The organisers of the Slam Dunk Festival have issued an apology to fans after crowding and food issues at the event.
People who attended the festival reported massive crowds, as well as queues to the toilets and a lack of food. Now the organisers have said they wish to "apologise for the issues which occurred" and that they want to reassure customers they are committed to "improving" the event.
The event was held in Temple Newsam here in Leeds and the festival organisers have said the event was not oversold.
Read More: Ten serving West Yorkshire Police officers sacked over sexual attacks
They said: "We would like to assure all customers that neither event was oversold, and customer safety is, and always will be, paramount to the festival. Like all other major events, all our event plans were reviewed by local authorities and are in line with industry standards.
"In response to the car parking and traffic issues, as previously highlighted there was an unprecedented number of cars arriving to the festival site who hadn’t pre-booked car parking. This alongside other external factors created a traffic flow issue which inevitably caused delays into the festival site.
"As a measure to combat the traffic flow issue we made the conscious decision to stop checking passes for parking to increase the rate of entry to the car park and to prevent further delays.
"Keeping this in mind, we have made the decision to no longer provide on the day car parking, from next year only those who have pre-booked their car park tickets will be permitted to park on site, along with other measures we are looking to implement, we believe these will create smoother entry into event."
The festival organisers also said they were aware of the complaints about the food, saying they had been "assured that we had an adequate number of food vendors for the expected number of attendees", but that this "wasn’t the case". They added that they will increase the number of food vendors at future events.
They added they were also aware of access and other reported issues and said they were now running a survey to find out about people's experiences at the festival.
The statement finished with: "Slam Dunk Festival 2023 would like to thank everyone who has provided their indispensable feedback so far. If you haven’t already, please raise any concerns with us directly through our post-event survey.
"We are sorry about the issues that were encountered over the weekend, we take full accountability, and we are committed to improving our service.
"It is with your feedback, as registered in this survey, that we will be able to consider all concerns when planning future events. We apologise that some of you did not have an experience that was up to the standard you expect when you attend Slam Dunk Festival
"We are listening to you. We will be updating you on our plans to improve Slam Dunk Festival 2024 later this summer once we have collected all of your feedback."
You can fill in the survey here.
Read Next:
Plans to transform historic Lindley site into 10 homes delayed as developers miss key deadline
Heartbroken wife sends husband's ashes into space after tragic death in Sheffield car crash
Meltham wine bar's bid to serve alcohol and play music outdoors hit with objections
Explorer Finley flies 4,000 miles from USA to find treasure in Yorkshire
Get the latest Yorkshire Live news with our email newsletters
