On Monday afternoon, we got in touch Isle of Wight Festival press people, looking to get a comment and answers to questions from Festival organiser John Giddings.
We were keen to have some feedback from John to share with our readers regarding the traffic delays on Thursday, the refunds issue and how things went in getting people off site.
We mentioned that we’d be covering the MP’s call for reduction in capacity and the various online petitions that had been set up asking for the Festival site to be moved.
We received a phone call back asking if we could wait as the highest priority for them was getting people off the site.
Being the understanding bunch that we are – we realise that they were pretty busy – we agreed to hold off running our article until the following morning, allowing time for some quotes to be gathered.
“We knew it was coming”Tuesday evening, after having to chase, we received the following from Festival’s press people.
John Giddings, Festival Promoter said, “We knew it was coming and had prepared for it, but a month’s rain in 24 hours waterlogged our fields, which resulted in slow traffic moving onto the site on Thursday.
“Over the weekend Solo in conjunction with the police, Isle of Wight Council and transport operators implemented a successful exit plan to prevent any congestion leaving the site, which included arranging a fleet of 4X4 vehicles and tractors to help festival traffic leave the campsite. The exit plan was a success with no reported delays.
“We would like to thank all the Isle of Wight residents who rallied round and gave their support and assistance in a number of different ways, their kindness is much appreciated. The atmosphere at the festival was second to none and we would like to thank festival goers for their understanding – it really is a testament to the people who attend. “
Not all issues addressed
As the statement didn’t address the refund issue, we followed up with, “Could we also have a comment from John about the situation with refunds, bearing in mind the comment he made on the BBC on Friday morning. It would be great to get a clarification on it.”
We were told, “There was clarification on the Facebook page over the weekend and there is no update since then.”
“Rumours … about ticket refunds”
So we searched back through their Facebook page and found this statement …
“There are lots of rumours circulating about ticket refunds and we just wanted to clarify. The situation has now been resolved and it is possible for everyone to access the site, enjoy the Festival and the music.”
The posting attracted 274 comments from festival goers, many angry at what appeared to be a u-turn on the refund offer made Friday morning.
Still doesn’t address issue We were told we’d have something with us today, but two days after first asking the questions, we still haven’t received a satisfactory response and have now been told that John Giddings is “not available to provide a quote.”
When we hear more, we’ll let you know.
Answers still needed
We were a little confused by the term ‘rumour’ being used in relation to the interview John gave to the BBC, so we queried how this was rumour and again requested clarification on what John had told the BBC.
As we explained earlier, we had a good time at the festival, encountered no problems with parking, traffic or mud, but as you’d expect from VB, that doesn’t stop us asking questions that people want answered.
