Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

or does anyone else wonder who can actually afford to go to all these festivals?

86 replies

jeckadeck · 13/07/2011 16:59

since these "boutique" festivals pioneered by the Big Chill/Bestival etc became the rage: they seem basically to be targeted at a very small section of well off middle class London types and I can't imagine that there's enough demand to sustain them all. I've just looked on lastminute.com and most of them are going for well over a hundred quid. Really? I'm not on an especially low income and I just wouldn't spend that sort of money on one (with the possible exception of glasto): for not much more you could go on an amazing holiday. Am I missing the point/being a stick in the mud, or is there something a bit emperors' new clothes about them all, especially given the state of the economy? And are a lot of them going to end up getting closed down? Because I sort of feel like the world's gone a bit mad....

OP posts:

youmeatsix · 15/07/2011 08:20

a festival is my idea of hell

however
my daughter has just come back from T in the park, she is just the tinest bit precious rolls eyes(regarding hygiene etc)
she bought a refresh pass, access to lovely toilets, showers, hair straighteners/dryers etc and a locker with a charging plug in it for mobiles etc, 24 hr security
she LOVED it, stack the price up against gig tickets, jolly good value, she had a great time, this year was her end of exams & school treat from us, she is off to uni in sept, but she has already started to save £5 per week for next year, her and her mates worked out thats how much the ticket, travel & refresh pass cost them

Callisto · 15/07/2011 08:21

I love festivals, but stick to the tiny ones that have 500 people or less. It means that I get to see bands that I would never normally see for very little or no money. Massive crowds gives me the creeps, I would hate Glastonbury. DD (6) loves festivals too, but I doubt she would cope with a big one either.

IvyAndGold · 15/07/2011 08:36

i used to go to around three big festivals a year (download, reading, etc), aswell as a few smaller local ones. we haven't been to any for the last two years since i was pregnant with DD, but even if we hadn't have had her we wouldn't have been able to afford it anymore. not only do you have to save for the price of the ticket, you have to save for spending money there as the food is bumped up to a ridiculous price! i used to be able to afford it as i was working full time hours plus a lot of overtime, no kids, and as the tickets for reading/leeds went on sale around my birthday i'd put all that money together for one. saying that, even my friends who are in the same position i was in are only going to one big festival this year.

Hulababy · 15/07/2011 08:46

Me and DD went to Wychwood - was only £100 or so for the weekend and DD was free - as are all under 10s. That included camping. Even cheaper if you book far earlier ina dvance. But it is way smaller, but incredible child friendly, than some of the festivals. Definitely worth a look.

herecomesthsun · 15/07/2011 09:02

We will be going to greenbelt for 4 days (£120 per adult, DS goes free).It is a very child friendly christian arts festival.

We will be also going (probably) to some local festivals,for example this - we went last year, it was great and it cost about £7!!

bullet234 · 15/07/2011 09:13

There are smaller cheaper festivals out there. There's one called Farmer Phils in Shropshire that's £55 for a weekend ticket, or between £20 - £30 for single days, with under twelves free. Of course, it could be a bag of shite .

Original poster

jeckadeck · 15/07/2011 09:35

I take the point about the fact that music is included and so forth. But realistically unless you're talking about Glasto/Reading, you'll be seriously lucky if you get more than one gig that you actually really want to see, the rest of it is largely padding. Therefore you've shelled out hundreds of quid, basically most of which is going to paying the salaries of the organizers at Live Nation or to line the pockets of a Michael Eavis type. And that's before you've even begun to think about food. I don't begrudge people their fun if they want to go, I just think its a bit of a rip-off, thats all.

OP posts:

FebreezeYourJeans · 15/07/2011 09:55

I hate camp bestival. Went for the first time last year and never, ever again! Isle of Boden indeed

But I took DD6 to 80s Rewind (Henley) and we had a blast. Just one stage, we danced like loons 'til the fireworks each night.

TobyLerone · 15/07/2011 10:10

The BF and I are going to this in a few weeks. Tickets are super-cheap (60 quid or something) and kids go free. My children will be in France so they're not coming this year, but we'll bring them next year.

That 60 quid covers camping for 3 nights and all the bands, including one of my favourite bands in the world this year. So hardly a rip-off. Last year we saw some great bands we wouldn't otherwise have gone to see, and a couple who have made it pretty big this year. Can't wait!

I've also been to IOW Festival this year, and if you consider that I saw around 20 bands, including KoL, Foo Fighters, Pulp, Kaiser Chiefs, Joan Jett, Iggy Pop and Chase & Status, that ticket price seems more than worth it. Tickets for Foo Fighters or KoL are 50 each usually.

JanMorrow · 15/07/2011 10:19

Jeck I don't think Michael Eavis makes all that much money from it.. most of it goes on running costs and to charity, obviously they'll take a bit but that's not what it's all about. AND, you get to see a hell of a lot more music than just one band AND there is so much more than music there.. but I won't get into a debate with a non believer!

Alikersh · 15/07/2011 10:45

Bullet234 we're going to Farmer Phil's for the second year running & believe me it's definitley not a bag of shite!
The £55 includes a weeks camping as well as the festival passes & kids under 12 go free. It's pretty basic (note to self, take a bucket for night time this year!) but intimate & friendly with loads to do for the whole family. We're meeting up with a few families we met last year & none of us can wait! Ther's are no really famous bands as such but the music there is a fantastic mixture to suit everyone. In fact the only issue I had last year was finding the bloody place....

queenrollo · 15/07/2011 10:51

the music thing is a moot point if you only like to see 'commercial' bands. We go to many festivals and while we do watch some big names we also like to wander and stumble across artists we've never heard of before. I like all music, not just whatever Radio1/The NME are telling me I should listen to.

There are some festivals I wouldn't take my child to (Endorset for example) but he will be coming to Glastonbury with us in 2013, at his insistence (he threw a wobbly this year that we went without him)

We're going to Tolpuddle on Sunday (because we're on holiday anyway, a happy accident that it's on while we're there). We're going to Croissant Neuf and Shambala too. And they all have great stuff for kids to do.

How do we afford it? we're lucky that DH has a good job and we don't have hobbies etc and so we spend our savings on having a really good summer full of music and spending time with like-minded people. Many people I know work the festivals so they get a 'free' ticket, and that's how they afford to do several in one summer.

The 'boutique' festivals don't really float my boat, but there are loads of small affordable festivals all over the country, you just have to look for them because they aren't publicised like the 'boutique' ones are.

V, T in the Park et al are my idea of hell.....but that doesn't mean I look down on people who go to them. I just wouldn't go myself.

yellowraincoat · 15/07/2011 10:59

The price of festivals is ridiculous these days. 5 or 6 years ago, I paid 80 quid to go to Leeds for the whole weekend - this years it's almost 200. I wanted to go to Lovebox, but the tickets were 50 quid a day, it's just too much for me. A lot of my friends are going, but they're all rich. I went to Glastonbury, but only cos a friend got free tickets with their job. Still ended up costing a bomb in train tickets etc.

knittedbreast · 15/07/2011 11:06

southeasthampster- they never went away and are still all around us every sat night and thats from someone in the know ;)

Batteryhuman · 15/07/2011 16:17

Jecadeck you are so wrong about the music. I took DSs to Wychwood and came away with a load of new bands to listen to and look out for as well as seeing some old favorites. In September I am going to Moseley folk festival with my brother where the line up is such that I think the organisers could see into my mind, but even there apart from the fab headliners i know I will discover new music and bands. Its not all about chart toppers and at the smaller festivals you can talk to and meet the musicians and often end up sharing drinks or camping next to a band that a few years later is travelling in a big bus

ChizChizChiz · 16/07/2011 08:55

Couldn't disagree more! Maybe you're just picking the wrong festivals, jeck?

SayItLoud · 16/07/2011 09:21

Totally agree, we will be going to several smallish festivals this summer, CroissantNeuf, etc, where we will see bands in a small venue, have loads of entertainment for the kids, be able to hang out with friends without having to pay for a babysitter, find new bands we've never heard of as well as see bigger ones we already like, eat great food. Loads of fun for a couple of hundred quid for all of us.

The thought of spending £200 on Center Parcs or similar would be dreadful for me (what'd that be, two nights there for a family of four?) and it's just a question of how you choose to spend your money.

upahill · 21/07/2011 20:11

or does anyone else wonder who can actually afford to go to all these festivals?
Not everyone is skint or struggling financially.

puddinghead · 21/07/2011 20:43

I do wonder how the 'youngies' can afford it, (oops, showing my age), but I suppose they haven't as many other outgoings as prob still living at home.

Was actually shocked tho' to find out that so many tents etc are just left behind at festies these days as our 'throwaway' society can' t be bothered to pack their shit up and take it home.

Ahh, my first time at Glastonburger we snuck in through the fence....!

CurrySpice · 21/07/2011 20:44

Please OP would you tell me where I can find these "amazing holidays" for "not much more" than £100 :o

CurrySpice · 21/07/2011 20:46

puddinghead - two differebces since the "old days"

tents are much much cheaper (you can certainly get a oerfectly god 2 man tent for a featival for £20)
the ones left behind are taken down and given to charity

HTH :o

CurrySpice · 21/07/2011 20:46

Sorry about the typos - very tired

maighdlin · 21/07/2011 21:17

i wouldn't go to a festival in the UK. you can go to a festival in europe for the same price (inc flights) and you will probably get much better weather! plus there is the price of actually being at the festival. go to slovenia and get a pizza for 2 euro or pay 15 for a dirty burger at a festival. plus no festival wierdies.

queenrollo · 21/07/2011 21:48

curryspice the tents left behind are not taken down and given to charity (at Glastonbury at least). they end up in landfill. This myth perpetuates because one year they tried to do this and it backfired on them (they asked you to pack up your unwanted tent and leave it at designated points)

CurrySpice · 21/07/2011 21:50

Oh really queenrollo :( That's a shame :(

I always take mine home as it happens but even so...

Flip

1 2 3 4

Swipe left for the next trending thread