With all due respect, it seems the opinions on the festival are becoming like a collection of the same rants that occur every year.
People aren't nice enough to newbies - check.
It's all racial - check.
Drunk people are annoying - check.
People got in the way during freebie handouts - check.
Much as I understand SOME of these issues, the reality is it's a festival. Go to Reading, Glastonbury or V and exactly the same things happens, times ten. Give Cannes or Austin a go and you'll scream. I go to major festivals all over the world, and the reality is, if free shit is up for grabs, ticket holders tend to go for it.
The racist thing really pisses me off - I'm surrounded by black people who seem to enjoy the whole thing without issue. Perhaps we all need to look at ourselves a bit when it comes to getting involved. If you chat and make the effort, most people will do likewise - my neighbours seem happy enough. There isn't a racial bone in this festival's anatomy.
Phones - annoying, yes. Hate it? Yes. But is it really enough of a problem to act like someone has raped your mother? I think not. I do despise it, but the way some go on, you'd think it was the sole reason Inbred was awful. I wonder if some people arrive at these events looking for reasons to be irritable. There was a person who came a few years ago and complained about every aspect of the festival from a disabled point of view. Despite the organisers doing their best to reply to said issues, she still whinged, moaned and complained for the next 48 months. Fix one problem? Always a new one. Obviously, we're aiming to be as inclusive as possible, but sometimes it feels like the guys are putting in a huge amount of effort just to be slagged off over semantics. Of course everyone should be welcome, but let's face it, a festival is just that - a celebration for all. That the majority are who the planning is based around seems logical, not selective. They make it as open as possible, but that's it. What more should they do?
No doubt I'll be called a nazi for this post, but I find it very sad that certain people pick up on the nitty gritty and seem to look to complain. A lot of effort goes in to the whole weekend and just because it doesn't achieve A1 status from every single person who isn't a WASP comes across, to me, as sour grapes.
Just an alternative viewpoint.