Cannot understand why people felt the need to take chairs into the word tent when it was a music tent - particularly when they park them in big lines right at the entrance!!
Couldnt get into the literature tent half the time either due to this as well - take up so much space and is just selfish.
 
When I got to a gig - I dont see deckchairs in the mosh pit!!
Most of the time people were in the word tent sheltering from the rain and having picnics and talking all the way through the music - stopping the real fans in geting in.
 

Sunrise was no different. People sitting in chairs in the middle of the tent. When I saw the Bees there was this one chap who refused to stand up even though he had x amount of people standing in front of him blocking his view. Weird. What's the point? Unless you need it medically etc but then don't sit in the middle of the tent.
 
 

What a shame but okay once you got through the metal and headed to the front

his profits were reliant almost solely on the chairs and yet tom still didnt use the word chair once!

Same with people with picnic rugs, they dont entitle you to 4 square feet of personal space...... must admit to taking some gleeful delight in walking over them( rugs, that is , not the people) 

I forgot the rugs - that was stupid as well - I'll just take 10 ft of space in the tent please for a family of four

And we blame the G*rmans when the sunbeds are all taken on holiday.
 

the only people i see with chairs where complete snobs, as for the rest of you that stood good on you
BAN THE CHAIRS

Erm... I took a chair, my missus gets a bad back quite easily. Simple solution was we set it up away to the sides, or in the case of the Sunrise, under the trees just a short way outside the actual tent. Agree that other peeps who were less thoughtful about it are pillocks, but banning the chairs goes a touch far.
 
Besides, if I didn't have the chair, I wouldn't have an epic pic of my missus sat in it under her poncho on Sunday night, looking like a portaloo with a head. I'll post it in a thread later.....
 

OKAY. A few words on chairs.
 
A wet muddy festival is a nightmare for me, as I have a dodgy (very painful) leg and can only stand for about 1 set duration (and, sadly, not the mosh these days). So I HAVE to sit down regularly. I do not, however, carry a chair with me as I do not think it is fair to others. On warmer years, when the Word hasn't been so packed with rain fleers, I have taken one and put it up right at the edge at the back. Those who park themselves half way up are just damn selfish though, and that comes from a "sitter"!
 
My heart dropped when they told everyone to stand up to allow more in the tent during a heavy rain spell, as I was already knackered, but I had to lump it. It would be great if there was a bit more covered seating at spots around the site for the ancient/decrepit, but it's a festival after all.
 
They should police the chair fiends - around the edge of auditoria only (all of em), and if it gets packed - all to stand.

My wife gets a bad back so needs a chair every so often. But she's not an arse about it unlike some of the inconsiderate chumps I've heard talked about here!

all chairs should be banned from the arena imo. maybe have some kind of licence for them which can be applied for in advance for e.g. disabled people

The problem seems to me that when it is very sunny, or very wet, people use the various tents as refuges.  So you get a variety of problems- chairs, blankets, pushchairs etc.  I overheard the poeple in the tent next to mine (who had babies) saying that they would just park their pushchairs and all their stuff in the Word for the whole day beaucse  it was the best shelter.  They didn't seem to care who was on!
 
An even bigger annoyance is people who come into the tents just for shelter and the talk loudly all the way through a performance.
 
The answer, it seems to me, is cheap and simple.  Provide a few  large marquess as sun/ rain shades with nothing in them (except maybe some picnic tables), then everyone will be happy. Why not?

Raffles


The answer, it seems to me, is cheap and simple.  Provide a few  large marquess as sun/ rain shades with nothing in them (except maybe some picnic tables), then everyone will be happy. Why not?

Totally agree with this, although they would be somewhat redundant on a dry festival. I would find such a provision a massive benefit. I might even be able to recuperate long enough to "go up front" for my more favourite gigs.

Raffles


The problem seems to me that when it is very sunny, or very wet, people use the various tents as refuges.  So you get a variety of problems- chairs, blankets, pushchairs etc.  I overheard the poeple in the tent next to mine (who had babies) saying that they would just park their pushchairs and all their stuff in the Word for the whole day beaucse  it was the best shelter.  They didn't seem to care who was on!

An even bigger annoyance is people who come into the tents just for shelter and the talk loudly all the way through a performance.

The answer, it seems to me, is cheap and simple.  Provide a few  large marquess as sun/ rain shades with nothing in them (except maybe some picnic tables), then everyone will be happy. Why not?

what an excellent suggestion! also means that you can keep your food dry, when it is raining

ok i will admit i forgot about the people who need chairs due to medical conditions, but as for the others a bit of consideration from them would not go a miss. i know we all pay to go into the festival and we all want to sit down from time to time but the middle of a tent is a bit much.

Like some others on this thread we sometimes have chairs, sometimes have one of those 3 legged stoools.  Hubby has rheumatoid arthritis and I have a dodgy back so there are times when it's wet and muddy that we have to take something to sit on (although there is seating in some areas it's usually always packed and cannot be relied on all the time!).  However, we are as considerate as we can be, usually only sitting whilst waiting and tucked away at the back somewhere if possible or we put the chairs away and put up with standing if it's getting busier.  I really would rather not carry around a chair or stool all day but afraid it would be a nightmare if we didn't.  Disabled people already get their own seating at most stages, why would they need to carry a chair?  It's the people who have difficulties but wouldn't qualify as disabled who would then be excluded.  I would have no problem with chairs being banned from tents but if it follows the same pattern as the smoking ban I doubt it would be kept to!!
 
What I have an issue with is people who still insist on spreading out on blankets when it's very dark and busy in the middle of the word tent, they deserve to be trodden on and are stupid! Oh, and the large family groups who make an enormous circle with chairs and then have a blanket in front, even though no one actually uses it because the kids all have their own chairs too!  Reduce the circle and let the kids sit on the blanket and if it's really busy get up or go sit further away or outside the tent.  This isn't a problem earlier in the day but later on when it's busy is just plain greedy and inconsiderate.
 
I think if you completely banned chairs in the arena you unfortunately would lose some of the mixture of ages and be left with mainly the young and super fit (I'm thinking of all those lovely teens) and I'm not sure that is what Latitude is all about.  

MrsBee,
completey agree about the blankets and the groups who sit around in big groiups taking up as much space as poss, and when it is wet chairs can be good but in the dry and the middle of a tent its is a pain.
the ones who sit at the back and the sides with chairs i salute you, the ones who dont..........um grow up and think about the others

I've got a seriously bad back myself but I find standing seems to help it - chairs should be banned from the small tents!  When you go to thetford forest gigs there is a line that people are allowed to put their chairs - but no right near the front and in tight rows so you cannot get through.
 
I nearly missed a band in the word tent due to this - perhaps a small section near the back or a totally ban on chairs and a shaded area as suggested.

It's another one of these problems that needs looking at from a different angle (this whole low marquee thing is a fresh perspective, for example).
 
There's nothing intrinsically wrong with chairs, smoking (well...), buggies, chains of teenagers etc... etc... as long as people are generally considerate and think a bit about what they're doing.
 
I've seen some great little family 'camps' or big gangs of younger people right at the back of the Obelisk or outside the side of the Word under the ropes getting some food in or a few quiet pints while the music plays on the stages. Put the same groups in the middle of a tent and it annoys people. That's just obvious. 
 
I quite liked having a bit of a slump against a tree up at the Sunrise for an hour or so, for example. You can get a distant view of the stage from 20-30 yards outside the tent that is often better than in the crowd, and there's a bar with happy staff, metal ashtrays, great toilets. Kids were building dens, fairies were juggling and blowing bubbles, the music sounded great and yeah, people had picnics. Clearly I wouldn't have enjoyed any of that in the front of the stage while Foals were on :)
 
It's the same with littering, coping with mud and the rest. A bit of common sense, a positive outlook and awareness of other people -- then all is good.