Changes needed for Download 2024

[Hazz]

Afternoon folks I thought I’d start a post here recommending changes for download going foreword. Please add your recommendations and hopefully someone from download will see and take on board. !

 

issues with download (based on download this year)

 

lack of cleanliness in the toilets

bars regularly running out of drinks

poor disabled access to toilets and around festival site …gravel cannot be used as it gets caught up in wheelchair wheels

no covered areas 

merch stands running out of merch !

Very few stalls offering gluten free options 

7 hour queues to get into the festival ! (Don’t get me started)

overcrowding in campsites

 

Suggestions for changes going for download going foreword 

 

switching the toilet cubicles daily. Keeps everything clean plus avoids loads of them being locked because they are full

 

Simply over order on the drinks front …seems like a common sense thing

 

All disabled walkways including the lead up to the main gate to be the flat plastic walkways which will make it easier for disabled customers to access

 

Covered areas for disabled customers . When it’s bloody hot we can’t move out of the sun . So the viewing platforms need to be covered

 

more merch simple ! And the ability for click and collect so you can preorder your merch the night before and pay for it . Then go to designated item colllection point at certain time. Present a QR code the app generates and then collect your merch ! Beats the queuing plus helps out merch stands when they can sort it all out the night before.

 

more gluten free options !

have designated arrival times for each customer / group ie group of 4 tickets arrival time allocated 11:30-1:30. 

campsite overcrowding. Now this might be controversial but hear me out…have the campsites gridded out based on the number on each party. The size of your party dictates your square basically . Then people can’t put up masses of gazebos and leave no room for anyone else.

 

 

[northernangel]

27 minutes ago, Hazz said:

Afternoon folks I thought I’d start a post here recommending changes for download going foreword. Please add your recommendations and hopefully someone from download will see and take on board. !

 

issues with download (based on download this year)

 

lack of cleanliness in the toilets

bars regularly running out of drinks

poor disabled access to toilets and around festival site …gravel cannot be used as it gets caught up in wheelchair wheels

no covered areas 

merch stands running out of merch !

Very few stalls offering gluten free options 

7 hour queues to get into the festival ! (Don’t get me started)

overcrowding in campsites

 

Suggestions for changes going for download going foreword 

 

switching the toilet cubicles daily. Keeps everything clean plus avoids loads of them being locked because they are full

 

Simply over order on the drinks front …seems like a common sense thing

 

All disabled walkways including the lead up to the main gate to be the flat plastic walkways which will make it easier for disabled customers to access

 

Covered areas for disabled customers . When it’s bloody hot we can’t move out of the sun . So the viewing platforms need to be covered

 

more merch simple ! And the ability for click and collect so you can preorder your merch the night before and pay for it . Then go to designated item colllection point at certain time. Present a QR code the app generates and then collect your merch ! Beats the queuing plus helps out merch stands when they can sort it all out the night before.

 

more gluten free options !

have designated arrival times for each customer / group ie group of 4 tickets arrival time allocated 11:30-1:30. 

campsite overcrowding. Now this might be controversial but hear me out…have the campsites gridded out based on the number on each party. The size of your party dictates your square basically . Then people can’t put up masses of gazebos and leave no room for anyone else.

 

 

There was no thought process at all about people arriving a day earlier. Traffic marshalling was awful. Worst thing was the amount of water points, 3 in an arena is disgraceful. This is Download though, they don't care once your money is in and never have done. If we want a change from the poorest run festival, I knw of anyone in the UK, then get a new booker a runner.

[balti-pie]

I was stewarding with Oxfam this year, my first time at Download - i thought that great swathes of it were excellently organised and great, and other bits were kind of shambolic. I'll preface this by saying i'm used to glastonbury and know that other festivals are different (in lots of different ways) but the way the disabled campers were treated really wasnt great - the campsites allocated for accessibility were numerous, but were all over the bloody place and were very oversubscribed.

Whether thats down to accepting too many people, or everyone bringing bigger tents meaning less actual space, i couldnt tell you. But there werent enough toilets or water points, and not even slightly enough bins (glastonbury has bins every ten metres, im scarcely exaggerating!)  in campsites or in the arena.

Some extra provision for accessibility ticketholders getting from car park to campsite wouldnt be too hard to put together, the majority of campers i dealt with were bringing all their stuff in themselves and in that heat, that couldve knackered anyone up for the weekend, let alone people with extra mobility challenges. 

The complete lack of shade was most evident on that absolutely bloody baking hot sunday afternoon, i had to sack off The Hu and go for a nap back in the comedy tent in the village cos that was the only place with at least a little bit of shade that wasnt completely full of people! Sticking up some basic cover to the right of the stage as you look at it, or round the sides of the two tented stages, would be very simple and would be great in sunny and rainy years. 

I couldnt tell you about the traffic probs or the car park issues, cos a) i came on tuesday and b) ive not got another year to compare it to. Im not keen on all the toilets being portaloos - compost toilets are loads cleaner and nicer to use, but i suppose theyre all being inputted for use at glastonbury and thats only two weeks after so might not leave enough time for upping, cleaning, transporting and putting in again. Didnt ever have to queue for too long, so i can praise the amount of loos, and they werent too bad in terms of cleanliness. 

My own musical preferences were fine for the headliners this year, but every other stage shutting down for the main stage headliners is a bit off - there's no alternative. Surely there could be alternatives! Both tent stages could carry on until midnight as well, they were really decent for sound bleed. 

Food variety was ok, quality was ok, im perhaps a bit spoilt by the 400 odd vendors at glastonbury and the healthy options they have, Bar choices were frankly shite, with brooklyn pils being the only vaguely acceptable drink and that only being served at one bar. I am a massive beer snob, so i do have to take that into account . . . . 

overall though i had a wicked time, just about everyone i spoke to was lovely, and i'd say its even more friendly than Glastonbury and thats always been my previous barometer for talking to random nice people. Will definitely go back but my only reservation is if the headliners are a bit ropey - i'd like at least one or two alternative choices but as it is you get a set that ends with at least an hour left of the main stage. Again im spoilt by Glasto and the amount of stages - if i dont fancy something, off i pop to something else, and if the music doesnt get me im off to theatre and circus or the comedy and cabaret - thats not an option at download and i'd love it to be. Greedy twat, i know!

Will definitely return, its a great festival and with a tiny bit of tweaking could be even better 

[Gingerfish79]

@balti-pie and @Hazz Just in case you're not aware... on the official Download forum there is a huge feedback section with threads on every aspect of the festival. My understanding is that the feedback is provided to the organisers and some of the forum moderators are on liaison committees with the organisers to try to implement improvements.

Personally, I thought that (Wednesday's transport aside) the festival was incredibly well run considering it was a sell out for the first time. Some shade in the arena would be great, there is loads of room on the right of stage where cover could be provided that wouldn't effect anybody's view; getting water in the arena was a problem - I think the water pressure was the issue rather than the number of water points (it took minutes just to fill an ordinary sized bottle!); I would have liked some better signposting around the site to help on arrival; they need to provide thousands more bins than they did; the two big tents in the village were great but the village area in general needs more thought - less fairground rides and more stalls and attractions; a ban on camping chairs inside the speaker ring after 8pm as it gets so dangerous (obvs this applies to most festivals!). 

[Neil]

as an old codger with issues thanks for being on the case with the accessibility issues, and i hope you can get them improved. 🙂 

[DonaldBecker]

On 7/8/2023 at 11:36 PM, Hazz said:

Afternoon folks I thought I’d start a post here recommending changes for download going foreword. Please add your recommendations and hopefully someone from download will see and take on board. !

 

issues with download (based on download this year)

 

lack of cleanliness in the toilets

bars regularly running out of drinks

poor disabled access to toilets and around festival site …gravel cannot be used as it gets caught up in wheelchair wheels

no covered areas 

merch stands running out of merch !

Very few stalls offering gluten free options 

7 hour queues to get into the festival ! (Don’t get me started)

overcrowding in campsites

 

Suggestions for changes going for download APK Mod

 

 

 

switching the toilet cubicles daily. Keeps everything clean plus avoids loads of them being locked because they are full

 

Simply over order on the drinks front …seems like a common sense thing

 

All disabled walkways including the lead up to the main gate to be the flat plastic walkways which will make it easier for disabled customers to access

 

Covered areas for disabled customers . When it’s bloody hot we can’t move out of the sun . So the viewing platforms need to be covered

 

more merch simple ! And the ability for click and collect so you can preorder your merch the night before and pay for it . Then go to designated item colllection point at certain time. Present a QR code the app generates and then collect your merch ! Beats the queuing plus helps out merch stands when they can sort it all out the night before.

 

more gluten free options !

have designated arrival times for each customer / group ie group of 4 tickets arrival time allocated 11:30-1:30. 

campsite overcrowding. Now this might be controversial but hear me out…have the campsites gridded out based on the number on each party. The size of your party dictates your square basically . Then people can’t put up masses of gazebos and leave no room for anyone else.

everything is ready as an old codger with issues thanks for being on the case with the accessibility issues, and i hope you can get them improved

 

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by DonaldBecker

[Andre91]

Book Weezer. 

[Neil]

10 hours ago, Andre91 said:

Book Weezer. 

1995 was a while back 😛