Spraoi happenings!

Queen-Mise

I have to agree with 2 of the previous posters. the Spraoi parade was an absolute farce.

There was far to too many people for only one half of the quay to be open. The stages were a terrible idea: we couldn't get within 50 meters either side of a stage - we couldn't have either, how would you entertain a 2 1/2 year old for an hour or longer in a packed crowd.

We were standing at the barriers up near the hotel near the bridge for 25 minutes by the barrier and then we found out the parade wouldn't come up to us.:mad:

I have been at the Spraoi 3 or 4 times in recent years - last night was a awful.

On a different note was there a phenomenal large amount of drunk people & people drinking on the street last night - to me there seemed to be a lot.

deisemum

My husband and boys enjoyed most of this year's Spraoi and were looking forward to what's normally the highlight of the weekend, the parade but they were so disappointed and thought it was the worst Spraoi parade to date and not a patch on previous years.

They enjoyed the fireworks but wouldn't waste their time going to future parades going on how poor last night's one was.

Stokolan

I'm glad I stayed at home now. I had an idea the stages wouldn't work out.

Cabaal

Didn#'t see the parade at all but was well impressed by it in previous years, they have honestly done a fantastic job but have heard very little positive comments about this years....why did the change the format this year?

Sully

Roen wrote: »

I was at home

I could of sworn your name was on paddy1mac's post

Aquos76

Ok, my views on Spraoi 08, Friday night was very enjoyable, topped of by hydromania, which was something very different, but built up to be better than what it actually was. We were lead to believe that everybody would be blown away with this spectacle and were also warned to wear waterproof clothing as we would all get a soaking. This was a totally exaggeration. However the light and water show did work well together. The drummers at the start were very good too.

Saturday, the highlight of the weekend for me. There was just such a good atmosphere around the whole city centre. Some excellent bands and kids entertainers on display. My favourite band were Jason Isaacs and the Dave Connolly big band on the Aol stage Saturday night. They were excellent.

Sunday, to be honest, I didn't head in during the day, as there was a down pour just as we were about to go in so we left it as we would have only been going in for a few hours and then home before going back in for the parade. Its hard to keep a 7 and a 5 year old occupied in town for that length of time.

We headed into to the parade at 8ish and got a decent enough spot outside the Centra on the quay. The parade was suppose to start at 9.30 however it was closer to 10.30 before it got up to where we way. I was really disappointed with the parade if I am been totally honest. I really could not see the purpose of the stages. There was some sort of fire works attached to these stages but the major flaw with this was that when the fireworks went off on our stage, the main firework display had just begun. I have been to all previous parades and this has by far been the weakest one. I was really impressed with the ship, hugh amount of effort went into creating that. On that creation, Spraoi staff take a bow. The fireworks were pretty much what we have been treated to in the past and were very enjoyable as always.

In relation to the comment made previous

On a different note was there a phenomenal large amount of drunk people & people drinking on the street last night - to me there seemed to be a lot.

I would have to 100% agree with you on that. I thought the amount of underage drinking that was going on was atrocious. As I said previously, I was outside Centra on the quay, and at one state the Guards had to call reinforcements to stand outside and check for ID of people coming out with cans. The guards actually confiscated dozens and dozens of cans from underage teenagers. I hope that Centra are prosecuted for this. The guards went in there on numerous occasions to caution staff about it. Mind you, the amount of adults with young kids in their care drinking 6 packs on the streets was really noticeable too.

Overall, I enjoyed the weekend and the weather held up for all involved except for a few heavy showers on Sunday evening. The parade was a let down and hopefully with all the negative reviews about the parade, the organisers will hopefully revert to the parade of previous years. I hope I dint sound ungrateful, I am just saying it as I say it.

Well done Spraoi and to all the volunteers for all the hard work that was put in to make this weekend so successful.

paddy1mac

Totally agree with everyone on here with their comments on the drinking in public - i thought there was going to be zero tolerance on this - ok would have been hard to achieve - but i parked in the TescoPoleberry carpark and couldn't believe what i witnessed. At the entrance of the store where the revolving doors are (now the store had closed at this stage) were about 15 - 20 no. 14 - 15 year olds absolutely smashed- one girl was crashed out on the ground, another lad was crashed out up against the wall and the rest of them were causing mayhem.

I saw a lot of adults mixing up their drinks elsewhere i.e. vodka being poured into coke bottles etc in view of the Gardai who turned a blind eye.

The only place i saw it being policed properly was on the plaza where there was a large amount of undercover cops and they were also stopping people going onto the plaza with drink but they were allowed finish them off outside - isnt this illegal?

Dont get me wrong i enjoy a good session myself - but in the right environment and not in view of kids etc

There also seemed to be a lot of activity in the courthouse last night does anyone have anything on this. They would hardly have special courts set up for public order offences or was it related to the "fued"

Cassle

Anyone know what happened in Ruby's last night? Some huge brawl or something. My sister came home with blood all up her arms apparently. Haven't seen her so don't know the details. Some girl was thrown across the room by some guy. Like 4 or 5 people taken to casualty???

Roen

Drinking on the street kind of pales compared to two lads doing lines off the bonnet of a car just off the quay in a street crowded with families on the way to the parade.
Not that excessive boozing is to be condoned at all.

alpha2zulu

Its gas to read all the negative comments regarding the parade on here compared with what I was hearing on 'billy am' on WLR this morning. To put it mildly they were putting something of a positive spin on the parade. In a package of about 10 short interviews with people at the parade, only 1 of the interviewees experessed any disappointment with it.....while everybody else I've talked to today seemed to be a bit miffed by the whole setup last night.

ChapOfDRyans

Cabaal wrote: »

Didn#'t see the parade at all but was well impressed by it in previous years, they have honestly done a fantastic job but have heard very little positive comments about this years....why did the change the format this year?

Trying something new was the main idea. The stages were meant to be docks and the people were building ships which it didnt work to well.

The reason the parade was because we got caught on a pole and as the ship is so big it was hard to move

Typhoon.

Ah stop complaining about the parade they put a huge effort into it and it was free entertainment. they cant get everything perfect

those complaining on billy this morning are prob the ones that didnt even donate anything to sproai. Next year they should sit at home and give us all a break from listening to em moanin!

as for the underage drinking.....the cops shoulld be doin something about that

I thought it was a fantastic weekend

kudos spraoi

Aquos76

Typhoon. wrote: »

Ah stop complaining about the parade they put a huge effort into it and it was free entertainment. they cant get everything perfect

those complaining on billy this morning are prob the ones that didnt even donate anything to sproai. Next year they should sit at home and give us all a break from listening to em moanin!

as for the underage drinking.....the cops shoulld be doin something about that

I thought it was a fantastic weekend

kudos spraoi

No one is disputing that it was a fantastic weekend. I just felt that compared to previous years (in relation to the parade only) the new idea for the parade did not work. Yes there was an amazing effort put in by all concerned, its just that we have been spoilt by all the guys and girls of sproai in the past and I guess they have their work cut out year after year trying to better themselves. The idea of the stages was probably a great idea in theory, but it was lost by the thousands of kids who lined the streets. I am guessing that they are a very large part of the targeted audience.

With regards to any other problems like the drinking, Spraoi can not be held in any way responsible for this.

Sully

Typhoon. wrote: »

Ah stop complaining about the parade they put a huge effort into it and it was free entertainment. they cant get everything perfect

those complaining on billy this morning are prob the ones that didnt even donate anything to sproai. Next year they should sit at home and give us all a break from listening to em moanin!

as for the underage drinking.....the cops shoulld be doin something about that

I thought it was a fantastic weekend

kudos spraoi

To be fair, people wont come to a festival if its ****e. There putting **** loads of money into a festival and I think they want our feedback. Nobody is denying the hard work and effort they put in - there simply giving their opinion on the night.

Underage drinking is up to the Guards, which I saw very little of (in the crowd).

flonge

Does anyone know what happened last nite?
There was more gards den usual around?

Aquos76

flonge wrote: »

Does anyone know what happened last nite?
There was more gards den usual around?

Might have something to do with the fact that there were over 50,000 people on the streets of the city.

Sully

Aquos76 wrote: »

Might have something to do with the fact that there were over 50,000 people on the streets of the city.

Aye, and the fact it was confined to one area. Crowd control needed there!

Good night tho - atmosphere wise.

Not The Real Scarecrow

alpha2zulu wrote: »

Its gas to read all the negative comments regarding the parade on here compared with what I was hearing on 'billy am' on WLR this morning. To put it mildly they were putting something of a positive spin on the parade. In a package of about 10 short interviews with people at the parade, only 1 of the interviewees experessed any disappointment with it.....while everybody else I've talked to today seemed to be a bit miffed by the whole setup last night.

Reason being,WlR are sponsors so they won't broadcast anything negative about the weekend.Similar to what goes on in most of Ireland.
Even on a normal weekend of assault and stabbings and god knows what WlR only reports a very small amount of the **** that happens in this town because it would be bad for tourism....I'd imagine.

bythewoods

Thought Cathy Davey was excellent on Friday night!
Anyone else in Electric Avenue? Love that place, always has a great athmosphere. The €21 for a ticket was a bit sh!t, but overall? Worth it.

Floyd Soul and the Wolf played in EA- nothing quite like a bit'a local talent.

As for underagers out on the knack- jeus they were everywhere! The amount of shiny, neon tracksuits was blinding.. even at night.
I was approached by a few to go alcohol purchasing on their behalf! if they weren't utter skangers I'd have helped them out. But alas..

ChapOfDRyans

Meatwad wrote: »

Reason being,WlR are sponsors so they won't broadcast anything negative about the weekend.Similar to what goes on in most of Ireland.
Even on a normal weekend of assault and stabbings and god knows what WlR only reports a very small amount of the **** that happens in this town because it would be bad for tourism....I'd imagine.

Its not like that at all regarding the Spraoi part,they provide them with advertisment and promotion but they wont hide any problems people had or didnt with the parade

Sully

ChapOfDRyans wrote: »

Its not like that at all regarding the Spraoi part,they provide them with advertisment and promotion but they wont hide any problems people had or didnt with the parade

But is it not odd that most people were loving it, and when you go out on the streets on the day a lot of people disliked it? More so then usual.. Yet WLR have only good reviews!

garp

It is very easy to stand back and knock something that others do. The Spraoi festival has grown from strength to strength every year for the last 16 years. They have learned how to create a weekend’s entertainment that most other towns / city’s would die for, yet every year there is always the begrudgers...

• To much underage drinking.
• My kids could not see the stage/show.
• It did not start on time.
• It was not long enough (finar finar)
• lack of (insert random gripe here)

For all those on here that have had a go at what was given to ye this weekend. I ask you how many of ye have ever offered any of your time to Spraoi. It’s very easy to do and I am sure they would be more that happy with having a few more adults offering their time.

matrim

This was my first time at spraoi and I liked it for the most part.

During the day the shows were good with a mix for both young and old, I particularly liked the bash st theater. The main thing that annoyed me was the times \ stages changing alot, although I can understand why some of them had to be changed because of the rain.

Hydromania was good and worth seeing.

I'd agree with alot of other people about the parade. I'd heard that it was very good the last few years, however I was disappointed. The ship was very well done, but nearly a 2 hour wait for 5 minutes. They should have had something else, even a few smaller things aswell to help keep the crowd amused while waiting for the main show, the stages didn't cut it as it was impossible to get close enough to them.

paddy1mac

garp wrote: »

It is very easy to stand back and knock something that others do. The Spraoi festival has grown from strength to strength every year for the last 16 years. They have learned how to create a weekend’s entertainment that most other towns / city’s would die for, yet every year there is always the begrudgers...

• To much underage drinking.
• My kids could not see the stage/show.
• It did not start on time.
• It was not long enough (finar finar)
• lack of (insert random gripe here)

For all those on here that have had a go at what was given to ye this weekend. I ask you how many of ye have ever offered any of your time to Spraoi. It’s very easy to do and I am sure they would be more that happy with having a few more adults offering their time.

I dont think anyone is deliberately trying to knock the Spraoi.

What most people were disappointed with was the parade and that stems purely from the high standard that Spraoi has set for itself over the years.

I was stood there with a 10 year old for almost an hour and a half waiting and the thing had gone past in less than 5 minutes. You couldn't see the stages - he most certainly couldn't. Having it on one side of the quay was a mistake and this also took away from the fireworks as our view was restricted with street lights and the plaza. I know it's a free event - but look at the business it generates in the town. There were peolple who had travelled from all over and some had come especially to see the parade and who were very disappointed with what they saw.

And it's these people that we need to bring back not just for the day but for the weekend and we need these to go away and tell their friends etc.

The Spraoi is a fantastic and unique event but i think they it wrong with regard to the parade.

As for getting involved i would love to become involved with it.

As for the underage drinking this had nothing to do with the Spraoi organisers, it's just part and parcel of what happens with these events. I was at the Galway races last week and if you saw the amount of underge drinking that goes on under the noses of the Gardai and the racecourse officials inside the racecourse itself in broad daylight it would really blow you away.

deise-lady

Hydromania was great - saw it on Saturday night.

I thought the ship was excellent, but I would have liked more with it, it was over too quick and the kids were tired waiting.

My biggest quibble with Spraoi is the staging of the street stuff - please please please invest in some temporary staging so that we can see what's going on!!
My neck is sore from trying to see over other people's heads.

otherwise, well done to the organisers and f**k the begrudgers. Keep up the good work (and buy some staging!!).

Not The Real Scarecrow

I don't think any one is trying to take away what Spraoi has done and does for Waterford.The majority of the comments I think are in the realms of constructive criticism.As well, if people do feel that things weren't right or felt left down about the weekend, they are perfectly entitled to air their views as Spraoi recieves grants from the government and are there fore some way funded by taxes people pay.The majority of people obviously enjoy the weekend so I don't think when people do make a criticism of the weekend,it should be taken too harshly.

Sully

garp wrote: »

It is very easy to stand back and knock something that others do. The Spraoi festival has grown from strength to strength every year for the last 16 years. They have learned how to create a weekend’s entertainment that most other towns / city’s would die for, yet every year there is always the begrudgers...

• To much underage drinking.
• My kids could not see the stage/show.
• It did not start on time.
• It was not long enough (finar finar)
• lack of (insert random gripe here)

For all those on here that have had a go at what was given to ye this weekend. I ask you how many of ye have ever offered any of your time to Spraoi. It’s very easy to do and I am sure they would be more that happy with having a few more adults offering their time.

I was going to reply, but Paddy summed it up pretty well. One thing I will say though, is that Spraoi need to look at the feedback each year to see how it can be improved upon to make the festival better each year. I love the idea of Sproai and think it does wonder for tourism and familys around the South East (and Ireland in general) who come out to see it. But people wont come if the festival is crap.

The biggest let down people are complaining about is the Parade, and not much else. Obviously they tried something new and it didnt work, so back to the drawing board

paddy1mac wrote: »

I dont think anyone is deliberately trying to knock the Spraoi.

What most people were disappointed with was the parade and that stems purely from the high standard that Spraoi has set for itself over the years.

I was stood there with a 10 year old for almost an hour and a half waiting and the thing had gone past in less than 5 minutes. You couldn't see the stages - he most certainly couldn't. Having it on one side of the quay was a mistake and this also took away from the fireworks as our view was restricted with street lights and the plaza. I know it's a free event - but look at the business it generates in the town. There were peolple who had travelled from all over and some had come especially to see the parade and who were very disappointed with what they saw.

And it's these people that we need to bring back not just for the day but for the weekend and we need these to go away and tell their friends etc.

The Spraoi is a fantastic and unique event but i think they it wrong with regard to the parade.

As for getting involved i would love to become involved with it.

As for the underage drinking this had nothing to do with the Spraoi organisers, it's just part and parcel of what happens with these events. I was at the Galway races last week and if you saw the amount of underge drinking that goes on under the noses of the Gardai and the racecourse officials inside the racecourse itself in broad daylight it would really blow you away.

ChapOfDRyans

We like to hear good and bad points to the parade but we knew that we didnt have enough stages and it was a problem we couldnt avoid.

Its easy to get involved with Spraoi just arrive at the shed and say you want to help obviously not now but around june or Patricks day

Sully

ChapOfDRyans wrote: »

We like to hear good and bad points to the parade but we knew that we didnt have enough stages and it was a problem we couldnt avoid.

To be fair, the stages didn't do very much for the parade! I was at the clock tower and for most of the event they went unused, then they had two mimes who were not the least entertaining (and the crowd didn't seem to take much notice). I felt sorry for the folks with the plastic sheet!!

Also, having everyone on the one side of the Quay wasn't the best idea! Far to crowded and was risky. Plus, not many got a good view or any

Its easy to get involved with Spraoi just arrive at the shed and say you want to help obviously not now but around june or Patricks day

Does it take up much time? Id be interested. Whats involved?

All other feedback on Spraoi seems to be grand, I didn't get to most of the events due to limited time but found what I did (apart from the parade!) go to was great!

ChapOfDRyans

If you volunteer in the shed you choose what time you can work.The work is very varied and mostly about getin the hands dirty.

If you just do the festival the jobs are endless from stewarding to act liason