Traffic chaos which blighted 'All Together Now' festival could have been avoided - Gardai

Gardai accused the promoters of the All Together Now music festival of not following their traffic management instructions prior to the event, branding some of their decisions as “totally unacceptable”.

The three-day August Bank Holiday weekend event in Waterford was plagued by extensive traffic congestion on its opening day, with many festival-goers spending hours on end stuck in gridlock on approaches to the Curraghmore Estate site near Portlaw.

After the festival, All Together Now’s Facebook page posted an apology in which organisers vowed to ensure “that the issues that arose this year’s festival are not repeated.”

“We have met and are working closely with An Garda Siochana and our other partner agencies to ensure that the traffic experienced travelling to this year’s festival does not happen again.

“We aim for the highest standards and plan to deliver the best festival experience possible. We are deeply disappointed that some areas of this years All Together Now fell short of expectations, and for this, we are truly sorry,” it said.

However the Irish Examiner can now reveal that gardai accused the promoters of not following its instructions on traffic management and that the organisers were “not responsive to requests."

The notes of a meeting which took place the Monday after the festival revealed that both gardai and the local council raised issues with the promoter.

The meeting was attended by Insp. John Hunt of An Garda Siochana [AGS], an official from Waterford City and County Council [WCCC] and representatives of Aiken Promotions and POD, the promoters of the event.

The notes, released under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal promoters conceded “unless the traffic management issues which occurred Friday were addressed that the event would not be sustainable into the future as tickets would not sell”.

"AGS stated that on AGS instructions in relation to traffic matters on site had not been followed by the promoter or in certain instances the promoter had confirmed to AGS that instructions were being followed when in fact they weren’t,” the notes stated.

“AGS was responsible for policing the site and it was totally unacceptable that the promoters were not responsive to requests," the notes state.

"AGS stated that the reopening of Clonegam following the LA [local authority] road closure was undertaken without knowledge or consent of the local authority or AGS, again this was totally unacceptable course of action by the promoter."

The notes also revealed the Council’s concerns about the management of the festival site.

“WCCC stated that notwithstanding traffic management, there were reports of problems with the internal management of the site in terms of poor management and operations of campsites, lack of security and stewarding generally and in the main campsite, waste management, issues with toilet facilities not being cleaned.

“WCCC made the point that the statutory agencies and licensing authority would need to see the event work safely and without adverse impact on local communities in order for it to be sustainable. The event had caused significant disruption for local communities and business. The promoter stated that the 2020 event proposed would not see increased numbers but this was not for public consumption.

“Both AGS and WCCC emphasised the need for better communication between Promoter and Statutory Agencies,” the notes said.

It was also revealed that the promoters expressed a wish to make tickets available for the 2020 edition of the festival before Electric Picnic went on sale.

“The promoters expressed their need to submit an early pre application consultation so that tickets could be put on sale for 2020. It was imperative for the Promoter commercially that tickets could be sold prior to EP 2020. WCCC asked that communication be kept open prior to the application being lodged,” the notes reveal.

Responding to the criticism, a festival spokesperson said: “The operation of any event requires continued interaction between all stakeholders all year round.

Following the challenges faced at this year’s event, we have participated in a thorough and frank review of all aspects of the festival, with our partners and our priority is on ensuring that lessons are learned for 2020.We continue to be engaged with all stakeholders.”