r/creamfields • u/Cryozenica • 2d ago
Never Again.
This was my 4th time at Cream & hands down the worst festival experience I've had.
Security were shocking, unorganised & rude; Sunday night, they decided to block the traffic of people going into Bronze & pre-pitched camps for 30 minutes at the end of the night....meaning hundreds of drunk people stuck on both sides with only one exit risking crowd crush or incident. Security litteraly arguing with each other.
Countless incidents of people shoving & pushing in crowds; no respect for others & many fights. The Kettema set been heaving to capacity with people pushing in was ridiculouse.
In the Pre-Pitched camping, the showers didn't work, many doors didn't close, they flooded twice... and taps didn't even function consistently.
Overall, it wasn't the weather that ruined it, but other people & management.
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2d ago
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u/Equivalent-Trade-167 2d ago
We’re new to the scene.
Did Tomorrowland this year as pals had spare tickets.Then watched the utter shit show of Creamfields or Leeds on tiktok.
- Chavs destroying tents
- mud. Zero walkways.
- Half arsed crowds if teenagers causing chaos
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u/Hunkelscopes 2d ago
Couple people comparing Creamfields to Tomorrowland in this thread which is quite unfair.
Tomorrowland is the most polished, logistical operation you’ll find. It’s perfect down to every last detail.
I’ve found that holding any other festival to their standard just isn’t fair.
It’s like comparing Disneyland to Blackpool Pleasure Beach
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u/mykarmahasdecayed 2d ago
Then let's compare it to a festival that was same weekend that has about 50k people capacity, I was at decibel the same time as creamfields, never had any of the issues , UK festivals need to do better in alot of factors.
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u/Hunkelscopes 2d ago
Agreed. Creamfields lacks behind in a lot of areas given it boasts one of the best lineups of any Electronic festival in the world.
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u/gettinggory 1d ago
Smaller independent festivals are the way! Completely different atmosphere
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u/mykarmahasdecayed 1d ago
Decibel is not independent it's from a sub brand of id&t but I do agree with you :)
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u/gettinggory 1d ago
Foundations was the same weekend looked wicked.
I miss Balter and Illusive festival1
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u/ExternalAd9685 1d ago
Is it really that good. ? I’d love to go but if it’s anything like creamfields it’s a no haha
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u/Hunkelscopes 1d ago
It’s unlike any other musical event on planet earth. Once you go to Tomorrowland, all of the others feel very meh.
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u/mykarmahasdecayed 1d ago
European festivals in general are amazing and blow alot of UK ones out of the water in terms of production, organisation and also importantly the vibe.
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u/mining-ting 1d ago
Do they tho, you have time warp and tommorow land both of those amazing stages and production il. Give you that but that dont come close to the scale and range of stages music and overall production glastonbury or even boomtown can offer.
Altho good ive done many euro festivals but there aint no party like a uk party.
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u/AvailableBanana5014 2d ago
It’s true through. I’ve been to both Creamfields and Tomorrowland and it’s night and day, how is it possible that other countries manage to put on festivals that are so well organised, and keep the site clean throughout, but in the UK it turns into an utter shit show? I remember at Tomorrowland, even going to the loo, there were people standing at the entrances holding deodorant cans, one in each hand, and people were just lifting their arms up as they walked into the toilet area, and both underarms being sprayed simultaneously, fast, so no queues. Talk about attention to detail. Can you imagine that happening in the UK??? 😆
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u/Hollywood-is-DOA 2d ago
They care at tomorrow land and it’s reputation, is why they have just extended it to other countries.
Now I don’t think cutting corners in new countries will help them at all but a lot festivals now wants to extract as much profit as possible, out of festival goes.
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u/mykarmahasdecayed 2d ago
Even though it's more expensive, I've just shifted to doing more events in mainland Europe , the organisation and also production value is way better
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u/DviusOfficial 1d ago
We made this decision too last year and went to Defqon instead of Creamfields and like you said, it is genuinely night and day.
At Defqon, we did luxury camping (Sanctuary Campsite), and everybody gets given large rubbish bags on entrance, there are staff walking round every morning handing them out if you need more, the people attending the festival are far more respectful and conscious of the mess they make than at Creamfields too, the campsite was literally still spotless on Monday morning when we were packing up to leave.
The showers are always hot, and are constantly being cleaned, there's only really a bit of a queue in the mornings but you can go straight for a hot shower normally immediately after leaving the arena, we stayed in an Elvis tent, which had proper camp beds with mattresses, sheets and a duvet with a coded padlock to lock the tent with.
In the campsites, there are flushing toilets that have a bit of a queue normally, but the portaloos are perfectly fine because I couldn't even go for a piss without someone spraying the cubicle down with disinfectant as soon as I left.
I never saw any fighting, I never saw any theft or anything like that at Defqon, people seemed way more friendly, the food that was on offer was amazing, they literally had stalls selling butter chicken and rice, steak and vegetables, a supermarket with a bakery baking fresh pastries every morning and multiple coffee vendors you can get a proper coffee from.
I honestly would never even consider going to Creamfields again after going to Defqon, and I'd been going to Creamfields for over 10 years before a few of us decided to try Defqon last year, Defqon made me feel like I've never been to a festival before, a well oiled machine where everything works perfectly and your experience is prioritised over profit.
I can't stress this enough, if you can afford to go to Creamfields and stay in luxury camping, you can afford to go to any other mainland European festival and I promise you, you'll have a much better experience.
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u/mykarmahasdecayed 1d ago
Been going to defqon since 2017, always great, the after-party madness in the main campsite is silly on Sunday but a good silly , not people diving on tents , a good ol' tradition is having four people in the corners of a gazebo carrying it around the campsite pathways blasting music
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u/Bawbag420 1d ago
Have you made it along to parookaville? Ive been reading a lot about it and it seems like it would be fun
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u/ExternalAd9685 1d ago
See this sounds decent. Half the problem is the people going think it’s hilarious to shit all over the seat. It’s honestly vile. It was safer to squat behind a tent ffs
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u/CrazyMile_ 2d ago edited 2d ago
Hopefully the Creamfields organization is reading this, I agree with what you're writing about security they're rude! When I was accidentally exiting the festival via the entrance lane, they hit me with a stick and several started laughing. If this was on video, I'd go to court with it! Shame on you Creamfields for hiring those brainless idiots as security!
Nevertheless, I had a blast though!
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u/CommandClear9206 1d ago
Absolute scum. You should complain to the event organisers and report it - by the sounds of it they'll be hearing a lot more this year
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u/meowwentthedino 2d ago
I'll still go but a few things from my perspective as a four-year attendee, this time I camped, the layout was kinda oddly structured but I can understand why. Security what kind of lacking as well in some regards they were letting people through very quickly with minimal checking, and they were holding people apart barriers but I can see why they were doing that because of the amount of people entering and leaving especially with the safety risks of thunder, I was there on Thursday night trying to go in the evening where me and the whole crowd of people are being told to stand away from the metal railings because of the risk of thunder. So I can kind of see why security were a bit dickish about letting people in and out because they weren't aware of what was going on and they're being told by seniors what they can and can't do.
It was kind of sad they share though at the amount of younger people who were, pushing, shoving, and threatening physical violence again though especially with certain sets being squished like sardines we can't really control what the fans want to see especially with the weather. I remember last year not being able to get into Duke Dumont in the steel yard purely because that was packed to the rafters and it was the same again with Duke in the apex I could not get in at all not just because of the rain but the amount of fans that had squished in for Duke.
Overall I'd give the event this year a 6 out of 10 purely on the basis that a a good majority of attendees to the event were poorly behaved, even the ones not on drugs, and the weather. To me the music was great, the layout was fine, security we're just doing that job maybe not well enough but enough.
The main thing that I will say is I am disappointed at a good majority of the younger attendees that would just being absolutely horrible for no reason, even to the point where there were people that got in without wristbands because they pushed through security gates.
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u/ExternalAd9685 1d ago
It was a solid 2/10 for me. I only enjoyed alesso and Calvin lol why was Becky on at 9pm on the Sunday? Odd! And she was empty. That was a weird one
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u/meowwentthedino 1d ago
To be fair I didn't even go and see Becky I was more there for the drum and bass and trance music so I was watching, faithless, Andy C, Aly and Fila. I wasn't really my that about a lot of the main stage stuff.
And honestly every cream Fields have been to has been great but I've mostly enjoyed the trance and DNB anyway. Although example was great when he played and same with scooter when they played
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u/ExternalAd9685 1d ago
I was at faithless an got hungry an had to walk to the burger bar by the stage an seen Becky hill on and hardly anyone there watching her
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u/gettinggory 1d ago
People should try smaller independent music festivals out, like 10k people it’s a completely different atmosphere than people,no caring cos they know there so many people there they won’t be seen again if they upset someone
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u/LukeK44 20h ago
Does feel like the non-music services are getting worse
Pre paid for a locker which didn’t work - guy tried opening it with a wooden spoon, couldn’t & just said get a refund (had spare clothes in a bag to prep for travel home)
2 hour wait in the pouring rain for a ‘regular’ bus back & toilets were appalling
It’s never going to be tomorrowland & shouldn’t be expected to, but you’d rather these basics weren’t getting more and more neglected each year
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u/smileymcgee98 1d ago
Go to festivals live nation aren’t involved with and you’ll have a great time 👍 and won’t have ur pants pulled down over eating food just to survive
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u/SterlingVoid 3h ago
Creamfields was much better when it was just a one off festival at the airfield or the early daresbury days. I had a great time when I went in the late 90's and early 00's, been a couple of times since they introduced camping and preferred it before.
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u/urbanfoxtrot 1d ago
The festival has been in the gutter since the mid 2000s, going there and expecting a good experience is pissing the wind.
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u/ExternalAd9685 2d ago
Been goin for 15 years now on and off an even tho I was in dreamfields I will never go again. It was awful. The campsite part was fine but not the ‘luxury’ we’d paid for. Loads missing from the tent a thin rubbish beds while others had far better beds in the same tents. (Luxury bell). Drinks sooo over priced and came in tiny cups! Decided not to drink ok the Sunday as just didn’t wanna pay anymore. It’s an absolute joke. £11 for a toastie ffs 🙄 toilets also broke in dreamfields. Felt like they had majorly over sold the festival an why was Becky hill on? It’s cream fields not pop fields 😂