Review of Ticketmaster UK
The Duran Duran concert at Powderham Castle was excellent! Supported by Nile Roger and Chic who got the party started really well!However, it was our first time at Powderham Castle as a venue and I was really concerned actually. On arrival, went to the car parking which I had paid for and absolutely no one checked my car parking ticket!! There were thousands of cars parked in various fields and it looks like anyone could park anywhere without a ticket. Secondly, about the car parks - they were a long hike from the castle and performance area, anyone with walking difficulties must have found it really hard - especially if they don'? ? ?t have a blue disabled badge and pre-booked the disabled parking. I'? ? ?m fit and healthy and it was a long trek!But mostly, what I was shocked about (and the reason I only give 3 stars) is the way the crowds were handled after the concert had finished. Access to car parking ticket fields was along narrow walkways and when several thousand people try to all go the same way and get funnelled into a maximum width of 6 people across it caused bottlenecks and there was lots of standing around waiting to go through narrow openings, in the dark, may I add, on undulating grassy areas. Some people twisted ankles or fell over and because of the size of the crowd there was pushing from the back as more people piled in and we were squished together so close that was uncomfortable and awkward to be almost touching a stranger back with your nose due to pressure from behind. It took us one hour to get back to our car (for a 10 minute walk) and then when back at the car we waited nearly 45mins to actually get out into the road. All of the roads surrounding Powderham Castle are little rural lanes and village roads and these were completely at a standstill for another 45mins or so. All in all it took us over 1h30mins to drive the 25mins journey back to our accommodation. I would definitely recommend seeing Duran Duran, but would not recommend parking at Powderham Castle for an event, or even attending large-scale concerts there. I don'? ? ?t think there was enough stewards directing people and advising egress routes. Powderham needs to consider the safety of the crowds whilst exiting and then the safety of drivers trying to get out of the village. More planning needs to be done and routes put in place that can handle the numbers of people attending.
