In the run up to the Isle of Wight festival we watched the weather with some alarm, wet and windy seemed the key words. Arriving on site for build-up though had us hoping for a turn around. Two days before gates opened the sun blazed, we got sunburned and the ground finally started to dry out. It didn’t last though with a rapid return to wet and windy! Oh, and mud, lots of mud!
The elements certainly battled us. Marquees blew away. It was wet. It was cold. But the team kept smiling. We had to be flexible. Things moved and changed to accomodate the conditions. It’s a good job InSite Access Control can work off-line and catch up when the network is back as one night, in the dark, wet and wind, we even had to move an entrance as a structure next to it was becoming unsafe in the gale. That was fun, us and security running across a field to open a new entrance!
The cashless trial went well too with the Vodafone VIP guests having wristbands that combined fast track entry with payments to vendors. Praise to the customer service team too who worked outside when their marquee blew away.
And praise most of all to the wonderful festival-goers who kept smiling whatever the weather threw at them. Another great Isle of Wight Festival.