General Chatter, Comments and Reports

[Bingers (Chris)]

Only grumble I had were the huge groundsheets which had more to do with establishing territory than convenience.

When people are not sitting on the ground what is the point of them anyway?

On all 3 days we were near a certain "huge" blue tarpaulin which was established before we got there (same last year as well) and, unfortunately this area was largely occupied by members of the Chris Leslie family (+ various hangers on) who appeared to have no interest in any of the music when they were actually there as a lot of the time the area was left unoccupied.

[Nick]

That, I believe, is Palfi the clown........Daisy thought he was fab when she was little.  He spends far too much time on the phone.......Nick, I bet it's not filled with brandy!

He has definitely missed a trick.



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[Chris]

I thought that was an implement for avoiding the need for a trip to the loo.....until I read the file name!

[abby (tank girl)]

That, I believe, is Palfi the clown........Daisy thought he was fab when she was little.  He spends far too much time on the phone.......Nick, I bet it's not filled with brandy!

He has definitely missed a trick.

Brilliant !

[Nick Reg]

I found most people were much more accommodating when I was using my stick.

A good six of the best will do them good.

[Staffan]

This year's Peggy selfie

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[Yorkshire Chris]

Brilliant photo!! Peggy is a legend. What a man.

[Moscar]

Aside from the average line up the biggest disappointment was the lack of space. The whole "bring the contents of your garden" thing is just out of control. Chairs being pushed closer to the front, more dogs than ever and a new concept of vertical pop up tents like plastic phone boxes, so that you can keep your soda bread and your copy of the Guardian dry.
I dont buy into this "German tourist beach towel" model of running in the gate with a chair and staking a claim.
Please next year just shrink the chair areas to half the size, if you want to sit then sit n the ground.
Its either that or I am bringing my 16 piece rattan garden set, with parasol and chiminea !

Please somebody get a grip before the best festival in the country, becomes an all seater !





Huge queues for t-shirts yesterday, and one of the 50th shirts had already sold by the time FC Acoustic took the stage.

And only one grumble - people who annexe half an acre with a groundsheet when it is so busy.

Otherwise it's fab so far - let's hope the weather stays fair.
[/quote]

[Andy]

The family near us on all three days had two tables, a trolley, a doggy bed and six chairs, together with the food and wine contents of a large fridge, seemed to have the "home from home" thing down to a t.

That was a tad OTT, IMHO.

[davidmjs]

Just look around you.  We are society which feels the need to pump everything up to twice its required size as it screams "This is MINE" to everyone else.  Just look in the car park - nothing but wretchedly huge vehicles, all wider than the average parking space so we can force our fat arses into the comfy armchairness of our sparkly new Q5.  It's hardly surprising if the same logic now applies to going to a festival.  Yuk.

[MarkV]

Chairs I am happy with, i cant sit on the grass for long nowdays,  a small ground sheet so you can sleep, also walk over dont bother me much. But why the tables, large trolleys, huge "look at me" flag poles and tents.  

This year i actually found it easier to get to and from our chairs as the lines were straighter. The only issue is the lines of chairs with no gaps along the paths, meaning you have to wallk to the end path and then come through the right aisle.  We had people coming through all the time, didnt worry me.  We took less in this year than we have done in the past and it was so much easier to carry than before.  

Though on seeing some of the trolleys, we did think about building a drivable motorised trolley that had a sofa, solar powered/battery fridge, personal wifi, gps tracking to take us direct to the same spot each day and a top speed of about 30mph

[Chris]

"so you can sleep".....there is a tent for that, I wish people weren't quite so lazy. Max 10mins average back to a tent, maybe 15mins tops (average).

[MarkV]

"so you can sleep".....there is a tent for that, I wish people weren't quite so lazy. Max 10mins average back to a tent, maybe 15mins tops (average).

generaly a snooze rather than a sleep, sun bathing when possible, also sometimes more comfortable stretched out, rahter than hunched in a chair. (oh and not generally me asleep).

People could moan about those that stand around the bar all day, or the que's for signings blocking the access, but i dont!

[Tasha]

Did anyone see the people with the massive polystyrene boxes! they were like shipping crates!

[Field 7 is Heaven (Trev)]

There is plenty of space for all.  Its safety that bothers me. However, I have never taken a chair on to the field and do sit on the grass(or Denise Reeds matt).

As the administrator of a football club I have to re-read and enforce the ground safety regulations (HSA Blue book)year on year. We would not be allowed to channel 2,000 people through an undefined and narrow exit, let alone the bulk of 20,000. And if anyone attempted to set up chairs in the exitway then we would be closed down until they were removed.

At times this year people leaving after an act on the front left , were channelled into too small a space by the chair encroachment almost to 10 feet of the stage rails. Then the crowd watching an act at the strategically awfully placed Radio Oxford Tent blocked the front of the surge. Very very dangerous.

We were very lucky that the Cropredy Crowd are so decent. If there had been pushing and a fall had occurred we could have seen a disaster. It takes less than a minute to die of asphyxiation and I fear the festival could not recover from a death caused so carelessly. I expect organisers might find themselves in Jail.

I wrote a message  to GW almost as soon as I got home, Unfortunately I have yet to receive a reply,hence publishing my concern.

The solution is very simple, Take the far right and far left of the chair line back 10 foot, instal mid height  barriers (3ft) for 10 yards. On the left in a line towards Leon's, and re-site the radio Oxford tent to the far side of the Merchandise Marquee.

If that was done the issue would be ended.

[PeterJ]

There is plenty of space for all.  Its safety that bothers me. However, I have never taken a chair on to the field and do sit on the grass(or Denise Reeds matt).

As the administrator of a football club I have to re-read and enforce the ground safety regulations (HSA Blue book)year on year. We would not be allowed to channel 2,000 people through an undefined and narrow exit, let alone the bulk of 20,000. And if anyone attempted to set up chairs in the exitway then we would be closed down until they were removed.

At times this year people leaving after an act on the front left , were channelled into too small a space by the chair encroachment almost to 10 feet of the stage rails. Then the crowd watching an act at the strategically awfully placed Radio Oxford Tent blocked the front of the surge. Very very dangerous.

We were very lucky that the Cropredy Crowd are so decent. If there had been pushing and a fall had occurred we could have seen a disaster. It takes less than a minute to die of asphyxiation and I fear the festival could not recover from a death caused so carelessly. I expect organisers might find themselves in Jail.

I wrote a message  to GW almost as soon as I got home, Unfortunately I have yet to receive a reply,hence publishing my concern.

The solution is very simple, Take the far right and far left of the chair line back 10 foot, instal mid height  barriers (3ft) for 10 yards. On the left in a line towards Leon's, and re-site the radio Oxford tent to the far side of the Merchandise Marquee.

If that was done the issue would be ended.

I agree with everything you say. Also, what if there were a security incident? Can I share your post on the Fairporters Facebook group?

[hendo (Dave)]

There is plenty of space for all.  Its safety that bothers me. However, I have never taken a chair on to the field and do sit on the grass(or Denise Reeds matt).

As the administrator of a football club I have to re-read and enforce the ground safety regulations (HSA Blue book)year on year. We would not be allowed to channel 2,000 people through an undefined and narrow exit, let alone the bulk of 20,000. And if anyone attempted to set up chairs in the exitway then we would be closed down until they were removed.

At times this year people leaving after an act on the front left , were channelled into too small a space by the chair encroachment almost to 10 feet of the stage rails. Then the crowd watching an act at the strategically awfully placed Radio Oxford Tent blocked the front of the surge. Very very dangerous.

We were very lucky that the Cropredy Crowd are so decent. If there had been pushing and a fall had occurred we could have seen a disaster. It takes less than a minute to die of asphyxiation and I fear the festival could not recover from a death caused so carelessly. I expect organisers might find themselves in Jail.

I wrote a message  to GW almost as soon as I got home, Unfortunately I have yet to receive a reply,hence publishing my concern.

The solution is very simple, Take the far right and far left of the chair line back 10 foot, instal mid height  barriers (3ft) for 10 yards. On the left in a line towards Leon's, and re-site the radio Oxford tent to the far side of the Merchandise Marquee.

If that was done the issue would be ended.

Lot of sense Trev.

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

There is plenty of space for all.  Its safety that bothers me. However, I have never taken a chair on to the field and do sit on the grass(or Denise Reeds matt).

As the administrator of a football club I have to re-read and enforce the ground safety regulations (HSA Blue book)year on year. We would not be allowed to channel 2,000 people through an undefined and narrow exit, let alone the bulk of 20,000. And if anyone attempted to set up chairs in the exitway then we would be closed down until they were removed.

At times this year people leaving after an act on the front left , were channelled into too small a space by the chair encroachment almost to 10 feet of the stage rails. Then the crowd watching an act at the strategically awfully placed Radio Oxford Tent blocked the front of the surge. Very very dangerous.

We were very lucky that the Cropredy Crowd are so decent. If there had been pushing and a fall had occurred we could have seen a disaster. It takes less than a minute to die of asphyxiation and I fear the festival could not recover from a death caused so carelessly. I expect organisers might find themselves in Jail.

I wrote a message  to GW almost as soon as I got home, Unfortunately I have yet to receive a reply,hence publishing my concern.

The solution is very simple, Take the far right and far left of the chair line back 10 foot, instal mid height  barriers (3ft) for 10 yards. On the left in a line towards Leon's, and re-site the radio Oxford tent to the far side of the Merchandise Marquee.

If that was done the issue would be ended.

Lot of sense Trev.

Yes it is a lot of sense. Working in insurance I'm extra aware of "but we never thought anything would happen" style incidents. It just takes a bit of thought and planning to avoid a disaster. I agree the Oxford tent needs to be moved and a few barriers would help to keep chairs back.
I will never cease to be amazed by the complete lack of common sense of some people -  you see them plonking their chairs yards away from the next person and wonder why the field fills so quickly. Can we screen people for a bit of nous before they're allowed a ticket?  

[Gouty (Gary)]

I was caught up in a bottleneck outside the Radio Oxford tent at one point. Some of the Morris On band were performing (in the tent) so I guess I must have been on my way from the bar to the front to see either Jude or Plainsong. I was a little irritated and slightly bemused to find my progress to the stage so impeded in such a large, outdoors space but, for others, tempers were definitely fraying. Take into account the children, the elderly, the disabled and the well-on-their-way-to-being pissed who were also in that claustrophobic crush and it was, as others have pointed out, the proverbial accident waiting to happen.

[David W]

Just one from me, showers in Field 7 were great quality and FREE but nowhere near enough of them, I would rather have had a small charge levied and three times the quantity.

DW