Field Day- Victoria Park 11th August?

[HackneyE9]

This just came through to everyone on the EYOE mailing list....

Sunday 12th August 2007


Thank you for attending our first Field Day. Hands up, we got swamped. Sorry, it was our first festival and the queues were clearly too big.

We did not oversell the event and the amount of all the toilets and the bars were approved by the council. However, we clearly did not anticipate the demands on the bars from a Field Day crowd and there were clearly nowhere near enough.
Next year we will be at least doubling both the bars and the toilets.

We feel very disappointed about these problems and we hope that it did not affect your enjoyment of the music and other activities too much.

Thank you once again for attending the first Field Day, we will improve.

Yours Sincerely

Field Day collective.

Collective! Wot, they're all on a flat salary

No mention of banning water on the hottest day of the year (since April.

 

[Get Involved]

that "apology" doesn't explain

- why the sound was so shit
- why the food and toilet queues were so long (did they not expect the 'Field Day crowd' to eat or piss either?)
- why the tents were so fucking tiny
- where all the 'village fete' attractions were

General shambles, as everyone has said. It reminds me of the events people like Gatecrasher were running about 6 years ago - ram everyone in, fuck the actual quality of the event. People seem to credit these promoters with more integrity - that will have been severely damaged after this.

 

[sonik]

People seem to credit these promoters with more integrity - that will have been severely damaged after this.

I agree, the whole EYOE (collective!!) have been riding on the edge of a knife for a while imo and this has done them no good what so ever.

I was re-reading the original press release earlier here's a snippet -

Brought to you by London's leaders and lovers of the leftfield: Marcus Weedon [The Coronet, Vapour, Riki Tik] Eat Your Own Ears, Adventures In The Beetroot Field, Bugged Out! and Homefires; who have come together to bring you the most cutting edge line up of emerging bands and DJs. The track record of these event promoters proves that cutting edge music and wild parties are not mutually exclusive.

Field Day brings to you a summer fete you will never forget. The Fete mayhem encompasses crazy activities alongside locally sourced organic food and drink, there will also be tea and cake stalls, a jumble sale, and brass band stand.

 

[hiccup]

I saw the tea and cakes stand (a friend had some very tasty looking scones with jam and cream), there was a rather low-key tombola, and lots of people seemed to be enjoying the tug of war. Can't say I saw a jumble sale, or any sign of a brass band though.

The lack of beer was a pain, but it was still possible to have a perfectly enjoyable day. The smuggled in Jim Beam helped here though I must admit. Dunno why I bothered buying three thimble-sized vodka jellies though.

When we'd finally got some beer, a bloke offered us pills in exchange for pints, from his rather large baggie full

 

[Dr. Furface]

It has to be said that the tickets for Field Day were attractively, but suspiciously, cheap. That's no excuse for EYOE, but being wise after the event, it maybe wasn't surprising that they skimped on some of the amenities

 

[ThierryEnnui]

that "apology" doesn't explain

- why the sound was so shit
- why the food and toilet queues were so long (did they not expect the 'Field Day crowd' to eat or piss either?)
- why the tents were so fucking tiny
- where all the 'village fete' attractions were

Agreed - the only one of these that wasn't 100% their fault was the sound, apparently Hackney council had an official at every stage checking noise levels which would explain the piss-poor sound in the Bugged Out tent - you could easily have a conversation just a few feet from the speakers when Weatherall was on.
It's amazing how many levels they fucked up on - one thing I couldn't believe was why they wedged the Homefires stage (mainly accoustic) in between the Bugged Out & Beetroot Field tents (both DJs) - you couldn't hear the muisc at Homefires properly despite the low volume levels on the other stages. Worst organised festival I've ever been to.

 

[perplexis]

It's heartwarming to see that I am not just a misanthropic old cunt and it actually was a rubbish festival according to other people.
There were moments where I thought I might just not be ironical [sic] enough to get it.

 

[BEARBOT]

just wondering if anyone knows WHY its legal for greedy promoters to not allow people to bring in food or water?
seems like this policy esp. concerning water should be illegal
its down to health issues..in a hot crowded park where people are dancing you make them q up for the water tap and take away water from people who had the foresight to bring it at the gates..sounds like a recipe for dehydration to me

 

[sonik]

just wondering if anyone knows WHY its legal for greedy promoters to not allow people to bring in food or water?
seems like this policy esp. concerning water should be illegal
its down to health issues..in a hot crowded park where people are dancing you make them q up for the water tap and take away water from people who had the foresight to bring it at the gates..sounds like a recipe for dehydration to me

The same greedy promoters charge £3.50 a can of Stella at their Homefires events as well.