Electric picnic improvements

Dtp1979

I'll start this on the hope that the powers that be might come across this and see our opinions and what suggestions we could make to improve on future picnic experiences.
Let's try keep the discussion to the discussion thread.

Here's my list
Try and police the entry of youngsters a lot better.
Drop the price of drink at the bar, seriously, its way overpriced. This is why people are pissed coming in from campsites
The walkway from family camping car park to campsite was basically made of rubble. How do you expect people to push buggies through this??
Swimming area was a waste of time.
Re route family camping walkway from camp to main arena to the way it was in 2015
Ban food stations from playing music
Have somewhere decent to watch the all Ireland final. The amount of pissed off fans i heard giving out about this was terrible. I'm not a GAA fan but this years showing in the tent was abysmal. It's 90mins, it's not that long.
Me personally I'd like to see more metal/rock acts. It's a huge place and I feel metal deserves a spot somewhere. There's only so much techno house garage or whatever it's called that I can listen to.
More wood chippings on bad walkways
Can't think of anything else but I'll add it later if I do.
Good picnic this year. Pity about the weather but I know you can't do anything about that..

MadYaker

Im not sure if we really need another thread for this but anyway.

Id agree with all your points, though I couldn't give a toss about more metal acts or the GAA. I'm fairly sure the people who run the festival can't control the price of drinks at the bars. So the only way the prices will come down is if everyone boycotts the bars and that's never going to happen.

They got slated on Facebook and Twitter for the lake swimming nonsense and how it affected family camping so id be amazed if it's still the same next year. If they have any sense they'll bin that idea and go back to the way it was in 2015.

Mince Pie

They still haven't binned the poxy 'fun' fair. Seriously adds nothing but detracts and makes it feel cheap. I bloody hate it.

MadYaker

I have to say I didn't notice it as much this year as we camped in Wilde instead of Hendrix which meant we walked past the Salty Dog on the way to the arena instead of the funfair which was much nicer. I won't be going back to Hendrix anymore I don't think. The ferris wheel is nice but I agree the rest of it should be gotten rid of and replaced with Arcadia. Id say Arcadia is bloody expensive though and on top of that you need to pay a load of good DJs to play it.

Dtp1979

MadYaker wrote: »

Im not sure if we really need another thread for this but anyway.

I agree in a sense and why I stated that we keep it to simply pointing out improvements that could be made and not general discussion

Toast

MadYaker wrote: »

the festival can't control the price of drinks at the bars.

The festival could choose to only sell contracts for alcohol sales under the condition drinks are sold at a certain maximum price. It would then be up to Heineken or whoever to choose to pay that amount for that contract with that limitation. Obviously a contract with such a limitation would go for less than one without so it would cost the festival money. Considering the festival sells out as is I'd imagine they've no interest in changing this.

MadYaker

They could introduce a term like that into the contract but then the likes of Heineken, Tiger etc (ie beers that most people will drink) will have no interst and we'll end up with someone like Bavaria, Carling or Fosters selling pints of piss for a fiver. I'm not sure which is worse. It wouldn't affect me anyway as I don't buy pints in the arena. But hey maybe if Heineken lost the contract the sound atlas would be gone with them!

Arne_Saknussem

The biggest difference they could make, but there's a slim to no chance of it happening, would be to bring in a free flow alcohol policy.

The difference between Body & Soul 2013 and 2014 was huge. Much more relaxed vibe about the place, nobody getting hammered in the campsite at 5pm, no 20min queues at peak times when trying to get back into the arena etc

Dtp1979

MadYaker wrote: »

They could introduce a term like that into the contract but then the likes of Heineken, Tiger etc (ie beers that most people will drink) will have no interst and we'll end up with someone like Bavaria, Carling or Fosters selling pints of piss for a fiver. I'm not sure which is worse. It wouldn't affect me anyway as I don't buy pints in the arena. But hey maybe if Heineken lost the contract the sound atlas would be gone with them!

Tbf I think Heineken isn't far off piss anyway

Fatfrog

Arne_Saknussem wrote: »

The biggest difference they could make, but there's a slim to no chance of it happening, would be to bring in a free flow alcohol policy.

The difference between Body & Soul 2013 and 2014 was huge. Much more relaxed vibe about the place, nobody getting hammered in the campsite at 5pm, no 20min queues at peak times when trying to get back into the arena etc

Me personally, id pay +€100 on my ticket for free flow.

I wonder what the Heineken deal is worth to them? I mean like if it was 3M thats only €54 onto the ticket price. It would be magic, i feel it would really make a huge difference to the vibe and atmospheric!

Fatfrog

Mr.S wrote: »

Contactless payments at all vendors would be great, or a cashless payment system, but that's just me being picky.

It's a difficult one, how to get hundreds of thousands/millions of seemless transitions in a field without a hitch! Its a big risk because once announced punters wont have as much cash on them and will be completely reliant on cards. If it does go down the bar profits are shot!!
I think we need to see this technology at one off outdoor gigs in Ireland first.

Personally the current system doesn't bother me, but contactless would cut down on short changing at the bars + reduce the amount of cash on site which makes tent ransacking less appealing.

Amirani

Fatfrog wrote: »

It's a difficult one, how to get hundreds of thousands/millions of seemless transitions in a field without a hitch! Its a big risk because once announced punters wont have as much cash on them and will be completely reliant on cards. If it does go down the bar profits are shot!!
I think we need to see this technology at one off outdoor gigs in Ireland first.

Personally the current system doesn't bother me, but contactless would cut down on short changing at the bars + reduce the amount of cash on site which makes tent ransacking less appealing.

Works well at Sziget where it's exclusively contactless. So much easier for both staff and festival goers.

Good music.

El_Duderino 09

Dtp1979 wrote:

Here's my list Try and police the entry of youngsters a lot better.

Gerrup outta that with policing people coming. The bambinos are as entitled go to the picnic as anyone else. I spoke to my teenage cousin afterward and I don't think we saw any of the same acts. Leave the kiddies have their fun

Dtp1979 wrote:

I'm not a GAA fan but this years showing in the tent was abysmal. It's 90mins, it's not that long.

Go to stradbally to watch the match. GAA is part of normal life and i thank them for keeping it kept strictly separate from the picnic weekend. I would have liked to see the Leinster match too but I was glad they didn't show sports.

Dtp1979 wrote:

Me personally I'd like to see more metal/rock acts. It's a huge place and I feel metal deserves a spot somewhere.

It's not a metal festival. Go to a metal festival for metal. It doesn't have to be all things to all men. It's broad enough don't you think?

As for the drinks, it's not a real ale festival either. The common lagers are all brewed the exact same way and taste as similar as the manufactures can possibly make them taste (p1ss in my opinion but I still had a few) they only compete in terms of branding. You won't get choice of a decent ale so there's no point whinging.

More wood chips on stand by would be good. they could put extra chips down if it rains and begins to turn sloppy.

Toilets were kept in great condition this year.

Alkers

Campervan toilets need an upgrade in terms of numbers and frequency of cleaning. Found all other toilets to be fine.
Free flow would be great and really worked at body and soul
Otherwise, there's not too much else, music is subjective but I do think they've reached (or slightly exceeded) comfortable capacity.

Dtp1979

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Gerrup outta that with policing people coming. The bambinos are as entitled go to the picnic as anyone else. I spoke to my teenage cousin afterward and I don't think we saw any of the same acts. Leave the kiddies have their fun

Go to stradbally to watch the match. GAA is part of normal life and i thank them for keeping it kept strictly separate from the picnic weekend. I would have liked to see the Leinster match too but I was glad they didn't show sports.


It's not a metal festival. Go to a metal festival for metal. It doesn't have to be all things to all men. It's broad enough don't you think?

As for the drinks, it's not a real ale festival either. The common lagers are all brewed the exact same way and taste as similar as the manufactures can possibly make them taste (p1ss in my opinion but I still had a few) they only compete in terms of branding. You won't get choice of a decent ale so there's no point whinging.

More wood chips on stand by would be good. they could put extra chips down if it rains and begins to turn sloppy.

Toilets were kept in great condition this year.

I'm not a gaa fan. Just thought it was lousy on the gaa fans who wanted to watch it. It's only 90 minutes. They did a big screen last year. I was talking about points that might improve the picnic for the people there. Having loads of people giving out about the match is clearly something that could be changed. Why piss people off?
As for metal, I always thought it was a music festival. Metal is music too. House techno garage or whatever to me is painful to listen to and is all over the picnic, but each to their own. I'm just asking for a little more balance, not to have the place over ran by metal heads

former total

Move the Jerry Fish stage so it doesn't get obliterated by Sound Atlas (or just move Sound Atlas).

Some sort of coherent layout and signposting in the red car park.

Otherwise, grand.

El_Duderino 09

Dtp1979 wrote:

I'm not a gaa fan. Just thought it was lousy on the gaa fans who wanted to watch it. It's only 90 minutes. They did a big screen last year.

I disagree. It's not about sports and other elements if real life. I live the fact that the normal dividing lines of real life are excluded from the picnic. I'll give up my sports and catch the report afterwards. If I want to see a sports event/work related event or anything else from normal life tgen IL make arrangements to get those things off site.

Dtp1979 wrote:

I was talking about points that might improve the picnic for the people there. Having loads of people giving out about the match is clearly something that could be changed. Why piss people off?

Let them be pissed off or make arrangements to see the match in town or maybe leave early and go to the match. Everyone there is an adult and can arrange their own entertainment. It's not a funfair

Dtp1979 wrote:

As for metal, I always thought it was a music festival. Metal is music too. House techno garage or whatever to me is painful to listen to and is all over the picnic, but each to their own. I'm just asking for a little more balance, not to have the place over ran by metal heads

It isn't balanced. Nobody suggested it should tickle all musical fancies. It's not a metal festival or a classical music festival or a Peruvian pipe music festival. It's not even a strictly music festival. I'm fine with it the way it is. The theatre and spoken word still was great. Don't mind trying to include even more music.

Arne_Saknussem

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I



It isn't balanced. Nobody suggested it should tickle all musical fancies. It's not a metal festival or a classical music festival or a Peruvian pipe music festival. It's not even a strictly music festival. I'm fine with it the way it is. The theatre and spoken word still was great. Don't mind trying to include even more music.

Same here. You won't see Download booking DBFC, nor should they feel the need to.

ghostdancer

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I disagree. It's not about sports and other elements if real life. I live the fact that the normal dividing lines of real life are excluded from the picnic. I'll give up my sports and catch the report afterwards. If I want to see a sports event/work related event or anything else from normal life tgen IL make arrangements to get those things off site.



Let them be pissed off or make arrangements to see the match in town or maybe leave early and go to the match. Everyone there is an adult and can arrange their own entertainment. It's not a funfair



It isn't balanced. Nobody suggested it should tickle all musical fancies. It's not a metal festival or a classical music festival or a Peruvian pipe music festival. It's not even a strictly music festival. I'm fine with it the way it is. The theatre and spoken word still was great. Don't mind trying to include even more music.

i'd be 100% in favour of them scrapping theatre and spoken word and showing major sporting events properly (rather than the unoffical hodge-podge at the moment), and having more metal music.

ghostdancer

former total wrote: »

Move the Jerry Fish stage so it doesn't get obliterated by Sound Atlas (or just move Sound Atlas).

Some sort of coherent layout and signposting in the red car park.

Otherwise, grand.

if by "move Sound Atlas" you mean "get rid of Sound Atlas", then I'm with you.

Dtp1979

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I disagree. It's not about sports and other elements if real life. I live the fact that the normal dividing lines of real life are excluded from the picnic. I'll give up my sports and catch the report afterwards. If I want to see a sports event/work related event or anything else from normal life tgen IL make arrangements to get those things off site.



Let them be pissed off or make arrangements to see the match in town or maybe leave early and go to the match. Everyone there is an adult and can arrange their own entertainment. It's not a funfair



It isn't balanced. Nobody suggested it should tickle all musical fancies. It's not a metal festival or a classical music festival or a Peruvian pipe music festival. It's not even a strictly music festival. I'm fine with it the way it is. The theatre and spoken word still was great. Don't mind trying to include even more music.

It has a Ferris wheel, bumper cars and rollercoaster, so yes it's a fun fair .
But seriously, not to go on about gaa, but they could easily accomadate the fans. They did so in 2015. Made a balls of it this year. And as for music, i don't see why it can't cater for a wider spectrum. It seems fairly one sided at the moment except for the odd non techno group

Arne_Saknussem

Dtp1979 wrote: »

It has a Ferris wheel, bumper cars and rollercoaster, so yes it's a fun fair .
But seriously, not to go on about gaa, but they could easily accomadate the fans. They did so in 2015. Made a balls of it this year. And as for music, i don't see why it can't cater for a wider spectrum. It seems fairly one sided at the moment except for the odd non techno group

Caught the bus from Stradbally to Carlow on the Monday afternoon, bus driver was from outside Stradbally and told me all the publicans there objected to the big screen after last year.

bodhrandude

Arne_Saknussem wrote: »

Caught the bus from Stradbally to Carlow on the Monday afternoon, bus driver was from outside Stradbally and told me all the publicans there objected to the big screen after last year.

And rightly so, that town supports the festival crew throughout the three weeks leading up to that event (lifeline for the festival) and want to be able make something out of it, themselves. Can you blame them. I've often walked into the town as its nice to drink the occasional pint of Guinness from the tap in a glass too. Someone mentioned that Murphys was available in the main arena, was there in fact Murphys on sale there?

Arne_Saknussem

bodhrandude wrote: »

And rightly so, that town supports the festival crew throughout the three weeks leading up to that event (lifeline for the festival) and want to be able make something out of it, itself. Can you blame them. I've often walked into the town as its nice to drink the occasional pint of Guinness from the tap in a glass too. Someone mentioned that Murphys was available in the main arena, was there in fact Murphys on sale there?

Yeah there was. In the corridor of food there was a red bar with a pair of eyes painted sbove it that sold Murphys.

TherapyBoy

BRING. BACK. ARCADIA!!

God, I loved that place..

El_Duderino 09

ghostdancer wrote:

i'd be 100% in favour of them scrapping theatre and spoken word and showing major sporting events properly (rather than the unoffical hodge-podge at the moment), and having more metal music.

Lots of people go for the spoken word stuff.

EP is 3 days of the year. GAA and the rest of normal life is 362 days of the year and ne'er the twain shall meet. Seriously the picnic is about escaping real life. If you want normal life, go off site. There's no reason at all to bring normal life on the site.

ghostdancer wrote:

if by "move Sound Atlas" you mean "get rid of Sound Atlas", then I'm with you.

Lots of people go for sound atlas too, not including me. Its close to Hendrix so it keeps the Bambinos contained.

The event was great this year. These suggestions would serve to make it bland, normal and a bit boring.

ghostdancer

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Lots of people go for the spoken word stuff.

EP is 3 days of the year. GAA and the rest of normal life is 362 days of the year and ne'er the twain shall meet. Seriously the picnic is about escaping real life. If you want normal life, go off site. There's no reason at all to bring normal life on the site.



Lots of people go for sound atlas too, not including me. Its close to Hendrix so it keeps the Bambinos contained.

The event was great this year. These suggestions would serve to make it bland, normal and a bit boring.

very few people go for Sound Atlas given how sparsely populated it always is, and it's not near Hendrix either, it's the opposite side of the site.
i don't think EP was bland, boring and "normal" before they introduced Sound Atlas and all manner of sh1tty tacky corporate stalls by the dozen over the last few years.

as for the spoken word thing, that's great. i don't though, and going on previous years, there's far more people who are interested in seeing GAA/sports at EP than spoken word.

IamMetaldave

bodhrandude wrote: »

Arne_Saknussem wrote: »

Caught the bus from Stradbally to Carlow on the Monday afternoon, bus driver was from outside Stradbally and told me all the publicans there objected to the big screen after last year.

And rightly so, that town supports the festival crew throughout the three weeks leading up to that event (lifeline for the festival) and want to be able make something out of it, itself. Can you blame them. I've often walked into the town as its nice to drink the occasional pint of Guinness from the tap in a glass too. Someone mentioned that Murphys was available in the main arena, was there in fact Murphys on sale there?

Yep, they had Murphy's in the bar beside the snug. It wasn't bad either! (coming from a Guinness drinker).

ghostdancer wrote: »

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Lots of people go for the spoken word stuff.

EP is 3 days of the year. GAA and the rest of normal life is 362 days of the year and ne'er the twain shall meet. Seriously the picnic is about escaping real life. If you want normal life, go off site. There's no reason at all to bring normal life on the site.



Lots of people go for sound atlas too, not including me. Its close to Hendrix so it keeps the Bambinos contained.

The event was great this year. These suggestions would serve to make it bland, normal and a bit boring.

very few people go for Sound Atlas given how sparsely populated it always is

I dunno buddy, it was rammed every time I went past it.

BaZmO*

In fairness to the organisers, I think they go above and beyond by even showing the match. If you're that desperate to see it you can, albeit in a packed tent. But if that really bothers you that much you can walk down to the town and watch it. I think one of the pubs had a big outdoor thing setup? Or least it sounded like that when I was getting stuff out of the car on Sunday.

team_actimel

I'll start off by saying the toilets were an improvement on last year so no complaints there.

Was disappointed with Anachronica and it didn't seem like a proper rave in the woods. Did it have earlier finishing times compared to last year? Seemed that way.

+1 on being stricter with minors. Definitely saw an increase in the amount of 15/16 year olds compared to last year.

bodhrandude

If the Picnic adopted Funktion-One soundsystems you wouldn't get near as bad sound bleed in the main arena, they are one of the few soundsystems that have a rich sound with great bass but that you can actually have a conversation as well over without annoying your fellow listening neighbour. That is the sign of a good sound system. Logic was blaring loud and the same with the music coming from the carnival.

Seathrun66

bodhrandude wrote: »

Arne_Saknussem wrote: »

Caught the bus from Stradbally to Carlow on the Monday afternoon, bus driver was from outside Stradbally and told me all the publicans there objected to the big screen after last year.

And rightly so, that town supports the festival crew throughout the three weeks leading up to that event (lifeline for the festival) and want to be able make something out of it, themselves. Can you blame them. I've often walked into the town as its nice to drink the occasional pint of Guinness from the tap in a glass too. Someone mentioned that Murphys was available in the main arena, was there in fact Murphys on sale there?

Yes at the supposed 'craft beer' stall that had Moretti, Cute Hoor, Murphys Red & others. And the Murphys was cheaper than Heineken & other beers, also not a bad pint.

Seathrun66

ghostdancer wrote: »

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Lots of people go for the spoken word stuff.

EP is 3 days of the year. GAA and the rest of normal life is 362 days of the year and ne'er the twain shall meet. Seriously the picnic is about escaping real life. If you want normal life, go off site. There's no reason at all to bring normal life on the site.



Lots of people go for sound atlas too, not including me. Its close to Hendrix so it keeps the Bambinos contained.

The event was great this year. These suggestions would serve to make it bland, normal and a bit boring.

very few people go for Sound Atlas given how sparsely populated it always is, and it's not near Hendrix either, it's the opposite side of the site.
i don't think EP was bland, boring and "normal" before they introduced Sound Atlas and all manner of sh1tty tacky corporate stalls by the dozen over the last few years.

as for the spoken word thing, that's great. i don't though, and going on previous years, there's far more people who are interested in seeing GAA/sports at EP than spoken word.

There are probably far more people interested in seeing Mixed Martial Arts than listening to John Banville & Roddy Doyle. Can we thus get some cage-fighting on site next year?

BaZmO*

Seathrun66 wrote: »

There are probably far more people interested in seeing Mixed Martial Arts than listening to John Banville & Roddy Doyle. Can we thus get some cage-fighting on site next year?

Well if it becomes more like Oxygen you might be able to see some in the Hendrix campsite!

afatbollix

Just on the GAA thing, 10 years ago at Oxygen I put a GAA match onto one of the big screens, The one in the campsite. Stuck up a sat dish and a sky box and we had a good crowd too. Thing was someone from RTE was watching and the boss got a bill a few weeks later. Said he would never do it again. Its the only big screen company in Ireland so don't think he would try again.

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

El_Duderino 09

Seathrun66 wrote:

There are probably far more people interested in seeing Mixed Martial Arts than listening to John Banville & Roddy Doyle. Can we thus get some cage-fighting on site next year?

Propose that if you like. I wouldn't support it.

EP has always had a particular demographic. It has adopted some of the Oxygen and Slane demographics since they ended. I don't think they should fundamentally change the formula. Why would they?

Improve the event but there no need to orientate it to the lowest common denominator. Why not create a second event to fill the Oxygen space?

ghostdancer

Seathrun66 wrote: »

There are probably far more people interested in seeing Mixed Martial Arts than listening to John Banville & Roddy Doyle. Can we thus get some cage-fighting on site next year?

if there's enogh of a demand for it, then sure.

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Propose that if you like. I wouldn't support it.

EP has always had a particular demographic. It has adopted some of the Oxygen and Slane demographics since they ended. I don't think they should fundamentally change the formula. Why would they?

Improve the event but there no need to orientate it to the lowest common denominator. Why not create a second event to fill the Oxygen space?

yes, the demographic which was established in the early years when they used to show GAA on a big screen in the cinema tent.

Arne_Saknussem

I'm siding with the anti-sports big screen crew even though i watched the hurling final last year.

The town is a 15min walk away if you want to see a match that badly.

grudgehugger

Dtp1979 wrote: »

It seems fairly one sided at the moment except for the odd non techno group

This implies that it is a largely a techno festival?!

Thundercats Ho

My take on things, having gone since 2010.

Global Green, which had some good stuff this year, was a little overshadowed by the funfair (and music coming from it).

Likewise with Jerry Fish stage. I attempted it a few times, but the noise bleed from the boom boom stage (where E-lites was) was too much, and it's close to sound atlas too.

The same with the DJ at the entrance of B&S (at trailer park) and the opposite corner (diagonally). The little stages close to them were drowned out as a result.

No issue with the boom boom, but it's all about location, and I feel the organisers need to really look at the layout / stage positioning for next year.

Hazelwood was a great addition, and the arty, and DJ area beside it.


I'm really old, if you're a teen / 20 something, and that's fine cos the festival still has lots to offer me.

I am a little concerned about the stuff that's been reported about Hendrix et al though.
I've heard a few stories about a 'near miss' where if a drunk/wasted girl hadn't been found by her friends in time or taken in by good souls, then they could have been really taken advantage of.
People sh1tting and p1ssing on surrounding tents, robbing tents, aggro etc. I've no idea what the solution is, other than huge security in the campsites.

I feel the festival would have a much better atmosphere if the above were addressed.
ie being able to hear the music at the stage you're at without it being ruined from noise bleed, and feeling safe in the camp sites when you're sleeping or trying to relax.
The above doesn't sound like too much to ask, but seems to be getting further away.

MadYaker

The Jimi Hendrix campsite is absolutely massive. If they could somehow split it into 3 smaller ones and have a bit more security a lot of the madness would stop.

El_Duderino 09

ghostdancer wrote:

as for the spoken word thing, that's great. i don't though, and going on previous years, there's far more people who are interested in seeing GAA/sports at EP than spoken word.

Sure but EP has absolutely nothing to do with sport. Song, poetry discussion all have a common theme. GAA songs or a discussion about has in music might have an argument but just showing sports is silly. EP and the all Ireland clash. That's it.

There's no need to make EP a bland beige event that tries to cater to all conceivable tastes. It's spike and goes out if it's way to be particularly good at particular genres. Sports isn't one of them. Isn't that ok? Isn't it what makes it great?

ghostdancer wrote:

yes, the demographic which was established in the early years when they used to show GAA on a big screen in the cinema tent.

Fair enough. I wouldn't argue to bring it back. It sounds like there are broaden issues than simple preference so it's moot anyway.