To suggest you might not want to go to this year's Art in Action in Oxfordshire?

[pippop1]

Friends and I went to Art in Action at Waterperry House in Oxfordshire today (Thursday).

We drove from East London where we live and as we turned off the motorway at the correction junction 8A were confronted with a huge queue of cars. This last leg of the journey took just over an hour and was approx 3 miles. Almost every car was going to Art in Action.

Their usual car part was flooded so we were diverted (as we turned off the motorway) with excellent signs to a huge airfield to park. After this we had to walk for around 10 mins (so more than half a mile, I walk quite quickly) to queue for ten mins to catch a free bus to get us to the venue. At this point were toilets (v v welcome) and coffee which cost £2 for a paper cup. This was back along the road in which we had queued in the car for an hour. This road was now mysteriously clear.

To leave the v muddy venue we had to queue again and catch bus back to the airfield car park. Again the ten minute walk on the airfield and then home.

Tickets for the event cost £15 per person for what is really a huge selling opportunity for many artists with a few talks thrown in which mostly cost extra.

When we got to the venue, brochures cost £4 and a map of which tent was which cost 50p.

They extended the time of the event by 90 mins as so many people missed half the day. Not much use if you live a long way away.

Can I suggest that if any of you are planning a visit and haven't paid for a ticket yet that you don't go. I don't think things will improve by the weekend.

Can I also suggest that the organisers should have given those queueing a free coffee/tea/bottle of water or even a free map just to show goodwill.

I will NEVER go again.

Blimey, and I was actually thinking about going!

And it was really, really muddy. They advised wellington boot on their website.

Oh no! Sorry you had such a bad time, OP. I used to love Art in Action, back in the pre-DC day, but haven't been for about 8 years. Were none of artists and exhibitors worth seeing?

It was just the waste of time spent travelling and standing in lines waiting for old buses in the mud.

I spent 7 hours travelling from East London and three and half hours at Art in Action. I admit the work on display was of a very good standard and quite inspiring.

I feel like someone should have said sorry and given me a free cup of coffee to placate me!

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare pippop! I just wanted to say that the event is non-profit making and staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers who really are trying their hardest to make the event work in a difficult year. With the car parking fields being closed as they are waterlogged, contingency plans may be imperfect and cause bottlenecks but people are doing the best they can to make sure there is as little disruption as possible.
Thursday is historically the busiest day at the event so hopefully it will improve.

I had no idea that it was a volunteer-run event. Apparently there's an apology on their website so that makes a bit more sense then.

It was bizzare that while we were queing there was a trio of ladies in coats and wellies playing classical music. My friend said it reminded her of something in a film about a concentration camp. It gave me shivers. On the way back there was a mini choir (ladies and men also in coats and wellies) singing Halleluyah. Halleluyah the bus came is what I said!

Actually, I've calmed down now. They should have explained that all the staff were volunteers and I would have been less annoyed.

I've just subscribed to mumsnet in order to answer some points in this posting.
I've been attending Art in Action for about 14 years, on and off. In 2007 I went for each of the four days when the notorious floods took everyone by surprise. The organisers responded magnificently, and those who braved the conditions were amply rewarded by the Dunkirk spirit and the way everything possible was done to make the whole thing still 'do-able'.
This year, the organisers knew that water was a problem way in advance, and made as best contingency plans as they could. It's a shame that this spoilt people's enjoyment, but they did their best.
If pippop had any real interest in the event, she would have done a bit more research and known, for example about who the organisers are, and what their ethos is (eg that it's all run by volunteers). She would also have exhibited a bit of common sense if she had thought to herself that the weather has been almost tropically wet for weeks, and that an event in fields was going to be affected.
And did it not occur to her that the world and his wife would also be travelling on the motorway and then taking the minor country roads to the event, thus causing long traffic queues?
Putting aside these points, I have to take issue with her dismissal of Art in Action as 'what is really a huge selling opportunity for many artists with a few talks thrown in which mostly cost extra'. The whole point of the event is that it is what it says on the tin; Art 'in action'. Artists are demonstrating their skills all day, every day, FOR FREE. There are a few 'taster classes' that cost a minimal amount, and there may be a charge for one or two specialist talks, but there are performance arts happening all day long that are free to attend. It's a hugely wonderful happening. Granted there is a 'Market' where all artists have their work on sale, and a sales tent where art supplies can be bought, but there are literally acres of things to see that are free!
Please, be fair and don't let circumstances beyond the organisers' control affect your decision about whether to visit or not.

Your miserable experience at an art fair is not like a concentration camp.

Why is it so expensive if it's non-profit? Or do you mean any profit goes to charity?

I have no knowledge of this event but it sounds like they organised parking, transfers and toilets etc pretty well to me.

I can't believe you expected free coffee!

And most attractions expect you to pay for brochures.

Isn't Waterperry house the HQ of an organisation that promotes eatern esoteric philosphy and economic theories? I know they had some schools (St James and St Vedasts?) .

I remember going to Art in Action as a child (My Uncle was a member of the organisation and spent many happy times at Waterperry House on courses and volunteering).

I had a great time at Art in Action, and think I caught my calligraphy bug from doing a free workshop at AinA.... And I remember some nice performances too (One about DaVinci and the Music of the Spheres has stuck in my brain for many years)

They can hardly be blamed for the weather can they?

Yes I was thinking that paradisechick, my DP's family's experience in concentration camps for being Jewish were not by all accounts about having to endure some classical music whilst waiting for a bus! Indeed his lovely great aunt is still receiving compensation for the experimentations on her as a teenage girl that made her infertile- in a concentration camp!

it used to be run by the School of Economic Science I assume the funds go there
reason enough imo to avoid, never mind the traffic - each to their own, however

YABU for unrealistic expectations. Large field+rain+lots of people= incredibly muddy experience. That is why I never go to Glastonbury!

You are reasonable to not have enjoyed the activities and experiences.

Your friend is BU for comparing a trio of musicians wearing waterproof clothing with being at a concentration camp.

YABU for being suggestible and getting freaked out by musicians wearing wellies. The ability to wield a violin does not preclude soaking wet feet! They're not hobbits or something.

You are reasonable to personally feel you would have preferred a hot coffee at the bus stop to listening to classical music, but be aware many people would prefer the music. The music would also be cheaper for the organisers.

YABU.

It's been for months a lot of out door events have been cancelled. The organiser made every attempt to provide alternatives so you could still go to the event.

Oh for crying out loud, get over yourself. Does living in London preclude you from checking the weather forecast? It's sunny here in Oxon today, for the record.

I'm sure Scientology Lite the School for Economic Science will be just devastated that you will 'NEVER' (oh the drama!) go again. Honest.

Feeling smug now - my dad and I decided not to go this year because we thought it would be very muddy. He's recovering from a hip operation, so slopping around on slippy mud was probably not the most sensible idea on the planet anyway.

Let me see if I understand your post.

It's some sort of Art festival. It's held in a field. (I live in Belfast, I've never heard of Art in Action)

It's been raining, more or less non-stop all over the UK for the last 2 months.

You were surprised there was mud and thought the organizers should have compensated you for said mud and making you walk a whole 1/2 mile to wait for what I presume was a free bus, that they certainly were not required to provide.

People trying to keep you entertained while waiting for said bus was like being in a concentration camp.

If I look at entitled and self important in the dictionary, is your picture next to it?

What tee said.

OP you sound rather ridiculous. Of course your journey was long - you were coming from East London. You only queued for an hour to get off the motorway, for something like this that is not too long.

Why the hell should you get a free drink?

And the absurd comment about being in a concentration camp sums you up, frankly.

I imagine the 'concentration camp' reference was to the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz - there was a movie about it about 30 years ago, where Vanessa Redgrave (a PLO supporter) played one of the orchestra; there was a bit of a fuss about it iirc.

I think classical musicians are frequently used as a dramatic device in films/books about atrocities. Especially Hitler Germany. Doesn't excuse someone actually comparing an art fair to a concentration camp, though. That's... Very... Erm, silly.

No. It is never okay to compare anything you are going through, in freakin' England, to a concentration camp.

Certainly not a bit of mud and some musicians.

FFS

You should be ashamed of yourself, OP.