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[Babs]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4388343/Isle-of-Wight-nightmare-mudbath-leaves-revellers-stuck-in-cars.html

Is this affecting you at all, Baron?

At least they aren't all caravans...   

[Baron]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4388343/Isle-of-Wight-nightmare-mudbath-leaves-revellers-stuck-in-cars.html

Is this affecting you at all, Baron?

At least they aren't all caravans...   

Nope, not personally, as I am not going to the Festival, and steer well clear of in and around Newport at this time of year.

The traffic can be a bit horrendous, and heard this morning that a local chap here did his school run out to Cowes which is normall 20-30 minutes, and it took him 5 hours for the round trip....
There could well be masses of caravans/campervans at the camp site, but I would probably have a quick coronary if I saw a herd of these beasts. 
Where is JC and the boys when I need them, as they have an excellent chance of having some sport blowing the damn things up. 

Still, hopefully by the time I get to Newport around 10.30am or so on Monday, the roads should be cleared and most of the festival goers have departed from whence they came. Having two new tyres fitted y'see....can't afford all 4 at the moment..

[Baron]

It appears that it is total chaos in and around Newport. The camp site fields being so wet are now so chewed up with foot traffic and vehicles, that the vehicles cannot move off the field, and others are waiting to get in. Not enough provision by the organisers for wet and soggy fields has been done for vehicles....like metal 'roads'. Apparently chippings have been put down, but after a few vehicles have driven over them, it soon returns to a soggy mess.
Some chap has been on the radio saying that he is stuck in a grid lock of traffic and has now been in his car for some 12 hours. Other traffic has been diverted down side roads just to get them out of the way. No one trying to get in or out of the various camp sites are very happy....and of course a lot of people know that their favourite band etc is now playing, with not much chance of ever getting there.

Hey ho........this is the first time that the Festival has turned out to be a big disaster.
The Council allowed the organisers to cater for a larger number of people this year, so with that and the crappy weather, it has no gone well.
 

[Richard]

The Council allowed the organisers to cater for a larger number of people this year, so with that and the crappy weather, it has no gone well.
 

It seems the organisers have completely failed to do so... bad weather is hardly an unlikely scenario, this is England FFS...

I have a feeling the local council may be a little more strict with their licensing conditions next time around - if indeed they allow it to go ahead at all without a change of management.

[Baron]

It seems the organisers have completely failed to do so... bad weather is hardly an unlikely scenario, this is England FFS...

I have a feeling the local council may be a little more strict with their licensing conditions next time around - if indeed they allow it to go ahead at all without a change of management.

Yep, things don't look too good for next year. After all we have had crap weather for weeks with lots of rain, and 3 days of real sunshine recently which is not enough time to dry out fields.
Of course the car ferries have had a rough time too, since they (I believe) could not land the vehicles because the ferry port was bunged up with traffic from Fishbourne through to Newport so nothing much was moving.
So as they have no room to unload, people waiting to get home aint moving either.

I don't know what the latest is, as I am not going to nip along towards Newport for find out for myself..........I would be some time. 

[Richard]

So as they have no room to unload, people waiting to get home aint moving either.

The fun starts when the food begins to run out as commercial traffic won't be able to land either - or get anywhere useful if it did - and there are many more mouths to feed... and a good percentage of them will have no money either because of the bank fuck-up.

This weekend is going to be the perfect storm of fuck-up over there... all you need now is a decent thunder-storm to take the electricity out to make your joy complete.

[Baron]

It sure is not going to plan, that's for sure.

It is a bit of a shame though, as people have booked (like any other I suppose) a year in advance and are regular visitors to the Festival, and if a band or singer is playing that they like, that is a bonus. 
Others make up their minds as soon as they hear of the list of performers, and then book.

Last year was not too good, but this year wins hands down with really crap weather, and a fair bit of disorganisation with (it seems to me) no real provision for the rain and soggy fields where people can't get in or out, get diverted down side roads just to try and get them out of the way.
I think in previous years many people complained because they couldn't attend because the organisers were limited by the Council as to the number of people allowed.
People still came over though and just bought expensive tickets off the numerous touts along the route and there were also other touts buying tickets to sell on.........the world of commerce. 
All part of Festival life I suppose...

Still, this is a major version of what is happening slowly with many of the rest of the UK moving over here, plus immigrants, and the Council can't seem to build houses fast enough expanding outwards on nice green fields from existing Towns. Cowes, Newport mainly. Then there is the influx of visitors over the summer months, add to that the Festival, and on the August Bank Holiday we get thousands of scooters over for thei annual rally.

My poor little Island will slowly grind to a halt with traffic on our roads, our one Hospital being over stretched, not to mention Schools and Council services etc............the future does not bright or orange, it looks bad.

[Casper the Ghost]

This is reminiscent of what happened at Silverstone with the British Grand Prix a few years ago - total chaos due to soggy fields used for parking, grid lock for miles due to inadequate roads etc. When I went there 2 years ago a huge amount of money has been invested and all car parks are now equipped with very good toilets, hard parking and top quality dual carriageways leading to the race circuit.

Of course GP is a multi - million pound business (you only had to see the Aston Martins and Ferraris parked in the normal public car parks to see that) whereas the IOW festival is something that is never going to draw the same level of hard cash.

[Baron]

True Caspie. The whole Festival has grown a bit too big, which is fine in some ways as more people are able to come over and enjoy the weekend and see their favourite bands/singers. Plus it is a big boost for the shops in Newport as inbetween acts or not wanting to see some bands etc. they can mooch off into the Town which is about a 10 minute walk and spend their money.
 But, 'we' don't have the space/money to build special roads etc just for the 3 day event, plus the owners of the land want their fields back afterwards.
Yes it is like the Somme front at the moment, but the ground does revert back over the course of the year until next time.
It is a shame that the weather has really buggered things up this year, and if the 3 days of good sunshine had moved forward a bit to the weekend, it would all (probably) be fine.
Still, it gives everyone involved something to talk and whinge about for quite some time I reckon. 

[Derek]

and poor old is fuming that he can't blame the   cos and all his friends ain't there this year

BTW where is
we haven't seen hide nor hair of him for ages

[Baron]

and poor old is fuming that he can't blame the   cos and all his friends ain't there this year

BTW where is
we haven't seen hide nor hair of him for ages

You sure....he is not quietly sitting axle deep in some mud somewhere ?. 

Nope, he has been quiet of late, should we contact Interpol ?.

[Richard]

Nope, he has been quiet of late, should we contact Interpol ?.

It wouldn't be the first time if he'd spat his dummy out, but couldn't remember why in the morning.

[Baron]

It wouldn't be the first time if he'd spat his dummy out, but couldn't remember why in the morning.

His dummy might have landed over here, as I wondered what the UFO was that hit my front window...