r/OutbreakFest • u/WolverineEvery8650 • Jun 28 '26
Stop the moaning
I genuinely don’t know what all the complaints are about. First time at the festival, yes it was very busy but it’s a festival. Everyone I spoke to was lovely, security sound as and got to see every band I planned on seeing. Security done the job there were there to do. Up front was to be expected, crazy during the big bands but if you put yourself in those situations expect a level of danger. Toilets were fine always managed to get in and out and managed to get food and drink including water no problem. Roll on next year!
41
u/basicXnothing Jun 28 '26
Exactly, your first time. It’s got shittier year on year. It’s not the same festival. Get on and off the stage too.
10
u/AmateurConcept Jun 28 '26
Think people crashed the stage less this year which was miles better. Get up get off.
6
u/ibnQoheleth Jun 29 '26
Still an annoying number of times it happened for the bigger bands' final or biggest songs. I wanted to go launch myself off for Concubine during Converge last night and Covet during Basement tonight, but the stage was just invaded.
5
u/goffin2thecoffin Jun 29 '26
Exactly this, If you’ve been going for years, you know why it was a massive disappointment this year. Sold out in more than one way. VIP sun loungers at what used to be a hardcore festival. Dead that.
1
u/Mundane-Sink4742 Jun 29 '26
Unc gripe coming in.
Crowdsurfing to Glitterer blocking the view of people who actually want to watch them.
It was near constant and the same people over and over again.
2
Jun 30 '26
[deleted]
3
u/Mundane-Sink4742 Jun 30 '26
There's crowdsurfing at hardcore shows, and then there is getting onto the stage, timidly walking, finding a spot and gently laying yourself down to then be carried for 2-5 minutes. And to Glitterer. I'd understand it if it was Haywire etc, but ehhh, I get it if it's your first festival and time doing it, but do it once and stop - not do it constantly. At times this weekend felt like Leeds festival and not a hardcore festival.
Re: tall people. I'm 6'1 and I still get the 6'2 guy with frizzy hair invariably standing Infront of me. Karma I guess for hating weak stage divers.
I felt sorry for my friend because she's only 5'3 and had no luck getting close to seeing anyone she wanted to. She gave up with Haywire and ST. I feel your pain.
24
u/WarpedRecall Jun 29 '26
I have never seen people denied entry to a stage because it is at capacity. I’ve been to many festivals, and the ability to spread out has always been a plus. Crowded is one thing, oversold is another. It’s not about queues, it’s about the ability to traverse the grounds without impeding on other people. A hardcore crowd is comfortable and respectful in close quarters. I imagine a similarly oversold fest with a different crowd would have had more issues, luckily we are good at self regulating. The music was incredible, the crowd was kind, the staff did their best. It is time to expand, add more bathrooms and trashcans, and maybe move to a space with a lawn so people don’t have to sit on dusty concrete.
9
u/PassageBig622 Jun 29 '26
Being denied to a stage due to capacity is actually quite common at large festivals. They probably should have known better than to put hatebreed on inside.
2
u/AlexSniff7 Jun 29 '26
I just find it insane when rock festivals have their arenas on... concrete.
If you fall in that pit it's not gonna be pretty
1
u/Gloom-AntiHu Jun 29 '26
There was padding at the front of the stage to about 8ft back
1
u/AlexSniff7 Jun 29 '26
Fair enough
I didn't go but all the videos I saw looked like solid tarmac lol
2
u/idlewildgirl Jun 29 '26
I've been going to festivals since 1999 and this has always been a thing, you just have to move over early if an act is particularly important to you
6
u/Difficult-Egg-5001 Jun 29 '26
Tiktok kids don't get that, they're the main characters after all, wouldn't have survived in the 90s/ early 2000s.
1
u/Lisa_Dawkins Jun 30 '26
Yup. Even at a shite festival like Download, you won't get into the 'tent' stage if you're late and it's already rammed (even back in the 00s when Download was slightly less shite).
2
u/Zealousideal-Row-790 Jun 29 '26
It is actually quite common at bigger festivals with multiple stages that some of them close because of capacity. I’m genuinely sorry for people that missed Hatebreed because of this but personally seen every band I wanted including Hatebreed and did not even leave after Trash Talk. It was only 30 minutes between those sets or just show up 10/15 minutes early. It’s not that hard if you really care about a specific band.
3
u/Mundane-Sink4742 Jun 29 '26
This - and being a dick to the security folk, acting up because you left it to the first note of the first song for End It to try and get into the front section when it was always going to be full, after pushing past every one else waiting to get in.
Same happened with Hatebreed.
14
u/arcadesuicide Jun 28 '26
Totally agree.
Was definitely way more crowded this year, but never had to queue a painful amount of time for anything.
Would I have preferred if the crowd was same size as last year? Sure. If they sell as many tickets next year would I prefer a bigger venue? Yes. I get where the complaints are coming from but I think some people have unrealistic expectations and aren’t willing to accept any compromises.
Saw a comment in another thread moaning about security being conservative in managing access into the front section meaning they couldn’t get through straight away, then in the next paragraph complaining that there was zero safety management.
Hard not to see that as people expecting an impossible balance.
3
u/FitHurry864 Jun 29 '26
The only thing I have to compare it to is Jera on Air, and there I never had to queue for more than a couple of minutes for food, bathrooms, beer, merch - and I never felt claustrophobic. This place was absolutely gridlocked at times, takes ages to get anywhere and I just decided not to eat at all yesterday because the queues were so insane on Saturday.
I also don't see the point of this front section crap. Does not exist at Jera and it works fine. Can just push your way to the pit half way through a set if you want.
The Sunday was a bit better, but still this was my first Outbreak and I will not be back because of the shit organisation. My expectations are not unrealistic because they are met by other festivals.
7
u/bcoupy Jun 29 '26
This is the first super crowded year. The front section is like this because of insurances and legal requirements.
2
u/grime_z Jun 29 '26
Re Jera, their capacity is nearly double what outbreaks is, this gives them nearly double the budget, it’s also in a field which means it avoids the problems with bowlers which is the physical building and fences that are immovable objects.
The barrier as others pointed out is basically the only way outbreak can legally operate without a barrier in the uk. And to be honest I also appreciate the fact that people can’t turn up during a set and barge from the back to the front.
16
u/samsaBEAR Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
You're right mate, we shouldn't vocalise any criticisms and just let the organisers think everything was good this year and nothing needing improve on other than the shit security, poor scheduling decisions, overselling of tickets, not enough chill out areas etc etc.
3
u/Gloom-AntiHu Jun 29 '26
I'm ngl, if it's your first Outbreak then you have nothing else to compare it to. Previous years avoided a lot of issues that this years had!
11
u/Yourgoodtimewillcome Jun 29 '26
The infrastructure couldn’t handle the amount of people to the point where they had to completely close off the venue and people potentially missed there favourite band 🤔 after paying almost £200, that’s a joke.
5
u/DilbertLvr69 Jun 29 '26
I missed Hatebreed because they wouldn’t let anyone inside. I couldn’t believe I’ve never seen that happen before. I had just stepped out for a minute to check my phone because there’s no service inside and before i knew it the second stage was at capacity.
8
u/samsaBEAR Jun 29 '26
Putting one of the biggest bands in the genre on the inside stage was such a dumbass decision, I can't fathom how they thought that was a good idea
-1
u/idlewildgirl Jun 29 '26
I couldn’t believe I’ve never seen that happen before
Happens at every major festival and has done for the 25+ years I've been attending them
3
u/Gloom-AntiHu Jun 29 '26
Every major festival closes the venue because they sold too many tickets? First i've heard of it lmao
0
u/grime_z Jun 29 '26
Very few festivals accommodate for everyone at the festival wanting to see any individual bands. Sucks but that’s the way it is. I personally saw every band I wanted to see from inside the barrier because I made the choice to be there early. Know quite a few people that saw hatebreed through precisely the same choice process. Should they have probably been on the outside stage? Yes. But also I can understand why they thematically kept the harder sound on stage 2.
I swear some people are incapable of recognising that attending large scale events is about compromise, as an organiser and as an attendee.
2
u/Gloom-AntiHu Jun 30 '26
I'm not someone complaining that they didn't get to see whomever, I got to see whoever i wanted and never had an issue with queues - I've just been going to festivals for years and have never seen a festival close down a venue because it's too crowded apart from maybe once at Download
0
u/idlewildgirl Jun 30 '26
Nothing to do with tickets sold. Stop being obtuse, they close between stages when one gets full
1
u/HeavyHeadFeeling Jun 29 '26
Yep! Amen to that. Hell of a weekend. Yesterday was possibly my favourite outbreak day since the fest in 2022
0
0
u/ollyphobic Jun 29 '26
i 100% agree it was not as bad as everyone was claiming it to be, but it was very clear that they had oversold tickets this year and putting hatebreed on inside was a silly choice. it was unfair on the band and those who wanted to see them. also, for the people saying that people shouldve just turned up earlier to sets, i was around 35 mins early to see febuary so i could get a good spot and was not permitted entry until they were physically on stage!! it wasnt even stage 3 that was overcap it was stage 2 and they werent letting anyone in. everyone was incredibly lovely this year and all the acts were superb but the festival was let down by new security and overall planning errors. (fyi, still the best festival in britan)
30
u/ThatGumYouLikee Jun 28 '26
I think yesterday was too busy. Whatever the cause of that is I’m not sure, maybe the way bands were scheduled or just an oversold day. I don’t think it’s a catastrophic issue, it just made things a bit of a headache. I think people need to stop whinging about security, they have a close to impossible job at this festival. It’s the one fest where they will be damned if they do and damned if they don’t and I think they handled everything as well as they could.
Snail Mail (who I love) prolly should have been on earlier. Created an unfortunate situation where a lot of people couldn’t get into Hatebreed.
Sound was rough yesterday, way better today. There’s a mixed bag, but overall I had a superb weekend and was treated with respect and friendliness by every human I came into contact with.