Forever Young Festival 2023 14th-16th July

Lad GAGA

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120863213#Comment_120863213

All 'profits' from what I understand but open to correction.

Sexual Chocolate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120862751#Comment_120862751

Wasn't as packed as you think but obviously busier than Saturday.

Overall even with the weather been as **** as it was I had great craic at it. Tony Hadley was definitely the top performer for me, in fact he should of been the main act on Saturday night. Can't believe Andy Bell didn't play Sometimes 🤷‍♂️

ABC, Thomson Twins, From the Jam, China Crisis and Midge were great as well and for his age Billy Ocean too. Simple Minds and Depeche Mode tribute acts were also good.

The price of food and drink was shocking though, especially the drink but in saying that the Heineken was very nice.

It will be interesting to see what happens next year, I know very little about landscaping etc but I'd assume it will take a long time for the grounds to look normal again.

Sexual Chocolate

Think a nod of appreciation should be given to the lads in the 4x4s and tractors towing many people out today.

Ricosruffneck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120863448#Comment_120863448

How much was the Heineken? Not 7.50?

fillup

From their socials

8€ for a Heineken

And a whopping 7€ for a 330ml can of Moretti

#foreverrobbed

Mrs Shuttleworth

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120863448#Comment_120863448

Great to hear that those who managed to go still enjoyed it. The weather is so unpredictable. Earlier today it was beautiful and I was saying to myself the organizers must be doubly raging - but now it's bucketing out of the heavens in Dublin!

Jizique

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120863264#Comment_120863264

Easy to ensure very little profit after a suitable management fee and sundry charges

Phishwax

Whoever runs this event sounds like a right arse

riccol1966

We camped this year. I think the biggest issue was a) not using the Goff's entrance as they did last year, leading to a 1.5hr delay getting into the grounds and b) the lack of gridded walkways from campsite to toilets and food area. A 5-7min walk was taking 25mins in the muck, and this was serious muck. Organisers need to remember that camping takes the most effort, so you need to make things a little easier for us lot, otherwise we won't be back.

Lots of people sleeping in cars on Saturday night as their tents just couldn't cope with the deluge earlier that day.

But the music was yet again fab, and brought smiles to our faces. As mentioned by previous posters, Midge Ure, ABC, Billy Ocean, Soul II Soul, Tom Bailey, Squeeze, Cry Before Dawn, Tony Hadley and Qween tribute act were in top form. Andy Bell ... Mmmm, not enough songs that everyone knew for a closing act on Saturday night.. leaving out "Sometimes" was baffling indeed.

We left after ABC, as we'd heard the Sunday closer Bananarama last year (brilliant) but we still needed a tow from the rescue vehicle to get out of the car park mud. I dread to think how long it took people to leave on Monday.

Last year we got the sun, this year the rain. Hopefully lessons learned for future years.

Lad GAGA

Fully agree with riccol 1996 and also really enjoyed D Mode and the Simple Minds tribute band as mentioned by Chocolate. Actually wasn't too bad getting out yesterday, a few cars were being towed but there were one or two 'pathways' that people could drive through to get to the 'road' leading out. Never seen my car so dirty even the guy at the car wash asked me what happened my car 😂😂

Hotblack Desiato

I don't think those bar prices are bad at all.

A couple of weeks ago I was at Kraftwerk in Trinity, it was 7.50 for a Heineken / Orchard Thieves in there so very little difference. 7.50 for a White Hag Atlantean at FY is pretty good (it's stronger)

Incidentally I got a pint of Moretti in the Lombard Bar just before going in to Kraftwerk, that was 7.50 as well. 7.00 for a small can of Moretti at FY is pricy but there were plenty of other choices.

You can always brave the campsite and bring your own drink along.

Pretty bad if they didn't have any walkways around the busy areas like toilets etc. At the very least they could have put down a load of straw when it looked like the weather was going to be bad, that would have helped a bit. But outdoor gigs in Ireland are always taking a chance with the weather.

Ricosruffneck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120865763#Comment_120865763

It's water yeast and hops (and some other bits) that are mass produced in a factory.

It's pretty bad.

adrian522

"We are cheaper than most events and most Dublin Pubs"

Eh, No you are not. You are more expensive than most events and significantly more expensive than most Dublin pubs.

odyssey06

More variety, but prices more expensive than St Annes and Malahide events.

Heineken was €7.50, Islands edge was €7 and wine was €8.

Boooourns

Could you bring your drink from the campsite into the venue?

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120865802#Comment_120865802

Does it transport, chill, and serve itself?

This is as stupid as comparing the price of a can of beer X in Tesco with the price of a pint of the same beer in a pub.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120866741#Comment_120866741

Yeah, it's a ridiculous comparison. Still, not sure how they can seriously charge €7 for a 330ml can of Moretti though. If that's cheapest they can sell a 330ml beer for they shouldn't have bothered putting it on the menu tbh, it's not like it's a craft beer or anything.

Ricosruffneck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120866741#Comment_120866741

I read the fest was charging 7 euro for a 330ml. Were the bar people paid or was in exchange for ticket and camping? All important factors.

Doesn't take away from my main point. It's too much. 6 euro yeah perhaps, 6.50 hmm.

It's been a steady increase over the past few years. The marks up don't match with reality.

Hotblack Desiato

Why are you concentrating on the 7 euro for 330 can, which I already said was bad value. There were lots of better options.

6 euro for a pint at a festival? for real? There are already plenty of normal pubs in Dublin charging more than that.

This sort of whinging is completely pointless.

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120867661#Comment_120867661

It's not whinging, it's a valid query. Or should we not query the constantly spiralling cost of these things? You seem to automatically accept that a pint in a field in a plastic cup should automatically cost more than it does in a pub. Why is that? You reckon transport, chilling, labour costs more to set up in a field? The 330 ml price was outrageous, the rest are still open to question. Writing the previous poster's concerns off as 'stupid' is a bit condescending.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120867661#Comment_120867661

I posted the prices for outdoor events this summer elsewhere which were not cheap, and the Forever Young prices were higher.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120867923#Comment_120867923

Can you show us any instances where a festival or outdoor gig served pints cheaper than a pub?

A pub doesn't have to hire in all the equipment to run a bar and doesn't have to have generators etc. Or pay the festival organiser for the right to be there.

The previous poster was, to be frank, making a stupid comparison. Yes, mass market beers are quite cheap to brew. But then you have excise duty, VAT, packaging, transportation, refrigeration. That's just to get a can or bottle on to a supermarket shelf. A pub then has to pay for staff, licence, electricity, rates, insurance, etc. etc. all of which are expensive in Ireland. A festival has extra costs too, as above.

@odyssey06 50c more in most cases. It's not intended to be a cheap weekend given ticket prices, but putting on an event like this in Ireland is enormously expensive. Weekend campers could always bring their own drink into the campsite.

It's funny how the drink is causing uproar but not the food, don't festivalgoers eat?

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120868194#Comment_120868194

I posted a comparison with other outdoor events in Dublin which showed it was more expensive. Putting on events in eg Malahide park would also be enormously expensive.

Not everyone attending was camping and campers had to pay to camp.

So it seems entirely reasonable to point out that even by the standards of outdoor events it was extra pricey.

I think at those prices elasticity is going to kick in and they would sell more at lower price. So they may be shooting themselves in the foot.

adrian522

I get that prices at gigs and festivals will be more expensive than pubs, but don't go claiming that you are cheaper than other events and "most Dublin pubs" when it is just not the case.

Jizique

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120868263#Comment_120868263

At least the "profits" all went to a good cause

Dreamweapon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120868194#Comment_120868194

Nobody has posted food prices so we can't comment/compare.

I'm sure though that everybody just assumes the food was an outrageous price as that has always been the case at festivals, but even moreso post-covid. I'm certain some crowd was charging €20 a pizza at ATN last year! Personally, i'll vote with my wallet every time. Extortionate pricing? Not getting my custom.

fillup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120868459#Comment_120868459

No free flow on site so if u want a drink u have to pay those rip off prices

Also they weren't permitting food or snacks to be brought in from campsite or at point of entry so if u did want to eat you'd have no choice but to eat what's on offer. I've never heard of a festival having a food policy, It's pure "squeezing the last euro out of ur punters" tactics imo

Wasn't there myself BTW, just going bh what they posted on socials

Sexual Chocolate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120868459#Comment_120868459

One of the food vans, The Cheesy Chip (I think) was about €6.50 for a garlic/curry pour-over which seemed to be the norm but were charging an extra 50c for card payments.

All Bar Chicken was €11 for chicken tenders or €14 if you wanted chips with that however the tenders from there were probably the nicest I've ever tasted......

There was very decent variety of food vans down there in fairness.

riccol1966

Perhaps we are not usual, but for us the festival is about the music, not the beer. In 2019 the bar queues were appx 15mins. Last year the queues for the bars meant a wait of up to 30mins to get served. So we had one round of drinks then, and after that stuck to drinking water (freely available on site). This year we didn't even bother with the beers, because at €9 for a pint, it made more sense to have water and spend €13-€15 on our meals, which, quality wise, were ok. Again, not really important, as FY is about the music. As far as I recall the rules on not bringing food and drink into the arena have been in place since the first FY in 2019, its on the ticket and its on the website, so that's a moot point. Don't like the policy.. don't come. And, in truth you can easily enough pop out of the arena and grab something in the londis shop, if you're on a budget. Typical price was €10 for 2 sandwiches. Higher than normal but not arena level price.

Here's the thing about FY, the typical attendee is not interested in nabbing your gear, pissing on your tent or getting high or drinking to excess... we're passed that. Most of the people who attend, from what I can see, just want to have a good time and sing along to the music. There's no crushing, no hassle, it's just a much more relaxed vibe than you'll get anywhere else.. and that's the very reason our daughter would not chose this, instead preferring EP or Indiependence or basically anything more 'edgy'. Horses for courses.

seekenee

Pizza was 14 euro (with toppings). it was delicious.