Wickerman Festival Site Dundrennan reviews by real event-goers

good and bad

Second time at Wickerman. Line-up (particularly main stage) quite poor. Bombskare/Sex Pistols Exp/Futureheads/Unicorn Kid brilliant. OCS rubbish. Teenage Fanclub, who I DO like, opened set saying "here's two songs from our new album". Cue exodus of people. Its a festival guys, play the hits.
VIP camping a total rip-off, don't go near it. Basically a big tent which you dont have to assemble/dismantle and piss-poor showers/toilets. There was no water for much of the weekend in the VIP field. Not good.
On the whole, slightly disappointing, particularly the line-up. Agree with comments above about Scooter Tent acts, which seem to be the most popular, being on main stage.
Forget the Brit-Pop Jonny-come-latelys and Tony bloody Christie ffs!!

Have you been to any other festivals?

Only one thing wrong wi the wickerman, scooter tent needs to be on the main stage and vice versa. 200 folk outside the scooter tent for the buzz****s is out of order. The dross from the main stage barely drew a crowd till the headliners, scooter tent was full most of the day.
As for people thinking the food is too expensive, ignore this as they clearly have never been to any other festivals.

Have you been to any other festivals?

Only one thing wrong wi the wickerman, scooter tent needs to be on the main stage and vice versa. 200 folk outside the scooter tent for the buzz****s is out of order. The dross from the main stage barely drew a crowd till the headliners, scooter tent was full most of the day.
As for people thinking the food is too expensive, ignore this as they clearly have never been to any other festivals.

Just a thought!

First time there and really enjoyed the atmosphere. Undertones and Saw Doctors were brilliant. Organisers should at least double the number of DnD showers to avoid the long queues. Agree with other comments about the bar - pear cider was pants.

Next Year? maybe aye maybe naw

This was my 5th time here and agree that the queuing and obsession with checking people for alcohol was over the top. The D&D loos were in the main clean but a trek if you needed to use them so may not bother with them next time. The atmosphere at the Wickerman is always great but this time , having taken another nine friends we were all subjected to a crowd of young ( looked underage) screaming F***ing C***S and a variety of other stuff at the top of their voices all through the night outside. They did not stop they did not sleep and neither did most others around. Security just walked on. Asking them to tone it down just made them worse.Too much Alcohol after a few hours usually makes even the most seasoned drinker conk out-not this lot of glazed looking idiots-the rest of what they were on would just be guessing. Some of their pals had been removed the night before but they were less of a problem and at least played Prodigy all though the night! I'm happy with music and noise all through the night but this was aggressive and unacceptable even for T in the Park never mind the Wickerman! If the plan is to attract another 5000 like that then the Wickerman will lose it's appeal for people like me. There was also an assault and arrest at our bit as well as a fire which everyone else saw before the fire spotters who were busy chatting to one another! Sheer luck that the tents next to the fire didn't go up in smoke. Every year I say what a great festival this is and how relaxed and safe it feels ( I know nothing is completely safe)- next year I may go back but would check it out again next year to make sure I really can recommend it to others. Fireworks were excellent and staff were as usual great and helpful.

having a moan

first time at wickerman iam a t in the park fan however did enjoy myself looking at the other reviews i do agree people should be allowed to take in their own drink as someone else said we will spend our money on other things. thought it was a bit jobs worth that the stweards where smelling the kiddies bottles of juice. Scooter tent to small for the bands that where their the buzz****s was one of the reasons i went and i couldnt even hear or see them very dissapointed. beer tokens not a problem as they do that at t in the park. food a rip off especialy if you have got kids as they want to eat all day. however did enjoy the undertones they made my weekend.

Kids first Festival

We joined our friends for our kids all to experience their first music festival (oldest 10) and everyone of them, although really tired at the end of weekend, had a ball. Rides good, music great mix with reggae tent and main stage being fav's. Food was great and although slightly dear sometimes, portion size was of a good standard.

We went to Milkshake stall twice and my son thought it was cool that they remembered him (top marks from him)

Only thing I can say is you can tell who goes to the festival every year since they do all the things that you are told you CAN'T do. Example, We walked for ages with all our camping gear when told to park and others drove past us closer to tents, people DID have stoves (hmmm, our kids could do with a hot choc at night).

But you live and learn and we will all be back next year for Lazer Quest, milkshakes, music, rides, food and stalls, stalls, stalls...

ps maybe next year the silent disco will be working

We paid for showers and nice toilets. Showers weren't used because we were to busy having fun. On occasions I did go to use nice toilets but I found they were dirtier than the normal camping ones and they were to far away to keep dragging kids in and out for rides.

MAYBE put some nice toilets nearer the quiet camping....

Keep up the good work guys, my son has already decided we are going back next year so we'll see you then..

Carol, Dylan, Jackie, Ewan, Rachel and Calum.

Beer, Dance Arena, Scooter, chill out

I have been going to the wickerman since it started and wouldn't say this one of the best ones. Last year was much better. I agree with most of the other comments that the beer tockens and ridiculous queuing for them goes away from the spirit of the festival and the poorly drinks that were available as well, couldnt even get a cold pint so had to take a warm can of carling.

The dance arena was a distaster compared to last year and this showed by about 50 people turning up to watch radio one dj Kutski - had it been set up where it normally was it would have probably been packed.

Also funkademia was ruined by the closeness of the two tents so all you basically got was a soundclash. Last year i thought funkademia added an extra element to the dance area that catered for everyone. This year people couldnt appreciate it because of the set up.

Scooter take needs to be bigger if having people like buzzcoks and undertones in there - they should have been main stage - main stage line up wasnt the best but thats just my opinion.


It may be a suggestion to move quiet camping to a different area away from the main arena as it was still near the fairground etc. The chill out zone was amazing but also next to the fair which made it a bit noisy when getting massage etc. and the tarot card reader was rubbish - I wasted my money there but my fault.


It may seem I'm saying alot here but I have went to wickerman from day one and alweays enjoy it, I did thoroughly enjoy this one too however I feel its important for points to be taken on board.

The organiser of rockness Jim King, frequently holds a Q&A in the efestivals forum where festival goers can get answers but he also takes on board what people are saying - maybe someone from the wickerman organisation team could do the same. The wickerman is a great wee festival and I want it to stay that way:)

P.s I speak on the behalf of a group of ten

Thanks and looking forward to next year

Too short weekend

yes great weekend could/should have ran onto the sunday, missed so many bands as they overlapped also the scooter tent needs to get bigger or onto an outdoor stage, missed the start of the buzz****s and the whole of the undertones. beer prices are tooooo high and asked for a cider and got a pear cider. apart from that good gig roll on next year

£3.40 can of tenants

Great weekend, especially Friday when the weather was great. Fantastic family atmosphere.
Only gripes were, the quiet zone wasn't quiet.
For £3.40 I would expect my pint freshly poured and certainly not to be held a cheap can !! If I remember right you run out of lager last year as well. If your going to sell tokens you need to make sure you have the beer.

Fantastic time had

That was the first time i have been. I was with my friend and two teenage kids and could not believ how friendly everyone was. We camped at the loud campsite and we had a fantasic time. Everyone watched out for eachother.
Graet weekend

first time at Wickerman

First time at Wickerman camped with 2 kids....lovely location great festival with fantastic atmosphere...only downside was the prices of food beer etc on site and paid for DnD shower passes but didn't use them as there wasn't enough facilities and queues were huge.

Saw Doctors were fantasic as always.....

Wickerman 2010

Great weekend. Only seen one scary toilet.Felt that the Buzz****s and Bomescare should have been on the main stage as the ones that were on it were not in my opinion the ones that people came to see . Saw Doctors Brill. Roll on next year . P.S. can we have more shaded areas as fridays weather was very hot but not many places to get out off the sun

Taking alcohol/drinks in to main area & bar situation!

Excellant weekend!!!!! ONLY downside was the whole ticket thing to buy a drink, rude bar staff who didn't understand you, being served draft lager that had been sitting on the side and then running out out it, which considering your not allowed to take your own in was just stupid! which I don't see the problem with taking your drink in and juice for the wains...it has never been a problem in the past and there is plenty of other things to spend your money on so one way or another your going to get it!!!!!! please rethink the whole own drink scenario and bar situation x x

loud base tent on friday

i had family quiet camping tickets , friday night was not quiet at all never slept a wink. 1 nugget of a girl came back sun morning 4am shouting wakey wakey to all in the quite area , needed lynching . organisers why don,t you just allow beer into main arena it save smuggling it in. people will still buy from the beer tent.
overall a excellent time was had ny me and my family
highlight sex pistols i have now educated 2 young ones to the punk sound
bring on next year.

WHY DID BEAR TENT HAVE TO GIVE YOU OPEN CANS?????

SAW DOCTORS WERE AWESOME, MIDNIGHT BURN AND FIRE WORKS WERE AWSOME. QUEING FOR BEER TICKETS WAS NOT GOOD - NEED TO IMPROVE. WHY IN MAIN MAIN BEER TENT DID THEY INSIST ON OPENING CANS BEFORE THEY GAVE THEM TO YOU - STUPID BAR STAFF(SPECIFICLY ONE DUMB BLONDE, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) COULD NOT EVEN EXPLAIN WHY - YET IN THE ACOUSTIC TENT THEY WERE HAPPY TO SUPPLY UNOPENED CANS TO TAKE WITH YOU: AS A MINIMUM STAFF SHOULD BE ABLE TO EPLAIN WHY SOMETHING IS THE WAY IT IS - ORGANISERS NEED A SIZE TEN UP THE BAHOOKY FOR THAT ONE.
FIRE WORKS WERE EXCELLENT - THIS IS A UNIQUE EVENT AND WILL CONTINUE TO IMPROVE IF NURTURED - ORGANISERS NEED TO VISIT OTHER FESTIVALS AND TAKE BACK SOME LESSONS - THEIR ALCOHOL STRATEGY NEEDS TO BE RE-THOUGHT!!

Wickerman is the new T in the Park!!

My first time at this festival and had a great time. The atmosphere was really friendly and much more chilled than T in the park. I loved that it was quite small scale compared to some of the bigger festivals where you have to walk miles to get from the car park to the venue. Was really reasonably priced for tickets and for food etc inside. And the choice of food was also great. Will be back next year!

Was the no alcohol rule really necessary ?

This is my 3rd wicker man and I agree with many other reviews as I thought the line up this year was amazing. I never fail to be moved by the atmosphere and I generally have a
smile permanently fixed on my face throughout the festival. However I cannot underestimate the disapoinment at the no alcohol rule. I have been to big festivals in the past and chose wickerman over these for its relaxed rules and easy going atmosphere. We were in a group of 8 adults and 2 children and were disgusted to be stopped and searched - my unopened bottle of c**e (for the kids) opened up as the security staff did not believe me and nothing short of a humuliating incident when my cousin and her 9 year old were sent away by a power crazed security man, for trying to bring in a couple of cans of beer! What right do people have to do this? We feel so strongly about this that we are considering going to a different festival next year. Wicker man organisers please take note as I fear you are in danger of ruining this fabulous festival! My
brother was also left with un-returnable tokens at the end of the night as there was no warning that the bar was closing!

I dont want to sound negative !!!! but this is the concensus of all of our group.

Yours Hopefully for 2010

mrs

My first Festival and what a great one it was! Loved the music, Bad Manners what a scream!! Human League; still going strong; the Zutons and so many more... just fantastic. Loved just drifting from venue to venue! Food stalls: very good choice, yummy good but a bit too pricy! Beer token; please find a better solution! Camping: so peaceful until the Reggae tent started up and never stopped till 5am...earplugs saved my hearing but the earth never stopped jumping, why has it to be soooooo loud and right next to the quiet camping area?? I also enjoyed the morning Yoga classes taught by Brenda from ChillOut Scotland and I am looking forward to Fire-walking next year which unfortunately could not take place due to strong winds! The drumming workshops with Craig Winterburn and his dedicated teachers from Manchester were great! All in all a fantastic event and I will be back for more! Thank you to all the friendly and dedicated staff, and the litter pickers.

rules

if rules are made and you buy your ticket that means you have to put up with them [e.g. that pesky no-alcohol rule]
having said that the organizers should make some effort at enforcing ALL their own rules like the ones on litter ,generators, respect for sleeping people and fires.