Soundsplash organisers apologise for shuttle delays at Whāingaroa-Raglan festival
Friday, 20 January 2023
A big crowd and a bus breakdown led to delays getting festival goers to the three-day Soundsplash Festival at Raglan.
The mother of one attendee felt they were “treated like cattle” and had been told some were jumping a fence and trying to walk.
Soundsplash organisers confirmed there had been problems with delays and a shuttle operating between the town airfield, where parking happens, and the festival site.
“We did have entry congestion in the mid-morning at a time when the crowd grew quickly and it coincided with the drivers' mandatory breaks. Unfortunately one of the buses we had on today did break down and we weren’t able to replace it at short notice,” a statement from organiser Brian Ruawai on Friday afternoon said.
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“I apologise to our attendees who experienced long waits for the shuttles. As we did with the delays caused by the search process on entry a couple of years ago, we will be revisiting the transport logistics for next year’s festival to ensure a better experience for all our attendees.”
The festival said attendees were encouraged to bring sun protection and appropriate clothing and water had been available all day to those waiting.
On Thursday, the festival’s Facebook page had warned of potential delays.
“Please expect to wait in lines as we process ticket holders and perform bag searches. Peak times are expected between 8am - 2pm on Friday so please expect delays,” the page said.
Carterton mother Claire Wells said mid-Friday afternoon the delays weren’t acceptable.
Her 16-year-old daughter Penelope Bailey-Wells and friends were still waiting to get aboard shuttles from the airfield to the festival site, despite having arrived about 8am.
Bailey-Wells had described frustration at the arrangements for getting on a bus.
“There’s no-one controlling who gets on the bus when,” Wells said.
“So it’s basically like a scrum between the kids.”
She acknowledged organisers were giving out water to people waiting and there were toilet facilities but was “less than impressed”.
“The tickets are expensive. I just think they’re being treated like cattle.”
In a later email, she said her daughter had told her people were jumping a fence to start walking to the festival site themselves and calling taxis rather than continuing to wait.
Two other people contacted Stuff with complaints, with one saying waiting teenagers were “passing out and crying” and another parent saying people queueing with camping gear since 8am still hadn’t been let in by about 3pm.
A local resident said she saw “massive” queues through binoculars at the airfield Friday morning and it was still busy mid-afternoon.