• Oxegen off to a bad start

    Word is getting through that this weekend’s Oxegen festival in Kildare is off to a bad start, with many attendees enduring a logistical nightmare as they descend upon Punchestown Racecourse.

    Apparently much (if not all) of the on-site car park has been flooded due to bad weather and as a result campers who drove are being ordered to park quite far away (at Goffs on the N7) and get a bus to the campsite instead. The only problem is there are seven or so buses for the many thousands of people trying to get there and each one is taking hours to do a single round trip.

    The end result of all of this is a huge queue of tired, wet and possibly drunk people all carrying camping equipment and all keen on setting up their beds for the weekend a.s.a.p. The campsite itself is supposed to be a mud-pit too, which isn’t going to help their mood much once they do get there.

    Last year’s festival was marred by claims of violence and arson, ineffective security and a generally hostile atmosphere caused by a small group of scumbags. If the festival is getting off to this bad of a start it’s going to be an uphill struggle to keep things from turning sour all over again.