Event-goers blast day party for ‘abysmal’ facilities and queues

Attendees at a music event in Bristol on Saturday have spoken out about their “poor experiences”.

The music event organised by Tottenham-based brewery, Beavertown, took place at Propyard on Saturday, with big artists such as Channel One, Maribou State and Barry Can’t Swim billed for the lineup.

But the event quickly turned sour, with a host of negative reviews posted on ticket provider Skiddle within hours of the event.

Complaints included that there were too many people attending, the staff were unhelpful and there was a serious lack of facilities to accommodate people.

One reviewer complained that Beavertown and Propyard had “oversold tickets”.

Punters also complained about the lack of own music from the DJs – photo: Skiddle

“When we arrived we were told that the venue was at capacity and we were denied entry despite purchasing tickets weeks ago. Very disappointing”

Another added that “last entry time of 4.30pm was too early.”

“Resulted in huge queues for the bar and toilets for the first few hours.”

The lack of toilet facilities seemed to be the main issue, with many other reviewers raising it as their primary concern, with one reviewer stating: “Toilet situation was absolutely abysmal.

“For the amount of people there, there was not enough toilets and no effective queueing system.”

Another added: “‘We left just before 6pm and people were already peeing in the corners.” They also said they had voiced these problems to staff but had been ignored

“We had also notified staff that there was sick on the floor next to where we were sat inside, but no one ever came to clean it up.”

Responding to the complaints, a spokesperson for Propyard said: “We can only apologise to anyone who didn’t have a great experience at Beavertown this weekend.

“There were a number of colliding factors which meant that some of our facilities were put under pressure during the time that people were arriving at the event.

“We had a severe rainstorm in the lead-up to opening the gates and then in the first hours, which led to the vast majority of ticket buyers arriving at once.

“We dynamically changed the queuing system to get everyone in as quickly as possible. Our toilet provision follows the industry guidelines but on this occasion, it wasn’t enough.

“We have reviewed the provisions and we will ensure that in the future we provide more toilets for this kind of event to keep the waiting time to a minimum. We have noted all the feedback about the sound and we will ensure we implement the learnings on any future events.”

A spokesperson for Beavertown added: “As is the nature of live events, there will always be small issues that crop up on the day that need to be worked through as they happen.

“Given the size of the event the overwhelming majority had an amazing time. We loved the incredible crowd in Bristol and look forward to doing more events in the future.”

Main photo: Mia Vines Booth

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