Wilderness traffic!

Sat 9 Aug 2014, 11:44

If you have tickets you can get them changed for a wrist band at the main entrance - ie up the drive from Park St. Thats been changed from 1st day apparently!

Sat 9 Aug 2014, 11:34

There were pedestrians walking along the Witney Road in the dark last night,it was very busy and very dangerous.

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 20:37

As so many of us complained yesterday about the long walk to collect wristbands, they have today made them available at the North Lodge, which is good news. However, the box office at the green gate has remained firmly shut, and locals were this morning being turned away from there if they didn't have wristbands on.

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 14:54

Hi all,

Apologies for any confusion ?" local residents can come in through all gates to the festival.

If people are coming by foot they can walk up North Lodge and either exchange their tickets for wristbands at the Production Box Office (for Crew & Artist Accreditation) or walk up the drive, turn left and exchange at Gate 2, which is Green Gate (opposite Boutique Camping entrance). The Main Stage is opposite the house this year, so very close.

Residents travelling by car would be best advised to go to the Main Gate which is South Hill Entrance.

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 13:43

Deborah you can enter via park drive but the box office (where you have to get the wrist band) is at the other side of the lakes, nearer to the finstock entrance, the best thing to do as others have said is to walk along the foot path that runs along the bottom of the park as it is a quicker way to reach the box office.

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 13:11

I am now completely confused!! Can we or can we not access the site from the Park St entrance, if you do not have ur wristband?? Help??

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 13:02

I suspect it'll still be packed! But yes, it's a good effort from them.

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 12:52

Hooray! They deserve a medal. Thanks Richard.

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 12:51

FGW are running four extra trains on Monday morning (by extending Oxford-Paddington trains to start at Charlbury) and lengthening a 3-car service to 8-car: the CLPG site at clpg.org.uk/content.php?pagename=Wilderness has the full details. No change in the morning peak but there's not a lot of (/any) spare trains available at that time, and I doubt many festival-goers will be up for the 6.06 anyway. Unless they're still going from the night before...

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 12:30

So, Frank, despite all the additional potential revenue, the last thing FGW are doing is running an extra train, just packing sardines, while presumably the bus companies won't be running 'specials' to Oxford either. Correct?

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 10:49

"There should have been a box office at the entrance by the boutique camping"

The map in the programme gives exactly the same designation to the ticket control at boutique camping as to the one "at the main box office." Once you've got the programme, of course.

It really isn't difficult to publicise how pedestrians should access the site: my memory is that, in Hugh's day, the Cornbury Festival was quite good about this. And it wouldn't be much tougher to make access easier than it is.

As John says, this is now the fourth year Wilderness hasn't bothered. And - something he might not yet be aware of - pedestrian access this year is different from last year.

For a festival offering more greenwash about the environment than a Walmart press release, is the contempt for customers who aren't in a car telling us where the real priorities of Wilderness Festivals Limited really lie?

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 10:41

It's also worth bearing in mind that FGW will be running a queuing system for the trains on Monday morning and were warning passengers last night to expect delays. Get to the station early if you want to get on the morning trains!

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 10:10

Does this mean the buses are screwed up too? I was aiming to catch the 2.25 to Witney but it looks as if the 1.25 would be wiser.

Poor directions for arrivals on foot/train are nothing new, as it's been the same in previous years. It's a pity they don't give more thought to people walking to the site.

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 09:20

Michael, your directions are fine once you have a wristband, but we had to walk a long way to the main box office to collect these. If we'd known where we had to go, we would have used the footpath, but we were directed up to the main house, and around in a big loop, with nobody really sure of where we should go. The staff were friendly but all admitted they didn't yet know their way around the site, and the map in the programme is very pretty but quite useless.
There should have been a box office at the entrance by the boutique camping, but it was not operating, and no-one was sure if it would be today.

Fri 8 Aug 2014, 09:08 (last edited on Fri 8 Aug 2014, 09:09)

I m told that the reason traffic was backing up yesterday afternoon was that a bus broke down at the turning to Stonesfield, thus causing havoc. So it ought to be better later in the weekend.

Thu 7 Aug 2014, 19:24

"You have to walk on to Finstock and the Business Park,"

You absolutely don't - though it really would help if Team Wilderness publicised the real route. There's no useful directions for walking from the town or from the station handed out with tickets, and there are people arriving at the station not knowing where to go.

You go into Cornbury from Park St the usual way, turn left on the footpath just before the lodges, then follow the fence, through the kissing gate to just before the lakes.

The marshals at that point tell you to go on, turning rightish just after the bridge, along the avenue of trees up the hill. You can convert your ticket into a wristband there.

I'm convinced that's not necessary either. You can turn 160 degrees right at the kissing gate at the end of the first footpath, follow the road (signposted "boutique camping", but we all know it as the way to the house), then there's a ticket control about 200 yds along. Go through that, and you're almost immediately on the festival site. I don't think they're briefing the marshals properly.

It really would help if Wilderness made this clear BEFORE we've traipsed all over the place.

Thu 7 Aug 2014, 18:22

Is the Traffic backing up into Charlbury from Finstock I came back that way at 4.30 and it was a free for all five ways was a nightmare No one controlling thing at all which is nice for other that are not going.

Thu 7 Aug 2014, 18:04

You don't seem to be able to access the festival by the main entrance, no. You have to walk on to Finstock and the Business Park, as two sets of friends have found out to their cost.

Thu 7 Aug 2014, 17:56 (last edited on Thu 7 Aug 2014, 18:00)

If you mean to get in to the festival, Di, then you could last year. But you need to look online. It was a long walk to the main site as you have to go through security.

Thu 7 Aug 2014, 17:21

Can we walk in through the main Charlbury gate?

Thu 7 Aug 2014, 16:56

Its the queue going in Finstock seems to be a free for all.

Thu 7 Aug 2014, 16:36

Apparently a truck broke down on the bridge between Charlbury and Finstock - at least that was what we were told by someone driving down Hixet Wood a bit before 3 pm.

Thu 7 Aug 2014, 15:50

Same thing happened to us, I got 20 yards down the Witney road, round a bend and met the tail back. Did a 5 point turn, and went via the forest road and Leafield. We can back via the forest road as well, and met all the coaches which by this time were going that way too. I had looked on the wilderness website to try to find out when things started, so I could avoid busy periods, but there was no information as to timings. I assume everyone attending Wilderness gets that info with their tickets, but it would help local residents if the information was accessible to locals who want to avoid the jams.

Thu 7 Aug 2014, 15:28

Was going to go to Witney but queues starts on The Slade and presume on to Finstock as it was not moving fast at the junction. Lots more traffic coming down the Woodstock rd. Hope its better tomorrow when most are there...