the mo beats experience Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 With the news of the troubled Mannifest and the upcoming Bay Festival about to make announcements in October in mind, how do you think a festival would get off the ground here? Other small islands have very successful festivals, so why have we been such a slow/non starter? My opinion is that Mannifest didn't go far wrong with what they were proposing. Variety, not bad price for what was on offer over the whole weekend and decent venue with camping. IMO all they needed was "that" killer act, and maybe not having tickets on sale here may have provided a problem with the lazy manx attitude. I don't subscribe to the idea that 50 sheets was a lot of money for it, a weekend camping with a load of bands and DJ's? Bay festival has a harder job IMO. Not that great a venue at Nobles, noise will carry so it'll be all shut up and finished for 11pm. Its handy only for the police and a handful of people, the tent holds what? 10,000, can you imagine all of them leaving at 11 and trying to get a taxi? So if it were a different venue where you'd be able to camp, but then they'd have to entertain through the day like a proper festival. No variety except for the fact they can have a different theme each night because its not a camping festival. Not a great track record for getting acts anyway, so a hard job on to get that 10,000 in the first place. Website says they're guaranteeing an A lister for each night, don't know about anyone else but when you say an A lister for a gig, that brings up some pretty big names in my head, names that i just can't see doing it. IMO it'd be better served having 3 or 4 decent acts that people have heard of. Whats peoples opinions? How could it be made to happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I think they're trying to go from zero to mini-Glasto too quickly with the Bay Festival. It should grow organically. And it needs a theme to hold it together and make it stand out from all the 100s of other festivals. Mannifest was never going to work for many reasons. Ticketing price/policy, acts, organisation etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the mo beats experience Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 Mannifest will benefit from this and a year more in planning, ticket prices were not an issue, maybe to the sort of person who only goes to gigs at the traff cos they're free. Bay's trying to be a gig in a tent in a field, not a mini Glasto, is that how it comes across? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjh Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 For a start there needs to be far much more publicity. Most festivals are featured in big name music magazines: NME, Mojo, Wire, Uncut to name but a few. Secondly, as already mentioned, there needs to be a "crowd-puller". The average music listener hasn't heard of Easy Star All Stars, no matter how popular they may be within the "muso scene". Couple that with a few Manx bands just does not a festival make. When you compare the line-up of Mannifest to that of the Isle of Wight festival (Neil Young, Prodigy, Maximo Park, Pixies etc), you can see the difference. The Isle of Wight festival may be £150, but I'm sure had a Manx festival had the same caliber of acts they could have hoped for a similar level of ticket sales. Providing a bar on site doesn't really work, as the majority of people will be likely to bring their own alcohol - meaning a loss for any company that decides to sponsor/run the bar element. Also, for some unknown reason the £50 price tag has seemed to have put people off. Maybe a more user friendly figure of £35 would have been appropriate, especially given the acts playing. All in all I think that this is a case of "too little, too late". When you consider the number of people present in the Trafalgar or Bushys Basement Bar on a Friday night (often also young people, who don't have a disposable income), it becomes clearer as to why this event has sold so few tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Mannifest will benefit from this and a year more in planning, ticket prices were not an issue, maybe to the sort of person who only goes to gigs at the traff cos they're free. Bay's trying to be a gig in a tent in a field, not a mini Glasto, is that how it comes across? If the prices were not an issue then why did very few sell? The policy of having to buy a full 2 day ticket was an issue. I would have went to see Kosheen - but not for £50. mini-Glasto is probably the wrong term but I think it's trying to be too big too quickly. Put on a smaller festival with some great acts (don't have to be household names), price it right, run it well and word of mouth and reputation will enable it to grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oogie boogie Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 As Mutley says, this has been the biggest problem (aside from the slack arsed promoter) I know alot of people who wanted to go to Kosheen but couldn't stand Dub and felt slightly conned paying for a two day ticket when they on ly wanted to go to one of the days. Again Kosheen and Easy Stars aren't exactley headline acts and I feel if they'd put a bit more effort into booking, even used Mannifest as a sister festival to the big chill, guilfest, whickerman or some of these smaller festivals they could've had a similar line up. A lot of acts only use the Isle of Man as warm up gigs for bigger shows anyway. Kaiser Chiefs and Snow Patrol are good examples of this, Even Brian Wilson played here just before headlining Oxygen. I'm sure acts could be booked for cheaper on this premise. I agree to some extent about the ticket price but If you were staying for the whole time then yes it was a very good price. What alot of people seem to forget it the capacity for this event is a lot smaller than other festivals. On ticket costs alone he's only dealing with £75K. That isn't a lot of money at all to play with. I think a massive massive mistake has been very little to no communication with artists involved. This has completely shook the confidence I have in the event, and the message sent out recently have only confirmed my feeling towards the event. I think the Bay guys will do a really good job. Nobles is a bit of an odd place to have it and I can see it'll be a ball ache when kicking out time comes, but I'm sure it'll be successful. I do think they shouldn't be using that 10K cap. tent though. Way way too big. knock it down to a smaller 6 or 8K and you'd be laughing for a full house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeky boy Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Whats peoples opinions? How could it be made to happen? There are already several successful festivals on the island held under canvas and finished by 6pm So if you want to attract thousands of paying customers to a muddy field just put up twenty marquees and fill them with chickens, sheep and homemade jam In fact there's one on in Sulby this Friday & Sat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alibaba Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Cheeky Boys point is excellent. I was down at the southern show the other week and there were easily 2000 people there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Cheeky Boys point is excellent. I thought it was flippant and irrelevant. But there ya go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebees Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Nah, Cheeky boy has quite a valid point, we don't deserve a music festival. Some people have been traveling to the UK to attend festivals for years, 15-20 years BEFORE it became the next great thing - there are too many egos here for it to work, the only people who know how to have carefree fun are the farmers, bring on the Sulby show! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deejay Denzel Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 It's hard enough getting people to go to the pub these days, never mind a festival! For those of you out there interested in Hard Dance... a bit of a deal for Isle of Man folk.. Atomik Weekender II - 6th – 9th November 2009 Hello Everyone, just to help you along the way with getting yourself booked up for Atomik Weekender in November, Atomik are going to be laying on Coaches from Heysham to Atomik. So whether you book VIP and arrive on Thursday or VIP/Silver/Gold and arrive on the Friday.. if you get the Ferry to Heysham at the following times below, there will be a coach to take you to the Atomik Weekender and back! (you must book the boat yourselves though). If you have already booked Atomik but would still like to get on this coach please let me know. IOM>Heysham>IOM Ferry Details Date 5th or 6th November Depart Douglas @ 08:45 Arrive Heysham @ 12:15 Date 9th November Depart Heysham @ 14:15 Arrive Douglas @ 17:45 Operator Steam Packet Ferries – Price approx 39 GBP Atomik Room Types 1 bedroom apartments for 4-5 people 2 bedroom apartments for 6-7 people £109 per person in SILVER £115 per person in GOLD £165 per person in VIP All tickets are plus 6 GBP booking Fee Lower deposit of 36 GBP to secure the booking Final payment due 15th September Silver Tickets include Basic Accommodation Electricity Bed Linen (must bring towels) Private bathroom with bath Weekend Lanyard & wristband Entrance to all arenas from Friday 6th Check out Monday 9th @ 3pm Gold Ticket includes Standard Accommodation Electricity Bed Linen (must bring towels) Private bathroom with shower Weekend Lanyard & wristband Entrance to all arenas from Friday 6th Check out Monday 9th @ 3pm VIP ticket includes Club Accommodation Electricity Bed Linen and towels Private bathroom with bath Weekend Lanyard & wristband Private party on Thursday 5th November Entrance to all arenas from Friday 6th Check out Monday 9th @ 3pm VIP Bar VIP entrance to all arenas Free Wifi Atomik CD For more information on Atomik, go to the website: www.atomikweekender.com. To Book, Call Jade on 08700 111169 and Quote Ricky@Full-on for this offer or send me a message with your name and number and a good time to call you... and we will! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.