MANTUA music & art festival

Papabear

JULY 13/14/15th
Willowbrook Campsite, Ballaghdereen, Co.Roscommon
www.mantuaproject.com
Tickets from 65 bucks

Feat:
MAIN STAGE
sultans of ping
65 days of static
the skatalites
michael Fakesch
Florian Keller
ten past seven
anacrusis
the cedars
hot club of belleville
wiggle

ALPHABETSET ELECTRONIC AREA
digital mystikz
frog pocket
dj c
t-woc
choice cuts dj's
maga bo
ambulance
solarium face
2-bit
thalamus n plenty more

ROOTICAL REGGAE AREA
Jah shaka
Love grocer
sister lexxy
firehouse skank
revelation sound
intinn

IMPACT dRUM N bASS
FEAT ernie, fiction, the teknoist, beta 2, paddy, ap bolan, alen m.....

PLUS CINEMA TENT feat INVISIBLE AGENT (WARREN, IKEABOY...) 3EPKANO (LIVE) PRESSURE DROP & A MASSIVE SELECTION OF MOVIES AND DOCUMENTARIES

Ronan|Raven

Will be heading along as it is only 10 miles from the house

Jimmy81

is this the same Mantua that was down at Life Festival in Gort?

hot2def

no toilets.

let me say that again

NO TOILETS.

diggin a pit as an after thought is not ok. Furthermore, drugged up punters got ahold of a tractor (with the keys still in it...) and drove it through the cinema tent with people in it. The organisers should be publicly whipped.

skelbagz

I have to say I had a really good time but the Festival was really badly planned in my opinion. The lack of toilets was a big problem, the mud made getting around annoying but the worst thing was the bus from the alternative car park: €5 flippin euros there and back !!! (as one of the drivers said to me they made an absolute fortune).

I know this sounds like I'm being really down on the festival but hopefully if the organisers do it again next year they'll learn from some of the problems.

Oh yeah, and that tractor incident was crazy. Imagine if there had of been people in those tents :eek:

Desolation Jone

hot2def wrote:

no toilets.

let me say that again

NO TOILETS.

diggin a pit as an after thought is not ok. Furthermore, drugged up punters got ahold of a tractor (with the keys still in it...) and drove it through the cinema tent with people in it. The organisers should be publicly whipped.

****ing crazy my friends sister was in her tent asleep when the tractor came thru..they'd to cut her out of it... No sign of the organisers, was left to walk with no shoes or jacket as tractor had destroyed everything...And she's pregnant...none of the organisers or security did anything for her....

j_cal

hot2def wrote:

no toilets.

let me say that again

NO TOILETS.

diggin a pit as an after thought is not ok. Furthermore, drugged up punters got ahold of a tractor (with the keys still in it...) and drove it through the cinema tent with people in it. The organisers should be publicly whipped.

There were toilets up by the reggae tent. Not the nicest in the world but they were there

hot2def

the toilets by the reggae tent were a pit dug in the ground, with a piece of plywood with holes cut in it. There were small, unattended children playing around it.

JakeLuxor

Desolation Jone wrote:

****ing crazy my friends sister was in her tent asleep when the tractor came thru..they'd to cut her out of it... No sign of the organisers, was left to walk with no shoes or jacket as tractor had destroyed everything...And she's pregnant...none of the organisers or security did anything for her....

Hi there, we only arrived on the camp site about 6.30am on sunday morning and heard about the tractor in the tent and also about a pregnant lady getting injured.
What a crazy thing to happen and I hope she will be ok.

I wasnt there for the first two nights so cant comment but it looked to me when we arrived that organization had completely collapsed.
We went down around the D&B tent around 7am and I have to say I have never in all my life seen such a collection of crazy people or such a crazy enviroment.
With the conditions, the whole thing falling apart and the type of people who were in attendance I gotta say it the whole place had the feeling of "28 days later" about it.

For the lady mentioned above this obviously wasnt a good thing and really hope she will be ok but as a person who is completely pissed of with how totally corporate and controlled ****** and Electric Picnic are I must say this anarchy of this festival somewhat restored my faith in music (I know a weird statement to make).
It would seem there are still people out there who arent prepared to conform to what now passes for a gig/rave/festival or whatever you want to call it and I salute them.

Code

I was at this festival and also played on Saturday night and I have to say it was one of the best festivals I've been at in this country.


Obviously the incident with the tractor was really bad - I don't know the exact details but I suppose the blame does lie on the shoulders of the organisers. I'm sure they feel terrible about what happened ...


apart from that though, I wouldn't have too many complaints ... as for those giving out about the toilets... IT'S A FESTIVAL - when do you ever remember any festival having nice toilets ?????!!!!!


If you want a nice toilet, stay at home.


And as for unattended children playing around them - that's the fault of the parents, not the festival organisers.


You know what the festival is like now, so you don't have to come back if you don't want to but if you want to hear good music in a beautiful part of the country and meet some good people then see you next year

Hoochiemama

yeah it was badly organised, yeah some idiots got the tractor, blah blah blah. These things happen, eg - tents on fire at ******. but i have to say it was a brilliant festival. fookin brilliant. there was no restrictions to it at all so it made a great change. You could bring drink into the festival (unlike most festivals where you cant so the organisers can make more money), bottles, stoves, bbqs. i have to say although it was a bit badly organised, it was class and part of the magic and the best €50 i ever spent on a festival. (what were u expecting for 50 sheets, sure most of that goes to the goverment)

carlos@gigevent

Gotta say, I enjoyed it all thoroughly. Wasn't expecting too much in the way of toilet facilities in the first place, and a few of us agreed (ladies included) that those in place seemed to fare out better by the end of the weekend than the porta-loo's did last year...

From the little I do know about the festival, it is organised by a very small team, who by and large do a great job at putting on a super weekend's entertainment. The weather was against them, with the mud stopping traffic and deliveries (of toilets amongst other things) from getting into the site, but you do the best you can in that situation.

The music was fantastic again. Mainstage was great (Skatalites, Intinn, Wiggle, Los Langeros, Jinx Lennon...). D'n'B & Reggae tents were superb too. I caught Halfdutch rockin' the Alphabet stage, she plays some funky ass **** it's gotta be said, respect, but managed to miss Ollie & PCP's 6 hr set..fook. So yeah it's a small festival, but there are so many class acts there, you won't catch them all. I did catch a movie which was a nice rest even though me arse was wet.

The crowd were mad bastards, but the nicest sort. I didn't see any hassle at all over the three days, and only heard about the tractor incident on Sunday morning, (but the only first hand account I have is from someone who was on acid at the time, and was still tripping when he was telling me the story, so I'm sure other people would have a better grasp of the facts than I do...) I think over all it was a pretty peaceful affair with the security being very low key and non intrusive.

Lookin' forward to next year cheers

planetolig

I know the pregnant girl who was in the tent, i called to see her last night and she is incredibly shook up and traumatised. it is a miracle nobody was killed in this incident, but it is a nightmare for this girl and her parter. she was in her tent early to sleep when they heard the noise of a tractor coming towards them, they had to be cut out of the tent and marquee which was also knocked on top of them. the organisers didnt seem too bothered and were totally unhelpful, the first person who came along couldnt even speak english. they didnt ring the hospital to see how she was and when she came back the next day with the gardai, the accident site had been cleared (including all their stuff), i was at mantua last year and couldnt comment them enough for what they do but to leave a tractor unattended with its keys in adjacent to a campsite where lots of revellers will be is criminal. i hope whoevers responsible for this will be brought to blame, we all know what its like to have a weekend ruined , this girls was and the next while will be really tough for her, until she starts to recover froom this deeply traumatising event, can you imagine a runaway tractor crashing into your tent and knocking a marquee on top of it all to be them treated nochalantly by the people who whould have been ensuring your safety????

hot2def

no, I'm sorry, I am not buying this loved up, best-festival-ever, chillout man line.

I know toilets are never nice at festivals, however portaloos contain chemicals to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and are self contained. A pit dug UPHILL from the Alphabet tent, plus some campers tents on boggy ground is a MAJOR health hazard.

It's not a money issue, its a health issue. And I didn't pay "fifty sheets" because a) we don't use paper money for 1 euros and b) I was working at the event, with a reasonable expectation of facilities being provided. The "non-intrusive" security could easily resulted in the serious injury or death of that pregnant lady. I doubt there will be another Mantua after that, so everyone will just have to get ripped at home, safely.

JakeLuxor

I was completely pissed off when I got onto the site and heard about that poor woman.
I hope Mantua (who ever they are) are honourable people and stand up and try to make amends to this woman.

But as for the rest of your concerns, for fecks sake fella live a little!
Mantua (whoever they are) put on the type of event that we can usually only dream about in Ireland.
Yes it was completely different to Oxygen or Electric Picnic, but thats the whole point of it.
If you want one of those controlled "safe" festivals then go to Oxygen or Electric Picnic, theres no harm in that at all lll be at Electric Picnic myself this year.
But let the rest of us take out chances and enjoy the sort of event and music we are into.

Achille

Hi guys,

I'm not one of the main organisers or anything but I was involved in running the festival. Basically, I just want to remind people that this entire thing was done on a shoestring budget and people have to expect the kind of set-up that is feasible with such low ticket-prices.

The weather caused alot of problems, resulting in facilities not being able to get to the site and the car park being closed. Of course, everybody knew the weather was likely to be bad, but there isn't much you can do when you organise a festival for 2000 people, and seemingly half that number bring a car and expect some huge tarmac space for them to park it. That's just not going to happen. It's up to everybody, organisers & punters to do their bit in keeping the destruction to the site at a minimum.

The toilets were not there because it was aboslutely impossible to get them on site in those conditions. The toilets on the platform were part of an art project that was planned all along and were not intended to serve the entire crowd's needs. The makeshift job done beside them was done by a number of volunteers under no obligation and in awful conditions to help cope with the needs of the crowd.

As for the tractor incident. I did not see it but happened to leave the Alphabet Set tent moments afterwards and was there straight away. No, I didn't have "Mantua Organiser" written on my face, but I was there immediately and helped get people out of the marquee and clear the people out of the site. Despite the impression some people are giving, there were a large number of LAS Security Personnell and Medics at the tent within minutes. For everybody's safety the situation was handled by these professionals as quickly and calmly as they could. I personally checked on many of those that were involved in the incident several times. That girl was taken by the medics as quickly as possible and there was no opportunity for myself or the organisers to speak to her as letting the medics deal with her was the priority. As far as I know, nobody involved in organising the festival knows who this girl is. If any of her friends here would like to contact the people at Mantua, they can easily do so and the organisers will be more than happy to do what they can.

Of course the tractor should not have been left there, but it was doing the rounds all weekend, trying to maintain the site for the safety of everybody. I do not know if the keys were left in it or not, but either way it shouldn't have been unattended. The young "gentlemen" responsible were local skangers who had arrived earlier on saturday and after a discussion about whether to elt them in, the Gardai informed us that we couldn't really refuse them as they had bought their tickets in advance like anybody else. Unfortunately these little whatever-you-want-to-call-thems were intent on causing that kind of damage and none of our "eye-witnesses" seem to have recognised them or had the opportunity to catch them at the time.

Aside from these problems, I hugely enjoyed my week there and was very proud of how the guys dealt with all of the problems. This was a small team of artists and enthusiastic music fans who worked for 8 months and didn't sleep for several days and deserve to be commended for what they achieved.

Whoever said there that they arrived on sunday morning, you should realise that at that point the festival was actually over, hence the apocalyptic feel to the place and people like myself gathered at the D&B tent dancing because pretty much everything else had finished and if I stopped dancing I was going to collapse.

Mantua will happen next year, people will learn from the past and people will find somethign else to complain about. hopefully nobody will get injured, nobody will feel the need to try to destroy anything. Maybe there'll be more security, loads of portaloos, barricade fencing, a multi-storey car park and a stage sponsored by T-Mobile. Maybe there'll be a similar sized crowd of good people who will learn from this years experience and we'll all plan ahead a bit more. Maybe next year the country won't be ****ing flooded in July!

Remember that making an underground festival happen is incredibly difficult. I worked at that yoke in Punchestown as well, and while it's similarly ramshackle and chaotic in terms of organisation, the difference in budget allows them to have a surplus of everything to cope with problems and over 1,000 power-tripping scumbags in high-vis trying to pass off as security while beating the ****e out of anyone with a vowel in their name.

Next year get involved. Volunteer in advance. Decorate the place. Bring a shovel. Bring a flag. Bring a bucket to piss in. Bring a bodyguard. Hopefully we'll all have a good time.

JakeLuxor

Achille wrote:

As for the tractor incident. I did not see it but happened to leave the Alphabet Set tent moments afterwards and was there straight away. No, I didn't have "Mantua Organiser" written on my face, but I was there immediately and helped get people out of the marquee and clear the people out of the site. Despite the impression some people are giving, there were a large number of LAS Security Personnell and Medics at the tent within minutes. For everybody's safety the situation was handled by these professionals as quickly and calmly as they could. I personally checked on many of those that were involved in the incident several times. That girl was taken by the medics as quickly as possible and there was no opportunity for myself or the organisers to speak to her as letting the medics deal with her was the priority. As far as I know, nobody involved in organising the festival knows who this girl is. If any of her friends here would like to contact the people at Mantua, they can easily do so and the organisers will be more than happy to do what they can.

Hi there Achille, I actually think your being a tad to defensive here.
Whether Mantua is in the wrong or not is kind of irrelevent at this stage.
There is a perception out there that they didnt do all they could for this lady.
Apart from anything else thats bad for business.
From what I saw of the event, the size of it, and the numbers in attendance Id be very doubtful if Mantua even broke even on this event infact Id be astonished.
That being the case I think it would be a fair and reasonable comment to say that unlike certain other festivals in Ireland Mantua is about the music and the people and not just the bottom line, and in my view they are to be applauded for this.

In this respect it shouldnt be upto the lady or friends and family of the lady to contact you guys I think you should be actively trying to contact her.
As I said in a mail Iv just sent through the official website for the festival apart from anything else, on a human level its simply the right thing to do and I think/hope the people involved in Mantua will do the right thing by this lady.
By doing so I think they will prove that they are indeed operating to a different agenda in comparison to certain other festivals in this country.

Achille wrote:

Whoever said there that they arrived on sunday morning, you should realise that at that point the festival was actually over, hence the apocalyptic feel to the place and people like myself gathered at the D&B tent dancing because pretty much everything else had finished and if I stopped dancing I was going to collapse.

I think youv taken up my comments regarding the D&B area in the wrong way.
It was feckin amazing, weird as **** definitally but whats the harm in that?
Long live the D&B area I say (Im not even into D&B).
As long as your not impacting on the freedoms of others theres nothing wrong with a bit of madness so dont appologies for it, revel in it.

Mantua THE best festival in Ireland, period!

Hoochiemama

Like i said, what do you expect for 50 euros!!!! its a festival for god sake. you're supposed to slum it. get over yourselves.

roll on mantua 2008

planetolig

Of course the tractor should not have been left there, but it was doing the rounds all weekend, trying to maintain the site for the safety of everybody. I do not know if the keys were left in it or not, but either way it shouldn't have been unattended. The young "gentlemen" responsible were local skangers who had arrived earlier on saturday and after a discussion about whether to elt them in, the Gardai informed us that we couldn't really refuse them as they had bought their tickets in advance like anybody else. Unfortunately these little whatever-you-want-to-call-thems were intent on causing that kind of damage and none of our "eye-witnesses" seem to have recognised them or had the opportunity to catch them at the time.

It seems that you know who was responsible for this, in that you know they were local skangers and had known that when there was a discussion with gardaí. I expect gardaí should have their suspects by now but if you have this information you should help to bring these scumbags to blame.

becah

That's awful about the lady who was injured, it only takes one little brat to ruin a great weekend for so many. I only got out to it on the Saturday, but I have to say I had a great time, once you had your wellies and raincoat you were sorted. Great atmosphere and great music, everyone I spoke to had a good time.
It was quite like the Lost in Leechrum festival which happens in August, its great to see people taking the inititiave to organise such events.
I'm volunteering with a local festival myself, and it's only then that you really realise how much effort goes into such events. I much prefer these kind of festivals in comparison to a 100,000 person one costing major money, and with only slightly better organisation.
I really hope this won't put people off supporting smaller festivals, such as Mantua, Leechrum, Life etc, it's great to have an alternative....

Miguel_Sanchez

hot2def wrote:

There were small, unattended children playing around it.

Sorry, but who the hell brings small children to a festival like Mantua?

Oh that's right - the sort of people who leave their kids unattended so they can play near open toilets. Idiots. :rolleyes:

Is it so hard to leave them with family for the weekend?

dorah

I don't think festivals are only for people set on getting demented, food poisoned, disentry and near killed by tractors. I don't care about the toilets but it's not a good standard in this day and age especially for those working there.
What I do care about is bad emergency damage control planning and a person nearly being killed by someone elses irresponsibility.
Maybe if more people brought kids and came as a family all the nutters might get rained in.
If that girl was dead where would we be?...you have no idea how close she was to it...
she was not looked after...no'one came near her bar the security guards who were not good with her and she was left with no shoes...so feck the toilet paper thats the least of her worries.
Festivals are great, yes it's great to have people putting stuff together but it's not worth someone dyin over.....and leavin a functioning tractor just lying around might not have been a very good idea?
Maybe the tickets should have carried a ban on.... a, families b, people who have attachments to loo roll c, people who want to sleep safely in there tents and most importantly d, people who cannot have any regard for life and the consequence of there actions that they would set of a heavy duty vehicle amongst people when they are most vulnerable (ie, asleep, partying etc).
....and at the end of the day it might have been brilliant but not for that girl in the tent who is now traumatised, gossiped and joked about and who lost everything after buying a ticket to a festival in roscommon....it's hardly baghdad now is it?

Desolation Jone

Hi there Achille,

I don't know how deeply involved you are with the running of the festival or how well you know those that ran it but what you've written is complete bull**** with regard to concern for the lady involved in the tractor incident. I know for a fact that 5 day's on they still have yet to contact her...although they got her number last sunday. As for no one knowing her, also bull****. She has know some for the organisers for years.

They are clearly aware they are at fault and are behaving quiet cowardly about the whole situation. She paid in, lost her tent, lost all of her stuff, paid 100 euro plus on getting back to the grounds from the hospital (she had no shoes, no jacket) , and no one...not one person has called her to see how she is... to offer to replace her stuff... Everyone know's festivals are messy, but your life should not be put in danger... Whatever mistakes were made clearly aren't being recognised if the organizers can't even pick up the phone and see how she is...

yevveh

Tis a pity 65dos couldn't make it, but it sounds like a good event. May head down next year!

Ronan|Raven

Cannot believe it was a week ago. What a truely ****ed up, insane, amazing weekend. To the lady whose tent I fell ontop of if you read this im sorry!

tasha200

I would like to thank the people who posted wellwishes to me on this site. I have restrained myself from posting up to now as I didnt want to post negative words due to the anger and shock I have felt over the past two weeks. Firstly I do not want to get into a slanging match with the organisers, one of whom has contacted me and hopefully we will meet to try and find a resolution to this with the least amount of acrimony possible.
I do not hold the individuals who organised mantua responsible, but accountable, and this is the conclusion i have come to after much soul searching and thought.
The reality of the situation is that forgetting about the belongings, hurt and embarrasment this incident has caused, i personally nearly lost everything.. My partner and i were so close to losing our lives, my son losing his mother and my unborn child not ever having the chance to see a festival of her own... This situation was thankfully avoided by a few inches that undoubtably saved our lives.
i appreciate the posts saying mantua is a festival that has low key security and is on a shoestring budget, and im sure many people had the weekend of their lives amid the chaos.. I remember how fstivals and illegal parties used to be, people losing themselves. Both myself and my partner enjoy life as much as these party goers did.. So why dont these parties happen anymore.?
After what happened to us at mantua, and im sure if any of this had of happened to you, it is plain why.. I feel devastated that i put the lives of my entire family at risk, and the guilt i feel is not reedeemable nor ever will be.. I suppose the question is should i be sharing this guilt around.
It is not our intention to ruin anything for anyone, it was however the stupidity of one person who has put my family in the position of reevaluing our whole lives. It is extremely unlikely that this individual will ever be caught, however i am a firm believer in karma and surely this persons guilt must outweigh my own??? This person has put me and the organisers in a very unfortunate position for all involved.. i know no one in mantua would have wished it on me or anyone else.
i dont want to comment on the security or the clean up after the evnt.. i do howvere wish to thank the medics who even in my shock and anger managed to help me to regain some composure for the sake of my baby.
I am glad that in the way the world goes this will be yesterdays news and nearly already is to everyone else, except to me my family and those who took the responsibility of staging the event.
Once again thankyou for the wellwishes, perhaps and hopefully once this mess has been cleaned up once and for all i shall meet a few of you next year at mantua for a pint... g

belgravy

I had a great time at mantua this year, but I thought the spirit was gone and the profiteers were at the helm, too much like hard work for the crew maybe too much insurance and law bull getting in the way of a party- I enjoy festivals and free parties and like creating a buzz and try to contribute, I hope the mantua folk get over their hiccups and sort out a more responsible crew, who are not organizing beer - but safety, and that there is more than one water tap for that many people, I was very sorry to hear about that lady being trapped, hope you and your family are well,
I look forward to next year and maybe a revision of priorities People before profit!