FabSwingers.com > Forums > Swinging Club/Event ads > Festival of Fun 2019 @ The Vanilla Alternative 2nd and 3rd August - Thread 2
Festival of Fun 2019 @ The Vanilla Alternative 2nd and 3rd August - Thread 2
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By *teed99 OP Man
over a year ago
Kettering |
The Vanilla Alternative’s 8th annual Festival of Fun on 2nd & 3rd August 2019
In large grounds adjacent to the main club in Tempsford, Bedfordshire
Live band and top DJ’s in the giant marquee on Friday night and Saturday afternoon
Ibiza legendry DJ on Saturday night
COUPLES
Weekend pass including camping £170
Weekend pass, no camping £120
Day pass £60
LADIES
Weekend pass including camping £120
Weekend pass without camping £80
Day pass £40
GENTLEMEN
All single guy places have now been allocated. No single guy tickets will be available on the door.
Tickets for couples and single ladies will be available on the door on both Friday and Saturday
Camping (Tent, Caravan or Motorhome)
Camping is by pre-booking only and unfortunately no single Friday night
100 pitches in total
Unfortunately no electric hook-ups are available
Showers and toilets in camping area
All attendees need to be registered with the club. This can be done at no cost via the club's website. Photo ID will be required on first visit
All onsite hotel rooms are already fully booked but there are 4 local hotels (see club’s website page ‘OUR HOTEL’ for details)
Gates will open at 11am on Friday for campers (camping is also available from Thursday by arrangement with the club). For non-campers, doors will open at 2pm on Friday and Saturday but lockers will not be available until 8pm
Garden bar and café – Cash only – Debit/Credit cards can only be used at main club bar with locker key tab
Foam Party on Saturday afternoon
Main club facilities including hot tub will be available from 8pm each evening
Festival visitors need to bring their own towels. On normal club nights, VA's provide fluffy white towels to all visitors but due to the number of guests at Festival and the lack of available staff time to wash them, this unfortunately will not be possible over the Festival weekend
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By *teed99 OP Man
over a year ago
Kettering |
As Swedish rock band Europe sang back in '86 - It's the Final Countdown. Campers can arrive from 11am. Non-Campers are welcome from 2pm and the main club building will open at 8pm, as usual. But there is plenty to do until then - outside bar, Country Kitchen, huge inflatable marquee and much more. The garden bar and kitchen are cash only.
Tickets for couples and single ladies will be available on the door. And remember to bring your own towels if you will be getting in the hot tub later. |
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By *teed99 OP Man
over a year ago
Kettering |
"what is the situation with dress code ... as i would prefer to be in shorts if the weather allows it in the afternoon  "
For Festival the dress code is much more relaxed than on normal club nights and almost anything goes! |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
|
"
For Festival the dress code is much more relaxed than on normal club nights and almost anything goes!"
And probably will!!!
Is the car park likely to get full???
If so, can anyone recommend alternative place to park???
|
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
|
"what is the situation with dress code ... as i would prefer to be in shorts if the weather allows it in the afternoon
For Festival the dress code is much more relaxed than on normal club nights and almost anything goes!"
Thank you |
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By *teed99 OP Man
over a year ago
Kettering |
"
For Festival the dress code is much more relaxed than on normal club nights and almost anything goes!
And probably will!!!
Is the car park likely to get full???
If so, can anyone recommend alternative place to park???
"
Campers use a separate car park close to the camping area leaving the normal car park for day visitors. |
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"
For Festival the dress code is much more relaxed than on normal club nights and almost anything goes!
And probably will!!!
Is the car park likely to get full???
If so, can anyone recommend alternative place to park???
Campers use a separate car park close to the camping area leaving the normal car park for day visitors."
Is it possible to come just for the evening? x |
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By *teed99 OP Man
over a year ago
Kettering |
Thanks to everyone who made it such a wonderful Festival. The weather was kind to us again this year. Hope you all had a great time and hopefully see you all again next year if not before at one of the many other club parties.
Sorry if you didn't win one of the 'I love Brian' shirts but you have got to be in it to win it! |
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"Thanks to everyone who made it such a wonderful Festival. The weather was kind to us again this year. Hope you all had a great time and hopefully see you all again next year if not before at one of the many other club parties.
Sorry if you didn't win one of the 'I love Brian' shirts but you have got to be in it to win it!"
"I love Brian" T-shirts should be trending! Fabulous weekend thank you Brian to yourself and all the staff. A good many worked like dogs to ensure we had fun xx |
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By *hloversCouple
over a year ago
Merseyside & Isle of Man |
(posted on club reviews too)
Have attended F of F for the last 4 years and it is a great club, and certainly one of our favourites in the UK, but we did have some concerns/reservations about this year's festival which we hope will be taken as constructive criticism. None of these concerns have arisen in our previous attendances there.
The positives.........the club (as previously mentioned), the live music, the foam party, hot tubs and above all else the other guests.
What we were less happy about this year..........
1. On arrival with our friends (in a separate and similar small tent which was set up near to us) we put up a shared small gazebo. It was just large enough to cover seating and a table for the 4 of us and measured just over 2.5m square. We were approached by a member of staff and told that we had not pre-booked a gazebo so it had to be taken down. We pointed out that the gazebo was no bigger than the seating area for 4 people. He agreed that the seating area was a modest size for 4 (and our tents were much smaller than many there) but that according to rules it could not be covered.
We didn't think this was logical or reasonable but dismantled it anyway.
2. Toilets/showers - Maybe 150 people there as a conservative estimate perhaps? In previous years we've had the use of the 2 showers inside the club adjacent to the jacuzzi. Not so this year. The door was locked so just 2 indoor and 2 outdoor showers. Maybe not too important as we took the attitude that we would just wait and get one later in the day.
More importantly the door to access the inside male / female toilets inside the club (through the BDSM area) was locked at times through the weekend leaving just the 2 toilets to cope with demand from 150+ guests. It's ok to wait for a shower but often the need to go to the toilet is rather more urgent & this isn't really good enough when you've paid £170 for the weekend.
3. Noise - We understand the need for entertainment as an important part of what you pay for but blasting out over the campsite till 4am in the morning surely isn't catering for the majority? It was particularly an issue on the Saturday night when we had a 4 hour drive back home and needed to leave as early as possible on Sunday morning. One of our friends on both nights went to sleep in her car in the car park for some peace. Surely a 1am or even 2am limit isn't unreasonable? Swingfields have a midnight curfew on noise and organise a silent disco for party goers that want to party into the night.
4. Safety - As a fire officer of 27 years experience I did express a concern about cramming the tents/caravans/motorhomes so close together (to the same staff member who was unsympathetic about our joint gazebo). He was completely unmoved by my professional concerns.
Whilst we can appreciate that profits have to be maximised at these weekends, perhaps there are other considerations to take into account?
Recommended UK Gov guidelines concerning Fire Safety on campsites and published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
in 2008 (updated 2015) points out that
“A fire can destroy a tent in less than 60 seconds”
“On average 360 fires per year occur in caravans”
and recommends that
`'caravans and tents are at least 6 metres apart and away from parked cars to reduce the risk of fire spreading"
Many tents at VA this year were no more than 12 inches apart.
Apart from the obvious problem of not being able to move freely between them (or escape easily?) due to guy lines, if a fire happened in one it would very easily and quickly spread to a adjacent one and there's not many tents that don't have gas cylinders within or vehicles that don't have fuel in.
If you accept the fact that fire can destroy a tent within 60 seconds, and the possibility that alcohol is to be factored into the equation, the risks perhaps outweigh the considerations for maximising profits by fitting in as many persons as possible into the available area?
Fire recommendations also state that the maximum distance between a fire point and a tent should be 30m and that fire points should be easily accessible and conspicuously marked ''FIRE POINT''.
There were none.
There were also personal BBQ's that were left unattended and with burning embers into the early hours of the morning. Not too difficult to imagine a scenario where a breeze would spread sparks into a nearby tent/motorhome/caravan perhaps?
We hope the event continues and wish VA every success but we don't feel comfortable or safe attending next year. |
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"(posted on club reviews too)
Have attended F of F for the last 4 years and it is a great club, and certainly one of our favourites in the UK, but we did have some concerns/reservations about this year's festival which we hope will be taken as constructive criticism. None of these concerns have arisen in our previous attendances there.
The positives.........the club (as previously mentioned), the live music, the foam party, hot tubs and above all else the other guests.
What we were less happy about this year..........
1. On arrival with our friends (in a separate and similar small tent which was set up near to us) we put up a shared small gazebo. It was just large enough to cover seating and a table for the 4 of us and measured just over 2.5m square. We were approached by a member of staff and told that we had not pre-booked a gazebo so it had to be taken down. We pointed out that the gazebo was no bigger than the seating area for 4 people. He agreed that the seating area was a modest size for 4 (and our tents were much smaller than many there) but that according to rules it could not be covered.
We didn't think this was logical or reasonable but dismantled it anyway.
2. Toilets/showers - Maybe 150 people there as a conservative estimate perhaps? In previous years we've had the use of the 2 showers inside the club adjacent to the jacuzzi. Not so this year. The door was locked so just 2 indoor and 2 outdoor showers. Maybe not too important as we took the attitude that we would just wait and get one later in the day.
More importantly the door to access the inside male / female toilets inside the club (through the BDSM area) was locked at times through the weekend leaving just the 2 toilets to cope with demand from 150+ guests. It's ok to wait for a shower but often the need to go to the toilet is rather more urgent & this isn't really good enough when you've paid £170 for the weekend.
3. Noise - We understand the need for entertainment as an important part of what you pay for but blasting out over the campsite till 4am in the morning surely isn't catering for the majority? It was particularly an issue on the Saturday night when we had a 4 hour drive back home and needed to leave as early as possible on Sunday morning. One of our friends on both nights went to sleep in her car in the car park for some peace. Surely a 1am or even 2am limit isn't unreasonable? Swingfields have a midnight curfew on noise and organise a silent disco for party goers that want to party into the night.
4. Safety - As a fire officer of 27 years experience I did express a concern about cramming the tents/caravans/motorhomes so close together (to the same staff member who was unsympathetic about our joint gazebo). He was completely unmoved by my professional concerns.
Whilst we can appreciate that profits have to be maximised at these weekends, perhaps there are other considerations to take into account?
Recommended UK Gov guidelines concerning Fire Safety on campsites and published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
in 2008 (updated 2015) points out that
“A fire can destroy a tent in less than 60 seconds”
“On average 360 fires per year occur in caravans”
and recommends that
`'caravans and tents are at least 6 metres apart and away from parked cars to reduce the risk of fire spreading"
Many tents at VA this year were no more than 12 inches apart.
Apart from the obvious problem of not being able to move freely between them (or escape easily?) due to guy lines, if a fire happened in one it would very easily and quickly spread to a adjacent one and there's not many tents that don't have gas cylinders within or vehicles that don't have fuel in.
If you accept the fact that fire can destroy a tent within 60 seconds, and the possibility that alcohol is to be factored into the equation, the risks perhaps outweigh the considerations for maximising profits by fitting in as many persons as possible into the available area?
Fire recommendations also state that the maximum distance between a fire point and a tent should be 30m and that fire points should be easily accessible and conspicuously marked ''FIRE POINT''.
There were none.
There were also personal BBQ's that were left unattended and with burning embers into the early hours of the morning. Not too difficult to imagine a scenario where a breeze would spread sparks into a nearby tent/motorhome/caravan perhaps?
We hope the event continues and wish VA every success but we don't feel comfortable or safe attending next year."
We have to agree with a lot of this review...
1. Fire safety - do not underestimate the importance of this, we came close. Someone very near us went to light a very wobbly candle on a stick (you know what I mean), had to stick my neck out & say I wasn’t comfortable with any naked flame in that environment. Could you get a ‘no naked flame/unattended bbq’s’ or something similar etc written into rules for next year even if the law as pointed out above isn’t implemented? I was disappointed with negative feedback & talked about as a killjoy when I just want us all to feel safe? We need fire points, our exit strategy was to run into to the river to preserve life while our belongings went up.
2. Toilets - not adequate for number of people, please bring more in.
3. Noise - 3:45am is way too late for that volume to be blasted into the camping field. 2am is late enough, or as at Swingfields the silent disco so everyone’s enjoyment is catered for.
Please can we have a live band like previous years to encourage campers into the main tent? There were about 12 of us both nights at times! |
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|
By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
|
"
Sorry if you didn't win one of the 'I love Brian' shirts but you have got to be in it to win it!
"I love Brian" T-shirts should be trending! Fabulous weekend thank you Brian to yourself and all the staff. A good many worked like dogs to ensure we had fun xx"
“We love Brian” tshirts???? We want them!!!
#welovebrian |
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"(posted on club reviews too)
Have attended F of F for the last 4 years and it is a great club, and certainly one of our favourites in the UK, but we did have some concerns/reservations about this year's festival which we hope will be taken as constructive criticism. None of these concerns have arisen in our previous attendances there.
The positives.........the club (as previously mentioned), the live music, the foam party, hot tubs and above all else the other guests.
What we were less happy about this year..........
1. On arrival with our friends (in a separate and similar small tent which was set up near to us) we put up a shared small gazebo. It was just large enough to cover seating and a table for the 4 of us and measured just over 2.5m square. We were approached by a member of staff and told that we had not pre-booked a gazebo so it had to be taken down. We pointed out that the gazebo was no bigger than the seating area for 4 people. He agreed that the seating area was a modest size for 4 (and our tents were much smaller than many there) but that according to rules it could not be covered.
We didn't think this was logical or reasonable but dismantled it anyway.
2. Toilets/showers - Maybe 150 people there as a conservative estimate perhaps? In previous years we've had the use of the 2 showers inside the club adjacent to the jacuzzi. Not so this year. The door was locked so just 2 indoor and 2 outdoor showers. Maybe not too important as we took the attitude that we would just wait and get one later in the day.
More importantly the door to access the inside male / female toilets inside the club (through the BDSM area) was locked at times through the weekend leaving just the 2 toilets to cope with demand from 150+ guests. It's ok to wait for a shower but often the need to go to the toilet is rather more urgent & this isn't really good enough when you've paid £170 for the weekend.
3. Noise - We understand the need for entertainment as an important part of what you pay for but blasting out over the campsite till 4am in the morning surely isn't catering for the majority? It was particularly an issue on the Saturday night when we had a 4 hour drive back home and needed to leave as early as possible on Sunday morning. One of our friends on both nights went to sleep in her car in the car park for some peace. Surely a 1am or even 2am limit isn't unreasonable? Swingfields have a midnight curfew on noise and organise a silent disco for party goers that want to party into the night.
4. Safety - As a fire officer of 27 years experience I did express a concern about cramming the tents/caravans/motorhomes so close together (to the same staff member who was unsympathetic about our joint gazebo). He was completely unmoved by my professional concerns.
Whilst we can appreciate that profits have to be maximised at these weekends, perhaps there are other considerations to take into account?
Recommended UK Gov guidelines concerning Fire Safety on campsites and published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
in 2008 (updated 2015) points out that
“A fire can destroy a tent in less than 60 seconds”
“On average 360 fires per year occur in caravans”
and recommends that
`'caravans and tents are at least 6 metres apart and away from parked cars to reduce the risk of fire spreading"
Many tents at VA this year were no more than 12 inches apart.
Apart from the obvious problem of not being able to move freely between them (or escape easily?) due to guy lines, if a fire happened in one it would very easily and quickly spread to a adjacent one and there's not many tents that don't have gas cylinders within or vehicles that don't have fuel in.
If you accept the fact that fire can destroy a tent within 60 seconds, and the possibility that alcohol is to be factored into the equation, the risks perhaps outweigh the considerations for maximising profits by fitting in as many persons as possible into the available area?
Fire recommendations also state that the maximum distance between a fire point and a tent should be 30m and that fire points should be easily accessible and conspicuously marked ''FIRE POINT''.
There were none.
There were also personal BBQ's that were left unattended and with burning embers into the early hours of the morning. Not too difficult to imagine a scenario where a breeze would spread sparks into a nearby tent/motorhome/caravan perhaps?
We hope the event continues and wish VA every success but we don't feel comfortable or safe attending next year.
We have to agree with a lot of this review...
1. Fire safety - do not underestimate the importance of this, we came close. Someone very near us went to light a very wobbly candle on a stick (you know what I mean), had to stick my neck out & say I wasn’t comfortable with any naked flame in that environment. Could you get a ‘no naked flame/unattended bbq’s’ or something similar etc written into rules for next year even if the law as pointed out above isn’t implemented? I was disappointed with negative feedback & talked about as a killjoy when I just want us all to feel safe? We need fire points, our exit strategy was to run into to the river to preserve life while our belongings went up.
2. Toilets - not adequate for number of people, please bring more in.
3. Noise - 3:45am is way too late for that volume to be blasted into the camping field. 2am is late enough, or as at Swingfields the silent disco so everyone’s enjoyment is catered for.
Please can we have a live band like previous years to encourage campers into the main tent? There were about 12 of us both nights at times!"
We attended 2016 2017 and I had serious concerns about fire safety with units so close together. Even motorhomes were parked bumper to bumper to screen the field off from the river landing. The camping and caravan club has a 6m rule. Another thing that put us off this year was the cost , now don't get us wrong we know profits have to be made and outlays have to be paid but £170 bearing in mind that a regular club night is £35 makes 2 nights camping with 2 toilets 2 showers no ehu a whopping £100. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
|
"(posted on club reviews too)
Have attended F of F for the last 4 years and it is a great club, and certainly one of our favourites in the UK, but we did have some concerns/reservations about this year's festival which we hope will be taken as constructive criticism. None of these concerns have arisen in our previous attendances there.
The positives.........the club (as previously mentioned), the live music, the foam party, hot tubs and above all else the other guests.
What we were less happy about this year..........
1. On arrival with our friends (in a separate and similar small tent which was set up near to us) we put up a shared small gazebo. It was just large enough to cover seating and a table for the 4 of us and measured just over 2.5m square. We were approached by a member of staff and told that we had not pre-booked a gazebo so it had to be taken down. We pointed out that the gazebo was no bigger than the seating area for 4 people. He agreed that the seating area was a modest size for 4 (and our tents were much smaller than many there) but that according to rules it could not be covered.
We didn't think this was logical or reasonable but dismantled it anyway.
2. Toilets/showers - Maybe 150 people there as a conservative estimate perhaps? In previous years we've had the use of the 2 showers inside the club adjacent to the jacuzzi. Not so this year. The door was locked so just 2 indoor and 2 outdoor showers. Maybe not too important as we took the attitude that we would just wait and get one later in the day.
More importantly the door to access the inside male / female toilets inside the club (through the BDSM area) was locked at times through the weekend leaving just the 2 toilets to cope with demand from 150+ guests. It's ok to wait for a shower but often the need to go to the toilet is rather more urgent & this isn't really good enough when you've paid £170 for the weekend.
3. Noise - We understand the need for entertainment as an important part of what you pay for but blasting out over the campsite till 4am in the morning surely isn't catering for the majority? It was particularly an issue on the Saturday night when we had a 4 hour drive back home and needed to leave as early as possible on Sunday morning. One of our friends on both nights went to sleep in her car in the car park for some peace. Surely a 1am or even 2am limit isn't unreasonable? Swingfields have a midnight curfew on noise and organise a silent disco for party goers that want to party into the night.
4. Safety - As a fire officer of 27 years experience I did express a concern about cramming the tents/caravans/motorhomes so close together (to the same staff member who was unsympathetic about our joint gazebo). He was completely unmoved by my professional concerns.
Whilst we can appreciate that profits have to be maximised at these weekends, perhaps there are other considerations to take into account?
Recommended UK Gov guidelines concerning Fire Safety on campsites and published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
in 2008 (updated 2015) points out that
“A fire can destroy a tent in less than 60 seconds”
“On average 360 fires per year occur in caravans”
and recommends that
`'caravans and tents are at least 6 metres apart and away from parked cars to reduce the risk of fire spreading"
Many tents at VA this year were no more than 12 inches apart.
Apart from the obvious problem of not being able to move freely between them (or escape easily?) due to guy lines, if a fire happened in one it would very easily and quickly spread to a adjacent one and there's not many tents that don't have gas cylinders within or vehicles that don't have fuel in.
If you accept the fact that fire can destroy a tent within 60 seconds, and the possibility that alcohol is to be factored into the equation, the risks perhaps outweigh the considerations for maximising profits by fitting in as many persons as possible into the available area?
Fire recommendations also state that the maximum distance between a fire point and a tent should be 30m and that fire points should be easily accessible and conspicuously marked ''FIRE POINT''.
There were none.
There were also personal BBQ's that were left unattended and with burning embers into the early hours of the morning. Not too difficult to imagine a scenario where a breeze would spread sparks into a nearby tent/motorhome/caravan perhaps?
We hope the event continues and wish VA every success but we don't feel comfortable or safe attending next year.
We have to agree with a lot of this review...
1. Fire safety - do not underestimate the importance of this, we came close. Someone very near us went to light a very wobbly candle on a stick (you know what I mean), had to stick my neck out & say I wasn’t comfortable with any naked flame in that environment. Could you get a ‘no naked flame/unattended bbq’s’ or something similar etc written into rules for next year even if the law as pointed out above isn’t implemented? I was disappointed with negative feedback & talked about as a killjoy when I just want us all to feel safe? We need fire points, our exit strategy was to run into to the river to preserve life while our belongings went up.
2. Toilets - not adequate for number of people, please bring more in.
3. Noise - 3:45am is way too late for that volume to be blasted into the camping field. 2am is late enough, or as at Swingfields the silent disco so everyone’s enjoyment is catered for.
Please can we have a live band like previous years to encourage campers into the main tent? There were about 12 of us both nights at times!"
There was a live band that played on Saturday night? Assume you missed them! lol |
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or View forums list | |
"(posted on club reviews too)
Have attended F of F for the last 4 years and it is a great club, and certainly one of our favourites in the UK, but we did have some concerns/reservations about this year's festival which we hope will be taken as constructive criticism. None of these concerns have arisen in our previous attendances there.
The positives.........the club (as previously mentioned), the live music, the foam party, hot tubs and above all else the other guests.
What we were less happy about this year..........
1. On arrival with our friends (in a separate and similar small tent which was set up near to us) we put up a shared small gazebo. It was just large enough to cover seating and a table for the 4 of us and measured just over 2.5m square. We were approached by a member of staff and told that we had not pre-booked a gazebo so it had to be taken down. We pointed out that the gazebo was no bigger than the seating area for 4 people. He agreed that the seating area was a modest size for 4 (and our tents were much smaller than many there) but that according to rules it could not be covered.
We didn't think this was logical or reasonable but dismantled it anyway.
2. Toilets/showers - Maybe 150 people there as a conservative estimate perhaps? In previous years we've had the use of the 2 showers inside the club adjacent to the jacuzzi. Not so this year. The door was locked so just 2 indoor and 2 outdoor showers. Maybe not too important as we took the attitude that we would just wait and get one later in the day.
More importantly the door to access the inside male / female toilets inside the club (through the BDSM area) was locked at times through the weekend leaving just the 2 toilets to cope with demand from 150+ guests. It's ok to wait for a shower but often the need to go to the toilet is rather more urgent & this isn't really good enough when you've paid £170 for the weekend.
3. Noise - We understand the need for entertainment as an important part of what you pay for but blasting out over the campsite till 4am in the morning surely isn't catering for the majority? It was particularly an issue on the Saturday night when we had a 4 hour drive back home and needed to leave as early as possible on Sunday morning. One of our friends on both nights went to sleep in her car in the car park for some peace. Surely a 1am or even 2am limit isn't unreasonable? Swingfields have a midnight curfew on noise and organise a silent disco for party goers that want to party into the night.
4. Safety - As a fire officer of 27 years experience I did express a concern about cramming the tents/caravans/motorhomes so close together (to the same staff member who was unsympathetic about our joint gazebo). He was completely unmoved by my professional concerns.
Whilst we can appreciate that profits have to be maximised at these weekends, perhaps there are other considerations to take into account?
Recommended UK Gov guidelines concerning Fire Safety on campsites and published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
in 2008 (updated 2015) points out that
“A fire can destroy a tent in less than 60 seconds”
“On average 360 fires per year occur in caravans”
and recommends that
`'caravans and tents are at least 6 metres apart and away from parked cars to reduce the risk of fire spreading"
Many tents at VA this year were no more than 12 inches apart.
Apart from the obvious problem of not being able to move freely between them (or escape easily?) due to guy lines, if a fire happened in one it would very easily and quickly spread to a adjacent one and there's not many tents that don't have gas cylinders within or vehicles that don't have fuel in.
If you accept the fact that fire can destroy a tent within 60 seconds, and the possibility that alcohol is to be factored into the equation, the risks perhaps outweigh the considerations for maximising profits by fitting in as many persons as possible into the available area?
Fire recommendations also state that the maximum distance between a fire point and a tent should be 30m and that fire points should be easily accessible and conspicuously marked ''FIRE POINT''.
There were none.
There were also personal BBQ's that were left unattended and with burning embers into the early hours of the morning. Not too difficult to imagine a scenario where a breeze would spread sparks into a nearby tent/motorhome/caravan perhaps?
We hope the event continues and wish VA every success but we don't feel comfortable or safe attending next year.
We have to agree with a lot of this review...
1. Fire safety - do not underestimate the importance of this, we came close. Someone very near us went to light a very wobbly candle on a stick (you know what I mean), had to stick my neck out & say I wasn’t comfortable with any naked flame in that environment. Could you get a ‘no naked flame/unattended bbq’s’ or something similar etc written into rules for next year even if the law as pointed out above isn’t implemented? I was disappointed with negative feedback & talked about as a killjoy when I just want us all to feel safe? We need fire points, our exit strategy was to run into to the river to preserve life while our belongings went up.
2. Toilets - not adequate for number of people, please bring more in.
3. Noise - 3:45am is way too late for that volume to be blasted into the camping field. 2am is late enough, or as at Swingfields the silent disco so everyone’s enjoyment is catered for.
Please can we have a live band like previous years to encourage campers into the main tent? There were about 12 of us both nights at times!
There was a live band that played on Saturday night? Assume you missed them! lol "
What were Saturday nights live band called & what time were they on? We were in the arena from 8:30 & enjoyed the retro disco but no, you’re right no recollection of a live band?!
The lads Friday night were ‘alright’ as Anna kept telling them! |
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