Even the wellies weren’t up to it

Wednesday, 27 June 2012 13:52

Written by Editor

Open-air festivals in the UK are known for their fashion of wellies and pack-a-macs but the Isle of Wight Festival held last weekend was beyond the bounds of reason. Even before the event started there were people giving up and going home as the torrential rain had created a sea of mud in the fields where tents had been pitched. Many people were stranded in their cars overnight as the site was impossible to get into and many were complaining of a lack of information, food and loos.

Revellers’ cars had to be towed out of the field by tractor and queues for those desperate to get out clashed with those who, despite all the rain, still wanted to get in. Tweets were going around by the hundreds with many saying just don’t even bother to turn up  – and this from hardened festival-goers!

The Wightlink ferries had to be kept away from the island and wait for traffic to clear before they could get their 600 passengers off and many were advised to leave their cars in Portsmouth and go across as foot passengers. An emergency plan had to be implemented to get people off the island and, once in place, the exit from Newport on the island onto the ferries to take them back to the mainland went smoothly with the help of extra police being called on duty and 100 four-wheel-drive vehicles being drafted in to help, according to Stuart Love from the Isle of Wight council.

Headline acts were Elbow, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Pearl Jam, and Bruce Springsteen. Elbow’s graceful indie anthems seem tailor made for festival sets at dusk, and so it proved here on Friday night. Backed by several string players, the Lancastrian quintet focussed on material from their 2008 Mercury Prize-winning fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid, and last year's follow-up Build a Rocket Boys. Songs like The Bones of You were delivered with stately beauty. There's nothing flashy about 38-year-old Garvey, but he was a master at working the crowd. Before 'Grounds for Divorce', he launched into a cappella verse with altered words: "traffic in cars holding me back / Here we are, getting p****d". The band finished with One Day Like This.

The date had been pushed back this year as there is no Glastonbury festival to contend with.