Questions for Melvin about Latitude 2011 here please. Please keep this thread for questions only and read previous posts to check your question hasn't already been asked.  I make no promises as to how quickly Melvin will reply but he is keen to hear your thoughts, comments and dare I say it praise for this year.

THIS IS NOW CLOSED, AWAITING MELVIN'S REPLY.  THANKS FOR ALL YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS. 

Can you just get some seating for the Film & Music and maybe turn the volume up on the films, mate. The sound for Scenes From The Suburbs was rubbish and they didn't even show it on the main screen, only the two on the sides.

Melvin.  Is it better to live in luxury with a women you feel nothing for or in poverty with a women you love?  Other than that I really enjoyed myself this year and keep up the good work. 

No questions really, this years latitude was perfect to me. Out of the 5 festivals i went to this year (Reading, Wilderness, Truck, Latitude and Cambridge folk festival) latitude was by far the highlight of the summer. Providing a line-up that suits my musical tastes to a scary degree (booking two of my all time favourite bands may have helped a-bit! as well as a handful of interesting and fantastic new up and coming bands) and comedy and poetry to always be there if ever a sit down was required. Just keep things the way they are and i will keep returning time and time again! 

Is there anyway we can have less bands playing please? And have them playing longer sets? And most importantly of all have longer INBETWEEN bands? I can't be the only person who is bored and tired of seeing someone from the side of the stage making a cut throat gesture as the band on stage attempts to play their whole set. 

headliners starting half an hour later, and having an extra band on each stage would be good.

yeah i'd quite like the headliners to finish at like midnight or 1am.

can it please be obligatory for roger to wear a penguin suit? constantly.
oh, and are you giving both roger and annie a raise in line with attendance increases?
other than that, just thanks really - what bacca said does for me.

I would like to thank Melvin. It was my first Latitude and I thought it was great (apart from getting out on Monday). I also went to V and Field Day this year and Latitude was better than them (put together probably).
 
My question for Melvin is this: I couldn't get near BAFTA The Trip because it was rammed-tastic. I didn't even attempt NMTB as I'm sure it was the same (it was raining quite hard too). Is there any reason why these big name shows cannot be put on on The Obelisk or The Word. As I recall there was little or nothing else on whilst these shows were on, so a bigger arena should not have been a problem.
 
Many thanks
John L
PS - I'm willing to accept Depeche Mode or The Cure next year.

Hello Melvin.
 
Do you remember last year when I saw you guiding a man up a ladder?
 
Great days.
 
Thanks,
 
Nico

Hi there Melvin,
 
I'm going to actually ask a sensible question, someone above has covered the usual stuff. Only a couple to keep you busy, which I'm sure you are:
 
1) Do you have any plans to increase the capacity in the next 5 years again? I feel this year was perfect capacity wise
 
2) Any plans to change the layout again, or expand the site? I know this would take time and money, but I feel this year's minor restructure is enough for the capacity now, but if you were to increase it again, it would need some changes I guess.
 
3) How often does do the bands we beg for on here actually get in a look in? Such as Flaming Lips or Wombats? Not that that's a hint for next year or anything
 
4) Could we have the magnet board with words on it near the poetry tent again from 2007? I can't remember seeing it since
 
Thanks Melv.

1. Can you listen to the suggestions from the forum members, and other punters. Not sure if I saw the names Suede or Paolo Nutini mentioned once in the build up to last years festival. I have, though, seen Flaming Lips, Sufjan Stevens, Robert Wyatt, Bjork and Wu Tang Clan pop up uncountable times. How not one of these bands has appeared at the festival is bizarre, Bestival and Green Man both booking names from those lists in the last 2 years.
 
2. A covered sitting area would be good. Something like the sunrise area, but minus the music - maybe this would stop people sitting down in the Word arena and stop people getting miserably wet. 
 
3. Sorry if any of the up sounded rude and aggressive. Not intended.
 
4. Loved last years festival, and wouldn't changed much but for the rain. Keep booking good acts and maybe start the headliners later as I said above. Thanks, keep up the good work.

Had an excellent time at Latitude this year (not to say I didn't also have an excellent time in 2009 & 2010), keep up the good work
 
My questions:

1. FR manage Reading & Leeds - the band timings for these were published a week before the festival (carried on NME.com) - Why doesn't this happen for Latitude & will it be addressed next year, or will it be a bit random & last minute again?
2. The mobile app was dreadful - no need for all that music streaming nonsense, just the news & general info. Anyway, it was nigh on impossible to stream (crashed my HTC Sensation) ....
3. which leads to question 3 - there was no 3g signal (certainly not on O2) that I could get over the duration of the weekend at Henham Park - would it be feasible to get Voda/whovever to offer a free wi-fi hotspot or 2 across the site?
4. Mud - not a massive problem in the arena, but pretty bad between the campsite & arena. Hopefully there are plans afoot to deal with this should it happen again

Other than that, can you book The Indelicates for next year please?
 

Soopa Doopa again Melvin.  Lattude is the highlight of my year, every year!
After the 'young feel' of 2010 I felt that the balance was back this year.
I thought that the facilities were great (apart from the showers that took many a person's skin off due to being 40 degrees to hot), 10 out of 10 for the toilets.
The additional bridge was needed and certainly made the difference and I also thought Sky Arts done the festival some justice.  Just opening up the areana by that amount also made a difference...however did all thse improvements come at a cost, most notably out of the booking budget? 
 
Also with Glasto having its year off in 2012, will FR be looking to grab some of those punters by making Latitude slightly larger again?  If so is there already a plan in place to get in there early and start booking artists now, and is there a plan to prevent the chaos that happened on Monday when people were stuck for hours trying to get off site?

Excellent weekend had by all the family - thanks a lot.  For me a couple of improvements that could make a fantastic weekend even better - they are more requests than questions but it'd be interesting to have your views.
 
 
 Please could you bring back the Boutique Babysitting for 2012 ? This was a fantastic service - extremely professionally run and in my opinion good value for money given the setting. I missed out on a load of stuff this year because we couldn't leave our little one (who also loved the experience in BB) in the evenings.
 
 Please don't bring back the "fairground fishing game" in the family camping. The "prizes" were cheap, plastic, instantly breakable and mainly police, army or gun related - not very "latitude".
 
Can you please invite back the "responsible fishing" arts collective, stone balancing people. This was great simple fun for adults and children  - very "latitude"
 
Please have more toilets for ladies in the arena  15-20 minutes waits for the loo aren't really fair when us blokes can just walk in walk out with no queue. Toilets in the family camping were brilliantly managed and cleaned.
 
thanks again and look forward to next year.
 

to interrupt an otherwise worthy thread...but who or what are the wombats, apart from being some kind of marsupial, that is...?
i always find groups named after animal something of a mistake, still that's just me, but Josie and the Pussycats were awful ...
 
anyway....my real question is...
 
is Latitude still going to remain a destination of choice for the older, or rather the more discerning audience/festival goer, who find current trends in indie music at best an irrelevance, at worst....boring....
will Latitude keep to its original remit, and offer the widest possible range of music, film, literary and performing arts ? ....did leave out visual arts as you obvious have no idea anyway ... quite right too
 anyway, all us in the so called squeezed middle would really like a festival to cater, a least somewhat, to our demographic, you know, some older acts, and some of the new stuff that is not just desperately chasing the teen audience...what do you think
 
the young might think they have a disposable income...only us oldsters actually have disposable income

Hello Melvin,  many thanks for Latitude 2011! Whatever you did made it feel so much better than 2010 (despite the weather). I think you have the 'balance' just about right with acts as diverse as Bellowhead and Adam Ant (a surprise hit for me) and so many good things in the Literary and Poetry tents.
My only 'want' for next year is rather more world music: any chances of that happening?

Despite the weather, Latitude 2011 was superb. The promised rejuvenation of many facilities as well as the more fundamental changes to the layout worked brilliantly, I thought. Great staff this year, excellent facilities, much cleaner and more practical all round with more space. In particular, I needn't have worried that the extra bridge and pushed back Word tent would alter the atmosphere up at Sunrise. It was a terrific stage once again. Myself and many friends will be back again next year and after all the promises were delivered, I have no complaints at all. A few questions though - why not?
 
1. Latitude seems to have been let down over the last few years by partners leaking announcements. This has a knock on effect in managing the build-up and inevitably FR get the flack. Will you take steps to plug up some of these holes this year so that you can stage manage the gradual act announcements in a happier way? A nice chunk of big acts early on is great, but eking out some other big acts together with the fringe stuff and keeping a stonker or two in the wings is always good.
 
2. Whatever you did differently in hiring volunteers and paid staff around the place this year really paid off. I was particularly delighted by the ability to get the campsites up and running way ahead of the 2pm gate time this year, enabling (presumably) the health and security heads to make the brilliantly sensible decision of letting people in as soon as they arrived in order to get there tents up ahead of the rain. Started everything off on a great footing, and made us feel like everything was being run smartly. I know a few teams had to be improved after 2010, but will you continue to maintain and improve this year's focus on staff -- security, campsite crews, toilet cleaners, pixies in the woods etc... were all the best ever.
 
3. The overall bill was as rich and interesting as ever with gems to be found somewhere at any given time. However, with no Glastonbury this year, will you commit to booking a few genuinely impressive headliners for 2012? I know your feelings for Paolo and so on, but the only thing this year's festival really lacked were big acts that were on everybody's lips before and during the festival. I don't mean the latest teen indie dream, or even something to my taste, but some headliners that will be more certain to impress and excite.
 
4. I'd never attend a festival that relied solely on 'heritage' acts at the top end of the bill. But with such an extensive lineup, Latitude managed to slip in inspired treats like OMD, the Bunnymen and Adam Ant who can still perform and delight without affecting the overall feel of the bill. Hopefully there will still be space in the future for the likes of Sparks, Roxy or other retro acts that can still cut it?
 
5. Will you continue to produce the nice chunky paper-based old-school festival guides for under a tenner please? Clash guides and apps can all work if done well, but I'd miss these books.
 
6. Any chance of getting the right sound system, security etc... in place to get another inspired 'midnight series' booking on the Waterfront again, like the Daniel Kitson/Gavin Osborn stories from a couple years back? I know that particular booking was pretty weather dependent (and I did love the woman performing acrobatics under the floating balloon this year!) but wouldn't it be possible to have a band/artists on a floating platform in that great setting after lights out? Just a thought now the two bridges frame the lake so well...
 
7. Will there be early-bird tickets available this year, and if so, any idea of when they might go on sale? 
 
8. What changes in number of visitors, arena capacity, ticket pricing (if any) do you have in mind for 2012 and beyond?
 
9. Have you booked/approached a Sunday midday act for 2011 yet? Regardless of their undoubted talent, the Belgian girls' choir didn't have the same word of mouth buzz and excitement over the weekend as some previous acts and I think something really special to build-up to for that slot is a powerful booking. Are you still committed to 'The Joanna Newsom Slot'?
 
10. Have you set dates in stone for 2012 yet? You probably know by now, but Suffolk state schools haven't broken up in time for Latitude these past two years which has meant that children from normal local schools have to bunk school or not come, while teachers cannot come unless they join up with friends and family at least a day and a night into the experience. Also, heads are really cracking down on allowing pupils to skip days next year with many already informaing parents. this means that attendance is possible for large bunches of private school children from across the country, but very difficult for everyday local families and those working in education. Any intentions to look into this? Seems rather incongruous with the whole Latitude emphasis on local, green and family?
 
**Above all, THANK YOU. Latitude was, is and always has been a highlight in the year for me and so many of family and friends. Long may it continue.**   
 
 
 

Genuinely had a ball this year and was very impressed at the general rethink and timely refresh. I'd love a really top-notch 'Latitude-in-a-nutshell' live act heading the bill next year, and something that bit special on the Sunday, but other than that, more of the same please, it was terrific. All you needed was a decent coat, a big smile and a tricorn hat. 

Before I annoyingly copy and paste my questions from the other thread, I'd like to echo Fiveuke's praise for Latitude 2011. It was a really good weekend. I think it lacked a WOW act lime I saw at 2009 (i.e. Fever Ray and Pet Shop Boys) but it was a solid line-up throughout and there was always something good to watch so well done everyone. My only real request would be to bring back a big WOW act for next year.  
 
As promised, here are my C&P questions:
 
Melv, why didn't Latitude sell out this year? (Or why did it take so long to sell out, if we are going with the 'it sold out on the day of the festival' line) 
  
Who were the best acts you saw, music and non-music? 
  
What did this year's festival teach you about the future of Latitude Festival? 
  
I think Glastonbury is having a year off next year. What effect will this have on your planning for festivals in 2012? 
  
Will there be a Latitude 2012? 
  
You know how at the end of the Olympics where the head of the Olympics Federation does a speech and is obliged to say "THAT WAS THE BEST OLYMPICS EVER"...well I know you have the same obligation re: Latitude Festivals but in all honesty how would you say this compares with other years, for better and for worse?