News / Arts
Massive Attack promoters respond to crowd complaints
Massive Attack’s all-day festival on the Downs was an event to live long in the memory for many.
Massive Attack back in Bristol and what a night – big sound, big emotions and even bigger messages pic.twitter.com/ygrhA7WBvw
— Suzanne Rolt (@SuzanneRolt) September 3, 2016
But for others, the event was marred by what they perceived as poor organisation with epic queues for the bars on site.
is needed now More than ever
Great #Bristol homecoming set from @MassiveAttackUK on #TheDowns tonight but so many questions to answer around event management – very poor
— Phil Gibby (@philgibby) September 3, 2016
Responding to criticism of the event, organisers said that the vast majority of ticket holders – some 18,000 people – all arrived within a two-hour window between 6pm and 8pm putting pressure on the bars.
Despite 220 metres of bar frontage on the Downs site and 450 bar staff on site, some gig goers said they were in a queue for drinks for up to an hour.
This conversation on the Bristol24/7 Facebook page was typical:
Event organiser Tom Paine said: “With today’s weather and heavy rainfall, the vast majority of ticket holders arrived late in the afternoon. 18,000 festival goers arrived between 6pm and 8pm.
“This did mean that there was a lot of pressure on the bars and food vendors all at once, with bar staff serving 200 people per minute.
“By 9pm the bars were all running freely again and we’d like to thank Bristol for your patience and for queuing so politely.”
Read more: 109 things to do in Bristol in September