Skegness SO Festival 2012 wasn’t as good as previous years, I think they spread themselves to thin including small villages in the SO budget which means Skeg missed out, there wasn’t enough to do, way to many hours just stood. I think they moved backwards in its progress in 2012 which is a shame.
We missed all of the smaller acts this year :-( didn’t know the times they where on, between 10.30am and 2.30pm doesn’t help, missed festival stage acts I would have liked to have seen (again no times or details of what was on), the pig never even came to Skeg and to many of the acts were repeated from last year?
More side attraction like Levity, fun fair games or workshops would have helped (previous workshops we’ve enjoyed are ceilidh dancing, Eliot Morris and Circus Skills) there wasn’t anything this year the fringe events really suffered :-(, I think that would have helped keep my teen entertained more and me for that matter between dry spells and would have stopped us from going and staying home.
Have to agree with everything Gina Hammond said, local kids missed out and next year the SO is on from the 28th June – 7th July nowhere near the holidays?
Saying all this though there is always something to get out of SO, I love art and culture, I didn’t see as much as I would have liked and I miss so much, but the things I did see were great, I went on a dream walk which was ok, watched Strongman which was brilliant (glad it didn’t get the audiences in Tattersall and was brought to Skeg instead :-)), Liked as the World Tipped and the Opera on the beach with fireworks finale was a nice and relaxing experience, a good way to finish the SO festival off.
So even with the negatives there are some positives, all in all it was OK, not overly exciting this year but alright. I would add people who didn’t like SO for what ever reason should be listened to, these are the people whose views and experiences should be used in making SO a better event, their input is vital.
In 2011 the printed SO Festival programme though hard to follow did include specific times for shows and roughly where they would be which made it possible to plan your days. It wasn’t perfect, but was workable.
2012 printed programme the times for small shows were 10:30am – 2:30pm and no specific locations, which meant to catch a specific small show you’d have to be in Skegness at the right place and time for 4 hours!
I have a disability which means I can’t spend 4 hours wandering around Skegness hoping to stumble upon a show, I target my times out to see what is on.
2011 managed to see most of the small shows that looked interesting. 2012 managed to miss almost all of the small shows that looked interesting because I couldn’t plan my times!
Was also harder to catch a specific show this year in Skeg because SO was spread out over Lincolnshire meaning where in 2011 the small shows were repeated over the festival, this year many were in Skeg once (I assume, the program wasn’t clear). BTW I thought SO stood for Skegness Organisers not Lincolnshire Organisers, real shame spreading it so thin across Lincolnshire. Would be interested to hear about the turn out in other SO locations??
Basically only caught the larger events because they were the only ones I could be sure of times.
Organisation this year, massive let down, very disappointed.
What I watched I generally enjoyed, particularly liked The Strongman and the World Tipped : ignored the OVER THE TOP WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH MESSAGE and enjoyed the visual experience which was cool :-)
To anyone who has this information with precise locations and times PROVE it.
Skegness locations and times for the SMALL acts and where this information was publicly available in advance.
Granny Turismo Man in a Box Bruce Airhead Hot Dinners Roose The Pig The Birds Every small act that visited Skeg…
If this information was available in advance how and where did you find it because the best we found was Skegness 10am-2:30pm?
Oh wait, that information wasn’t available so I’ll wait for more childish comments from the likes of John Byford. Feel sorry for you John if you find holding hands an issue to comment on, maybe you should buy a puppy to bring a smile to that ugly mug of yours :-)
LOL I see you are already blaming the weather John, SO much for the SO Negative AD Campaign that you put SO much faith in, that was SOpposed to fill Skegness with SO many tourists, that’s SO typical and SO amusing :-) I think I’ll call this my ode to SO.
Like I said I’m disabled, can’t hang around Skegness for 4 hours hoping an act walks by or aimlessly wander around Skeg in the hope I stumble on one of them by chance.
In 2011 the information included precise times, they weren’t perfect which is to be expected, stuff happens that delays things etc… (if I recall correctly the Gorrilas had to be cancelled, stuck in traffic). In comparison 2012 the printed information was so vague it was a big step backwards. Last year could head down to say Tower Gardens 10 mins in advance of something I wanted to see, watch it, head home for a rest or something to eat before heading back down 10 mins before the next act I wanted to see. Last year managed to view the majority of what I wanted to see, this year missed most of it because I can’t hang around Skeg for 4 hours.
SO was spread over multiple locations in Skegness X-site, Tower Gardens, Beach and Tower Esplanade I would like to know how without a reasonably precise time and locations (like Granny Tursimo 11am-11:30am Tower Gardens) are visitor supposed to know where to be at a particular time? I still don’t know how many time Granny Turismo for example performed in Skeg.
The organisation this time was poor.
So can we all agree there wasn’t a program with precise times like we had in 2011?
The SO festival stands for the Skegness Organisers it was set up for the promotion of Skegness, I didn’t say anything about market towns not having what we have here in Skeg, it’s the council you should be asking questions to since they’ve been lazy by including market town in SO and not giving you an event of your own.
There are plenty of organisations out there who promote towns in the countryside. If Skegs economy takes a slump it effects everyone in ELDC area, I wouldn’t expect to have an event shared with Skeg that had been set up for Spilsby’s survival. I pay taxes but I don’t expect Mablethorpe’s Bathing Beauties festival to come to Skeg, it would defeat the purpose and would damage Mablethorpe by diluting their event.
I hope we can see more events like Opera on the Beach this year, I doubt the 500 or so people who attended early for the actual Opera would be enough to warrant the expense of a big screen, but by the time the fireworks went up there was at least 2,000 people on the beach and it was only a 4-5 minute fireworks display.
Had the entertainment being aimed at the sort of stuff Skegness visitors like (up to date music for example) I’m sure there would have been thousands on the beach all night. Recall SO 2009 and Terra folk + World Famous for the fire show the beach was buzzing with thousands (think the estimates was 8,000 on the beach?).
Come on Skegness give us a full program of events during summer.
Why make enemies of other resorts when you can make friends and offer complimentary advertising for each other etc…? It’s easy to generate negative media, what’s next go to seaside resorts and graffiti the SO symbol on their attractions for some easy publicity! It’s cheap and shows a lack of imagination of those involved.
You’ve pissed off two resorts and for what, short term negative media attention (Look North’s report was negative towards Skeg, not SO for example and they are local) that will be quickly forgotten, but the bad feelings could linger for years.
You’ve also opened the flood gates to unadulterated criticism of Skegness because you started it. You’ve taken the gloves off by slating other resorts in an official capacity as a District Councilor and part of SO, do you really think Brighton and Blackpool won’t retaliate?
Then there’s risks of loosing funding or even acts. How difficult would it be for the better resorts who also employ acts like Granny Turismo much more often than Skeg could (we only have ONE event a year) to suggest to acts that participate in SO they won’t be welcome in Blackpool/Brighton in future events. If I organised events in Blackpool/Brighton that’s what I’d do, take the acts away from next years SO even if it meant hiring the acts to take them away from SO.
Those involved are a bunch of idiots and shows how desperate you are to generate media attention.
For a real family resort come to Brighton ad campaign
I can see them now Brighton and Blackpool’s come back ads, a picture of a drunk peeing up the Jolly Fisherman’s Statue with the tag line ‘For a real family resort come to Brighton’,
or a picture of Inn on the park with the tagline ‘For a resort that cares about its history visit Blackpool’
or the green slime in the boating lake with the tagline ‘For a real beauty spot come to Brighton’ :-)
Yep I’m sure ELDC would find these very funny ‘NOT’, but I’m sure Brighton and Blackpool would respond with ‘it is not intended to offend residents from Skegness, just challenge their perception of what Blackpool/Brighton has to offer’ :-)
This negative approach also runs the risk of irritating the organisations that fund the SO Festival, what if the Arts Council etc… decide they don’t want to be associated with SO in 2013 because of the stink this is generating? I can see it now, a group that funds SO this year is looking at their dwindling pot of money next year deciding what to promote and this is a perfect excuse to pull funding without looking bad!
Then there’s advertising associated with SO, what business will want to be associated with a negative ad campaign? When SO are looking for advertisers in the SO booklets etc… they might find some don’t want to be associated with SO.
Really dumb idea, way too risky, those involved with the negative ads should appologise to the respective towns ASAP.
Time will tell, will we see more visitors to SO this year, will organisations pull funding next year….
Wasn’t the Jolly Fisherman in Brighton a few weeks ago? I hope while Jolly was entertaining the crowds someone wasn’t off taking negative images for this campaign, that would be low taking advantage of Brightons’ hospitality directly!
If of course they could get any lower than this, does anyone know where councillor/photographer Byford was that day?
We moved to Skegness 6 years ago and we lived within 10 miles of Brighton when I was at Uni for about 10 years.
I’ve not been on hundreds of beaches, so limited comparisons, but the only beach I’ve enjoyed more than Skegness is Bournemouth because of it’s length, cliffs with trees and walks off the beach. Finding sand on Brighton’s beach is like finding pebbles on Skegness beach, but Brighton’s beach tended to be packed in summer, Skegness in comparison is empty. Weird really when you consider lying on pebbles isn’t very comfortable, so they must be getting something right Skegness isn’t.
Remove Skegness beach from the equation and I can’t think of a single reason to visit Skegness for 362 of the 365 days in a year, the ONLY days I’d recommend a visit is during SO, the rest of the year entertainment wise Skegness is dead and dated. And now they are risking the reputation of the SO Festival with this stupid publicity stunt, fecking idiots.
Skegness SO Festival 2012 wasn’t as good as previous years, I think they spread themselves to thin including small villages in the SO budget which means Skeg missed out, there wasn’t enough to do, way to many hours just stood. I think they moved backwards in its progress in 2012 which is a shame.
We missed all of the smaller acts this year :-( didn’t know the times they where on, between 10.30am and 2.30pm doesn’t help, missed festival stage acts I would have liked to have seen (again no times or details of what was on), the pig never even came to Skeg and to many of the acts were repeated from last year?
More side attraction like Levity, fun fair games or workshops would have helped (previous workshops we’ve enjoyed are ceilidh dancing, Eliot Morris and Circus Skills) there wasn’t anything this year the fringe events really suffered :-(, I think that would have helped keep my teen entertained more and me for that matter between dry spells and would have stopped us from going and staying home.
Have to agree with everything Gina Hammond said, local kids missed out and next year the SO is on from the 28th June – 7th July nowhere near the holidays?
Saying all this though there is always something to get out of SO, I love art and culture, I didn’t see as much as I would have liked and I miss so much, but the things I did see were great, I went on a dream walk which was ok, watched Strongman which was brilliant (glad it didn’t get the audiences in Tattersall and was brought to Skeg instead :-)), Liked as the World Tipped and the Opera on the beach with fireworks finale was a nice and relaxing experience, a good way to finish the SO festival off.
So even with the negatives there are some positives, all in all it was OK, not overly exciting this year but alright. I would add people who didn’t like SO for what ever reason should be listened to, these are the people whose views and experiences should be used in making SO a better event, their input is vital.
Marie (Facebook Comment)
In 2011 the printed SO Festival programme though hard to follow did include specific times for shows and roughly where they would be which made it possible to plan your days. It wasn’t perfect, but was workable.
2012 printed programme the times for small shows were 10:30am – 2:30pm and no specific locations, which meant to catch a specific small show you’d have to be in Skegness at the right place and time for 4 hours!
I have a disability which means I can’t spend 4 hours wandering around Skegness hoping to stumble upon a show, I target my times out to see what is on.
2011 managed to see most of the small shows that looked interesting.
2012 managed to miss almost all of the small shows that looked interesting because I couldn’t plan my times!
Was also harder to catch a specific show this year in Skeg because SO was spread out over Lincolnshire meaning where in 2011 the small shows were repeated over the festival, this year many were in Skeg once (I assume, the program wasn’t clear). BTW I thought SO stood for Skegness Organisers not Lincolnshire Organisers, real shame spreading it so thin across Lincolnshire. Would be interested to hear about the turn out in other SO locations??
Basically only caught the larger events because they were the only ones I could be sure of times.
Organisation this year, massive let down, very disappointed.
What I watched I generally enjoyed, particularly liked The Strongman and the World Tipped : ignored the OVER THE TOP WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH MESSAGE and enjoyed the visual experience which was cool :-)
David (Facebook Comment)
To anyone who has this information with precise locations and times PROVE it.
Skegness locations and times for the SMALL acts and where this information was publicly available in advance.
Granny Turismo
Man in a Box
Bruce Airhead
Hot Dinners
Roose
The Pig
The Birds
Every small act that visited Skeg…
If this information was available in advance how and where did you find it because the best we found was Skegness 10am-2:30pm?
Oh wait, that information wasn’t available so I’ll wait for more childish comments from the likes of John Byford. Feel sorry for you John if you find holding hands an issue to comment on, maybe you should buy a puppy to bring a smile to that ugly mug of yours :-)
LOL I see you are already blaming the weather John, SO much for the SO Negative AD Campaign that you put SO much faith in, that was SOpposed to fill Skegness with SO many tourists, that’s SO typical and SO amusing :-) I think I’ll call this my ode to SO.
David (Facebook Comment)
How is a 4 hour period a precise time?
Like I said I’m disabled, can’t hang around Skegness for 4 hours hoping an act walks by or aimlessly wander around Skeg in the hope I stumble on one of them by chance.
In 2011 the information included precise times, they weren’t perfect which is to be expected, stuff happens that delays things etc… (if I recall correctly the Gorrilas had to be cancelled, stuck in traffic). In comparison 2012 the printed information was so vague it was a big step backwards. Last year could head down to say Tower Gardens 10 mins in advance of something I wanted to see, watch it, head home for a rest or something to eat before heading back down 10 mins before the next act I wanted to see. Last year managed to view the majority of what I wanted to see, this year missed most of it because I can’t hang around Skeg for 4 hours.
SO was spread over multiple locations in Skegness X-site, Tower Gardens, Beach and Tower Esplanade I would like to know how without a reasonably precise time and locations (like Granny Tursimo 11am-11:30am Tower Gardens) are visitor supposed to know where to be at a particular time? I still don’t know how many time Granny Turismo for example performed in Skeg.
The organisation this time was poor.
So can we all agree there wasn’t a program with precise times like we had in 2011?
David (Facebook Comment)
The SO festival stands for the Skegness Organisers it was set up for the promotion of Skegness, I didn’t say anything about market towns not having what we have here in Skeg, it’s the council you should be asking questions to since they’ve been lazy by including market town in SO and not giving you an event of your own.
There are plenty of organisations out there who promote towns in the countryside. If Skegs economy takes a slump it effects everyone in ELDC area, I wouldn’t expect to have an event shared with Skeg that had been set up for Spilsby’s survival. I pay taxes but I don’t expect Mablethorpe’s Bathing Beauties festival to come to Skeg, it would defeat the purpose and would damage Mablethorpe by diluting their event.
Marie (Facebook Comment)
I hope we can see more events like Opera on the Beach this year, I doubt the 500 or so people who attended early for the actual Opera would be enough to warrant the expense of a big screen, but by the time the fireworks went up there was at least 2,000 people on the beach and it was only a 4-5 minute fireworks display.
Had the entertainment being aimed at the sort of stuff Skegness visitors like (up to date music for example) I’m sure there would have been thousands on the beach all night. Recall SO 2009 and Terra folk + World Famous for the fire show the beach was buzzing with thousands (think the estimates was 8,000 on the beach?).
Come on Skegness give us a full program of events during summer.
David (Facebook Comment)
Why make enemies of other resorts when you can make friends and offer complimentary advertising for each other etc…? It’s easy to generate negative media, what’s next go to seaside resorts and graffiti the SO symbol on their attractions for some easy publicity! It’s cheap and shows a lack of imagination of those involved.
You’ve pissed off two resorts and for what, short term negative media attention (Look North’s report was negative towards Skeg, not SO for example and they are local) that will be quickly forgotten, but the bad feelings could linger for years.
You’ve also opened the flood gates to unadulterated criticism of Skegness because you started it. You’ve taken the gloves off by slating other resorts in an official capacity as a District Councilor and part of SO, do you really think Brighton and Blackpool won’t retaliate?
Then there’s risks of loosing funding or even acts. How difficult would it be for the better resorts who also employ acts like Granny Turismo much more often than Skeg could (we only have ONE event a year) to suggest to acts that participate in SO they won’t be welcome in Blackpool/Brighton in future events. If I organised events in Blackpool/Brighton that’s what I’d do, take the acts away from next years SO even if it meant hiring the acts to take them away from SO.
Those involved are a bunch of idiots and shows how desperate you are to generate media attention.
David (Facebook Comment)
I can see them now Brighton and Blackpool’s come back ads, a picture of a drunk peeing up the Jolly Fisherman’s Statue with the tag line ‘For a real family resort come to Brighton’,
or a picture of Inn on the park with the tagline ‘For a resort that cares about its history visit Blackpool’
or the green slime in the boating lake with the tagline ‘For a real beauty spot come to Brighton’ :-)
Yep I’m sure ELDC would find these very funny ‘NOT’, but I’m sure Brighton and Blackpool would respond with ‘it is not intended to offend residents from Skegness, just challenge their perception of what Blackpool/Brighton has to offer’ :-)
Marie (Facebook Comment)
This negative approach also runs the risk of irritating the organisations that fund the SO Festival, what if the Arts Council etc… decide they don’t want to be associated with SO in 2013 because of the stink this is generating? I can see it now, a group that funds SO this year is looking at their dwindling pot of money next year deciding what to promote and this is a perfect excuse to pull funding without looking bad!
Then there’s advertising associated with SO, what business will want to be associated with a negative ad campaign? When SO are looking for advertisers in the SO booklets etc… they might find some don’t want to be associated with SO.
Really dumb idea, way too risky, those involved with the negative ads should appologise to the respective towns ASAP.
Time will tell, will we see more visitors to SO this year, will organisations pull funding next year….
David (Facebook Comment)
Wasn’t the Jolly Fisherman in Brighton a few weeks ago? I hope while Jolly was entertaining the crowds someone wasn’t off taking negative images for this campaign, that would be low taking advantage of Brightons’ hospitality directly!
If of course they could get any lower than this, does anyone know where councillor/photographer Byford was that day?
Marie (Facebook Comment)
We moved to Skegness 6 years ago and we lived within 10 miles of Brighton when I was at Uni for about 10 years.
I’ve not been on hundreds of beaches, so limited comparisons, but the only beach I’ve enjoyed more than Skegness is Bournemouth because of it’s length, cliffs with trees and walks off the beach. Finding sand on Brighton’s beach is like finding pebbles on Skegness beach, but Brighton’s beach tended to be packed in summer, Skegness in comparison is empty. Weird really when you consider lying on pebbles isn’t very comfortable, so they must be getting something right Skegness isn’t.
Remove Skegness beach from the equation and I can’t think of a single reason to visit Skegness for 362 of the 365 days in a year, the ONLY days I’d recommend a visit is during SO, the rest of the year entertainment wise Skegness is dead and dated. And now they are risking the reputation of the SO Festival with this stupid publicity stunt, fecking idiots.
David (Facebook Comment)