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Kaleidoscope 2019
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Anyone aware of any streams / radio broadcasts from the gigs that are coming up or are accessible via archives?0
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Definitely going to this next year. Kids were glued to the Glastonbury gig on the box. They'll love it. Us too.0
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I left at about five today, I pretty much echo the sentiments of patser, it was a great weekend, I was there with my missus and our 11yr old daughter, my 15yr old son "wasn't arsed" and went to his aunts for the weekend,
There was a really nice vibe about the weekend and a definite change of pace from my usual EP antics, I stayed in general camping and was a bit anxious as a pink moon customer as to how it would be but it was perfect, all the vacated pitches were spotless when we leaving which was great, people respected the curfew while a chat and a beer was tolerated for a while afterwards which is fine by me, people didn't camp on top of each other either which was just one of the unspoken manners that was prevalent over the weekend, refreshing!
The lineup was grim, I'm not going to lie, I saw KKC which were much fun, Frank and Walter's and Le galaxies dj set too, and that was about it, dropped buy a few people over the weekend, ,there was very little emphasis on music in my view, there wasn't a whole lot of people at any of the sets I saw, the early acts are playing to seriously small audiences, but I suppose this is just family festivals, kids need to be entertained, which is fine, I know that was my focus for my daughter to have fun, she's been at me to bring her to EP recently but thats my only "weekend off" from all responsibilities!
I think this festival will be successful, it was great despite the pale music lineup, there was a really nice respectful vibe around the whole thing and the security were sound, nice and relaxed, I believe the car camping went t*ts up but I thought the organisation was decent fur a maiden voyage,
One major thing was the network and 4g coverage or lack thereof, I know you might say "so what you're at a festival" but I was organising my weekend off the app and it really wasn't happening, couldn't access the map, the lineup, stage times , activities for the kids, took multiple attempts to get a call to anyone, logistical nightmare
Anyway, I'll be there next year, I was with my family and my in-laws, my daughter and her cousins had such a laugh and we managed a few beers a few laughs too!!
Cheers0 -
As I was only there for the music as I couldn't get kids to go can't comment on the non music. On the music front while delays between bands wasn't great overruns, particularly in Jerry Fish, meant not ad bad ad could have Bern. While the line up was not stellar there were some great gigs especially thumper, rsag, somebody's child, Jerry Fish, riptide movement and orla gartland. Special call out to the mariachi band fun gig. Would defo go back and will try to persuade at least one of my kids to go. As always end of a festival is a downer but finishing with Natty Wailer doing redemption song was something special. Roll on EP, if i get through a couple of nights at trinity series this week0
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Just home. Was nearly deserted this morn with the odd baby cry. If they get their act together this festival could be an absolute gold mine. Having it start the day the kids get summer holidays is genius. Signage was woeful, no way of knowing where teen/junior wonderland was even on Sunday, without asking. App useless if you have no coverage so maybe small booklet/sheet (they did that sat evening). I can see that tappy thing being used every Irish festival. It was so laid back and i didn't feel bad letting kids run wild because everyone else was. Families cleaned up after themselves and it felt very safe. They needed way more water stations around (none in front lawn) and needed ppl at key access points who knew where stuff was/whats on etc. For me highlight was KCC, frank n Walters and kila/cartoon saloon. Total cost for 3days/nights camping for 2 adults, 4kids was 160€ inc parking. Spent about €60 on food so basically the price of 1 ticket to EP/ATN. Can't argue with that.0
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I loved it. Tickets were cheap but we spent a lot there. That wasn’t necessary though, we would probably be more organised with food next time. We bought all meals on site. The funfair, braids etc etc all add up. However what a weekend, kids had a ball. Neither of us drank much but throughly enjoyed it. Lovely vibe, really clean. So family orientated ! Staff were brilliant with kids.
What I think needs to improve
Toilets - too far spread out. Kids always seem to need toilets
Water / Sinks - only four sinks in our campsite unless we missed something? This was shared between washing hands/ teeth and dishes
My main issue was the lack of reception. There was no coverage to check the app. We hadn’t a clue what was on when ☹️ Bring back the lanyards! Also meant we barely saw our friends until back at the camp as couldn’t sync up.
Can’t wait for next year. Although I suspect the cheap tickets was a once off to pique our interest.0 -
Going to preface my comments that we are planning on going next year, assuming similar ticketing prices that it ultimately ended at for the Family Ticket. We would, however, be more questionable at the original post early bird tickets pricing. The venue worked well, and I believe its a multi year agreement for this, and other, music events.
The Good:- The overall atmosphere and vibe
- The non-music stuff, particularly the walled garden
- Parking close to the camping (if you wanted)
- Nothing too far away, in the scheme of things
The Bad:- They really over-promised and under-delivered on the nighttime curfew/ security, on the Saturday night especially. Friday night wasn't too bad (but still way after 1am), but there was people out partying/ being noisy still when I went to the jacks at 4am in our field. From talking to others in other fields, they had the same (and worse in one case, with a full on fight going on) experience.
- Similarly, they had made a big deal about the toilets being family friendly (no need to bring a porta potti etc). That definitely wasn't our experience either - they were a disgrace on Saturday night, and no toilet roll on the Sunday afternoon/ evening by the food area. Very poor about keeping the hand gels stocked all weekend.
- The phone coverage - a few points on this...
- They made a big deal about relying on the app, and then you couldn't bloody access it!
- We also couldn't give our tweens the freedom we might have, if we could've been able to contact them.
- Most of the food area the normal card payments weren't working (because of the lack of data mobile coverage). So we incurred additional costs paying for cash back.
- The Beer. Given the market - Heineken only? Too much to ask for a choice, never mind a or some craft beer options - even the superbrewer pretend crafts?
The Irritating- The App. Notwithstanding the lack of coverage, it was bloody annoying they way it kept scrolling you back to the top. We definitely missed out on activities by trusting the PR about using the app. We'll be printing everything before we go next year
- Lack of Water Points and taps. Again, a case of over-promising and under-deliverying.
- Band clashes, with significant periods of no music on at all.
- The Londis. You go to a festival expecting to be fleeced to a degree, but they really went OTT in my view. €2 for a can of coke (no prices visible - is that even legal). The non-advertised charge for cash back (taken with the vendors not being able to accept card). I'm surprised they didn't install a urinal so they could charge for the steam off your own píss. If we're back, we will bring everything we need and only buy ice at most there.
It probably seems like I didn't enjoy it. We did. We plan to go back. Definitely some of my issues is based on their pre-event marketing. Like compared to a non-family festival the campsite was ok, but don't bs about curfew/ quiet time and then don't enforce it! The beer was shocking though, even for commercial dishwater...
It was also great to see, at least when we were leaving last night after Wild Youth, how little was left on the campsite. Ok, a few full skips, but nothing really left on the field.0 -
It was an excellent family festival overall. I was surprised by it. It was ridiculous value for money People were really friendly and loved the random workshops like sausage making and exploriums science one.
The kaleidoscope choir was a great idea. My nephew got to perform on the main stage of a festival at his first ever festival.
I was surprised at how good the showers were.
A few minor things if I was nitpicking
They could do with more drinking water stations in the campsite and arena. There were 4 taps in the campsite which were used for water, washing up, teeth brushing and hand washing by 100s of people.
I'd say the same re hand sanitiser stands esp when queue for water was crazy long.
Sign posting was pretty poor/non existent. I'd say people completely missed the teen and toddler wonderlands and birds of prey.
The lighting in the campsite was way too bright. It was like daytime it was so bright in our tent and we were a few rows away from them
I didn't see many phone charging spots. I saw one solar power one and one vendor advertising it
The area of the campsite we were in was quite loud on Friday till after 2 in the morning as there were a gang of lads drinking and shouting. That's the luck of the draw in a campsite though.0 -
Great weekend. Kids had a ball and will return next year we had a 6yr and 9 yr old with us.
Car park was a 5 min walk for us with the gear so no complaints about lugging stuff for miles. Easy check in and painless collection of bands. We arrived at 12.30pm on the Friday and the first field closest to the car park was only half full. By Friday night 2nd field closest to arena access point was filling up.
They would need more water points throughout the venue and some more showers in the main campsite. I counted 8 showers in total in my field of tents and 24 toilets.
(I am used to the pink moon at EP though).
More bins in the campsite for sorting rubbish, people were shoving everything into it. You had to be willing to walk to proper bins if you wanted to sort/recycle.
They did have a choice of bins in the main arena. All areas were spotless.
Security were pleasant, it was all fun and jovially banter with kids etc.
Slight bag checking going on, on entering the arena but no real confiscation of alcohol as people were not abusing the situation.
Queues for food were huge in the evenings, one family spent 2 hours queuing for a pizza on the Sat. I just went with the shortest queue "The Vegan Queen" 20 minutes.
More coffee stands needed for the morning again 20 minute queue but next year I'd risk bringing a small stove to boil water as others had done so this year (despite the rule).
Londis and food in general was expensive but we expected that.
Tappy option was good for the kids (and adults) if all stands took it.
The bar had one machine for all tills which wasn't ideal, cash was the faster option on Friday. Maybe they had it sorted later in the weekend.
The Hippodrome "stage" hosted CodordoJo introductions for kids and teens and I went to a play there. I love to break away from the crowds and the music for a bit. The Maze was great fun and the trail run on the Saturday morning through the grounds was beautiful.
I saw a few gangs of teens taking over the playground in the evenings, but they were harmless enough. Older teens were drinking and causing noise 1am Sat/Sun morning with an angry security guard dropping f-bombs again there was so few they incidents like this it wasn't a big deal.
I left BellX1 for KKC they were class. They opted for no masks, some audience participation and no bad language as it was a family gig and they still rocked it. 9yr old saying it was her highlight music wise. She enjoyed the Birds of Prey centre. (20minute q but worth it)
6yr old was falling asleep yesterday evening so we left after Wild Youth.
Thumbs up from us as family festival attendees.
I did see groups of adults and couples there, it must have been a difference experience, as there were footballs flying, kites blowing, games of chase at every opportunity (need to add here babies crying, siblings punching each other).
I wouldn't attend myself without the kids as I wouldn't see it as a weekend off.
Dying to hear if anyone went to ATN last year and Kaleidoscope and could compare?0 -
Again, I think this comes down to the lack of coverage for the app. A few times I tried to click on the "locate" option on the app, but I had so little coverage that the map wasn't loading. They also seemed to be posting updates about who would be at some of the walled garden stuff on facebook, which if you were in the venue, wouldn't load.smallgarden wrote: »Sign posting was pretty poor/non existent. I'd say people completely missed the teen and toddler wonderlands and birds of prey.0 -
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its nearly always limited enough variety on offer in bar. Up to Diageos etc if they will have more drinks on offer. Moretti was also on tap but only in guest/VIP areas.Going to preface my comments that we are planning on going next year, assuming similar ticketing prices that it ultimately ended at for the Family Ticket. We would, however, be more questionable at the original post early bird tickets pricing. The venue worked well, and I believe its a multi year agreement for this, and other, music events.
The Good:- The overall atmosphere and vibe
- The non-music stuff, particularly the walled garden
- Parking close to the camping (if you wanted)
- Nothing too far away, in the scheme of things
The Bad:- They really over-promised and under-delivered on the nighttime curfew/ security, on the Saturday night especially. Friday night wasn't too bad (but still way after 1am), but there was people out partying/ being noisy still when I went to the jacks at 4am in our field. From talking to others in other fields, they had the same (and worse in one case, with a full on fight going on) experience.
- Similarly, they had made a big deal about the toilets being family friendly (no need to bring a porta potti etc). That definitely wasn't our experience either - they were a disgrace on Saturday night, and no toilet roll on the Sunday afternoon/ evening by the food area. Very poor about keeping the hand gels stocked all weekend.
- The phone coverage - a few points on this...
- They made a big deal about relying on the app, and then you couldn't bloody access it!
- We also couldn't give our tweens the freedom we might have, if we could've been able to contact them.
- Most of the food area the normal card payments weren't working (because of the lack of data mobile coverage). So we incurred additional costs paying for cash back.
- The Beer. Given the market - Heineken only? Too much to ask for a choice, never mind a or some craft beer options - even the superbrewer pretend crafts?
The Irritating- The App. Notwithstanding the lack of coverage, it was bloody annoying they way it kept scrolling you back to the top. We definitely missed out on activities by trusting the PR about using the app. We'll be printing everything before we go next year
- Lack of Water Points and taps. Again, a case of over-promising and under-deliverying.
- Band clashes, with significant periods of no music on at all.
- The Londis. You go to a festival expecting to be fleeced to a degree, but they really went OTT in my view. €2 for a can of coke (no prices visible - is that even legal). The non-advertised charge for cash back (taken with the vendors not being able to accept card). I'm surprised they didn't install a urinal so they could charge for the steam off your own píss. If we're back, we will bring everything we need and only buy ice at most there.
It probably seems like I didn't enjoy it. We did. We plan to go back. Definitely some of my issues is based on their pre-event marketing. Like compared to a non-family festival the campsite was ok, but don't bs about curfew/ quiet time and then don't enforce it! The beer was shocking though, even for commercial dishwater...
It was also great to see, at least when we were leaving last night after Wild Youth, how little was left on the campsite. Ok, a few full skips, but nothing really left on the field.
Even with the promises about the app to be relying in main on it is poor decision making. Coverage nearly always poor at places like this....
Lack of water points was surprising though especially with type festival it was.
yes app not working was ****e but you shouldn't always be relying on an app anyway especially at a festival which can be notorious for ****e reception.fourmations wrote: »I left at about five today, I pretty much echo the sentiments of patser, it was a great weekend, I was there with my missus and our 11yr old daughter, my 15yr old son "wasn't arsed" and went to his aunts for the weekend,
There was a really nice vibe about the weekend and a definite change of pace from my usual EP antics, I stayed in general camping and was a bit anxious as a pink moon customer as to how it would be but it was perfect, all the vacated pitches were spotless when we leaving which was great, people respected the curfew while a chat and a beer was tolerated for a while afterwards which is fine by me, people didn't camp on top of each other either which was just one of the unspoken manners that was prevalent over the weekend, refreshing!
The lineup was grim, I'm not going to lie, I saw KKC which were much fun, Frank and Walter's and Le galaxies dj set too, and that was about it, dropped buy a few people over the weekend, ,there was very little emphasis on music in my view, there wasn't a whole lot of people at any of the sets I saw, the early acts are playing to seriously small audiences, but I suppose this is just family festivals, kids need to be entertained, which is fine, I know that was my focus for my daughter to have fun, she's been at me to bring her to EP recently but thats my only "weekend off" from all responsibilities!
I think this festival will be successful, it was great despite the pale music lineup, there was a really nice respectful vibe around the whole thing and the security were sound, nice and relaxed, I believe the car camping went t*ts up but I thought the organisation was decent fur a maiden voyage,
One major thing was the network and 4g coverage or lack thereof, I know you might say "so what you're at a festival" but I was organising my weekend off the app and it really wasn't happening, couldn't access the map, the lineup, stage times , activities for the kids, took multiple attempts to get a call to anyone, logistical nightmare
Anyway, I'll be there next year, I was with my family and my in-laws, my daughter and her cousins had such a laugh and we managed a few beers a few laughs too!!
Cheers
Cant really have too many complaints about the music. It was about much more than that and music was well down priorities for many0 -
It was Festival Republic that pushed the app so much. Yes, I'd agree I shouldn't have taken that they would have made sure it worked at face value - hence the comment about next year and printing off. Still doesn't help with some of the stuff which is guest to be confirmed though.The Lost Sheep wrote: »its nearly always limited enough variety on offer in bar. Up to Diageos etc if they will have more drinks on offer. Moretti was also on tap but only in guest/VIP areas.
Even with the promises about the app to be relying in main on it is poor decision making. Coverage nearly always poor at places like this....
Lack of water points was surprising though especially with type festival it was.
Beer is again a festival republic choice to take the money. I just think it really doesn't fit in with the overall vibe they are promoting, or the target market. The drinkers are beyond the drink to get drunk that you'd find at a "normal" festival. We made alternative arrangements, and if they hadn't worked, we just wouldn't have bothered drinking - even for heino, the pints were rank.
Like much that was bad or irritating, water is on the list of them over-promising and under-delivering.0 -
blueberrypie wrote: »Queues for food were huge in the evenings, one family spent 2 hours queuing for a pizza on the Sat. I just went with the shortest queue "The Vegan Queen" 20 minutes.
Forgot about the poor Pizza lads, spent an hour there Saturday waiting on pizza. To be fair it was lovely, authentic, fire made pizza and they were working flat out. But authentic pizza oven could only cook 2 pizzas at a time, and they were only pizza makers at a kids festival so were slaughtered.
The Fish stand made some of the best fish and chips I've ever had.0 -
blueberrypie wrote: »Great weekend. Kids had a ball and will return next year we had a 6yr and 9 yr old with us.
Car park was a 5 min walk for us with the gear so no complaints about lugging stuff for miles. Easy check in and painless collection of bands. We arrived at 12.30pm on the Friday and the first field closest to the car park was only half full. By Friday night 2nd field closest to arena access point was filling up.
They would need more water points throughout the venue and some more showers in the main campsite. I counted 8 showers in total in my field of tents and 24 toilets.
(I am used to the pink moon at EP though).
More bins in the campsite for sorting rubbish, people were shoving everything into it. You had to be willing to walk to proper bins if you wanted to sort/recycle.
They did have a choice of bins in the main arena. All areas were spotless.
Security were pleasant, it was all fun and jovially banter with kids etc.
Slight bag checking going on, on entering the arena but no real confiscation of alcohol as people were not abusing the situation.
Queues for food were huge in the evenings, one family spent 2 hours queuing for a pizza on the Sat. I just went with the shortest queue "The Vegan Queen" 20 minutes.
More coffee stands needed for the morning again 20 minute queue but next year I'd risk bringing a small stove to boil water as others had done so this year (despite the rule).
Londis and food in general was expensive but we expected that.
Tappy option was good for the kids (and adults) if all stands took it.
The bar had one machine for all tills which wasn't ideal, cash was the faster option on Friday. Maybe they had it sorted later in the weekend.
The Hippodrome "stage" hosted CodordoJo introductions for kids and teens and I went to a play there. I love to break away from the crowds and the music for a bit. The Maze was great fun and the trail run on the Saturday morning through the grounds was beautiful.
I saw a few gangs of teens taking over the playground in the evenings, but they were harmless enough. Older teens were drinking and causing noise 1am Sat/Sun morning with an angry security guard dropping f-bombs again there was so few they incidents like this it wasn't a big deal.
I left BellX1 for KKC they were class. They opted for no masks, some audience participation and no bad language as it was a family gig and they still rocked it. 9yr old saying it was her highlight music wise. She enjoyed the Birds of Prey centre. (20minute q but worth it)
6yr old was falling asleep yesterday evening so we left after Wild Youth.
Thumbs up from us as family festival attendees.
I did see groups of adults and couples there, it must have been a difference experience, as there were footballs flying, kites blowing, games of chase at every opportunity (need to add here babies crying, siblings punching each other).
I wouldn't attend myself without the kids as I wouldn't see it as a weekend off.
Dying to hear if anyone went to ATN last year and Kaleidoscope and could compare?
Went to ATN last year and enjoyed it a lot more than this but I didn’t have young kids with me at kaleidoscope and I think it was aimed way more at young kids. Had 2teens 16 and 17 and they enjoyed it. Mind you was their first festival so will see how they think it compares to their next! Over all I wouldn’t go back unless I had young kids with me. ATN I am so looking forward to going back. It was a truly amazing experience0 -
We got home yesterday, we decided that for our first attempt at family camping with a festival thrown in for good measure that we would stay only the two nights.
Pros:
- Great atmosphere, a bit slow to get going on Friday evening but by saturday evening it was buzzing.
- Campsite was nice and tidy
- Venue itself is beautiful
- Wooded area, where the Teen and Junior events was held was very well done.
- King Kong Company were unreal as always, we were hyping them up to our kids (6 & 12) for the past few weeks, they didnt let us down. Such a buzz!
- Playground/Maze/Back Lawn area was a lovely space to hang out away from the main arena
- Staff and security - whilst clueless - were very pleasant and non intrusive.
- Food selection was good, perhaps not great for families and slightly expensive if you had a bigger family but it was typical EP fare
- Everyone was respectful of the kids and it felt very safe. Seen one little lad, about 3, who was lost, be comforted by others who then located a Gardai to help find his family. Things like that, as a parent, are heartwarming and reassuring to see.
- Some of the events were very cool and well done. We caught the Science Show on the front lawn which the kids loved, the joke illustration workshop, a bit of the drumming workshop and the Critter Shed down at the Junior Science and nature tent. That was unreal, the guy that presented was very cool and was enjoyed by both kids and parents.
- Caught Kila on the main stage and then their show in the Hippodrome. They're unreal. Really enjoyed both.
Cons:
- we had paid for Car Camping, which didnt happen. I presume refunds will be issued here? it cost €117 for the pass and postage, not a small amount by any means.
- Not enough water stations, they were also too high for the kids to use.
- Toilets could have been better maintained. There was also no division between men and women in the campsite. This is grand but they had urinal stations positioned in the middle of one batch of toilets, if you were going for a portaloo you couldnt help but see the men having a pee. I doubt kids would be too bothered but as the man, im sure it could have felt very uncomfortable knowing there were kids running around you.
- Signage was non-existant. We walked past the Teen Area twice before knowing what was in there. Im sure this resulted in a poor showing at some events.
- Queued up for the Sourdough making workshop on the Saturday morning only to be told that only the EIGHT kids who were there on Friday could participate. A ridiculous set up. The same Eight kids got to do three workshops over three days out of the whole festival? It makes no sense.
- LOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGG queues for coffee. Know your audience! Coffee is king, especially when hawking kids with you.
- My main gripe was the lack of coverage. At EP etc, where youve only to trace your mates, not having reception is a pain but not the end of the world. Where kids are concerned, its almost a necessity. We were reluctant to let our 12 year old off to explore as she had no way of getting through to us.
Overall our kids and us really enjoyed it. Weather played a huge part in it though, cant imagine how you could manage three days in the pissing rain with kids in tow. All areas were spotless, no rubbish anywhere.
The app was a disaster too. It looked unreal, very user friendly and well laid out but its pointless if its not usable due to connection issues.
As others have said, this is year one, im sure they will improve on things next year. Still, I wont give them too much leeway as they are experienced event promoters and organisers.
P.S if you lost a Samsung J3(no cover on it), we dropped it at the AIB Tappy Hut on the back lawn. There was a lost and found box in there, they didnt take any details from us, not sure how regulated it was? Unfortunately the phone was dead, would only power on for a second. Think it was a NI/UK registered phone but cant be sure. We found it beside the Naked Lady enroute to the Teen/Junior areas.0 -
forgot to add, the watch tower in the campsite collapsed a bit on Sunday afternoon. The young lad was still on top of it when a few of the bars fell off on to the tents below. It looked like nobody was hurt but that could have ended in tragedy as there were plenty of kids around.0
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Was hoping to bring my 2 boys next year. They will be 15 and 13 is there much to do for that age group, was there on my own this year so didn't stray too far from music tents. Any help much appreciated.
Re coverage while it was crap for lots of things I had set up my schedule on the app before going and it worked all the time and was able to make calls when needed.0 -
Had a great time. Lots of good points and a few negative but by far the most enjoyable part was the lack of internet. No iPads or parents ( including myself) stuck into their phones.
Good healthy outdoor fun with no gadgets.0 -
Overall we enjoyed ourselves, was a great weekends fun and we would go back.
Pros
- Atmosphere was brilliant, really chilled and laid back. Plus with everyone in the same boat re kids you felt safe letting them "off the leash" a little
- Activities were class (huge amount of money spent on carnival)
- Campsite very clean
- Tappy was brilliant (took a day for vendors to get used to it but once they did no issues)
- Was a perfect setting for the festival
- The back lawn with the play area etc was a great spot to chill for an hour
- Our kids had a ball at the junior wonderland
- Showers were amazing, so good to reset for the day
Cons
- Water, as other people have mentioned they need more stations or a separation between drinking water and cleaning water. I think the organisers got away with this given that every family was prepared somewhat
- Signage, both inside the venue and outside.
- Car camping – by far the worst thing that happened to us at the weekend. Landed at 12 and stewards wanted me to park way down at the end away from the campsite. Given the fact that I had paid 100 plus quid this wasn’t good enough. I’ll admit I was one of those that turned the car around and parked where I wanted, right beside where we pitched. We could see loads of families arriving at 5/6 in the evening and the stress levels were through the roof. Not a good start to the weekend.
- A printable timetable of music and events with a realistic map would have been great also.
- Gaps between acts were just too long, very hard to keep kids happy when waiting 45 mins for the next act to start.
- Security needed to really clamp down on the 12 o’clock curfew. We had people partying til 3am on Sunday morning!
Look it may sound like we didn’t enjoy it, but we definitely did! And would go back, just need to be a few simple tweeks here and there and it would be the festival of choice for years to come.0 -
Overall a great weekend, heres my tuppence worth:
Pros:
1. Great crowd, not one bit of trouble seen. Talked to a couple of Gardai whilst there and they said they have never been at such a trouble free festival. A big plus when you have a seven year old in tow.
2. Good range of activities for kids.
3. Wonderland area was fantastic and was magical for the wee ones.
4. No queues for the bars.
5. Decent selection of eateries.
6. Security was relaxed, they seemed to let people enter with drink and food with just a bag check to make sure you weren't bringing in anything dangerous.
7. The setting was fabulous.
8. The price of a family ticket was very afforadable.
9. Weather, thank you mother nature.
Cons:
1. The lineup was dreadful meaning that the main stage was deserted for much of the day and even the evening. Sunday headliner Tom Odell played to a crowd so small it was cringe-worthy. Felt like the size of a crowd you would get at 1pm at most other festivals. However there were some musical highlights if you dug deep enough, KCC were fantastic and Natty Wailer was a great end to the weekend. Organisers need to seriously beef up the acts for next year. Most of the families there only knew a handful of the acts, which meant that there was a real lack of atmosphere in the arena, its a perfect place for some retro acts tbh.
2. Caravan area. When we arrived Friday at about 2pm we were directed to the overflow caravan site which had no toilets,water, bins, waste water disposal. It didnt even have access to the rest of the campsite without making a 10 minute trip. Eventually a hole was made in the fencing and a couple of toilets were placed in the area, but still no water and bins, not great when you have kids.
3. WiFi...WTF??, its not the middle of Mongolia, its 20 miles outside of the Capital city. No WiFi = useless app.
4. Lack of toilets throughout the festival site, none at all in wonderland at all which surely is a must with kids.
5. Signage, was there any?
6. The Big Hooley Tent was much too small, it could have been a great focal point, but could only fit a handful of people in at a time.
7. Pizza. Its the staple diet of most under 18s and was served by one small van. People were queuing for over two hours at certain stages. Sort it out.
It was a great idea and I think it could turn into a highlight of the summer festival season, if these problems are addressed.0 -
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The queue for Pizza was gas. At one stage on the Saturday it was almost across to the other side of the food stands. We all love pizza, but not that much!
It does make you wonder though, were the pizza guys flat out making loads of money or were they just really slow at making them? Surely if you had a food stand the main priority would be to get the food out as quickly as possible. No point having big queues if you're only selling 10 pizza's an hour.
I just tended to go to the stand with the smallest queue. I went to get Fish & Chips on the Saturday and couldn't work out where the start of the queue was. Got talking to one lad there and he said that everyone there was just waiting for their order having been handed a number. He was waiting 25mins just for his food. It did look lovely but I didn't want to wait that long so went for a curry instead.
With regards to the Toilets and signage over the weekend, I was surprised at how far apart the Toilets in the arena were. There was ones to the right of the stage and the only other one that I saw were over the other side of the site in the middle of the food stands which oddly enough didn't have a sign over them.0 -
Anyone heard back from Kaleidoscope people about the car camping refunds? Was told yesterday morning someone would be onto me and still waiting....0
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How many stages was there, was there marquees too.
If you want to get into it, you got to get out of it. (Hawkwind 1982)
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bodhrandude wrote: »How many stages was there, was there marquees too.
Depends on how you count:
1 main stage with large self contained area
1 large marquee, Zozimus
1 middle sized marquee, Jerry Fish side show
1 small marquee, Big Hooley but room realistically for only 50 due to stage in centre
1 small marquee, Rumpledumpus but really only a tent for infants to play in with some music
Hurly Burly large cafe had a small stage beside it.
But the more I think about it, the better to describe this as a family festival with music than really a music festival. For most of the time there the music was a side show. Good weather may have played a big part in that, as if it had been raining the tents would have filled more, but as others have said above often bands were playing to a dozen fans, in empty tents0 -
QueenBitch wrote: »Anyone heard back from Kaleidoscope people about the car camping refunds? Was told yesterday morning someone would be onto me and still waiting....
Was going to reach out to them today to ask the same question. Did you go out to Ticketmaster or Kaleidoscope themselves?0 -
I messaged Kaleidoscope through facebook messanger
They got back within a few hrs looking for my contact details and said i would hear from them soon.0 -
Cons:
1. The lineup was dreadful meaning that the main stage was deserted for much of the day and even the evening. Sunday headliner Tom Odell played to a crowd so small it was cringe-worthy. Felt like the size of a crowd you would get at 1pm at most other festivals. However there were some musical highlights if you dug deep enough, KCC were fantastic and Natty Wailer was a great end to the weekend. Organisers need to seriously beef up the acts for next year. Most of the families there only knew a handful of the acts, which meant that there was a real lack of atmosphere in the arena, its a perfect place for some retro acts tbh.
If a popular Irish/UK act (Coronas, Kodaline etc) were headlining, then you open up to the 18-30 demographic attending, which changes the vibe of the festival.
The dull lineup with a smattering of alternative acts (e.g KKC, Kormac, La Galaxie) probably helps keep things family friendly.0 -
I actually thought there was an element of that on the Sunday, with more (old enough to get drink) teenagers around. I had assumed for Tom Odell, but obviously not.If a popular Irish/UK act (Coronas, Kodaline etc) were headlining, then you open up to the 18-30 demographic attending, which changes the vibe of the festival.
My main complaint on the music was the gaps, and on at the exact same time. Again, I would've liked my two to be able to go and explore the music and find artists for themselves, but with the lack of phone coverage that wasn't really an option unfortunately.0 -
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I think I read, probably earlier in this thread, that acts were deliberately run at same time to stop crowds rushing from 1 place to another. Not exactly safe given number of kids around, and doubly so when you remember the narrow bridge that linked main stage to Zozimus.
The 45 minute gaps were too Kong though, and bands a bit bland. Wild Youth at least had a catchy up beat vibe, raging I missed most of KKC as they seemed to have got the jist, Kíla as well just went full on session mode - but with kids around you want poppy or dance music for them to hop to. Bell X1 and Imelda May played a lot if low key bland stuff 1st (And Imelda's meet my family 10 minutes of a short enough stint killed more momentum), didn't see him but I can't imagine Tom Odell having them dancing in aisles. A lot of the other acts were just singer songwriters or small bands with little to entertain kids.
Ironically some friends we were with were praising the baby race in Rumpledumpus as being great craic.0
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