Radio 1 Hackney Weekend Festival

harrybear_1988

Hello!

Just wondering if anyone else here was lucky enough to get tickets to the BBC Radio 1 Hackney Weekend festival?
My bf and I were very fortunate to get two tickets for the Saturday - amazing line up and only paid £2.50 each (admin fee)! At least I dont begrudge the TV license this year :j
So happy as we really dont have a spare penny for summer activities/hols, and usually festivals cost an arm and a leg so I've never been to one before - hope some of you also shared in the luck!

Any ideas on how to keep food/drink costs low while we are there? Concession stands cost a fortune at festivals (I've heard rumours of £5+ a bottle for water....what a bargain :rotfl:) but we don't want to be lugging more than a couple of bottles of water around with us ideally (at the risk of cramping my amazing dancing skills of course! And I'll no doubt be taken advantage of for Handbag Packhorse Service!) I havn't been to a festival before so I am a bit naive about how much things cost, and whether you can go in and out, and what's around outside Hackney Marshes!

xxxxxxxxx

porlock

Don't know much about this one in particular, but can give you some general festival advice.

Most likely there will be a bag search at the gate and you won't be able to bring much in (sometimes not even a bottle of water). However, I've never seen water being sold for £5 anywhere. More like £2 or £3 for a 500ml bottle, and in most cases there are free drinking water taps that you can top up at, so it would be a one-time spend.

I would also bet on not being allowed to come and go out of the main site during the day - usually, once you're in, you're in. If you want to keep costs down, you might want to wait until the stage times are published and decide then whether you need to be there for the whole day or not. If not, you have time to fill up at home or in a pub nearby before you go in.

I don't know if you are a native Londoner, but generally I find being one is an advantage when it comes to festivals as we are so used to everything being overpriced! I've found that drinks (both soft and alcoholic) are 'just-a-little-over-pub-prices' - eg; £4/pint, and food is about the same as posh-pub prices - so if you'd pay £9/£10 for a burger at your nearest decent pub, you're looking at £6/£7 here, but less good quality and in a cardboard box!

Hope this all helps!

FatAndy

We went to the Radio 1 Big Weekend at Bangor a couple of years ago and I'm pretty sure I remember that you couldn't take drinks in. Once you reached the gate you had to either drink any drink you had there and then or chuck it in the bin. There were plenty of concession stands selling food and drinks inside but there was obviously a bit of collusion going on as every single one charged exactly the same prices so there was no point in shopping around. Bottled drinks were either £2 or £2.50 (can't remember which) but most of the stalls had them stored in ice buckets so at least they were cold. I don't remember there being taps but the event was held in a field in the middle of nowhere so there were probably no water mains to tap into.

The one thing I wasn't happy about was the parking charge. We had to pay £10 to park in a field. When we returned to the car at the end of the day we had to sit around for about an hour and a half before we even moved. There were stewards "controlling" the car park but they didn't seem to have a clue what they were doing. I'd suggest you use public transport, that wasn't an option for us as public transport in North West Wales is sporadic at best and pretty much none existant on a Sunday night but I'd imagine London is better served.

Ladyshopper

I'm going on the Sunday. I've applied every year in the ballot and never been lucky enough, so quite like the way they did it this year.

Am thinking of using the train/tube - I assume there'll be a tube station fairly near by? I get free travel on trains to London, so just my daughter to pay for. Can't wait. :j

tower

Hi, i think the two nearest tube stations are Bethnal green or Mile end. Both are a least a mile. There are a few Pubs nearby that get busy, the ones hidden by the canal less so. have a good time.

greenface

Carlisle last year ,unopened plastic water or soft drinks bottles (500ml or smaller) were ok to take in.Food, butties, crisps all fine ,same for Bangor the year before friends and family had no problems (although i didnt go it was in my friends garden)Ooohhh !! Bag serched but not questioned. Hackney maybe different. Once your in your in and plenty of stalls selling food and drink. Prices around the marshes will be expensive that weekend too. Use public transport and take it easy during the day as its a long day. Plan your return with great detail and if you get lost etc. Last year we left as the foo fighters started their set and were out and a few junctions down the M6 before the madness came out. People were still trying to get out 2 hrs later. Radio 1 big weekend is free so fairly relaxed compared to the other big festivals but !!!!!! keep your wits about you at all times and have fun.

lobo688

I was out of the country so missed out. Anyone want to sell their tickets and make some good cash? Private Message me.

greenface

didnt apply this year but from memory it required a photo aswell as other info