AIBU to be anxious about DA 16 going to Wireless Finsbury Park?

[deltablue]

My DS has got tickets to go this weekend, we live at the top of the Met line, so I'm not worried about logistics, and he's going with a couple of local friends. I'm not a festival goer and although I've lived in town for many years, I'm a bit nervous about them getting home with thousands of others at closing time. Even at Twickenham you need to get out before the whistle or it takes 2 hours . I've set a curfew of 10pm for him to leave but he's moaning that his friends are staying til the end, so he will have to come back on his own, and he's not a London boy as we moved out years ago. Can any wise mums of teens help me make a decision?

It would be safer for him to stick with his friends, they are 16 so will probably have had a drink ( or whatever) . If his friends are planning to stay until the end how were they going to get home ? If they live in central London it would be better if he slept on a floor for the night at one of their houses then came home the next morning. If they are local to you it would still be better if they stuck together.

Definitely best to stick with friends. Work out the night bus routes home or the nearest end of tube line plus taxi route and ensure they have enough money between them in their accounts to call an Uber.

Or do the thing we did so often at that age and drive into town late at night and hang around to collect them.

You're setting him up to both miss out and end up travelling alone with that ridiculous curfew!
Let him stay until the end and negotiate getting home with his pals.
He's 16, not 13!

The curfew is 22:30 so I think you’re being unreasonable to make him be home at 10 and miss the headline act! It’s a well organised event, Finsbury Park holds countless concerts all summer. He will be fine to get the tube home.

DS is also going and went last year. I'd definitely say stick with friends- they'll be fine all together. Public transport round there is v well set up for crowds as they have concerts all summer and football the rest of the year so the wait shouldn't be too awful.

Don't make him leave before the end FFS! He'll miss the headline act. Leaving a gig before the end is such an anticlimactic, depressing thing.

Also he's 16 and therefore more than capable of getting himself home from a gig with his mates. You're treating him like he's much younger.

Bear in mind that transport etc for big events is something the organisers and local authorities are well aware of, and will have planned for. It will be very busy, obviously, and it might take him longer than usual to get home, but it's actually very easy and safe for a group of teenagers just to follow the crowd to the Tube. He'll actually be safer coming out at the end with his friends than he would if he left early and travelled on his own.

Another vote for not making him leave early!

He'll be fine as long as he's comfortable finding his way out.

The tubes will be busy. Is there an overland option? Or a pre-booked cab to a quieter station? Otherwise he just follows the crowd down to the station and waits his turn. There will be thousands of other people doing the same journeys and lots of staff so very safe.

Even at Twickenham you need to get out before the whistle or it takes 2 hours

Well ... so what? It's not the end of the world if it takes longer than usual to get home once in a while, is it? Isn't it more important to actually see the whole event you've got tickets for than to leave early and miss the end? I go to football matches at Wembley, White Hart Lane, Old Trafford etc all the time and I've never left early in my life. I'd feel like a complete wet lettuce if I did. Your son's 16 years old, let him live a little! He's got the rest of his life to be boring and middle-aged.

If he sticks with his friends they will all be funnelled along to the tube or train very smoothly. They will all have phones if they need you.

Top tip. Rather than getting tube from finsbury park which will be packed, get train from Finsbury park to anywhere he can pick up tube (not the fast one to kx - that will be packed). He could get train to moorgate and then jump straight on met line from there?

FYI I’m pretty sure the capacity for every event at FP is now limited to the same 50k
crowd. I was at a concert at the weekend and it took nowhere near 2 hrs to get out. 20 mins top and that included queuing for a wee before I left.

Manor House after a gig last weekend was fine. Busy and a short queue but nothing crazy. The curfew is very strict and the gig will finish on time - then they can make their way to the most appropriate tube and just wait. I would not ask them to leave early - I suspect they will be safer leaving with the crowds!

Dd (17) went to Pulp at Finsbury PK last week. She stayed until the end, getting out was fine (slow but nothing like when you leave somewhere like Wembley) she was back home by 12.15 - we live in SE London so she had to get train & tube.
let him stay to the end with his mates.

You're being unreasonable. You can't ask him to miss the main act because you want him home early.

Don't be silly. He leaves at the end with his friends.

Trains into town aren't running unfortunately. https://wirelessfestival.co.uk/info-category/travel-info

Yep. He needs to get the tube. No trains after 9:30pm.

The scrum home is part of the fun at that age.

Thanks for the helpful replies- I wasn't saying I was going to make him leave, and certainly wouldn't without his mates, I was just wondering if that would be an idea, and was concerned about getting out of there at the end. I lived in town for years, I'm not an idiot or a killjoy, just asking for a bit of advice from those who've done it before. I'm a bit overprotective, yes,, it's just me and him, and we've had a very difficult few weeks with a bereavement so yes I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment. He has good mates and they'll stick together so am feeling more reassured now.

The Met line runs until pretty late. Check the last train times on TFL website for whatever station you live near. Chiltern Line finishes quite early, especially this week with the overtime ban but I think Friday is the last day of that.

You said you'd set a curfew!

Let him leave with his friends it will be much safer for him.

At 16 doing stuff like this occasionally is a good thing .

Well you said you have set a curfew for 10pm and the only way for him to adhere to that is to leave early on his own.

Oh that’s a blow! Prob tube from manor house will be best then.

My daughter went 8 years ago at the same age. She was absolutely fine and had a great time. She wouldn't listen to me about sun cream and taking a wateproof or plastic kagoul and regretted it. She got burned and soaked.

It's literally across the road to get back on the tube and loads of police and security about. He'll be fine!

Forgot to add, don't make him leave early! He's better off with his friends and the gazillion people who will also be making their way home!