Crazy Squirrel
Active Member
We're trying to decide too. Looks like better weather to set up a tent this evening though.
Boomtown 2014 - new plans
- Thread starter The Mayor
- Start date
Crazy Squirrel
Active Member
Anyone know which gate to aim for if you want to camp in trenchtown on the back of the big hill?
Just read that a woman has died at Boomtown 
RIP
RIP
editor
hiraethified
She was just 31 years old too. Very sad. Her husband was at the festival too.Just read that a woman has died at Boomtown
RIP
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/aug/10/boomtown-festival-dead-winchester
ddraig
kicking against the pricks...
editor
hiraethified
Tell us more please 
ddraig
kicking against the pricks...
editor
hiraethified
Oh fuck, that is so sad.
Here's the review I've just put together to accompany my photos when I get them online:-
The last two Boomtown Fairs have probably been my all-time favourites in more than 30 years of festival experiences and once again the organisers pulled out all the stops with more fantastic new venues. This year Old Town included the amazing Jolly Dodger pirate ship where the attention to detail was simply mindblowing. The craft area was renamed “Whistler’s Green” and included The Old Mine stage, complete with revolving winch wheel, where the acts included some impressive names from World and folk music for the first time.
A whole new area appeared in the form of the Wild West with another 2 new tented venues called Rusty Spurs and Crazy Calamities, while in the woods a dub/reggae area called Tangled Roots appeared in a largish glade with an amazingly bass heavy sound system. Also at the far end of the woods the Wandering Word made an appearance with a strange mixture of poetry and hip hop. On top of these there were no fewer than 40 mini venues dotted around the various backstreets of the town, many of which were new for 2014.
Musical entertainment, as always, was right out of the top drawer and covered everything from ska to punk to reggae to folk to swing, as well as pretty much every dance genre you could possibly think of. There was the usual excellent choice of food caterers and noticeably less ketamine zombies stumbling around following an apparently successful campaign after the sad death of a teenage girl at the festival last year. In fact the age demographic, whilst still predominantly 20-somethings, did seem to be much broader as a whole this year.
But wonderful as Boomtown undoubtedly is, there were a few things that niggled me this year. The numbers had increased again significantly, with a rumoured 38,000 on site, and this was very noticeable with the venues becoming uncomfortably crowded for the more popular acts. The toilet situation I briefly commented on last year got worse rather than better. There are simply too few loos & those that are provided are poorly maintained. To add insult to injury you were invited to pay “£1 for a wee or £2 for a poo” in order to use the posh loos next door!
A 16 can limit was strictly imposed this year on the amount of booze punters could bring in and this was exacerbated by the fact that the previously wonderful Bad Apple Cider Bar was a pale imitation of its former self with a much reduced choice of ciders and perrys, most of which had already run out by the Saturday afternoon. There were ridiculous queues at the bars all over the site, which were totally understaffed courtesy of the frankly hopeless Peppermint Bars. And the sound at a lot of the venues was also very poor this year, especially late at night. I only paid one visit to the usually spectacular Arcadia and left very quickly in total disappointment. A lot of acts were also cancelled while stages were closed or suspended as a result of damage from both high winds and some heavy downpours.
I’ll definitely be back for Boomtown 2015. There is just so much imagination goes into the build and a line up which I personally think tops any other festival, that despite the negatives it still ranks up there as being one of the best festivals in the land. However I do feel that its best days may already be behind us. I hope I’m wrong!
The last two Boomtown Fairs have probably been my all-time favourites in more than 30 years of festival experiences and once again the organisers pulled out all the stops with more fantastic new venues. This year Old Town included the amazing Jolly Dodger pirate ship where the attention to detail was simply mindblowing. The craft area was renamed “Whistler’s Green” and included The Old Mine stage, complete with revolving winch wheel, where the acts included some impressive names from World and folk music for the first time.
A whole new area appeared in the form of the Wild West with another 2 new tented venues called Rusty Spurs and Crazy Calamities, while in the woods a dub/reggae area called Tangled Roots appeared in a largish glade with an amazingly bass heavy sound system. Also at the far end of the woods the Wandering Word made an appearance with a strange mixture of poetry and hip hop. On top of these there were no fewer than 40 mini venues dotted around the various backstreets of the town, many of which were new for 2014.
Musical entertainment, as always, was right out of the top drawer and covered everything from ska to punk to reggae to folk to swing, as well as pretty much every dance genre you could possibly think of. There was the usual excellent choice of food caterers and noticeably less ketamine zombies stumbling around following an apparently successful campaign after the sad death of a teenage girl at the festival last year. In fact the age demographic, whilst still predominantly 20-somethings, did seem to be much broader as a whole this year.
But wonderful as Boomtown undoubtedly is, there were a few things that niggled me this year. The numbers had increased again significantly, with a rumoured 38,000 on site, and this was very noticeable with the venues becoming uncomfortably crowded for the more popular acts. The toilet situation I briefly commented on last year got worse rather than better. There are simply too few loos & those that are provided are poorly maintained. To add insult to injury you were invited to pay “£1 for a wee or £2 for a poo” in order to use the posh loos next door!
A 16 can limit was strictly imposed this year on the amount of booze punters could bring in and this was exacerbated by the fact that the previously wonderful Bad Apple Cider Bar was a pale imitation of its former self with a much reduced choice of ciders and perrys, most of which had already run out by the Saturday afternoon. There were ridiculous queues at the bars all over the site, which were totally understaffed courtesy of the frankly hopeless Peppermint Bars. And the sound at a lot of the venues was also very poor this year, especially late at night. I only paid one visit to the usually spectacular Arcadia and left very quickly in total disappointment. A lot of acts were also cancelled while stages were closed or suspended as a result of damage from both high winds and some heavy downpours.
I’ll definitely be back for Boomtown 2015. There is just so much imagination goes into the build and a line up which I personally think tops any other festival, that despite the negatives it still ranks up there as being one of the best festivals in the land. However I do feel that its best days may already be behind us. I hope I’m wrong!
Last edited:
tbtommyb
Well-Known Member
i concur with that.
The Wild West is a really good addition and the pirate ship was great. I also thought the Old Mines and Tangled Roots made that corner of the festival feel much more alive. In fact, the top half seemed to be where most of the action was and the bottom half felt a bit empty, especially during the day when few venues were open. But then I did less late night raving this year so perhaps I didn't fully appreciate that bit. On a similar vein it seemed there were fewer drugs going around.
It would have been nice if more of the microvenues were open during the day.
The only unpleasantly big crowd I saw was for the Wailers. Trench Town felt a bit disjointed with just the Lion's Den and then Hidden Woods way away.
Shaggy was absolutely atrocious.
I think the festival is at a good size now and for the next few years I think it would be better if they didn't expand any more and focused on getting the logistics right. There weren't nearly enough toilets, they weren't emptied often enough and the water points were far apart and poorly signposted. More woodchip would have helped on the main thoroughfares. A lot of the things that were happening weren't really advertised e.g. the programme kept mentioning a carnival but not when and where it would be. We only realised there were daily news sheets on the Sunday so maybe it was in that.
Peppermint bars were so slow, especially the one by the Old Mine.
Generally though it was an amazingly fun festival and the strength of the performances was impressive. So much creativity and hard work goes into everything. They got dealt a bad hand with the weather but handled it pretty well overall. Considering it's only their sixth year I'm really impressed by what they achieved. The whole humour and atmosphere is wonderful. it's an antidote to all this Wilderness crap and so I really want to see Boomtown succeed. It's just frustrating that a few basics hamper it.
The Wild West is a really good addition and the pirate ship was great. I also thought the Old Mines and Tangled Roots made that corner of the festival feel much more alive. In fact, the top half seemed to be where most of the action was and the bottom half felt a bit empty, especially during the day when few venues were open. But then I did less late night raving this year so perhaps I didn't fully appreciate that bit. On a similar vein it seemed there were fewer drugs going around.
It would have been nice if more of the microvenues were open during the day.
The only unpleasantly big crowd I saw was for the Wailers. Trench Town felt a bit disjointed with just the Lion's Den and then Hidden Woods way away.
Shaggy was absolutely atrocious.
I think the festival is at a good size now and for the next few years I think it would be better if they didn't expand any more and focused on getting the logistics right. There weren't nearly enough toilets, they weren't emptied often enough and the water points were far apart and poorly signposted. More woodchip would have helped on the main thoroughfares. A lot of the things that were happening weren't really advertised e.g. the programme kept mentioning a carnival but not when and where it would be. We only realised there were daily news sheets on the Sunday so maybe it was in that.
Peppermint bars were so slow, especially the one by the Old Mine.
Generally though it was an amazingly fun festival and the strength of the performances was impressive. So much creativity and hard work goes into everything. They got dealt a bad hand with the weather but handled it pretty well overall. Considering it's only their sixth year I'm really impressed by what they achieved. The whole humour and atmosphere is wonderful. it's an antidote to all this Wilderness crap and so I really want to see Boomtown succeed. It's just frustrating that a few basics hamper it.
Thimble Queen
Called away to another place
Does anyone know the best way to get in touch with the organisers. I saw security restraining someone in a way that really concerned me.
Thimble Queen
Called away to another place
I'd rather not pay that much but 4.50 a pint isn't too bad for a big festival. I would've liked to get served a bit quicker tho
editor
hiraethified
Their website said:I'd rather not pay that much but 4.50 a pint isn't too bad for a big festival. I would've liked to get served a bit quicker tho
Thimble Queen
Called away to another place
There were pints of cider for 3 for a tenner also.
tbtommyb
Well-Known Member
yeah the good things far far far outweighed any bad.
