Post Your Tent! (Pre-festival season warmup)

[idioteque]

Agreed, and that's why i will never be going back to Reading. It just seems to be an excuse for kids who are away from their parents to act like absolute savages for a weekend, absolutely no respect for anyone, not the friendly atmosphere you get at other festivals. After the riots of Reading and the corporate shit of V, i was hugely impressed by Latitude, that's the way festivals should be.

Completely, Latitude all the way. Where else are you going to casually stumble upon a pen of multicoloured sheep? And the adventure walks they'd set up in the forest at night were really cool It's a festival and a half.

Did anyone else find that scary caravan with the cat paraphernalia inside it?

 

[cliche guevara]

Completely, Latitude all the way. Where else are you going to casually stumble upon a pen of multicoloured sheep? And the adventure walks they'd set up in the forest at night were really cool It's a festival and a half.

Did anyone else find that scary caravan with the cat paraphernalia inside it?

I would've liked to explore that more if it weren't for the sudden billywitch attack.

 

[Firky]

Agreed, and that's why i will never be going back to Reading. It just seems to be an excuse for kids who are away from their parents to act like absolute savages for a weekend, absolutely no respect for anyone, not the friendly atmosphere you get at other festivals. After the riots of Reading and the corporate shit of V, i was hugely impressed by Latitude, that's the way festivals should be.

Latitude is alright but it is still very corporate, only a bit more stealthy about it.

 

[cliche guevara]

Latitude is alright but it is still very corporate, only a bit more stealthy about it.

It wasn't in my face, so i wasn't bothered.

 

[Kanda]

Glade and Electric Picnic were my favourites this year.

 

[Tort]

Completely, Latitude all the way. Where else are you going to casually stumble upon a pen of multicoloured sheep? And the adventure walks they'd set up in the forest at night were really cool It's a festival and a half.

Did anyone else find that scary caravan with the cat paraphernalia inside it?

Can somebody please explain the attraction of Latitude to me because as far as I can tell it’s just yet another Mean Fiddler money-spinner. Why pay £120+ for what, by all accounts, seems to be a very average festival when there are so many better events around the country for half the price? Did people really fall for all that spin about it being something completely new & different? Cos quite frankly – it isn’t!

 

[girasol]

Endorse-It was the best festival of the year!

(it was the only one I went to... ever!)

 

[idioteque]

Can somebody please explain the attraction of Latitude to me because as far as I can tell it’s just yet another Mean Fiddler money-spinner. Why pay £120+ for what, by all accounts, seems to be a very average festival when there are so many better events around the country for half the price? Did people really fall for all that spin about it being something completely new & different? Cos quite frankly – it isn’t!

How can you decide that if you haven't been?

If it's not full of pissed up 14 years olds making the most of being away from Mummy and Daddy, and people out to raid your tent and cause trouble, I'm not complaining. I 'fell for it', but had a really good time, and it is 'new and different' in the sense that it wasn't full of tossers, which is good enough for me.

 

[cliche guevara]

Latitude also has a Glastonbury-esque variety of entertainment.

 

[Dubversion]

Latitude also has a Glastonbury-esque variety of entertainment.

yes, but it's all a bit contrived, isn't it? I'd still like to go next year, but because it's been planned rather than evolved, it's all a little bit 'just so', a little regulated. The distinct impression i get is that the surprises aren't that surprising, the chaos is tremendously well-organised... just very neat.

so not really Glastonbury-esque in that sense at all. Glastonbury has many faults, and many structures, but there's still a potential for the random something like Latitude can only dream of

 

[Dubversion]

How can you decide that if you haven't been?

If it's not full of pissed up 14 years olds making the most of being away from Mummy and Daddy, and people out to raid your tent and cause trouble,

you're comparing Latitude to Reading. Tort wasn't.

 

[fredfelt]

My tent goes undercover in the winter

That's brillaint!

Have you every had a parking ticket?

 

[idioteque]

you're comparing Latitude to Reading. Tort wasn't.

Tort was comparing it to other 'Mean Fiddler money-spinners', and I thought that seeing as that's a fair description of Reading, it's a fair representative example to use.

 

[Tort]

How can you decide that if you haven't been?

Because I know a number of people who did go, whose opinions in such matters I trust implicitly, and who were decidedly unimpressed.

If it's not full of pissed up 14 years olds making the most of being away from Mummy and Daddy, and people out to raid your tent and cause trouble, I'm not complaining. I 'fell for it', but had a really good time, and it is 'new and different' in the sense that it wasn't full of tossers, which is good enough for me.

One of the major complaints I heard was that there was a fair amount of tent thieving going on, although I’m afraid there are very few festivals that escape that blight these days. If you want to avoid the Junior Pyromaniacs then just steer well clear of Reading & Leeds. There are hundreds of other events every summer which don’t suffer this problem.

What you have to appreciate with Latitude is that it exists for one reason only – to make money. Compare that if you will to the likes of Endorse-It, Solfest, Shambala & Sunrise Celebration and many other events which exist primarily to give the punters the best possible festival experience and still achieve value for money. Don’t believe the hype.

 

[idioteque]

I haven't been to may smaller non-corporate festivals, and I'm sure that in many respects they probably are a lot better. I just think that within the spectrum of Mean Fiddler, Latitude isn't that bad.

 

[Dubversion]

Tort was comparing it to other 'Mean Fiddler money-spinners',

He wasn't. read his post again

 

[idioteque]

I assumed that not 'new and different' was meant in relation to other festivals of its kind rather than non-Mean Fiddlers

 

[Pavlik]

Compare that if you will to the likes of .................. Sunrise Celebration and many other events which exist primarily to give the punters the best possible festival experience and still achieve value for money.

sunrise are having a few problems with their finances afaik.
it's a great festival though, which only came about because of a very positive attitude and a lot of bravado.
I for one hope it continues.
There's a good crowd of people behind it who have everyone's best interest at heart.....



and its only 15 minutes drive from here

 

[Firky]

Latitude also has a Glastonbury-esque variety of entertainment.

I Think that is its biggest problem. It tries to be a mini Glastonbury. "Latitude is good but it is one of those festivals younger people go to who are too young to remember proper festivals and fence hopping Glastonbury" - in the words of my mate. I like it, I must admit. Went to the very first one but it was very.. well it was even more Guardian than Glastonbury. Middle Class through and through.

ANYWAY BACK TO TENTS

 

[Firky]

I haven't been to may smaller non-corporate festivals, and I'm sure that in many respects they probably are a lot better. I just think that within the spectrum of Mean Fiddler, Latitude isn't that bad.

Latitude is what the Pret a Mange is to the McDonald's chain.

 

[Firky]

sunrise are having a few problems with their finances afaik.
it's a great festival though, which only came about because of a very positive attitude and a lot of bravado.
I for one hope it continues.
There's a good crowd of people behind it who have everyone's best interest at heart.....



and its only 15 minutes drive from here

There's a few people keep pushing for a festival up here (Northumberland), there's the room for and it is the least densely populated county in the country so it could in theory not disturby any villages and towns. Yet it'll never take off because:

1) It is Northumberland and people don't even know where that is.
2) Pieeye would ruin it.
3) Everyone is backwards up here and miserable.

 

[christonabike]

Just go to Beat-Herder, get twatted, and dance in the trees

Very nice folks go to it, it evolved from a free party set up

 

[Pavlik]

1) It is Northumberland and people don't even know where that is.

I have no idea where Northumberland is.

 

[Dubversion]

There's a few people keep pushing for a festival up here (Northumberland), there's the room for and it is the least densely populated county in the country so it could in theory not disturby any villages and towns. Yet it'll never take off because:

1) It is Northumberland and people don't even know where that is.
2) Pieeye would ruin it.
3) Everyone is backwards up here and miserable.

there was an attempt a couple of years ago, wasn't there? absolute fucking debacle - the local papers predict it was the end times, and it was in fact a total wash-out

lots of kids ripped off and stranded, basically

 

[Firky]

there was an attempt a couple of years ago, wasn't there? absolute fucking debacle - the local papers predict it was the end times, and it was in fact a total wash-out

lots of kids ripped off and stranded, basically

Yep, not far from Morpeth. Their planning was excellent, they had drawn up plans of predicted traffic flow for the police, helicopter landing spots, water drain off, offered a few locals either a free ticket or a weekends five start B&B at Slaley Hall (very posh). Then the Journal and a few other papers got wind of it and predicted that 10,000's of thousands of new age travelers would embark on Northumberland to leave a trail of destruction behind them. It was the downfall of beautiful Northumbria, blah blah blah.

Would have probably gone ahead (maybe 5,000 ~ 7,500 people) if the papers didn't get scent of it. However it didn't even get further than planned proposal

 

[cliche guevara]

yes, but it's all a bit contrived, isn't it? I'd still like to go next year, but because it's been planned rather than evolved, it's all a little bit 'just so', a little regulated. The distinct impression i get is that the surprises aren't that surprising, the chaos is tremendously well-organised... just very neat.

so not really Glastonbury-esque in that sense at all. Glastonbury has many faults, and many structures, but there's still a potential for the random something like Latitude can only dream of

That's why i didn't compare it to Glastonbury in that sense, other than the large variety of entertainment on offer, i don't think it's anything like Glastonbury. And there is no chaos, it is well organised, is that a bad thing? I don't go for suprises, i go because i want to see the bands that have been advertised. Just because it's a festival designed to make a profit for the organisers doesn't mean i can't enjoy it.

 

[pengaleng]

lol firkys tent is so shit lolololol ROFL

 

[Sunray]

I remember unrolling it and thinking "is that it?" Fucking wind sock propped up with a garden cane.

Look at all the other tents people have on this thread... they're miracles of design and engineering. Then there is mine. Made in India by some 10 year old boy for 20p to be sold in Woolies to mugs

Thats the funniest thing I've seen on urban for ages.

 

[sojourner]

vango with a front and back door, essential for breeze coolness and letting out air biscuits.

I'm gonna get a vango - might opt for that one meself

I was gonna get a 4man for me, but might have a camping companion for next year, so poss a 5 man

Is it flysheet first?

 

[mr steev]

I had one of these...

and it was great, until a bloody great tepee fell on it at Glastonbury this year... with me in it!

Being as enviromentally sound/tight as we are, we tatted a few replacement poles and took it home to fix. Only to discover, when we got home, that we'd left the tatted poles and brought the knackered ones back with us

I hastily got a similar replacement off the net, but it's shit... not the one that was shown on the site, it had a couple of tiny holes in and the bag broke the first time we used it. They said they'd replace/refund it, but we never got round to sending it back.

Next year, hopefully, the closest thing I'll have to a tent will be a big awning attached to the side of my nice new van