be interesting to see how things change over the coming years.

was about 5 years ago now where I had a chat with lak & chris, and they were talking about the festival 'growing up with them' and how they felt they'd about exhausted the reggae thing even back then.

I guess it must be quite a dilemma for them, because what it is is working, and changing might break it too.

[mr flow]

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

was about 5 years ago now where I had a chat with lak & chris, and they were talking about the festival 'growing up with them' and how they felt they'd about exhausted the reggae thing even back then.

I guess it must be quite a dilemma for them, because what it is is working, and changing might break it too.

I think the festival still has a long future ahead of it, as long as they play their cards right. It seems like they're currently in a transition phase right now, and the crowd is certainly starting to shift away from the old party crowd as you've called it. The line up seems to being evolving to accommodate, which was always going to happen once you've exhausted your options, and the reggae side of things has a very limited pool of headliners.

For me the interesting things will be around how they deal with the logistical issues of the festival, as the new line of punters, who are paying premium to come, won't put up with the unorganised chaos that sometimes reigns! 

[eFestivals]

3 hours ago, mr flow said:

For me the interesting things will be around how they deal with the logistical issues of the festival, as the new line of punters, who are paying premium to come, won't put up with the unorganised chaos that sometimes reigns! 

yup, the organised chaos thing is both a blessing and a curse.

I've got the feeling they're on to it, as they appear to have dumped a fair bit for this year. I'm guessing that's a fair bit of the matey side of things, as that seemed to be where the issues were.

Edited June 7, 2018 by eFestivals

[stuie]

7 hours ago, mr flow said:

I think they may have been relying on the increase in capacity, so are trying to make up the shortfall in that via other ways.

 

After last year, I would have been amazed if they got granted the increase in capacity they were looking for so to rely on that would have been a bit short sighted.   After a few years of smooth ops at the current capacity they may get it.

[stuie]

7 hours ago, eFestivals said:

Where i think they've probably messed-up some is with it becoming clear that they jacked-up the prices half way thru the sales process. If they'd been less candid initially about where prices were going that would have remained hidden and probably caused them a bit less flak. 

 

It all just feels a bit cash grabby this year.  I fully understand that the show and infrastructure costs a lot and it needs to be paid for but it just feels wrong the way that it's been done.  Can't even say for sure why I feel this, I just feel it. 

With the Wednesday add on it's the most expensive non-glamping/boutique ticket in the country too isn't it?  And, against the backdrop of stages being chopped (which I understand is for a different reason).

[eFestivals]

47 minutes ago, stu_kent said:

After last year, I would have been amazed if they got granted the increase in capacity they were looking for so to rely on that would have been a bit short sighted.   After a few years of smooth ops at the current capacity they may get it.

while they clearly had issues last year, I wouldn't say it was necessarily foolish of them to think they'd get the increase, cos normally there's decent idea from the licencing peeps if the changes would be acceptable.

If they then get knocked back in the licence hearing, it's normally because pressure has come from an unexpected place (I'm guessing locals in this instance).

[eFestivals]

44 minutes ago, stu_kent said:

It all just feels a bit cash grabby this year.  I fully understand that the show and infrastructure costs a lot and it needs to be paid for but it just feels wrong the way that it's been done.  Can't even say for sure why I feel this, I just feel it. 

With the Wednesday add on it's the most expensive non-glamping/boutique ticket in the country too isn't it?  And, against the backdrop of stages being chopped (which I understand is for a different reason).

Yeah, it's the most expensive I know of, and I can't really see how it's justified either - cos I think their bands spend must be far smaller than other fests of the same size. Yes, there's much higher infrastructure costs, tho I struggle to see how those would get close to the bands costs of other similar-sized fests.

And yep, it feels cash-grabbie to me too. They'll need to make sure they put on a damned good show so people feel they've got good value.

Edited June 7, 2018 by eFestivals

[Tommy101]

I'm not disagreeing with any of this, but I hope all these money grabbing vibes are left at the gates and don't have an impact on the actual weekend.

[eFestivals]

23 minutes ago, Tommy101 said:

I'm not disagreeing with any of this, but I hope all these money grabbing vibes are left at the gates and don't have an impact on the actual weekend.

I suspect that much like the queues at the gate last year, once the party's in full swing stuff like this will be largely forgotten.

[Tommy101]

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

I suspect that much like the queues at the gate last year, once the party's in full swing stuff like this will be largely forgotten.

I think so to.

On the way in last year after I finally had my ticket scanned I told myself 'no matter how good this weekend is I'll never come back'. It was less than 24 hours later that I was convinced I'd get a ticket for this year.

[eFestivals]

1 minute ago, Tommy101 said:

On the way in last year after I finally had my ticket scanned I told myself 'no matter how good this weekend is I'll never come back'. It was less than 24 hours later that I was convinced I'd get a ticket for this year.

[stuie]

37 minutes ago, Tommy101 said:

I think so to.

On the way in last year after I finally had my ticket scanned I told myself 'no matter how good this weekend is I'll never come back'. It was less than 24 hours later that I was convinced I'd get a ticket for this year.

Same here... but I don't think it was 24 hours... maybe 8.

As soon as it stopped feeling like I was still wearing the backpack I no longer had on.

[stuie]

2 hours ago, Tommy101 said:

I'm not disagreeing with any of this, but I hope all these money grabbing vibes are left at the gates and don't have an impact on the actual weekend.

I hope so too.  Let's see what the prices of the programme, drinks etc. are though!

Seriously, I don't think they are in it to make massive profits, so it's a shame that it's coming across like it is.

Until proven otherwise, I trust them that they are going to put on an awesome festival. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Hello all,

I've only just looked at the alcohol restrictions on bringing alcohol in to the festival. It's a little disappointing as for some reason I had previously got the impression that they ran things the same way as Glastonbury. Given that's not the case, are you still allowed to bring your own alcohol in to the different areas / districts, or is drinking your own booze confined to your own camp site / campervan site?

 

[Tommy101]

47 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hello all,

I've only just looked at the alcohol restrictions on bringing alcohol in to the festival. It's a little disappointing as for some reason I had previously got the impression that they ran things the same way as Glastonbury. Given that's not the case, are you still allowed to bring your own alcohol in to the different areas / districts, or is drinking your own booze confined to your own camp site / campervan site?

 

There's no arenas once you're in (like glasto) but they check quantities on the way into the site.

I'd advise getting creative. Due to the restrictions I spread my bets last year and got it all through, ironically taking far more in than I would've done if there were no restrictions as I was expecting to lose some. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

10 minutes ago, Tommy101 said:

There's no arenas once you're in (like glasto) but they check quantities on the way into the site.

I'd advise getting creative. Due to the restrictions I spread my bets last year and got it all through, ironically taking far more in than I would've done if there were no restrictions as I was expecting to lose some. 

Thanks Tommy101. I'm going in a campervan, so doubt they'll find my storage areas. It's nice to know that I can then take my own drink anywhere on site. With the amount of drink that I get through, I really couldn't afford to go to a festival with mega restrictions. That said, I went to Secret Garden Party once, and only found out about their restrictions a week before the festival. As I was camping (ie not in a campervan) I had to look up ways to be creative. Despite them doing a full search of my rucksack I was able to take in an additional 7 litres of red wine. My method also enabled my mate to bring in 2 litres of vodka - as you say, you need to be creative. Unless BoomTown blows my mind completely, I don't think that I'll go to any future festivals that have such restrictions. It's all a bit 'fascist' to me to have these restrictions, and is miles away from the ethos of a festival that I want to attend.

[eFestivals]

7 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

is miles away from the ethos of a festival that I want to attend

it's not necessarily the festival's chosen ethos.

It might be of course. Selling the bar concession is a valuable income stream for many festivals.

But i'm also aware that some festivals have had it forced up them via licencing conditions, with the councils using the dubious argument that it's a control on under-age drinking.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

10 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

But i'm also aware that some festivals have had it forced up them via licencing conditions, with the councils using the dubious argument that it's a control on under-age drinking.

I wasn't aware that this was sometimes the case. I had always assumed it was just a revenue grabbing policy ie. restrict the allowed alcohol being brought in so that they can get more for the bar concessions and / or a share of the profits from those concessions.

I wonder if councils using this policy to control under-age drinking actually factor in that more under age people may take drugs instead as a cheaper alternative, as well as being easier to smuggle in?

[dumski]

Have been camper vans past 4 of 5 years and every year they have either taken it apart (screwdrivers and dogs) or just wave us through. Entirely dependent on luck and timing I would suggest.  

Even in the disabled campers we were thoroughly taken apart but that was probably being 1st in the queue. 

Last year they chose to deconstruct my luggage and I lost 4l of spirits but everyone else was fine.  Made for a better festival being just mildly pickled tbh. It just annoyed me there were better things to be found. I guess we helped others! 

Just be creative!