So heres the plan, how about everyone write in a 'list format' perhaps in importance of things they feel need to be improved on and maybe explain why if it isnt obvious, and also note some things they felt were good or that had got better, that way Festival Republic will REALLY begin to gain a picture of what needs to happen next year.



Praises:

1) The comedy arena was really good actually, the sofas were cool and the extra flanges to the tent was a cool feature.
2) enjoyed the stuff on the lakeside more than ever before .
3) the expansion and increase in numbers of bars did help to speed up time to be served actually.



Suggestions:

1) Get a Glastonbury style ticketing system - to prevent idiot teenagers etc getting tickets by touts (Viagogo) and ruining the family friendly festival feel.
2) Reduce the capacity of the festival - it was ridiculous (NME said the capacity was expanded by 10,000?) WHAT THE HELL MELVIN?!?!
2) Choose a less mainstream choice of headliners - to prevent the truely hellish and brutish behaviour of some.
3) Get rid of the major corporate evil sponsors, the exclusivity of the times and vodaphone was just an obserd idea for a 'boutique festival'.
4) sort out the most simple things we expect such as Toilets being cleaned and emptied daily, the bands staying on time and the most basic rules being enforced e.g. no flags and cans (ive never seen so many underage kids drunk off cans of strongbow in the arena).

1) LOWER THE CAPACITY. CIRCA 2007. 15-20,000 PEOPLE, God damnit.

2) More bins?

3) Bigger screens at Obelisk Arena AND Comedy.

4) Under 18's campsite - I know I don't camp because my boyfriend only lives 15 minutes from the site but why don't you stick the little ****s together so they don't ***s the over 18's off? Kids below 18 are annoying and need to be shot. (im talking about the 13-17 year olds that are living off mummy and daddy's estate) I know this wouldn't happen but its a suggestion to say the least ;]

such a simple request..........FIX THE TOILET DOORS so that they all close properly, its very annoying !!!!!!
and praise? thank god there are screens in the word tent!!!!!
xx

All of the above, especially the capacity!  

It seemed very very very crowded, far more people than I anticipated.  This made it impossible to get into some of the tents.  Queues everywhere, and frankly I skipped a lot of stuff I would have liked to see because you couldn't get in striking distance.

I stayed in family camping which seemed very civilised - great loos, however it was a heck of a schlep from the carpark with all the stuff one requires for a family.  I was physically exhausted by 6pm on Thursday.  Any chance of a drop off point where you could put down baggage before moving cars to a more distant carpark, perhaps even for a fee, to manage number of users?  I'd happily have paid for an extra like this as carrying everything was brutal.  Consider saving someone an hour of time - it's got to be worth a tenner.

I think you could do with some more comtemporary traditional or celtic music - I'd love to see the likes of Blazing Fiddles, Lunasa, Dervish, Bellowhead - not just pseudo-folk like Mumford and sons.

I thought line up was good.  Having some people with chart success was the reason I talked my 15yr old into coming with me.  She would have refused to come otherwise, sad but absolutely true.  The Feeling were my personal fav.

I wonder if the current fashion for large carts for kids is a fire hazard in the tents.

I'd like to see more street theatre acts which you don't have to queue for.  They have loads of these at the Larmer Tree festival and they are really brilliant and create unlooked-for moments of sheer delight. 

I don't know if anyone else will agree with this comment but at times it felt that there was simply too much going on.  Far from being laid back, I was constantly fretting that I was missing something better somewhere else and by the time I got there, I couldn't get close (The Coral being a prime example).  I was running about like a Blue Arst Fly.

Great selection of food, but some was decidedly dodgy.  Noodle Bar, I'm looking at you, would it kill you to put in a bean sprout?  What about a big board where you can post reviews of the food?  Or is there a website with festival food reviews that I've missed?

We had a great weekend and I'd like to thank you for that.  But I think if you changed one thing, it would be to reduce numbers, even if it means reducing number of things going on.

I love Latitude - have been to four out of the five now (missed last year).

I only really have one quibble - and it is the same complaint I've had in previous years.

Please can there be somewhere after the bands finish where people can go and listen to DECENT music? As was the case other times I have been, all the late-night venues play the same type of stuff - ie 'cheese'. On Saturday night we had both Sean Rowley's 'Guilty Pleasures' and 'Club de Fromage' on at the same time. Both play exactly the same type of music! The Lake Stage DJs, the small tent in the arena and Swaparama all seemed to have a similar theme. True, Mark Lamarr played some good stuff in the soul/ska/dub line - but why is there nowhere that plays good 'alternative' music - ie indie/post-punk and alt rock and pop classics?

This is particularly odd given the type of acts Latitude puts on. Most people who are fans of bands like The National, the Horrors, the XX and Belle and Sebastian do not want to listen to Billy Joel, Michael Jackson and Spandau Ballet! Perhaps the organisers think everyone suddenly develops bad taste at 11pm. I can take the odd 'cheesy' track, but I'm afraid a whole DJ set of it makes me want to kill people. 

I remember from a couple of years ago when we all went back to our tents disappointed that there was nowhere we could go where we could hear and dance to good music to round off the night. Unfortunately it was exactly the same this time.

There are loads of decent DJs out there who would fit the bill really well - 'Feeling Gloomy' would be great, or how about Marc Riley, Alan McGee or Eddy Temple Morris? Or the guys from Adventures in the Beetroot Fields, White Heat or Club Fandango? (If all else fails, I know a really good young DJ - or sod it I'll do it!)

Just give us somewhere where discerning music fans can go after the bands finish and where we can be guaranteed not to hear 'Uptown Girl'. Thank you!

A ticket for Glastonbury is only mildly more money, not sure if I can afford Latitude next year.  Its too exspensive for what it gives.

Taps in the woods. £2 for a bottle of water takes the urine

1) Decrease the capacity - this is the 3rd year I've been - and the 1st year were the crowds were too big - not to mention the type of crowd that the extra numbers seemed to draw in.. the two disgraceful attacks which occurred, the drunken louts and horrendous amount of litter suggests some of the bands chosen & the extra capacity were a mistake.

2) Some of the litter issues inside the main area was more to do with the lack of bins - you can't add several thousand extra people and not increase the number of bins! By about 1pm every day most of the bins you could see were overflowing.. not a good sign!

3) More loos!

4) Send the sound techies back to sound school - at least 3 bands I heard had poor sound issues - The Xx - bass was far too loud and kept distorting to the point were the songs couldn't be heard. Temper Trap & The Maccabees - for both bands the sound wasn't as good as it should of been.

That said.. it was still a great w/end and still had many highlights.. just hoping (like many other people on the forum it seems) that this isn't an indication of the direction Latitude is taking..

Forget! Major gripe!

5) The bar staff in the beer tent to the left of the main stage.. awful. They were ****. And I mean ****. Waited almost 20 mins at one point to be served - whist stood at the front of the bar! When the staff did turn up I'd say they'd been out back for a smoke.. as they didn't seem to have a clue what they were doing. This happened a couple of times - didn't have any issue at any other bar..

Just had a flashback watching mumford and sons and the bass coming from the Word arena was disgraceful, completely ruined the set for me. Sort out either some sort of sound barrier or have loud acts on at the same time and quiet onces at the same time so to prevent dance bass lines ruining an acoustic show at the obelisk, lake stage and even the sunrise etc!

Praises -
Larger capacity in the comedy tent, although it was still hard to get in.
Very nice woman on the main bar who gave us a souvenir cup in return for a joke.
Despite the crowds it was still relatively easy to get to the front for some of the smaller acts.

Suggestions -
Bring back the compost toilets
Where were our recycling bags on the way in? so much for green credentials
Why were there so many paper cups in use? there was **** everywhere
Why are people allowed to smoke/have fires in the woods? its been so dry that surely cant be safe
Ban all welly, hot pant, aviator shade wearing clones
Bring in the stocks for toffs found talking loudly during acts

googlewhack
 

Very nice woman on the main bar who gave us a souvenir cup in return for a joke.

Yeah she was by far the best barmaid. There was one point where I'd been waiting for ages being ignored by all the blokes serving young girls before me when she magically appeared from out the back and came straight over to me and said NOW YOU LOOK LIKE A MAN IN NEED OF A DRINK, like some kind of magical beer queen. Always seemed happy and cheerful and willing to chat to people too.
 
THUMBS UP

Oh yeah, forgot about that - WHERE THE **** WERE THE COMPOST TOILETS??

Praise:
* Screens in the uncut - excellent; meant kids could see something as well
* The ballet. Never seen ballet before - loved it
* Lake stage - everything that was on it on Saturday deserved to be there imo
* Day parking was in a better position

Suggestions:
* Oh god, do something about the litter. It was *horrible*. Yes, you need more bins. You also need to educate people - BBC Suffolk have run a "Don't be a tosser" campaign about fly tipping. That's about the right level - with bloody big signs as you come into the arena
* I don't think local outlets got tickets to sell this year did they? I mean, places in Halesworth and so on? There don't need to be many, but some would be nice
* I think you need a *bit* more space for that many more people. Not much, but you need to find a bit from somewhere - especially if there's going to be half eaten food everywhere

steven1985



So true, booking Mumford and Sons was a huge mistake, my girlfriends 60 year old mum almost came because of them.

 
Pardon!

1) Bringing back the compost loos would be a good call. We made a special trip to the woods early on, only to find that they weren't there.

2) There seemed to be a huge shift in demographic from the previous yr (understandable given the headliners). Perhaps in future festival goers should be required to sit an exam before attendance. Eg....

.....Question 1: Are you the kind of dickhead who marches around shirtless and considers Florence to be a harbinger of quality toons?

1) Yes
2) No

Praise:
The range of things to see/hear was great - really amazing
Seating at the Obelisk Stage is a good option.
Enjoyed the food.
Driving in and out was really easy.
Thanks for fixing the fabulous sunshine.
 
Suggestions:
Does going to the toilet have to be so traumatic.
Please open the gates at the posted time - we were standing in a queue on Thurs pm for a very long time - health and safety is not a good excuse.
Make lit and poetry spaces bigger.
Don't do the Tom Jones thing again - why the inadequate venue on Thursday and why was hearing him on Sunday a surprise - a good surprise but I had not heard anyone announce it.