please empty your brain below

I was on my way back from the finale of the Greenwich and Docklands Festival in Woolwich (you didn't miss much, it's been poor this year IMHO) when we picked up quite a few punters at Pontoon Dock.
Merry rather than pissed. But at those prices I'm not surprised. And the DLR seemed to have extra staff out for the event.
All the people heading for home were grumbling about how late everything was. And as the train rumbled along there did seem to be a few fireworks going off.
Which seemed to irk people even more. Because they'd left before the "grand finale".
All things considered, not one of the London 2012 Festival's finest weekends.

Thanks for the info, have been watchin the site develop over the last few weeks whilst travelling on the dlr and wondering what it was for!
I did not go to the fireworks because of the late starting time. Instead I watched a free circus stile show on the riverside stage outside the National Theatre. That show started at 10pm and the acts were still performing when I left after 10.30pm.
I am old enough to remember the fun I used to have as a child at the Battersea Park Pleasure ground, so may find the new pleasure gardens disappointing.
The fireworks were pretty impressive... they started late, and didn't finish until close to 11pm - and then they closed the main gate, and tried to force the thousands of exiting visitors to go over the temporary-looking bridge to the DLR station. Needless to say, the DLR shuttles couldn't cope with the demands of thousands of people all wanting to use them at once, resulting in a horrible, dangerous crush, which was absolutely appallingly managed.

Fireworks looked like this - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mykreeve/7475502878/
Oh. I went to Woolwich, too. I must be easy to please because I thought it was great.
went on time, waited, went in, left. What an overhyped event. They could have used another week to get it ready, rather than blow goodwill on a shoddy start.

Pontoon Dock is deeply ill-suited to the task of handling large events (one oyster ready on the ground floor for each stair case was causing a queue in itself) but the staff did a good job of making the best of it.
Thanks for this. We were thinking of checking this out with the little 'un -- it was described as a "family festival" after all -- but I think I'll just have a look at the site some other time at my leisure. 'Specially as it looks like rain now (though that'll solve the dust problem at least!)
The pedestrian crossing outside the venue can't cope either. There are three security people to shepherd people across, but an island in the middle that's too narrow for two-way movement.
Pedestrian crossing? When we went yesterday evening, they were sending everyone across a rather nice (but still quite narrow) bailey bridge, directly out of the DLR station and at the park side down a ramp to the entrance shack.

Agree on the poor organisation though. Staggering that they have been given £3m and not managed to throw together a toilet block. They really really should have left the opening for a few weeks until they had a reasonable amount of content in there, so many people will have seen how little there was in there after quite a DLR trek and just won't go back.

Very disappointing compared to the plans they announced in the past.
Yep, they had all the gates to the street closed and tried to get everybody to leave via the bridge into the DLR. Which was complete stupidity and highly dangerous. Eventually we got the 'security' guards to see sense and they opened what had been the exit. And soon after that, they were forced to open what had been the entrance.
If anything it got worse by Sunday.
Unfriendly, unwelcoming, unfinished.
One of the worst events (actually, THE worst event) Ive ever been to.
It just felt it was run by amateurs.
You mentioned the cashpoints, but didnt mention that they cost £2.75 to withdraw money! I'm used to being charged to get my money, but £2.75 is just nasty.
@Ian N
The Dangleway spent £60m and still didn't manage to throw together a toilet block....
Oh dear oh dear. Five Million Pounds. Most of it taxpayers money. And the result was an awful festival. I took my kids along as it promised to be a fantastic day out. Barry fell over and cut his knee on the uneven surface. Lucy got grit in her eye. (dust, dust everywhere, whipped up by the smallest breeze - given its an old industrial site, I'm worried as to what we were inhaling!)
We gave up after two hours. Overpriced and totally overhyped, and not a patch on the festicvals we used to go to as a family in Vicky Park.
On the way home, we went on the cable car, and stopped off for food at the O2. THATS a better day out than this god awful shambles.
Given its MY money (and yours, and yours, and yours) that has paid for this, whom do i write to at the council to ask for our community's three million pounds to be returned and invested in something more worthwhile?
Dean.
x
Well, it could have been worse, as demonstrated by this weekend's Bloc Party, which has been cancelled after an utterly shambolic opening last night:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jul/07/bloc-weekend-shut-down-police










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