Vintage at Southbank, an honest review.

Firstly I just want to say that those who know me will know I'm not a negative person. I try to see the good in every situation and treat others how I would like to be treated myself, I try to live life by the saying "Always be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle". So the decision to write this review and post so publicly on my blog definitely was not taken lightly and I'm still unsure as to whether I want it here on my blog but I feel others just like myself may be looking for answers and so, here it is.

Vintage at Southbank. First impressions? Not great. I'll try and wrap up our experiences in an honest and factual blog post for you. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post are my own and those of the three people with whom i attended. There are plenty of people who enjoyed themselves but sadly plenty of others who didn't and I can't help feeling there is a lot of work to do for the organisers if they take note of anything people are saying - there are links to other blog posts towards the end of the post if you'd like to read other peoples experience of the event. The comments section of this post is also quite insightful.

We purchased our tickets a week before the event, I was worried they'd sell out since many emails kept flowing into my inbox screaming that they would sell out if we didn't purchase ASAP.  Last year a ticket cost £55 and that got you exclusive access to everything; music, bars, clubs, the vintage high-street, independent vintage stalls and a whole wealth of activities all on the beautiful Goodwood Estate. Even with a few drawbacks it was fabulous, the atmosphere was amazing, everyone was enjoying themselves and you really felt part of something special.

This year it was going to cost you £60 per ticket. for an extra £15 you could access the 'revue music show' but we were more interested in the other things on offer and felt like last year there would be so much to do we would run out of time so decided against the extra money for the music show and paid £60 each for a standard ticket.
Just 24 hours before the event is set to begin I received an email from Vintage telling us about all the free stuff to do for non ticket holders. a whole email full. Just look at all this AMAZING FREE STUFF. (click images to enlarge)

 *Images courtesy of Vintage's July 28th "The Free Bits" email..

High Street? free. Vintage marketplace? free. Cinema bus? free. Funfair? free. Art, Design, Music, Entertainment, Tours, Food. All free.

They even say in the first part of the email that "If you can't afford a ticket or if you're not interested in the music, catwalk shows or workshops then come on down anyway." Not once in any of the previous emails or on their website and various social networking sites did they make this clear and it's become obviously now why - because no one would have bought a ticket, us included because it's all FREE - All the stuff we wanted to see and do. Free. And because it was all free, it was SO busy we didn't get to do any of it. 

We arrived at Southbank at approximately 11:30 and it was ridiculously busy already. We would have arrived earlier if we'd have known that we'd have access to the marketplace for an hour before non ticket holders, but we'd already booked our non-exchangeable train tickets before Vintage had the courtesy to tell us in one of their emails.

Doors for the Royal Festival Hall didn't open until 12, so we spent the first half an hour wandering around looking for the vintage marketplace, the high-street, the funfair.. a map or signposts would have helped but we couldn't find any and I couldn't locate it quick enough on my phone amongst the pushy hustle and bustle of people who had turned up to enjoy all the free activities, and it only got busier as the day went on. When 12 o'clock arrived we exchanged our tickets for wristbands and entered the RFH for a drink to discuss what we were going to do next whilst admiring some of the beautiful outfits people had picked out especially for the weekend. After that we headed back out and attempted to find the vintage market again. 

We eventually found someone who told us where everything was and made our way towards the stalls that I so desperately wanted to spend ages looking round and to meet some of the sellers, but was sad to have been herded straight back out the other side by the hundreds of people there - it was so packed you could barely breathe. We decided to give the High-street and Funfair a miss also, two of the other things on my 'list of things to do' because we just couldn't get to any of it. Instead we found ourselves walking around looking for somewhere to stop and something to do that didn't involve sitting in one of the bars or being rushed around by the constant gaggle of people wandering around the free bits aimlessly. We eventually made out way out of the crowds and further down the Thames to get some lunch at a restaurant that wasn't part of the festival. Afterwards we headed back to see what's up next.

Ticket holders had exclusive access to the Royal Festival Hall with free decade specific makeovers which looked amazing but were so busy with queues that we would have been there all day waiting, free workshops and a few other over-busy things to do we weren't particularly interested waiting around for.

What else was there to do? Six whole floors of set dressed bars - a 'multi-venue playground' according to the website. This sounded great in the brochure. We must have missed something as we didn't find a playground, but a boiling hot un-air-conditioned venue that was either stupidly busy or seriously empty. Where we were left waiting 20 minutes at a bar directly in front of staff whilst they served the people behind us, and then when they eventually served us because one kind gentleman points out that we had been there longer than he, it was either warm beer poured too quickly from a small glass bottle so half of it turned to froth and got thrown in the bin, or revolting cheap wine that had to be diluted with lemonade and it was still awful. If there were more options available in our chosen establishment at the time I would have picked out a better wine, but this was all that was offered, and at the price I paid for my tiny plastic cup, I expected something a little nicer - If I'm paying £60 to get into an event like this, at the very least I want to enjoy the beverages on offer? It seemed there was very little choice across the whole six floors.

 Other issues? 

• I found that because the outdoor events were a free-for-all, there were far too many people there, including people who didn't want to be there. Whilst walking back from a failed attempt at finding somewhere else a bit more enticing along the Thames in the evening, I was one of the lucky recipient of a delightful splatter of saliva from someone on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall. One of my highlights of the day. 

• I emailed ahead of the event to ask if A) we were allowed cameras, and B) if there were cloakroom facilities (so that I could leave my camera once I'd had enough of lugging it round all afternoon). I eventually had a reply from vintage saying I needed to contact a Southbank centre email address. I did. And the reply was that there were no cloakroom facilities and that no 'professional looking' cameras were allowed. To my total disappointment upon arrival approximately 50% of people there had a DSLR or what one would call a 'professional looking camera' and that there was a free cloakroom service available inside the RFH.

• We paid £240 in all for our tickets. Others managed to grab £19 tickets and non concessions somehow managed to get in with £30 concession tickets. According to others, people were even blagging their way in for free. Some of those who paid at a hugely discounted rate were just as disappointed as we were. I feel just as ripped off as when I purchased tickets for Lapland New Forest - The only difference is that I managed to get my money back from the bank for that hiccup, I doubt I'll get anything back for this.

• Vintage had announced on their facebook page that those who felt they were 'hard done by' due to ticketing, could pick up a mystery gift from the competition and press desk and to take a form of ID. 
  
  
  "Thanks all for raising your issues on ticketing. There has been a ticket offer to Time Out readers: we did the same sort of thing last year to keep awareness high in the run-up to the weekend. It’s time-limited and capped, so don’t worry, only a fraction of Saturday Vintage Vultures will get there under this offer. And don’t forget, we thought of our loyalists at the same time, allowing you to get an extra day for £20: you’ll have had that offer by email in the last week or so if we had your contact details. If you didn’t get it, let us know here.
  We are glad you’re coming to Vintage, but saddened you feel hard done by. To ensure you have a great time, I’ve left a mystery gift for you to be collected on the day. When you arrive, go to the desk signposted PRESS/COMPETITION WINNERS/MASTERCARD VIP LOUNGE by the doors nearest Southbank Centre Square to collect it. Remember to bring a form of ID with you.
  I’m looking forward to seeing you at London’s best-dressed party! Wayne. H" 
  
  Although I really didn't want to do the walk of shame to said desk, I did because I had this ridiculous idea that it might be some sort of goodwill gesture of a part-refund/credit note/voucher. The first person I asked had no idea what I was talking about, and the second asked to see some ID. When I showed her my driving license she looked confused and let out an awkward laugh as though I was missing something before asking if I had a poster? "Umm no.. poster? What? No?", so I gave her my name instead and she ticked me off of what I presume was a 2 page list of 'people who have expressed disappointment via facebook'' (not all 'vintage vultures' as stated in the facebook note's comments by Vintage themselves (a vintage vulture is someone who has signed up to their mailing list, as far as I'm aware, I had done this after attending Vintage at Goodwood 2010 by clicking on the option to "become a vintage vulture")), and I was handed a 'goody bag' containing a gentleman's hat, a magazine that you could pick up elsewhere in the RFH for free, a scented fan? and a great big pile of marketing materials. These were lugged around for a short while before I dropped them in the free cloakroom and now they are either sitting in a pile of things I don't need, or in the recycling bin.

• Where people have expressed their disappointment on the Vintage facebook page, apart from the above ticketing note prior to the event, there has so far been no sign of a statement from Vintage or even a little apology to anyone - they've just ignored disappointed attendees comments and asked for photos of people's favourite bits, no recognition that they have mislead their paying customers, no remorse that they have ripped people off. They just don't seem to care at all that the people who actually make an event so successful feel the way they do. Whoever is responsible for keeping their facebook page up to date has an incredibly rude attitude towards customers and have blocked those who have expressed any opinion that differs from their own.

The only positives I can see to hopefully have emerged from Vintage at Southbank this year is that many people were able to enjoy a free day out and I hope that all the independent sellers made a fortune from the thousands of people who must have passed through the free market over the weekend (or at least their costs back, whatever they were)!

Also see: Busy Elle Bee, Lipstick Lori, Hello Vintage, Style High Club, Penny Dreadful Vintage, The Little Red Squirrel, Perdita's Pursuits.

Fin.