Electric Picnic rant....

donegalboy

Went to my first electric picnic this weekend and had a great time, however....
The camp site, Tangerine Fields, was a complete and utter disaster.
Being old guys in our early thirties we decided to pay €550 to stay in a tipi in a 'luxury' campsite.
When we finally got there we discovered to our horror that there were only four showers for more than 1,000 people and no bloody running water!!
Complained to management and got a typical Irish reply: "like, have you not been to a rock festival before"
What a rip off. Anyone have similar experiences??

kmart6

Well considering you were in a Tipi which is operated by an English company I'm fairly sure it wasn't any form of management you were talking to. Try here if you want to try and get some real answers .

Toast

Toilets were bad all over the campsites... thought it was an attempt to push people to fancy camping but sounds like it wasnt much better. I believe the recommendations for this sort of thing is 1 toilet to 150 people so 4 to a thousand is less than recommended but not hugely so.

Evenescent

First time at The Picnic.

Much better atmosphere than previous festivals I have attended.

However, screens at the main stage would have been handy - allowing everyone to goof off , sit around, walk about and be able to see what was going on

eth0_

Was there really 1000 people in tangerine fields? Any fest i've been to they've only had maybe 100 tents or less...

But no running water in the boutique camping area is really not on.

As is no screens on the main stage! A cost-cutting exercise, I reckon!

Extraplus

donegalboy wrote: »

Went to my first electric picnic this weekend and had a great time, however....
The camp site, Tangerine Fields, was a complete and utter disaster.
Being old guys in our early thirties we decided to pay €550 to stay in a tipi in a 'luxury' campsite.
When we finally got there we discovered to our horror that there were only four showers for more than 1,000 people and no bloody running water!!
Complained to management and got a typical Irish reply: "like, have you not been to a rock festival before"
What a rip off. Anyone have similar experiences??

I have to agree, I have used Tangerine Fields before and I was really disappointed with the facilities at EP. One plus point was that the portaloos in there were pretty clean all weekend.

thecommander

eth0_ wrote: »

Was there really 1000 people in tangerine fields? Any fest i've been to they've only had maybe 100 tents or less...

But no running water in the boutique camping area is really not on.

As is no screens on the main stage! A cost-cutting exercise, I reckon!

There was 1500 in the Boutique camping area. They lumped the guestlist/VIP camping in on top of all the yurt, tipis, podpads etc. 6 showers, and 2 portacabin toilets for the lot. A disgrace. Spoke to one of the guys from podpads and he said that the promoter sets the amount of showers/toilets for any given area. They did get a delivery of 8 portaloos on Friday night/Sat morning.

penexpers

eth0_ wrote: »

As is no screens on the main stage! A cost-cutting exercise, I reckon!

They've never had big screens at Electric Picnic.

GreenHell

Flaming Lips may disagree with you on that one

Toast

Flaming Lips brought their own screen.

tman

They had a bloody huge screen behind Fatboy Slim at the 2005 one iirc... Think they're just being cheap and leaving it up to the acts to sort it out for themselves (I guess he already had access to it from the Brighton beach parties)

Phibsboro

did campervan this year and had a ball - every toilet i used was perfect which is prolly just luck of the draw but defo a better hit rate than previous years

Niggles wise, they really do need to invest in big screens for main area and on friday night one of the beer tents had major issues with the system of single cashier for 5/6 servers. That seemed to be sorted on Sat/Sun, had no issues getting a pint either evening.

Overall had a ball, hopefully next year youknowwho wouldn't buy up all the bloody talent :S

c

Phlann

donegalboy wrote: »

Went to my first electric picnic this weekend and had a great time, however....
The camp site, Tangerine Fields, was a complete and utter disaster.
Being old guys in our early thirties we decided to pay €550 to stay in a tipi in a 'luxury' campsite.
When we finally got there we discovered to our horror that there were only four showers for more than 1,000 people and no bloody running water!!
Complained to management and got a typical Irish reply: "like, have you not been to a rock festival before"
What a rip off. Anyone have similar experiences??

The tangerine fields/myhab people weren't to blame for it. They were promised a certain number of showers and toilets which just didn't show up. They were very annoyed with the organisers but there was really nothing they could do about it.

The running water stopped briefly on Saturday (I think) and was back up and running for the rest of the weekend.

JJ

Better watch out, if we complain too much about EP then we won't be able to talk about POD events around here anymore.

eth0_

Complaints aren't a problem, libellous comments are.

John Mason

Oh noes, there was no running water at a rock festival.


the horror of it all


(PS: i am in my thirties also - so i am not sure what exactly that has to do with anything, as most people there were)

eth0_

It's not a big deal to supply a few taps for every campsite. If they can do it at EVERY festival i've ever been to, they sure as hell can do it at EP. Unless they are trying to force people to go for boutique camping next year.

But it's a good thing we know that the boutique camping is sh*t too! 2 toilets and 4 showers for 1000 people - hahaha. Slums in India have better sanitation than that.

Aspiration

Were there any sinks around? I didn't see any sinks at all in the campsites except the ones for drinking water. If I remember correctly last year there were sinks for washing yourselves?

Bluetonic

tman wrote: »

They had a bloody huge screen behind Fatboy Slim at the 2005 one iirc... Think they're just being cheap and leaving it up to the acts to sort it out for themselves (I guess he already had access to it from the Brighton beach parties)

They had the big screen in 2005 for the 3D show during his set.

Remember everyone going around with the 3D glasses on, great craic.

fits

I didnt find this a problem at all. I brought in my own water and combined with baby wipes and a shower on Sunday, it was grand!

John Mason

Aspiration wrote: »

Were there any sinks around? I didn't see any sinks at all in the campsites except the ones for drinking water. If I remember correctly last year there were sinks for washing yourselves?

There were sinks in Charlie Chaplin

fits wrote: »

I didnt find this a problem at all. I brought in my own water and combined with baby wipes and a shower on Sunday, it was grand!

QFT

does anyone seriously want to be sharing showers with a couple of thousand other people anyway?

think of the verrucas (sp?) urrghh

no baby wipes, a bit of spray and you are sorted.:D

the girls beside us, bought shampoo and conditioner and washed their hair outside the tent on saturday and sunday morning, which i thought was complete insane

Toast

eth0_ wrote: »

It's not a big deal to supply a few taps for every campsite. If they can do it at EVERY festival i've ever been to, they sure as hell can do it at EP. Unless they are trying to force people to go for boutique camping next year.

But it's a good thing we know that the boutique camping is sh*t too! 2 toilets and 4 showers for 1000 people - hahaha. Slums in India have better sanitation than that.

There was drinking water in many places around the Arena and in the Red campsite. It was signposted as well. No idea what the story with the other campsites or posh camping was but it wasnt a huge walk from posh camping to the drinking water in red.

Also I think the many dead from inadequate drinking water and disease in slums in India would like to have a word with you. This is where we get into potential libel.

fits

irishbird wrote: »

does anyone seriously want to be sharing showers with a couple of thousand other people anyway?

Yeah I have to admit I went to a friend's house nearby for the shower and some time out.

Aspiration

Yeah sure I was sorted for the weekend with some baby wipes and an beanie but it would have been refreshing if there were a few taps around so you could give your body a whole wipedown with a face towel or something instead of when you wake up and find your wipes and water are in direct sunlight.

The showers are too much hassle. I heard a girl say she was going to queue for the shower at 1 so she'd be ready for her hair appointment at 5 on the Saturday :rolleyes:

catho_monster

Phlann wrote: »

The tangerine fields/myhab people weren't to blame for it. They were promised a certain number of showers and toilets which just didn't show up. They were very annoyed with the organisers but there was really nothing they could do about it.

The running water stopped briefly on Saturday (I think) and was back up and running for the rest of the weekend.

The running water was there in the toilets at the beginning of friday, and was gone for the rest of the weekend in the myhab/tangerine area.

The issue is not, as someone said, that there was no running water at a music festival, but that some of us paid extra to be in the myhab, tangerine, yurt and tipi area expecting facilities. Now i dont know about the rest of them, but i specifically decided to stay in the myhab area because their website said that we would be in our own area with showers and toilets for that area. with only something like 100 myhabs we were max sharing with 200 people. we arrived to find that we were sharing with 2000 other people, according to figures given to us by tangerine fields reps. we paid for a service and we didnt get it. the fact that the promoters messed the accomodation providers around is not my problem. if i'd have known the facilities would have been like that, i'd have just camped normally and saved my money. absolute waste.

eth0_

Toast wrote: »

Also I think the many dead from inadequate drinking water and disease in slums in India would like to have a word with you. This is where we get into potential libel.

The drinking water issue and the toilets issue are separate. I was comparing 2 toilets for 1000-1500 people in boutique camping to conditions in a third world slum. I mean for gods sake, how much do portaloos cost to hire? Where did the ticket money go? It sure as hell didn't go on a good lineup.

Toast

Maybe if you were at the festival you would know it was one of the largest most varied festivals this side of Glastonbury. It was pretty obvious where the 240 quid went.

Also the number of toilets and the number of people has magically changed from 4 for 1000 to 2 for 1500. Anyone actually have a real figure before we start rolling out comparisons to populations of 61 million to no toilets?

Third_Echelon

Lets get things in perspective here...

You are at a music festival for 3 days. Not a weekend in the Morgan...

Seriously. If you let things like this get in the way of your weekend, you aren't going to have a good time.

The vast majority of the people that I went with and met there had very few complaints about the facilities. We all know that there are going to be queues for the loo. They didn't seem any longer than any other year I've been there. They seemed to try a different layout/approach for the campsite loos this year, but I didn't think that they were down any capacity.

The loos do stink. Guess what... 30,000 people are crapping in them

Of all the festivals I've been to over the years, and I have been to quite a few... without a doubt, Electric Picnic is the best run and has had the best facilities onsite for the festival. I've been to some festivals in England for example, where actually emptying the loos every morning is not done... At least they do this at EP and clean the inside as well.

For those that paid for the posh camping... You aren't actually getting your money's worth no matter if they had running water and 15,000 showers. Is having a tap worth 500 Euro to you for 3 days?

John Mason

i thought the toilets were actually in pretty good shape considering. much better then previous years.

mind i had a bottle of air fresher with me and was spraying all the loos before i went in.

i thought, it was brilliantly organised and i had great time no complaints well, except for not being able to bring your drink back in after you went out but thats a minor issue

garthv

The toilets were a bit of a disgrace, the big troughs they had in the campsites got very messy very quickly. Then again, it is a festival, toilets are expected to be bad.

Beyond the toilets being a bit messy, I think it was a perfectly run festival...as usual! Best Picnic for me so far...thanks Pod/Aiken!

Diggidy

Evenescent wrote: »

However, screens at the main stage would have been handy - allowing everyone to goof off , sit around, walk about and be able to see what was going on

The big screens may use alot of electricity, and being an eco friendly festival (to the best of their ability) may have something to do with it. If they get big screens next year they should install a wind turbing or something similar to power them like Glastonbury do.

Spider_Baby

garthv wrote: »

Best Picnic for me so far...thanks Pod/Aiken!

I agree one million per cent
Best one so far by far.

Queuing for the toilets was a pain (being a girl), but sure I didn't let it ruin my weekend...I simply gave up on beer and drank something which was stronger and didn't fill my bladders quite so quickly....(mmmmm....buckfast...)

Roll on EP 09

eth0_

garthv wrote: »

Beyond the toilets being a bit messy, I think it was a perfectly run festival...as usual! Best Picnic for me so far...thanks Pod/Aiken!

Despite Ireland's sh*ttest band "You're only massive" being on the bill? ;P

gaf1983

Diggidy wrote: »

The big screens may use alot of electricity, and being an eco friendly festival (to the best of their ability) may have something to do with it.

I was wondering was that the reason too. I don't think they're really that necessary, the crowds were never so big near the main stage that people had to be very far from the stage.

I do agree though that there was a lack of running water in some of the campsites.

To the opening poster - are you going to try and get reimbursed for some of the money you forked out for the so-called luxury camping facilities?

Saying that, I thought the organisation was generally top notch.

BrianD

Diggidy wrote: »

The big screens may use alot of electricity, and being an eco friendly festival (to the best of their ability) may have something to do with it. If they get big screens next year they should install a wind turbing or something similar to power them like Glastonbury do.

There's nothing particularly eco-friendly about EP (or any other festival). There are a huge amount of diesel burning generators working 24hours a day over the weekend powering all those nice and healthy food stalls you eat from right up to the stages and so on.

LED screens are actually quite economical in terms of power consumption despite their apparent size. They do need to have a constant AC power supply so connection to a local wind turbine would probably not suffice. The cost is not just the screen hire but you also have to hire TV crews, cameras and an OB unit.

From what I have heard, the promoters of the EP have no desire to install big screens as they wish to keep the intimate feel of the festival. The general rule of thumb is that arenas that have a capacity of over 10,000 should have screens for health and safety reasons. I doubt if that would be exceeded during the picnic at any time so there is no H&S need for them.

FTMFL

I went down on the Sunday and got in for free. I just got a wristband from someone leaving. I got in free via a campsite last year on the Saturday. Although it's an enjoyable festival, I would not be prepared to pay the rip off prices. The bus service coming back on the Monday was appalling. A guy on the bus with me missed his flight back to Dusseldorf as a result.

Electric picnic started out as something great but I think they're just cashing in on it for a few more years until it runs its course and the people flock to something new

fits

your opinion would be more valid if you had deigned to pay.

FTMFL

I had more sense than to be ripped off. I could get a week in Greece for the same price.

lordgoat

FTMFL wrote: »

I had more sense than to be ripped off. I could get a week in Greece for the same price.

Maybe you should go there then or are you too stingy to pay for it as well. Best get walking Scrooge!

fits

FTMFL wrote: »

I had more sense than to be ripped off. I could get a week in Greece for the same price.

Well why dont you go to Greece then?

This attitude drives me crazy. Nothing cool would ever be put on in this country if everyone were like you.

alastair

FTMFL wrote: »

I had more sense than to be ripped off. I could get a week in Greece for the same price.

I heard you can sneak into Greece without paying too.

Got my EP ticket late last year - three days of (mostly) great gigs for 199 eurons is pretty good value (Goldfrapp, Sigur Ros, Lazy Habits, Kormac, Antibalas, Herbaliser, Duffy*, Elbow, Grace Jones, Underworld, George Clinton, Hayseed Dixie, Hercules and the Love Affair, The Roots, Grinderman, MBV, Nitin Sawney), never mind all the other stuff going on - impossible to make the most of it all. Probably spent another hundred on grub and booze on site. 300 euro wouldn't see a decent week in Greece.

*Not a highlight.

spiderdan

First off I have to say I had a great time I always do- (thank god for Bodytonic on Sunday) thought it was pretty well run overall, my main problems were,

Bars closing at 10/ 10.30- Didn't bother me too much, brought loads of cans in with me

No big screen- plain scabby no excuses, don't care what anyone says

But my biggest problem was the state of the line-up; total joke, Pod/ Aiken are just being so miserable and scabby, totally living off their whole boutique bull**** experience- thus getting away with a ****e line-up, really pisses me off. There was about 20 in our group and everyone was in agreement that they're beginning to take the piss. The really have up their game next year for all of us to go back. Its easy to sell it out as there are only 32k tickets so I reckon things wont change much. Bestival kicks the **** out of EP this year and its cheaper. I reckon its the obvious alternative.

mfield

Did anyone go to Diplo, I was almost 100% he wasn't even playing as you couldn't see the DJ properly at all, they never shone the lights on him once. I'd like to know if I am right or not.

thecommander

mfield wrote: »

Did anyone go to Diplo, I was almost 100% he wasn't even playing as you couldn't see the DJ properly at all, they never shone the lights on him once. I'd like to know if I am right or not.

Yep. he was on about 10 minutes late as Reprezant took too long. Highlight of the weekend.

innocentsmile

I was in Charlie Chaplin and while the more permanent toilets were disgusting the portaloos they brought in Saturday were fine. They were cleaned every morning. I'm squeamish enough but didn't have that much of a problem with them.

If I'd paid that much for Tangerine Fields I'd probably have been pissed off too though.

To be honest, I don't know why people bother with showers at festivals. A festival in 07 [most mud-filled weekend of my life] might've cured me of the urge but when everyone else is in the exact same state as you, why bother?

John Mason

alastair wrote: »

Probably spent another hundred on grub and booze on site. 300 euro wouldn't see a decent week in Greece.

i think i spent €23.00 for the whole weekend.

brought all my food and drink with me, gave in on sunday and bought a pizza slice and a hot chocolate.

so all in all, it was a cheap weekend for me

thecommander

irishbird wrote: »

i think i spent €23.00 for the whole weekend.

brought all my food and drink with me, gave in on sunday and bought a pizza slice and a hot chocolate.

so all in all, it was a cheap weekend for me

Free ticket? And tent? And lift? And the food you brought was free too?

spiderdan

mfield wrote: »

Did anyone go to Diplo, I was almost 100% he wasn't even playing as you couldn't see the DJ properly at all, they never shone the lights on him once. I'd like to know if I am right or not.

He was crap alright! plenty of people commented on how poor he was.

fits

early bird ticket, borrowed tent, about ten euro on petrol, 50 euro in lidl on booze and food and 40 euro on site on excellent food.

I think its good value for a great time.

FTMFL

Fair enough, but with ryanair flights being so cheap. 300 quid would get you a decent long weekend away somewhere nice. I've booked stockholm for 20 euro return. I know beer is expensive there but to a certain degree I can take a leaf from your book and 'bring my own'.

'I love techno' on in Belgium later this year. Amazing lineup and tickets are 30 euro

danniemcq

Tent stealing bastards, somewhere on Sunday night someone stole not only my clothes but my tent, the whole thing. Gone. no trace of anything except my towel 50 ft away. Fecking ragin but look if you did this or know who did i don't really care about anything except one of the tshirts that was in the Rucksack. it was black with a stick figure playin guitar and said rock on the rock on the rock on the back and has a lot of sentimenatl value. It was at the edge of the blue/red camp near the tree, a green tent and blue rucksack. Can anyone help?