Dulwich Festival Fair on Goose Green

[titch juicy]

A victim of it's own success and good weather?

I popped over for an hour at lunchtime yesterday and it was unbearably busy. It's clearly a great event but is there an argument to moving it somewhere that can comfortably accommodate more people (and more loos)? Peckham Rye Common perhaps?

[worldwiser]

In my view the only thing that was unbearable was the prices - ?5 for a hotdog is preposterous. Having said that, the freebies they laid on for the kids were a delight so maybe I should factor that in!

[KidKruger]

I think it's a good size and if it's busy then great. If the sun hadn't come out or there'd been a shower or two there'd probably have been less people and a larger site would have looked empty as a result. There was always space to sit near the stage where music was playing. GG is a nice, concise, site IMO.

1. Only one beer outlet (?) = queues too long and service too slow (possibly because choice to wide ?), waited in queue a few times briefly but with kids you can't blow 20 mins waiting on (what would have been) a couple of small beers.

2. Donkeys = the fair was only on for 5hrs but at 1300 my kids were told there were no donkey rides until 1400 due to a 'break'. That sounds bollox. After an hour when my kids returned, one was told she's 'too tall' but hadn't been told when she initially asked for a ride.

3. Jamaican food stall had no prices up. For me, that's a basic reqt as i don't want to queue 5mins to ask how much food is. It's not a question of being able to afford it, more about honesty up front about what the customers' half of the transaction will be. Other food stalls I looked at appeared to have prices up, I think that should be a given at this fair.

4. "the high food prices" - probably reflects the fees

5. Was a great event as usual and decent variety of food/stalls/activities for kids - well done to organisers.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I thought it was fine. If it were moved to a bigger space it would lose a lot of atmosphere. And well done and thank you to Sue and Nyge for organising the music.

[Michael Palaeologus]

It has expanded year on year but to move it would be a shame and lose the atmosphere.

Its a family event, so unsurprisingly, families turn up in their droves and make it a great success. The live music was great, the food was a bit expensive, but it always is at these events. If you want cheap food, bring a packed lunch.

Donkeys need a break dont they? That's not unreasonable.

[dc]

We had a number of items handed into the Organisers' Area at the Festival Fair yesterday including a credit card and some clothing.

Please PM me with a brief description of any item - full name for the credit card of course - and I will get back to.

[titch juicy]

There was no room to sit by the stage. It was packed solid and barely room to walk round the edges by the food stalls.

It's great that it's busy and it's a terrific event, but IMO it's too small and narrow to properly accommodate the demand. The queues for the 5 portaloos were horrendous and the main thoroughfare was unpassable at times.

On food prices- I didn't think they were unreasonable at all. Where can you get a hot dog at an outdoor event for less than a fiver these days? And the food quality was generally great (well, our group thought so anyway).

The kids corner (bouncy slides and indoor bounce around thing) were good, but crammed so tightly into that corner that it was a nightmare trying to keep an eye on the youngster with us (my nephew).

[Sue]

titch juicy Wrote:

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> There was no room to sit by the stage. It was

> packed solid and barely room to walk round the

> edges by the food stalls.

>

There was loads of room to sit at the front of the stage - I have photos to prove it! In fact I have no idea why people weren't sitting there!

I didn't have time to look at all the food stalls, but I had a delicious Pad Thai for six pounds, which I thought was excellent value.

Thanks to those above who thanked us for the music :)

ETA: And thanks to the musicians, all of whom gave their time for free.

[worldwiser]

Fees for a hot food stall were ?120.. not sure whether that's par for the course or not. Others will know.

[Nigello]

Does the grass get reseeded afterwards? It's been looking ok (after a really churned up winter).

[dc]

I was one of the volunteers at the event yesterday.

The Dulwich Festival is keen to receive feedback - positive, negative and constructive - so comments posted on here will be noted. If there are any issues you would prefer not to raise on a public forum, please PM me and I will make sure that these are passed on or, if you prefer, provide an appropriate point of contact.

[DulwichFox]

I wasn't there yesterday but have always thought the stage was in the wrong place.

Being where it is, people getting drinks and some food have to trudge through the people

seated on the ground watching the music.

If the Stage was at the end facing the length of Goose Green this would avoid this problem.

I know this idea is not popular with the Music organisers Sue and Nygel.

We have to consider what is more practical especially in terms of Safety.

DulwichFox

[Sue]

DulwichFox Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I wasn't there yesterday but have always thought

> the stage was in the wrong place.

> Being where it is, people getting drinks and some

> food have to trudge through the people

> seated on the ground watching the music.

>

> If the Stage was at the end facing the length of

> Goose Green this would avoid this problem.

> I know this idea is not popular with the Music

> organisers Sue and Nygel.

I don't recall ever having discussed this with you, Dulwich Fox, so I have no idea how you could possibly know whether it was "popular" with us or not.

ETA: There are a lot of factors to take into account in siting the stage, as I imagine there are in planning the layout of the whole fair.

Clearly health and safety are of major importance,which is why the council inspects the site and stage before the fair opens to the public.

Obviously we and the fair organisers will be looking at how things went this year and whether there are things which need to be changed or fine tuned (pun not intentional :) ) for next year.

On a wider issue, we are delighted that the fair was so well attended. My personal view is that moving it to a larger place would risk completely ruining the cosy community feel, plus its present location is very convenient and easy for people to get to.

And the festival has another fair coming up in Dulwich Park, so it's hard to see where else the Dulwich Festival Fair could be held and still be in Dulwich

[JL Dulwich]

We visited the fair at about 11:15am and although busy, there was still room to comfortably walk around with a stroller. It seemed much better laid out than previous years - enough stalls to make it interesting, but well spaced, making it really easy to walk around and look at everything. The free balloons made our little one's day, as did the friendly stall holders, who waved and engaged with him. The donkey rides were such a good idea! Alas, our little one found it a bit too nerve-wracking, but we'd try it again next year.

[dc]

dc Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> We had a number of items handed into the

> Organisers' Area at the Festival Fair yesterday

> including a credit card and some clothing.

>

> Please PM me with a brief description of any item

> - full name for the credit card of course - and I

> will get back to.

Nothing claimed yet.

We also have a blue hoody top 'age 9-10' with the surname Sabatini in it. Do let me know if this is yours or you know whose it might be. Thanks.

[Cedges]

I think the fair was great and the turn out and range of stalls and events was fantastic. I did however agree that the roundabout end was especially crowded this year with little room to move about to sit to eat at times.

Moving the fair would be a massive shame and miss the hyperlocal point of the event.

There was still quite a lot of room on the green towards the adventure playground end...I think all that needs to happen is a look at the layout for next year...maybe stalls near the roundabout, then kids stuff (where stalls were this year) then the ever expanding food court area and the music stage moving towards the wider playground end.

[gabys1st]

Asa wheelchair user have given up going as too crowded.

[Nigello]

My question over the state of the turf has not had an answer. It was a real churned-up mess over winter. Does the money raised by the events held there go to - in part - its reseeding/returfing?