Big Chill forums closed...

[DJWrongspeed]

1. Stay non-commercial and strictly limit ticket numbers, and therefore stay pretty much non-profit (but keep the vibe, maaan ). The Big Green Gathering and Shambala are examples of this. No advertising, and therefore a fantastic non-commercial festival atmosphere. I'm sure this is a hard thing to do financially, but some small festies do manage it. It depends entirely on your priorities, I suppose..

couldn't agree more Han, have come back from the Big Green, no corporate banner in site, well managed kids friendly site with loadsa space and enough madness at night, no beer licence but ultimately that didn't detract from the main focus of what the gathering was about, education, workshops, beautiful fresh countryside in the middle of nowhere, havin fun, dirty solar pwd d'n'b under a star lit sky

 

[Lock&Light]

you never miss a chance, do you?

Neither do you, apparently.

 

[William of Walworth]

However commercial it gets, for whatever reasons, there's simply NO excuse for having shit security and rank toilets!

Han (I know you won't see this so maybe someone else can answer) -- is it KNOWN that the Big Chill forums closed beause of people spreading falsehoods? Or was it because those who run them can't handle robust but fair criticism?

Genuine question -- I don't know!

 

[LJo]

That's what I would like to know as well. Like pinkmonkey, I'll still be going because I love the place and we have a great group of mates who all love it as well...but I think we may also consider a couple of the smaller, non-corporate ones next year. The Big Green Gathering sounds lovely.

 

[lighterthief]

...is it KNOWN that the Big Chill forums closed beause of people spreading falsehoods? Or was it because those who run them can't handle robust but fair criticism?

Last I saw there were 8 or 9 pages of replies on the thread, "How was it for you?" Most of these responses were 50% good feedback, 50% constructive criticism (toilets, security, sponsorship etc). No trolling or troublemaking as far as I could see (the BC boards are far more gentle than here ) - but of course it could have have deteriorated after I left the board.

 

[fractionMan]

I didn't have a problem with crime, the toilets or anything else for that matter. They could have done with some proper cider, but that's about it. Shame they closed the forums though, they're touchy-touchy peeps it seems.

I went because I'm sick of glasto and I'm glad I did. Next year I'll go again, but like LJo I'll be off to shambala and some other little ones (like trowbridge!) too.

 

[Rocket no.9]

Fascinating.

Slumming it is part of the fun: I overheard one well-spoken lady, wearing top-of-the-range yellow Hunter wellies, complain that the toilets were too clean. She might also have objected to the array of food available, including gourmet pies, splendid sushi and a stall selling every type of tea you can imagine.

Never been myself, but if it's anything like this benediction from the Torygraph, I guess I never will...ever.

 

[chooch]

The annoying thing is I can't remember who he was. Defo a friend of a friend but I can't remember who

The lowsparks geezer posts on the Big Chill forums sometimes. Sure you could get in touch with him throguh there when it reopens.

Thought this one was better than last year's btw. Music was a bit less safe and the bars worked. Crowd, toilets, general vibe as expected- maybe a bit edgier at night than it was a couple of years ago. And a very different event from the Enchanted Garden, but that's not news...
Shame about the thieving.

 

[percival scrote]

Oh dear - we were only being honest! I think Katrina might have got the hump when she was accused of being 'schoolteachery' on the Sunday night, when she came on stage.

Oh deary me.....

I did enjoy it (as ever) but like many others we thought they should be told (especially regarding thieves /shitty bogs /runaway sponsorship)

I had a great time .... the theiving was not pete and katrinas' fault , much rather totally inept security , who seem like a completely miserable bunch of people and sem totally reluctant to intervene in events were there job is concerned , namely protecting people and helping them feel safe .... the toilet situation was totally down to misuse by punters in my opinion ..... and whats wrong with sponsorship ... be realistic , how do you expect an event of that size to function ... I missed Katrina speaking on sunday night , I don't know why the forum has been closed down .... but I would still go to , and participate in the BIG cHILL rather than any other festival .. I still believe in their ethos ... and I,m gonna continue to support them . ...peace

 

[pennimania]

couldn't agree more Han, have come back from the Big Green, no corporate banner in site, well managed kids friendly site with loadsa space and enough madness at night, no beer licence but ultimately that didn't detract from the main focus of what the gathering was about, education, workshops, beautiful fresh countryside in the middle of nowhere, havin fun, dirty solar pwd d'n'b under a star lit sky

Absolutely.

I was there too - had no qualms about allowing my 10 year old roam free - decent toilets- safe but bonkers

Perseid meteor showers an added attraction!

 

[editor]

I had a great time .... the theiving was not pete and katrinas' fault , much rather totally inept security , who seem like a completely miserable bunch of people and sem totally reluctant to intervene in events were there job is concerned , namely protecting people and helping them feel safe .... the toilet situation was totally down to misuse by punters in my opinion .

Err...

1. pete and katrina were responsible for hiring the security, so the buck stops right at their door for any shortcomings with security. Who else is to blame?

2. How the fuck can you blame paying punters for "mis-using" overflowing and un-emptied toilets?

3. I don't go to a festival to be blasted by corporate slogans, thanks. In fact, I go to festivals to get away from them.

 

[moose]

Next year I'll go again, but like LJo I'll be off to shambala and some other little ones (like trowbridge!) too.

Ah, but that's the problem, isn't it? (not you )
Because so many more people have discovered the joys of festival going, festivals which were considered relatively small a few years ago are growing too rapidly and experiencing problems with their infrastructure, crime, etc. But who would blame the organisers, if they have ever increasing demand for tickets? It just takes a few people on a bulletin board to say they're only going to smaller festivals next year and suddenly those events aren't so small after all, sponsorship creeps in as it's an easy way of getting money up front when you need it to build the festival, and before you know it, you're standing in a long queue, ankle deep in piss.

 

[Louloubelle]

I went to the big chill twice, can't remember which years but both at larmer tree gardens. the first time was the year of much drum n bass and I loved it. the second time was the next year when there was hardly any drum n bass and lots of noodly bleepy ambient stuff and I hated it.

thing is, both timesthe security was made up of students and local kids, who were no way professional security staff. They were very nice and friendly and their main function seemed to be to stand around wearing tabards with 'security' written on them.

I got chatting to several of them and kept in touch with them after the event, when they told me that they never got paid. Apparently Pete and Katrina kept telling them "we'll pay you at the end" and then left without paying them. There was a LOT of bad feeling about this. For the main one I kept in touch with this meant that she had to cancel her holiday abroad, a friend of hers got into debt problems over it.

There was no problem with thieves at either of the events, but if there had been the security people would have struggled to know what to do about it IMO as they were just local kids not professional security staff

I don't know what happened this year, but it sounds to me as though yet again they didn't hire professional security staff, which is a disgrace as people pay enough for the tickets.

 

[aurora green]

I've only been to the Big Chill once, three years ago now (I think). I was so completely horrified and offended by the Leyland/Mini sponsered showers, I couldn't really enjoy myself. I spent the entire weekend thinking up ways to sab them, with my dear mate, who I'd only gone in the first place to keep company, almost begging me to 'chill out' and forget about them and enjoy the champagne cocktails. Noit my idea of a festi, at all. The other thing that I found wierd was, at the time I was at squat parties every weekend and festivals throughout the summer, knowing so many people, yet only bumped into two people there that I knew. An entirely different crowd. Not one that I felt at ease with really.

 

[percival scrote]

Err...

1. pete and katrina were responsible for hiring the security, so the buck stops right at their door for any shortcomings with security. Who else is to blame?

2. How the fuck can you blame paying punters for "mis-using" overflowing and un-emptied toilets?

3. I don't go to a festival to be blasted by corporate slogans, thanks. In fact, I go to festivals to get away from them.

who rattled your cage ?

 

[editor]

who rattled your cage ?

I'm responding to your 'points'.

Please elaborate how uncleaned, unemptied and overflowing toilets were down to "misuse by punters" please.

 

[percival scrote]

ok .... I'm maybe take your point about the Security , I remember friends telling me laast year how they were unhelpful and at the worst bullys .so perhaps in a year P & K have had time to remedy the situation ... judging by what I have heard about the attitude of some of the Security I could imagine them being aware of theiving from tents going on and doing nothing about it ...
I went to many of the loos over the weekend and people were not flushing them properly , I had to push all the shit into the chamber below many times not with my bare hands thank christ !, 9 times out of 10 these were empty ... this certainly didnt help .

On the subject of sponsorship , I thought this was largely invisible ... judging by the amount of people flooding the Strongbow bar and the wray & nephew bar many people didnt have a problem with it ... Wrangler were probably the largest sponsor and they were entirely invisible ...When a festival grows to the size that the Big Chill has how do you fund it ?... bit of a conundrum ... many of the people on this thread are harking back to the Enchanted Garden days , much as I loved those days of a few thousand people in Larmer Tree Gardens , those days are gone and I don't think the Big Chill could return to those days , although probably , secretly they would love to ..............I also think the bands and djs you get at the Big Chill are second to none ..and were particularly good this year ................ sorry if my punctuation goes a bit awry
cheers. x

 

[citydreams]

percival,

with an extra 10,000 people at this year's festival, do you not think that perhaps there should be more facilities than previous festivals. There were plenty of opportunities - such as having the toilets flush straight to the chemical waste; female urinals; security with walkie talkies.

And possibly more important. A Weston's Cider / homemade cider stand.

I managed to get through the whole festival without letting a drop of Strongbow touch my lips, so I guess the sponsorship was a bit of waste as far as I'm concerned. And as Aurora pointed out, in your face marketing has a negative effect.

 

[editor]

.so perhaps in a year P & K have had time to remedy the situation ... judging by what I have heard about the attitude of some of the Security I could imagine them being aware of theiving from tents going on and doing nothing about it .

I pointed out a scumbag thief in the act of stealing someone's coat to two 'security' guys.

They meekly answered, "we can't do anything about it unless we see it ourselves".

As regard the loos, I've actually got a pics of a loo overflowing with piss and shit (no amount of flushing is ever going to help that) and the disgusting (and permanently unlit) male piss-wagon where the troughs were overflowing with piss all over the floor.

Yuk.

If Glastonbury - with its hugely bigger crowd containing far more, err, 'random' people - can sort out their bogs over a longer period of partying, why can't the BC?

 

[ddd]

To be fair to BC the forum has only ever gone offline when traffic has been too high or they've been doing maintenance work. They have a very hands off approach to it only getting involved in rare occasions such as when a tout made physical threats to poster etc. They got a lot of criticism (most completely undeserved, some well justified) on that forum but they've always viewed it as healthy feedback and haven't sought to remove it.

I was really surprised to see it taken offline, but then if someone is making claims that a festival goer died on their own forum I can understand them doing this until they have time to deal with it.

I love the BC. Yup, a lot went wrong this year particularly the toilets and the security (but then people were moaning a few years ago that security were too full). The music was fantastic but the environment wasn't so good this year and usually BC utterly excels at both.

Hopefully they can get it sorted.


3D

 

[editor]

I love the BC. Yup, a lot went wrong this year particularly the toilets and the security (but then people were moaning a few years ago that security were too full). The music was fantastic but the environment wasn't so good this year and usually BC utterly excels at both.

Hopefully they can get it sorted.

Me too - and the only way they can only make it better is by people honestly voicing their opinions and them listening to their complaints.

I just wonder why they felt the need to expand the size of the festival so aggressively. 3,000 to 32,000 in a handful of years is bound to cause some serious growing pains.

 

[ProgBreakz]

It was my first time at the BC this year, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, without a bad word to say.
It's a shame to hear so much negativity, but then I guess I have nothing previous to compare it with.
More toilets, security, and regular toilet cleaning would of course be a good thing, but you are always going to get the odd one or two.

"Misuse" includes the toilets where people had for some reason shit all around the seat but not in the actual toilet, even though it wasn't full. :?
Strange. I think LJo witnessed one where someone had simply been in the corner, and nowhere near the toilet at all, even though the rest of the cubicle had just been cleaned... :?

Maybe I am just a part of the new generation of Big Chillers, that is contributing to the problem of growing numbers, but...
I hate to be so goddamned positive, but I absolutely loved The Big Chill!


PB

 

[Supine]

They could have done with some proper cider, but that's about it.

A fact that Pete L addressed on the forum before it shut. Fair play to him I say.

 

[Supine]

3. I don't go to a festival to be blasted by corporate slogans, thanks. In fact, I go to festivals to get away from them.

Didn't you get a media free ticket? If so, your playing a part in this countries advertising culture

 

[editor]

Didn't you get a media free ticket? If so, your playing a part in this countries advertising culture

How does that work then?

 

[Supine]

On the subject of sponsorship , I thought this was largely invisible ...

The BC has been getting more and more sponsorship over the years. It's a shame but I suppose thats the way things need to be run these days.

It doesnt always work though. The radio station was sponsored by Ocean Spray, a fact I couldnt hep absorbing, but I havn't got a clue who they are or what it is!

And Wrangler gave out free pairs of flip flops. I still think they make crap jeans

 

[editor]

And Wrangler gave out free pairs of flip flops.

They also had their name imprinted on those 'chill' beds and on the Big Chill bags.

 

[Supine]

I just wonder why they felt the need to expand the size of the festival so aggressively. 3,000 to 32,000 in a handful of years is bound to cause some serious growing pains.

Did you prefer your forum when only a handful of people contributed?

 

[Supine]

They also had their name imprinted on those 'chill' beds and on the Big Chill bags.

Did they? To be honest I think I'm so used to advertising culture it just passes me by.

 

[Supine]

How does that work then?

Why are media tickets given away? Advertising isn't it...