Anyone else hate the Bray Summerfest funfair?

vickers209

Was Down At seafront this evening and i was stopped twice by people asking was i local to the area and where they could get something to eat as they only arrived in the area. I pointed them in the direction of the martello and porterhouse.

Also noticed 2 English registered buses parked outside the Esplanade Hotel so obliviously Some tourists are coming into the area.

The atmosphere in the area was nice and relaxed (may have been weather) but i enjoyed my evening and will be back

Only downside is the carnival is pricey at €3 per person per ride for most and the roadworks that's reduced a lot of parking spaces why was it not done in the Autumn instead of peak season.

As for anti social behavior i noticed the garda making there presence there too seen 2 garda cycling along the promenade so hopefully they will keep it up and keep an eye on things

NobodyImportant

Summerfest = Good

Funfair = Bad

B0jangles

^^^ That's it in a nutshell ^^^

I think it's getting even louder today

http://youtu.be/cSyHCGsxybs

Also zoobizoo, from the tone of your posts I'm guessing you're involved on the organizational side of Summerfest? If so, is there any way you could have a word with the Fair operators about keeping the noise level to a more reasonable level?

I'm going to go insane if I have to listen to this for ten hours a day for the next month.

fleury

I would advise you ,BOjangles, to tell the Festival Organisers how you are being tormented by all that noise. You have a right to the peaceable enjoyment of your home under the Irish Constitution & EU law. The organisers of that Bray Festival are not capable of organising a p... up in a brewery. Residents on the Seafront should organise a Bray Spring !

fleury

foxy06 wrote: »

Can't walk along the prom now without the kids driving me crazy wanting to go on everything! It brings tourism though so cant argue with that.

You mean it brings day trippers & yobs!
Tourists are terrified to go down that place especially at night

fleury

B0jangles wrote: »

Well maybe they could put the whole funfair down in front of the pubs and hotels who profit by it, instead of private homes who get nothing from it except roaring machines and looped music all day, then rowdy drunks at night?

Seriously - there is one machine which plays a sample of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2VQQEoWlTg on a loop every 10 minutes or so; it's maddening.

The people living near the bandstand & pubs there have to flee their homes when the concerts are on all weekend . Who cares about them. Not the Festival organises for sure.

B0jangles

fleury wrote: »

I would advise you ,BOjangles, to tell the Festival Organisers how you are being tormented by all that noise. You have a right to the peaceable enjoyment of your home under the Irish Constitution & EU law. The organisers of that Bray Festival are not capable of organising a p... up in a brewery. Residents on the Seafront should organise a Bray Spring !

Yeah, I was just looking into the law on noise pollution and who should be appealed to if you thinks someone is in breech, and I think we have an very strong case based on what I have read already.

Also, just for fun, here's what our carnival friends think about ramps for handicapped people:



- this car arrived among the similarly english reg'd carnival vehicles and has completely blocked the ramp for the handicapped for the last 5 hours at least.)

(number blocked for public forum use, original sent to gardaí)

Edit: I just looked back at the video I recorded at 1.43 this afternoon and that car was already parked there.



Classy stuff.

fleury

zoobizoo wrote: »

The Fun Fair this year is smaller than last year by about 30% and it has more traditional rides than in previous years. Some of those rides were on the seafront 50 years ago. I was down the beach yesterday and it was a lot quieter than the previous Fun Fair (in terms of volume).

Here's an infographic explaining how the Fun Fair contribute to the Summerfest:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=670112229670060&set=a.239034072777880.81044.222471607767460&type=1&theater

People spend money when they come to a town on a day out... talk to any of the business owners down that direction same with the cafes and restaurants down the Albert Walk etc.

There are ticket deals on the Summerfest FB page as well...... fifteen quid for 10 rides for adults and a tenner for 10 rides for kids.

And while you might think that it's only "Dubs" down there, there are generally loads of foreign tourists and down there too.

As for Tourism in Bray well, think of what the town does offer: Summerfest, Jazz Fest, Bloomsday, St. Patricks Day Festival, Groove Festival, Gospel Rising Festival. Can you think of other towns of a similar size around the country that offer as many festivals, plus an aquarium, great seafront restaurants, pubs, cafes etc? Then there's Kilruddery, the promenade, the Cliff Walk, Bray Head.

BTW, the Family Fiesta is on this Saturday and Sunday with loads of free stuff for kids including Reuben, Glenroe Farm, Sealife Touch Pool, Puppet Shows, Story Tellers....

Cant think of any other town in this country that would tolerate a festival such as the Bray festival. It is far too long especially as most of the action is happening almost on the doorsteps of family homes. The funfair is unbearable for people living close by as evidenced here.The noise is a health hazard all around the seafront area . The funfair is only allowed for 1 week in Dun Laoghaire and it is not plonked on the doorsteps of family homes. That would not be allowed in Dun Laoghaire. Can anyone see tourists shoppng in Bray in the 2 euro shops and the charity shops all along the main street? Bargains galore for the tourists! Oh nearly forgot to mention all the pharmacies too, hoping to do a doing a roaring trade selling earplugs!

B0jangles

Just wanted to say that I was down past there today and the car I saw last night parked on the disabled access ramp is now parked on the grass among the rest of the fairground vehicles, so I can confirm 100% that it was one of the Fairground operators who chose to completely block disabled access to the seafront there for at least nine hours yesterday - as far as I can tell it was solely to avoid having to pay the minimal charge for parking in the adjacent car-park.

Says it all really.

Edit: zoobizoo, you seem to have gone awfully quiet lately; have you anything to say about this?

fleury

B0jangles wrote: »

Yeah, I was just looking into the law on noise pollution and who should be appealed to if you thinks someone is in breech, and I think we have an very strong case based on what I have read already.

Also, just for fun, here's what our carnival friends think about ramps for handicapped people:



- this car arrived among the similarly english reg'd carnival vehicles and has completely blocked the ramp for the handicapped for the last 5 hours at least.)

(number blocked for public forum use, original sent to gardaí)

Edit: I just looked back at the video I recorded at 1.43 this afternoon and that car was already parked there.



Classy stuff.

The festival licence holder is responsible for all that happens at the festival. He does not seem to have respect for anyone . A pensioner called to ask him to do something about the noise of the funfair because its almost on her doorstep. The response to that lovely gentle lady ,a household and property tax payer and long time memember of the community who is being driven mad with the noise in every room in her home .... HE HUNG UP HIS PHONE! Is that appropiate behaviour for a Councillor and Festival licence holder ?? It's shocking.

B0jangles

^^^:eek:^^^

Really??? I'm sorry, but that's just shameful.

brayblue24

OP (and everyone else directly affected by the carnival, I went for a pint in the Martello last night but before I went in I took a walk on the prom and can say one thing-I feel for you, I really do. It must be horrendous with that on your doorstep every day and night. It also occurred to me the the 2Xtreme ride almost goes in the window of the old folks homes opposite. From a selfish point of view I'm glad I don't live near this.

As for tourists shopping as far as I can see the only people making money are O'Briens on the Quinsboro' Road.

fleury

brayblue24 wrote: »

OP (and everyone else directly affected by the carnival, I went for a pint in the Martello last night but before I went in I took a walk on the prom and can say one thing-I feel for you, I really do. It must be horrendous with that on your doorstep every day and night. It also occurred to me the the 2Xtreme ride almost goes in the window of the old folks homes opposite. From a selfish point of view I'm glad I don't live near this.

As for tourists shopping as far as I can see the only people making money are O'Briens on the Quinsboro' Road.

It must be really awful for the people in that nursing home opposite the funfair too, bless them. Is it unfair or funfair?

danois

zoobizoo wrote: »

The Fun Fair this year is smaller than last year by about 30% and it has more traditional rides than in previous years. Some of those rides were on the seafront 50 years ago. I was down the beach yesterday and it was a lot quieter than the previous Fun Fair (in terms of volume).

Here's an infographic explaining how the Fun Fair contribute to the Summerfest:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=670112229670060&set=a.239034072777880.81044.222471607767460&type=1&theater

People spend money when they come to a town on a day out... talk to any of the business owners down that direction same with the cafes and restaurants down the Albert Walk etc.

There are ticket deals on the Summerfest FB page as well...... fifteen quid for 10 rides for adults and a tenner for 10 rides for kids.

And while you might think that it's only "Dubs" down there, there are generally loads of foreign tourists and down there too.

As for Tourism in Bray well, think of what the town does offer: Summerfest, Jazz Fest, Bloomsday, St. Patricks Day Festival, Groove Festival, Gospel Rising Festival. Can you think of other towns of a similar size around the country that offer as many festivals, plus an aquarium, great seafront restaurants, pubs, cafes etc? Then there's Kilruddery, the promenade, the Cliff Walk, Bray Head.

BTW, the Family Fiesta is on this Saturday and Sunday with loads of free stuff for kids including Reuben, Glenroe Farm, Sealife Touch Pool, Puppet Shows, Story Tellers....

have you a link for the cheap tickets? cant find them and i'm planning on bringing kids down tomorrow

Strongbow10

danois wrote: »

have you a link for the cheap tickets? cant find them and i'm planning on bringing kids down tomorrow

id say its probably expired at this stage

foxy06

Was down there today and noticed the music wasn't playing anymore at a lot of the rides?

NobodyImportant

foxy06 wrote: »

Was down there today and noticed the music wasn't playing anymore at a lot of the rides?

Cant say i noticed, the bandstand stuff was pretty loud. I can hear it from the house and it sounded like Karaoke at points.

Would be glad to hear if the rides turned off the music.

fleury

Was down the seafront yesterday and saw tourists from the tour buses taking some souvenir photos to remind them of their visit to Bray. As well as the usual shots of the fantastic views and Bray head they were taking photos of the overflowing bins and the rubbish strewn everywhere . "Take a look at my holiday snaps of Bray"!

fleury

Maybe they ran out of diesel for the generators. Anyone know how much fuel the funfair uses to pollute the seafront air?

2 weeks is enough

2 weeks is enough. The funfair takes away the green space at the height of summer. Burns 20.000 euro in diesel. Each ride plays different music, a cacophony of squall at illegal decibel levels. People's homes are uninhabitable. Noise and air pollution at this level in this day and age makes no sense.

Eponymous

We love going for walks along the Prom during the year, parking at the harbour and walking up to Dawson's and back down. Sometimes stopping for coffee and ice cream at the kiosk there or sometimes having lunch in the Porterhouse. After last summer, we've decided to avoid Bray during the period that the funfair is there.

Between the noise, the scobies and being pestered for money to go on rides, it's just not worth the hassle. I'm certain we're not the only ones.

The result: Local business is missing out on money we'd happily spend if the funfair wasn't there.

sallymomo

There seems to be a good deal of negativity on this thread towards the Summerfest, considering the title was about the funfair..
It also seems that people have registered to just have a pop...
I will admit that I am a Bray native and not involved in the Summerfest, but enjoy what it brings every year.
I'd like to address a couple of issues raised in this thread

1) The idea that the "scrotes" etc appear out of the blue due to funfair/summerfest. This is completely untrue. Apart from the fact that Bray has its own unfair collection, take a stroll down the beach any dry evening during the summer - groups of young people drinking can be seen on the beach towards the harbour wall, Bojangles, you have a great view of this from your house..Whether its St Patricks Day or the summer, groups arrive into Bray on the Dart and can cause trouble. (As well as the locals)
2) Tourists not wanting to go out at night. Thankfully, this is not true. Even with Bray's "decorated" history when it comes to Spanish students, I am glad to say that I have noticed quite a lot of tourists in the evenings and at nights on Bray seafront.
3) Only 2 businesses on the seafront benefit from the Summerfest... Whilst I agree that 2 of those businesses benefit greatly from the summerfest, I notice that quite a lot of the units around bray seafront are very busy which is great. It must also be acknowledged that the 2 businesses in question sponsor the Summerfest, a festival that is mostly self funded (through sponsorship etc)
4) The negative impact the summerfest has on Bray's image. Yes, the summerfest do not get everyhing right, but, take this Sunday as an example - the air show. Approx 80k people will attend this event, I'd say that's fairly positive, considering the national coverage it gets.
5) The committee and volunteers of the Bray summerfest give up their time and efforts for free and should be applauded for doing so. If any of the people on this thread believe they have better ideas or alternative ones, why not suggest them or even join? Anything that can improve the perception of Bray and anything that will bring investment in to the town would be welcome.

God knows, Bray needs all the help it can get, especially from those that live in the town.
I agree that constant music outside your house and any other anti social issues that arise from a festival do not have to be tolerated. A lot of towns in Ireland now have their own festivals, I hope we are not the first to ridicule ours into oblivion...

B0jangles

I can only speak for myself and I have only commented negatively on the effect the Funfair has on my ability to live comfortably in my own house.

I'm sorry, but telling me how a couple of Seafront businesses profit from all aspects of Summerfest is cold comfort when you have a funfair running 10 hours a day immediately outside your house for a full month.

Have you watched the videos I posted?

Between 12 midday and 10 p.m. I cannot sit in my own garden and I cannot leave my kitchen windows open unless I want to be deafened by the noise of it.

The Airshow is wonderful, no question about it; it is a fantastic day out for families and is a spectacular example of using Bray Seafront for the best and for the real benefit of the majority of people.

I would also like to point out that space on the Seafront is pretty limited and an awful lot of people will miss getting the best views of the Airshow because half of the green space is taken up with the Funfair.

sallymomo

Bojangles
Yes, I have watched the videos you posted on youtube and i can only sympathise with you and what you have to endure.
My points were not aimed at you or to belittle the affect the funfair has on your life for a month.
I was addressing some points made in this thread by various people, some starting up accounts just for bashing purposes.

I can only speak as a native of Bray who can see the positives and negatives of what the Summerfest brings to the town and try and focus on the positives.
Individual cases such as your own are important and should be directed to the appropriate channels to seek a remedy.

B0jangles wrote: »

I can only speak for myself and I have only commented negatively on the effect the Funfair has on my ability to live comfortably in my own house.

I'm sorry, but telling me how a couple of Seafront businesses profit from all aspects of Summerfest is cold comfort when you have a funfair running 10 hours a day immediately outside your house for a full month.

Have you watched the videos I posted?

Between 12 midday and 10 p.m. I cannot sit in my own garden and I cannot leave my kitchen windows open unless I want to be deafened by the noise of it.

The Airshow is wonderful, no question about it; it is a fantastic day out for families and is a spectacular example of using Bray Seafront for the best and for the real benefit of the majority of people.

I would also like to point out that space on the Seafront is pretty limited and an awful lot of people will miss getting the best views of the Airshow because half of the green space is taken up with the Funfair.

2 weeks is enough

Hotel rooms? Read last year's Trip Advisor comments. Family holidays ruined and 26 out of 36 commented ion the noise. Have the organisers who allowed Bird's Funfair burn 200,000Euro in Diesel over the past 10 years ever heard of air or noise pollution or considered families living nearby? 2 weeks is enough

sallymomo

2 weeks
Maybe you should logon here http://www.epa.ie/#&panel1-4, get their contact details and let them know of your noise and fossil fuel pollution concerns?
If you feel its bad enough to create an account on Boards and highlight the facts, then maybe you need to go to the right channels. Boards.ie, although a forum with an absolute wealth of useful information, can not resolve your concerns.

2 weeks is enough wrote: »

Hotel rooms? Read last year's Trip Advisor comments. Family holidays ruined and 26 out of 36 commented ion the noise. Have the organisers who allowed Bird's Funfair burn 200,000Euro in Diesel over the past 10 years ever heard of air or noise pollution or considered families living nearby? 2 weeks is enough

2 weeks is enough

You are right Zoobizoo Bray has a lot to offer in natural beauty , people of all nationalities flock to the promenade all year round. They love the beach,Bray Head,the Green Space.Businesses do well as witnessed by the wealth of pubs and restaurants. It has really come into its own in the good weather. So why would a voluntary committee of professionals think it all right to take away the green space pack it with loud screaming rides burning 20,000 euro in Diesel in 28days??? Have any of these 'professionals' ever heard of noise and air pollution? Or EU Directives or codes of practice.
How can you think that offering 10 rides for 15 euro to hard pressed parents who have to stay away from the beach with their children is a solution. They don't have that sort of money. What part of that do these'voluntary professionals' not understand. They don't because they all get as many free tickets as they like. Shame on them. The people of bray are entitled to a summer too !!!

B0jangles

sallymomo wrote: »

2 weeks
Maybe you should logon here http://www.epa.ie/#&panel1-4, get their contact details and let them know of your noise and fossil fuel pollution concerns?
If you feel its bad enough to create an account on Boards and highlight the facts, then maybe you need to go to the right channels. Boards.ie, although a forum with an absolute wealth of useful information, can not resolve your concerns.

To be perfectly frank, I find it more than a bit suspicious that you are so keen to redirect new posters away from discussing their concerns and problems with some aspects of Summerfest away from a public forum.

It smacks of a fear of bad publicity; not a concern I'd have thought would be a primary one for someone totally uninvolved with the running of Summerfest?

sallymomo

Bojangles
If you read my posts in their entirety you might get the sense that I am not involved in the Summerfest - some examples of what i wrote:
Bojangles
Yes, I have watched the videos you posted on youtube and i can only sympathise with you and what you have to endure.
My points were not aimed at you or to belittle the affect the funfair has on your life for a month.
I was addressing some points made in this thread by various people, some starting up accounts just for bashing purposes.
I can only speak as a native of Bray who can see the positives and negatives of what the Summerfest brings to the town and try and focus on the positives.
Individual cases such as your own are important and should be directed to the appropriate channels to seek a remedy."




"God knows, Bray needs all the help it can get, especially from those that live in the town.
I agree that constant music outside your house and any other anti social issues that arise from a festival do not have to be tolerated."



I am not involved with Summerfest. I also am not lucky enough to live on the seafront like you do but visit it every evening to walk.
As stated previously, I am a native of Bray and have seen the promise of the town, florentine centre etc, ripped from the town. I am all too aware of the anti social element within our own.
I have agreed with your grievance but am calling out those who are taking swipes at something I perceive as mostly positive. The same posters are having a go at the volunteers who run the festival??? Seriously, as mentioned before, why don't people do something about it if they feel that strong about it? Or is it keyboard warriors again?


I'm more concerned with bad publicity for the town than the summerfest.


You are entitled to your suspicions but I am not involved in the summerfest.


I am and have been actively involved in sports in the town and county but never with the festival, be that summer or patricks day..


I consider the emergence of Kilruddery house, the Summerfest, Big September, Katie Taylor and the visit this week of the FAI for their AGM/Festival of football as all positive for the town of Bray.
That's just my opinion, everyone is entitled to disagree.

B0jangles wrote: »

To be perfectly frank, I find it more than a bit suspicious that you are so keen to redirect new posters away from discussing their concerns and problems with some aspects of Summerfest away from a public forum.

It smacks of a fear of bad publicity; not a concern I'd have thought would be a primary one for someone totally uninvolved with the running of Summerfest?

B0jangles

Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, the more the merrier but this is a thread specifically about the Funfair and the problems it causes for the Seafront. I started it in the first place because I was dreading the arrival of the fair and what would happen for the next month. I wanted to find out if my experiences were shared by other seafront residents and visitors and I think we have largely established that they are.

I don't see why it is necessary for some posters to try to redirect the thread by talking about completely different Summerfest events (ones which no-one has complained about), unless it is with the intent of deflecting valid criticism of the Funfair.