Organisers Festival Republic are facing criticism over their Finsbury Park events this weekend.
The team took control of the North London site, hosting Liam Gallagher on Friday (June 29th) and Queens Of The Stone Age on Saturday (June 30th).
The music was exceptional, but fans took to social media amid complaints over huge queues, and a general lack of organisation on site.
What happened #festivalrepublic? The bands were awesome at #finsburypark today but services were shocking. Insane queues wherever you went and, frankly, dangerous congestion. Chaos.
— Liz Frost (@ARedheadRambles) June 30, 2018
Absolute shambles today. I’ve never experienced such a poorly run festival. That’s the first and last time I’ll be attending one of your events. #FinsburyPark
— Tim Callcott (@Tim1989Callcott) June 30, 2018
Hey @FRfestivals , well done today, you made people queue up for two hours in the heat to get a beer, water, toilets… basically anything. The most shambolic ‘organisation’ of an event I’ve ever seen. Will not be coming near you guys ever again. #FinsburyPark
— Darren Hemmings (@Cammington) June 30, 2018
@qotsa were brilliant tonight, best I've seen them in maybe 10 years. @runjewels @DeapVally and Brody Dalle were also so great, but someone needs to lose their job for how bad the organisation at #FinsburyPark was today and tonight. Shockingly shit
— Seanshank-Redemption (@sssshreeve) June 30, 2018
Were you there? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter.
– – –
UPDATE
Workers Beer Company have apologised to fans for service in Finsbury Park this weekend. The statement reads:
Since 1986 Workers Beer Company have been at the heart of huge festivals serving millions. We have successfully sold millions of drinks to millions of people over that 33 years. Our serving staff are drawn from local grassroots organisations raising funds for their local campaigns and projects.
Here in Finsbury Park on Friday and Saturday there was unprecedented failure of up to 40 % of our staff to turn up. As a consequence people had to wait an unnecessarily long time to be served.
For this we unreservedly apologise to the audience. So that it’s clear neither Liam Gallagher nor Queens Of The Stone Age should bear responsibility. They both delivered awesome gigs to awesome fans, that deserved better service from our bar operation.
This is also the case for Festival Republic who have no responsibility for us letting down the audience and we have already apologised to them.
– – –
Join us on Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
