AllTogetherNow Festival 2018

fuzzyduck4

Agreed, the mood in here has changed from elation to resentment. If it does sell out the 15,000 tickets by this time next year (I doubt it will) then it will be overcrowded and this will take away from the charm of this year. As a person who gets lost multiple times a day at a festival, I was never more than half an hour away from finding someone I knew at this years festival- making the festival a far more enjoyable experience, compared to the jungle of EP ect.

Eod100

Now they're doing the "were you at the festival?" sort of tweets. Bit snide

boomshakalaka

phizzledizzle wrote: »

Free flow will still be in place.

Says who? Source?

boomshakalaka

fuzzyduck4 wrote: »

Agreed, the mood in here has changed from elation to resentment. If it does sell out the 15,000 tickets by this time next year (I doubt it will) then it will be overcrowded and this will take away from the charm of this year. As a person who gets lost multiple times a day at a festival, I was never more than half an hour away from finding someone I knew at this years festival- making the festival a far more enjoyable experience, compared to the jungle of EP ect.

Yep it has, because a lot of our fears have come true I think. I feared they'd turn this in to a money racket, and the messages from the festival today feed in to that idea perfectly. We still don't know what the capacity is going to be, and for a lot of us the festival not bursting at the seams is one of the main attractions (me being one of them) as well as the type of crowd that was at it. For me, the way the festival organisers approached next years edition today, takes away from what a special and magical weekend it was this year.

phizzledizzle

boomshakalaka wrote: »

phizzledizzle wrote: »

Free flow will still be in place.

Says who? Source?

They answered a question on their facebook page.

Eod100

boomshakalaka wrote: »

Yep it has, because a lot of our fears have come true I think. I feared they'd turn this in to a money racket, and the messages from the festival today feed in to that idea perfectly. We still don't know what the capacity is going to be, and for a lot of us the festival not bursting at the seams is one of the main attractions (me being one of them) as well as the type of crowd that was at it. For me, the way the festival organisers approached next years edition today, takes away from what a special and magical weekend it was this year.

That's exactly it. It was a great festival for the right reasons. Now it just seems like they're using it as a launchpad to drive up prices. That's their right but it would take away from the whole feel of the festival I think

erica74

ATN social media accounts really painting them in a bad light this morning.

Former Former

Capacity was initially supposed to be 15,000. They didn't even sell 10,000.

It's very possible that they lost money this year and by not raising prices, or by offering big loyalty discounts, they'd have been heading for a loss again next year and then you're questioning whether you can run it at all.

Just saying it might not be the price-gouging, two fingers to fans that everyone thinks it is.

Weepsie

It's possible they ran the first year at a loss too. That said I can wait for the extra 20 quid and see what acts they have.

2019 is a Glasto year too, so might be running that gauntlet.

BullBlackNova

Eod100 wrote: »

Now they're doing the "were you at the festival?" sort of tweets. Bit snide

Yikes. Just had a look at their Twitter. Not a good look to be snide with people raising legitimate concerns!

I'll wait and see who is playing before taking the plunge. Nothing against this or EP or anything else but I don't have the luxury of going to multiple festivals each summer so will have to see which one or two have the line up that suits me best!

Eod100

Former Former wrote: »

Capacity was initially supposed to be 15,000. They didn't even sell 10,000.

It's very possible that they lost money this year and by not raising prices, or by offering big loyalty discounts, they'd have been heading for a loss again next year and then you're questioning whether you can run it at all.

Just saying it might not be the price-gouging, two fingers to fans that everyone thinks it is.

But if they didn't sell out this year where's the logic in raising prices from the start this year? Grand they can't offer reduced loyalty to everyone who went last year but maybe tiered priced. I bought mine back in February as soon as tickets were out. It will be hard for me to encourage friends who weren't there this year to go if those prices are only increasing. Better off selling 500-750 reduced price tickets and get a buzz going.

hrcbob

Eod100 wrote: »

But if they didn't sell out this year where's the logic in raising prices from the start this year? Grand they can't offer reduced loyalty to everyone who went last year but maybe tiered priced. I bought mine back in February as soon as tickets were out. It will be hard for me to encourage friends who weren't there this year to go if those prices are only increasing. Better off selling 500-750 reduced price tickets and get a buzz going.

Even 200 would have looked good.

Fair enough they may not have made a profit this year, but by starting off with a dig at the people who took a chance when it was unproven is hardly wise when it comes to pr going forward.

A serious case of miss management of the buzz and good pr after a great event.

erica74

Eod100 wrote: »

Better off selling 500-750 reduced price tickets and get a buzz going.

100%

Now, instead, they're being actual assholes on social media and deleting the comments of anyone who questions them.

greenspurs

erica74 wrote: »

100%

Now, instead, they're being actual assholes on social media and deleting the comments of anyone who questions them.

They are retweeting the ones that praise them?

Are the kids on their account ?

erica74

greenspurs wrote: »

They are retweeting the ones that praise them?

Are the kids on their account ?

I had a great time at the festival but deleting my comment (and others) leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

billybonkers

They seemed to have stopped tweeting now, probably copped on a bit. Very amateur

Homesick Alien

I think this festival may have peaked

greenspurs

billybonkers wrote: »

They seemed to have stopped tweeting now, probably copped on a bit. Very amateur

They had to feed him ? Change his nappy? :rolleyes:

PabloAndRoy

greenspurs wrote: »

They had to feed him ? Change his nappy? :rolleyes:

He/she will be due a nap soon ... bless.

Wildsurfer

Maybe step back and look at it from festival promoter pov.. They took the bigger risk starting up a new festival this year, sold discounted tickets last year to get people interested, prob made a loss this year. But they delivered the goods, we were all full of praise after the event. Maybe now it's our turn to say hey yeah that was a great festival, we'll gladly pay a little extra this year just so it can keep on the go. If you were at work and delivered a project ahead of expectation would you not expect a little thanks!

greenspurs

Wildsurfer wrote: »

Maybe step back and look at it from festival promoter pov.. They took the bigger risk starting up a new festival this year, sold discounted tickets last year to get people interested, prob made a loss this year. But they delivered the goods, we were all full of praise after the event. Maybe now it's our turn to say hey yeah that was a great festival, we'll gladly pay a little extra this year just so it can keep on the go. If you were at work and delivered a project ahead of expectation would you not expect a little thanks!

And pump the price straight away?

They have my thanks , but they wont get my money.

boomshakalaka

Wildsurfer wrote: »

Maybe step back and look at it from festival promoter pov.. They took the bigger risk starting up a new festival this year, sold discounted tickets last year to get people interested, prob made a loss this year. But they delivered the goods, we were all full of praise after the event. Maybe now it's our turn to say hey yeah that was a great festival, we'll gladly pay a little extra this year just so it can keep on the go. If you were at work and delivered a project ahead of expectation would you not expect a little thanks!

Yes and no. I do agree in part, and as I mentioned earlier, I will probably still go and pay the extra money or whatever because I had such a great time this year. That doesn't mean that the PR team behind the festival isn't ****ty, or that the festival isn't turning in to a money racket. It can still be good and be all those things at the same time. The way the PR is done now feels very far away from the vibes we got running up to and actually at this years edition. That's all we're saying. It's not nice. It's not focussing on customer loyalty and customer experience, it's focussing on making money. Fair enough, they need to make money but imho a smart business idea is to make money WHILE keeping your punters happy. There's a happy medium here and that balance wasn't struck.

I'm not going to thank them for that, no. I don't see the correlation with working and finishing a project early either. The festival promoters don't work for me so no, they're not getting thanks.

Homesick Alien

Wildsurfer wrote: »

Maybe step back and look at it from festival promoter pov.. They took the bigger risk starting up a new festival this year, sold discounted tickets last year to get people interested, prob made a loss this year. But they delivered the goods, we were all full of praise after the event. Maybe now it's our turn to say hey yeah that was a great festival, we'll gladly pay a little extra this year just so it can keep on the go. If you were at work and delivered a project ahead of expectation would you not expect a little thanks!

How can they be discounted in the first year? You set a price point and go from there. You can only discount against previous prices.

Weepsie

Wildsurfer wrote: »

Maybe step back and look at it from festival promoter pov.. They took the bigger risk starting up a new festival this year, sold discounted tickets last year to get people interested, prob made a loss this year. But they delivered the goods, we were all full of praise after the event. Maybe now it's our turn to say hey yeah that was a great festival, we'll gladly pay a little extra this year just so it can keep on the go. If you were at work and delivered a project ahead of expectation would you not expect a little thanks!

Yes people do love to be outraged, we are professionals at it.

greenspurs

Weepsie wrote: »

Yes people do love to be outraged, we are professionals at it.

Outrage ? no.
I'm disappointed that they are already of the path to greed.
Surprised ? not really either.
I can take it or leave it, theres plenty of other things on.

MJohnston

MJohnston wrote: »

• The Ambition. Feck me, you could smell them chasing down EP in the air from minute one. Very, very obvious that they were testing the waters of the scale of the place this year for next, as there was a tonne more space than there were crowds. Have it on very good authority that it'll be 30k capacity next year, and it was very clear that this was always a plan. I think it can probably survive the expansion but it all feels a little bit too calculated and clinical to me. There's a genuineness to Body and Soul that you can sense, like the organisers really put their heart and (pun) into it, and I didn't feel that at all here. Don't get me wrong, I think the people decorating the site and the various stages were really working their hardest and their best, but just not the people up above them, you know? It's not that I think the festival will go the way of EP quickly, I would just feel more confident about it with different people at the helm. I do think EP is going to be massively challenged by this festival, anyone saying that they're competing with Body and Soul or whoever is way off - they're gunning for their old festival big time, and with the way EP has gone, I wouldn't be surprised if they succeed.

Said this back in my review of 2018 and feck me, I didn't expect to be proven right quite so soon.

Price increases are one thing, their attitude on Twitter belies a complete lack of empathy with festival goers and a money-grabbing attitude. I'm not saying it would destroy the weekend, it could still be excellent, but for me it just exposes what POD are really after with this.

The campervan passes are possibly the best example of this - they overbooked it this year, didn't leave any space for awnings, banned gas canisters. All of these things are completely unlike any other festival I've been to in Ireland, even including EP! And yet, they're somehow deigning to increase the price of a campervan pass by 10 euro? Fück right off.

dulux99

It's barely the price of two pints lads, build a bridge.

Looking forward to 2019!

greenspurs

dulux99 wrote: »

It's barely the price of two pints lads, build a bridge.

Looking forward to 2019!

Good man - enjoy it.

Cos, it wont be the same !!!

fuzzyduck4

Even though I had an incredible weekend this year, i'll be skipping next year unless they come out with a very special lineup..

MJohnston

dulux99 wrote: »

It's barely the price of two pints lads, build a bridge.

Looking forward to 2019!

You're right, by next year they probably will be charging €15 for pints