> Festival Guides > V

Guide by Rob.

V can be for a lot of things, but when we discuss festivals it is most definitely V for Virgin. Yes tricky Dicky aside from running an airline, phone company and record label also puts on a two day bash run over 2 sites in August. As you would expect from a big company its very professionally run and the corporate image is never too far away. Thus you can charge your Virgin mobile phone and text the festival's big screen, win lots of Virgin goodies and also arrive late for the festival on a Virgin train. It is also arguably the most sanitised of major festivals. More of this later.

The V festival began in 1996 and was the first festival where bands play at two different venues and swap around day to day. The festival had an early nomadic existence for its northern base, Warrington in 1996 followed by Leeds Temple Newsam in 1997 and 98. Finally it found its regular home at Weston Park in the not so northern Staffordshire in 1999 and has not moved since. The southern leg by contrast has always been at Hylands Park Chelmsford. The V festival like a lot of the major festivals has become very popular in the last few years and now sells out very quickly. You really need your finger on the pulse for the time and date the tickets go on sale and get on the internet. This should ensure a ticket. The capacity for each venue is around 60000, Chelmsford is the larger of the 2 venues. Channel 4 does extensive coverage of the festival but if you want to get on telly, don't go to the Weston Park venue as filming is done exclusively at Chelmsford. Well its nearer London ain't it? Bless 'em. As I have only been to the Weston Park leg this guide will concentrate on that, but much of what is said could easily be applied to the Hylands Park venue.

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There are two main open air stages. given the corporate nature of V they tend to change names as sponsors come and go, so I will call them the Main Stage and the Second Stage. Also there are 2 tents, again named so its the Big one and the Small one. There is no out and out dance tent unlike at other major festivals, dance acts tend to be sandwiched in between other music types across all the stages. To be fair the festival does try to put on a wide range of musical styles, but for every cutting edge act, you get a couple of mainstream ones. So the likes of Jamie Cullum, Joss Stone and, heaven help us, Tony Christie have all played in recent times. To its credit there is no obvious bias to Virgin related acts. The headliners are usually huge acts Coldplay, Oasis and the Red Hot Chilis have headlined in recent years, and quite often the festival manages to secure the only major festival appearance of the year for some acts. A small stage for the unsigned bands to do their thing would be nice though.

Given the sanitised nature of the festival the crowd is made up largely of students with a fair proportion of families. If you are a festival virgin,it is likely you would choose V as your special first fumble. That is not to say things are always peaceful. There can be outbreaks of campsite high jinx, but nowhere near the scale of what goes on the the Leeds Festival for example.

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Travel Info - Most people arrive by car

Weston Park is dead easy to get near to. It lies west of Junction 14 of the M6, along the A5. Once on this bit of road be prepared for longish delays getting the last 4 miles or so as everyone seems to be heading in the same direction. Traffic light control at the entrance helps things. Signposting is good and the marshals are efficient and you can't really make a wrong turning. As with most festivals car parking is towards the outside of the complex but is plentiful and again well stewarded. Unfortunately there is a separate charge for the parking on top of the ticket price. Boo. Watch out for the God botherers in the car park, though they are harmless, and I did get a nice book from one of them last year.

The main way to get to the festival is by car due to its location. Virgin Rail operate a system of reduced travel prices going into Stafford station with a free bus link. Good effort guys, now get the things to run on time. You cannot fly in by Virgin Airlines yet but i'm sure they are working on it.

The main car parks are a long way from some of the camping areas. Needless to say the close ones fill up very early. The walk to the further ones is uphill so be prepared for a bit of a slog. There are no gates to go through so a trolley would come in very handy. Amazingly I have never been there when it has rained heavily so i don't know how muddy the dirt tracks can get. Allow a good hour for the car to campsite transfer. The main arena is central to everything so there are no really long walks. For most campers it is a downhill walk going in. You need a wristband to get in these are best obtained on the Friday when it is less busy and not swamped by day ticket people. There are only 2 exchanges on site. At the main gates security can be tight but there are several entrances so queues are not too bad.

Once inside the site is very spacious and well laid out. The Stages are spread out and it will take only 20 minutes or so to walk across the main site. The main point of congestion is the narrow area between the 2 open air stages. Every year there are a couple of bands on the second stage who have outgrown it and punters crowd into the area to see them. These events can add on 15 minutes or so to the journey time so plan carefully. The Main Stage opens out onto a huge area and it is easy to get close to the front for the early acts. The other main obstacle to getting around, at least towards the back of the Main Stage are the annoying family types who insist in bringing in chairs, popcorn, and picnic hampers. In 2005 the organisers took the sensible decision to ban chairs from the arena, pissing off many good folk, but not me. The best way to plan your day is to get a neck guide. However as this is commercial V, they cost a whopping £7 in 2005, and won't be far short of double figures this year. They do come with a very nice neck cord though.

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There are loads of campsite areas some laid out in a very nice semi wooded setting. Note the trees themselves are out of bounds and anyone caught in there will be ejected. As at Leeds the campsites are arranged by colour. Security on the campsites is quite tight and there are marshall towers everywhere, and high perimeter fences. In fact the only thing missing at times are the searchlights. So be careful where you wee. Unlike some festivals there are always areas you can get a tent pitched, even if you arrive late. You must be prepared to walk if arriving late though.

The best way of describing the atmosphere on the campsites is quiet. There is definitely not the all night vigils at some of the other festivals, and it is possible to get a decent nights sleep. The closer you pitch to the main arena the more noisy it gets. Generally people are friendly and I like the atmosphere. Must be getting old. There are a few food vans dotted around but that's about it. There doesn't seem to be much crime on the sites, and few drug dealers are out doing the rounds.

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Toilets - The unisex WCs took a little getting used to

On the campsite there are not many toilet blocks, possibly only one at the junction of 2 camping areas. The toilets on both the campsite and the main arena are Portaloos.

The quality can vary, as usual it is best to look out for the ones which have just been cleaned, or venture down to the main arena early and do your business then.

During the day long queues can be expected and it is usually a case of going up against the perimeter fence.

This is a good idea for the blokes too.

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Tokens must be purchased in order to use the bars. These are obtained from booths and long queues can be expected. They move very quickly so persevere. It is a good idea to buy all your weekend tokens in one go. Also keep you eyes peeled for dropped ones, especially at the end of the first night, when day punters often sling them away. Once you have tokens it is fairly easy to get served at the bars though large queues from at peak times. The festival could use a couple of extra bar areas. For those who require a change from the lager, there is the Strongbow Rooms and the Bacardi Tent, both good if you like a dance to break the day up.

All food types are catered for from the vast array of mobile vans dotted right around the site. There is no cafe area like at some festivals though. On the campsite is is very much a case of bring your own food, though as the walk is long you might think twice about bringing the portable barbie.

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The V Festival very much majors on music. There is no comedy tent, no cabaret and no theatre. Late night films are shown in the tents on Friday and Saturday. There is an arena towards the back of the main stage field for the skaters and BMXs to do their thing. A welcome feature is a superb funfair with some decent rides and an amusement arcade with the famous roulette wheel and horse racing games. The arcade steps are a great meeting place at the end of the day. Close to the fair is a large market area, mainly selling clothes. There may be a supermarket on site somewhere but i have never found it.

Cash points and mobile recharge points are available but unless you want to spend most of your weekend in a queue they are best avoided. In fact one feature of V is the amount of time you could spend queuing. Cash, phone recharge, tokens, beer, food, loos and signing tents could mean you seeing little of the band action. However plan things carefully and queues can be avoided for the main. Bring plenty of money, switch your phone off at night, get your tokens in one go and pass on band autographs and enjoy yourself much more.

After the bands have finished apart from the films and fair there is not too much to do. In fact on the Sunday night you are ushered quite quickly out of the arena. By this time however people are glad to get back to the campsite and get those remaining beers drunk. Finally watch out for some of the security, most do a good job but there are some real Jobsworths there and on the look out for any excuse to cause trouble as well.

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