T4 Party on the Beach, Weston super Mare

[whole diary]

[Lee]

See http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=2238.msg85907#msg85907

[Chris from Nailsea]

Advance notice of possible delays on Sunday, from a poster at Nailsea & Backwell Station:

[John R]

In the past, I seem to recall the Torbay Express has picked up passengers at Weston on T4 day on it's way back to Bristol. Not sure whether it will happen this year given the new ownership. You'd be a bit surprised wouldn't you. Expect a Class 143 and you get an 11 coach train headed by a steam engine!

 

[Chris from Nailsea]

 

[Phil]

This reminds me - Melksham's annual "PARTY IN THE PARK" is taking place on Saturday, with stalls (and bars!) running all day, events in the main arena from 2pm, and on the two stages a series of entertaining and increasingly "major" bands which start to build to a crescendo when the town's carnival procession ends at 7pm, culminating with the best firework display in Britain* at around 10:15pm (the Abba covers band will then go on to play until 11pm)

First Group are of course fully geared up for this major event in the town's calendar, which regularly attracts crowds of 5,000 people through the day. The already impressive weekend train service is being boosted by extra trains which are being laid on through the afternoon to bring people in from across the county, and a shuttle bus service is transporting customers the mile and a half or so from Melksham station to the town centre (and back). This is in addition to the regular bus services into Melksham from Salisbury and villages in the south of the county and Bath to the west.**

*provided by a 4 times UK^▸ (United Kingdom) champion and regular representative of GB^▸ (Great Britain) at the world fireworks championships, who just happens to be a relation of someone on the carnival committee - hence how Melksham manages to stage such a stupendous show each year!

** The rest of this announcement is pure fiction, as you may have guessed. Far from supporting the event, First Group even declined to sponsor a ^40 advert in the carnival programme.

[inspector_blakey]

Avoid like the plague! I have inadvertently tried travelling from Didcot through to Bristol on the Sunday morning of T4 on the beach and it was an absolute nightmare. Seriously, if you can possibly avoid it, don't even try.

The time I did it it was a nasty how sweaty day and we ended up delayed at Bath whilst there was a stand-off between a flustered and hysterical train manager and some passengers trying to board.

[devon_metro]

How nice of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to provide a 2+7 (no buffet) set on the 0900 Paddington - Weston Super Mud!

[devon_metro]

Well, they have to be somewhere, today it was your turn to get the sh*tty end of the stick     

Well luckily I was at work, however was speaking with somebody who had to stand in the trolley store. Fun times!

[devon_metro]

First class was packed.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From thisissomerset:

Europe's biggest beach party ^ T4 on the Beach ^ is returning to Weston-super-Mare this summer.

Bosses at Channel 4 have confirmed that the flagship music event ^ which is estimated to pump ^3 million into the local economy ^ will be returning to the sands on July 4 for the sixth consecutive year.

Last year more than 50,000 packed into the seaside resort for the concert which included performances from chart-topping acts such as Brit Award winners JLS, The Saturdays, Dizzee Rascal, Florence and the Machine, N-Dubz and a surprise appearance by special guest Peter Andre.

The event was streamed live and broadcast on Channel 4 and 4Music with record audiences tuning in to see the performers hit the stage.

Editor of T4 & Music, Cath Lovesey, said: "2009 was such a resounding success and the team can't wait to bring T4 On The Beach back to Weston-super-Mare in 2010. We have more great acts lined up for this year."

Details of who will be taking to the stage at this year's event will be announced over the coming months.

The event pumps hundreds of thousands of pounds into the Weston-super-Mare economy with partygoers booking rooms in local hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation for the weekend.

Last year, dedicated camp sites were also set up across the town to cope with the influx of visitors arriving for the all-day concert.

North Somerset Council executive member for tourism, Councillor Felicity Baker, said she was delighted that T4 was returning to Weston.

Mrs Baker said: "To get this wonderful event back in Weston for the sixth year is fantastic news. Once again tens of thousands of people will be drawn to the town to enjoy the spectacle and see all the improvement works we've been carrying out on the seafront and Pier Square."

[inspector_blakey]

Speaking from bitter experience a few years ago, under no circumstances should you attempt to board any trains going anywhere near W-S-M on that morning!

[JayMac]

Also speaking from bitter experience in 2008:

I got a couple of tickets given to me by friends who couldn't attend and I'm just glad I didn't pay for them. There were only a few artists I was interested in, as I was about 10 years outside the target demographic.

Very disappointed with the majority of artistes choosing (or having) to lip-synch. The one band I really was looking forward to was The Zutons and even an established festival playing band such as this were forced to lip-synch; at least they made it obvious they were unhappy at doing this and subsequently apologised on their website.

Forgiveable from the cr*p manufactured pop artistes; but the likes of Duffy, Ting Tings and Scouting for Girls should not bother if they are forced to lip-synch to please Channel 4. If you can't sort out decent sound quality then don't bother. It is actually technically possible to provide decent 'live' sound - the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) manage quite well with their coverage from Pilton.

Oh and the journey home to Temple Meads was hellish.

Sometimes a freebie just isn't worth it!

[James158]

Boarding controls will be in operation tonight at Weston-super-Mare as train services are expected to be extremely busy due to the T4 On The Beach Event. BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) will also be present at the station.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

T4 On The Beach returns to Weston-super-Mare

The popular teen event T4 On The Beach is to return to Weston-super-Mare for its ninth year.
A host of pop stars and urban acts as well as television personalities will grace the town's beach lawns to the screaming delight of over 45,000 music fans.
Taking place on 10 July, the event will host 25 acts across two stages.
Last year's line up saw JLS, Tinie Tempah, Basshunter, Dizzie Rascal and Pixie Lott performed.
Neil McCallum, head of T4 & Music said: "We love coming to Weston-super-Mare just as much as the T4 presenters and the performers. Last year's event was a huge success, and having looked at this year's line up, we're beside ourselves with excitement."
Felicity Baker, North Somerset Council's Executive Member for Tourism said: "We are delighted to be welcoming T4 back again to Weston. This is a huge event that is always extremely popular and brings massive crowds to the town. We look forward to working with the organisers to ensure that the event continues to be a great success, and with it, brings a real boost to the town due to the increased visitor numbers."

[devon_metro]

In my diary as... "do not leave the house all day"