Festival-goers have told of chaos at Northern Kin Festival with three-hour queues and cars - and even wheelchairs - stuck in mud.
The County Durham camping festival which opened its three-day run in the grounds of Ushaw Country House on Friday has been inundated with complaints from music fans about the site and facilities including broken toilets and lack of lighting. Among them was Annette Oxley from Carlisle who ended up leaving early, missing her favourite band. "It was an absolute disgrace," she said.
The festival has apologised for issues caused by weather conditions, which resulted in staff working until 3.30am and vehicles having to be pulled clear of boggy ground by tractors, saying the state of the ground had been "a shock". And it explained "towing vehicles at night, among people who have had a drink is a hazardous process and this affects the speed at which it can be done".
Read more: Guide to 2023 North East music festivals
There was criticism of long queues at the Ushaw Country House site of the festival being headlined by Jethro Tull, Levellers and Hawkwind. Angry comments on Twitter included one of "ridiculous queues" from a man who had managed to catch only 10 minutes of the act he was waiting for.
He added: "Thanks to the half dozen Northern Kin punters who pushed and pulled our car out of the muddy bog it was stuck in." Another wrote: "Very poor planning. Very poor site prep. Very poor contingency planning."
Annette Oxley had travelled up from Carlisle with husband Rob in their camper van, having heard how good the festival is, but she told Chroniclelive they found an example of "how not to organise a music festival". Following a long wait to access the site on Friday night, they faced more queues to the music marquee.
After waiting since 6.30pm, they were still three-quarters of an hour away by the time Jethro Tull came on stage at 8pm, she said. She told of other people in three-hour queues, "inadequate" facilities and vehicles bogged down, their wheels sunk half-way in mud, having to be towed free.
The couple, who had gone well prepared with wellies and torches, are now demanding a refund of the cost of their ticket and camping fees: just over £299. "We don’t mind mud but there was no straw, gravel or metal roadways down apart from a tiny bit at the end," said Annette, who added she thinks they will still be pulling vehicles out the mud next week.
"The main arena was a boggy mess, as was the main tent. There weren’t enough toilets and the ones that were there were absolutely awful - they didn’t flush!
"There was inadequate lighting once it got dark and nowhere near enough stewards. We were on the offsite camping field - a pitch black, boggy mess."
She claimed: "There was no organisations whatsoever. It was unbelievable."
While she had been looking forward to seeing one of the acoustic stage acts, Edwina Hayes, on Sunday night, the pair instead decided to cut their losses and leave early, fearing their new campervan would otherwise also become stuck and get damaged.
The result is that Rob worked out he had paid "£300 for 30 minutes of Jethro Tull."
Comments on Northern Kin's Facebook page included one festival-goer trying to make plans to leave their motorhome behind saying: "We are bogged. We can get a lift home, and come back in a few days to collect it?"
The festival, which also featured a food village and bars, has apologised to festival-goers and posted regular updates during the event, asking for patience and saying its ground team work through the night. There will be a site 'exit plan' for Monday.
It said: "We are completely aware of the issues and would struggle to convey how sorry we are." It says those aware of the previous four Northern Kin Festivals "will know that this is not the norm" and said the current weather conditions have followed the wettest March and April on recent record.
It added on Sunday: "The festival team are doing everything in their power dealing with the event in hand and will be addressing individual queries in the coming days. Updates will be posted on our social media and we will be releasing further statements once the festival is over."
The host venue, Ushaw Country House, Chapel and Gardens, said that while not the festival organiser, it recognises "our responsibility as the land owner" and says the event's traffic management plans and access routes had been approved by the council and police but "it clearly has not worked as smoothly as we'd all have hoped".
It also apologised for inconvenience and said: "We intend to fully investigate the causes of the traffic problems and work with the festival organisers to ensure such issues are not repeated."
But there were several social media posts too from festival-goers having a good time at the festival and sharing images of partying crowds, One comment on Twitter said: "A great weekend and everything you'd expect from a festival".
Another said of the Levellers Saturday night performance "you were everything that was needed this evening. What an amazing set. Mud? What mud? Just a cracking set." Among the performers was Scott Doonican of The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican, who also posted on leaving the site, praising other acts including Bill Bailey and Levellers and thanking the audience, stage crew and security.
His message on Sunday said that "despite the mud and hoohah" they had made the show memorable, writing: "We are now on the A1 after I spent a fun hour with a team of about six punters helping push several campervans out of Van Field 3. Muddy, knackered but still smiling."
He added: "Have a great day today if you are sticking with it to the bitter end. Medals will no doubt be awarded to those who win the Battle of NK."
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