Rewind 80S Festival Guide & Info Page.

A Guide and Top Tips when visiting the Festival, ""CLICK HERE TO READ GUIDE""

I just came back from Rewind Henley 2011. The weekend was ''EXCELLENT'' but I found it frustrating at the sheer lack of information avaliable before we went. The official website had some basic FAQs but very littl else and even the order of line-up wasn't published anywhere.
I therefore decided to create this page to give future festival visitors my expereinces of the festival and some advice and tips when attending.


1. Getting There.
We went for the whole weekend but didn't camp so my advice on camping is going to be limited!
Finding the venue wasn't difficult, after approaching Henley on Thames we found the signs directing us to the show ground and the organisers had traffic lights setup due to the backup of traffic from the car park. Visitors enter the festival down a narrow country lane and then down a dirt track to the show fied which is probably about a mile or so long. It did not take us long to park and there were plenty of attendants pointing us in the right direction.
It was only a short walk from the car park to the main entrance where visitors give ther tickets and you get given a wristband that you must wear so that the attendants can see you've paid!

2. The Showground
Apart from the main stage there was, in my opinion, not as much as I was expecting.
Going back to the official website there was a brief vague description of what you can find there but i personally found the surrounding amusements rather dull. For example 'The Lavish Lounge' (featured on the website) was nothing as all like the photo of it on the website. It was basically just a large tent, or maquee with very little theme to it, with a very basic disco, some flashing lights one or two sofas and a small bar. It was a hot August day and sitting inside was very uncomfortable. It had an open front and that was it no windows, minimal seating and was extremely dark and clamy. Although the music was period and good!
There was also a 'Coffee Bar' that was even more basic than the 'Lavish Lounge'. A couple of simple poufees around a couple of tables in a tent basically. Not that seating in there was a problem as noone was in there!
There were some stalls selling various thing was flowers to retro objects, but the selection was very limited and the number of stalls was at best limited. There were two stalls right next to the camp site which looked useful: one was selling camping accessories and the other, called 'The Corner Shop', was selling basics such as eggs milk and newspapers. I did not look at the prices in these two but if the rest of the costings were anything to go buy expect to part with notes rather than lose change!
Another thing I would recommend, especially if you are a day visitor, is to take a change of clothes if the weather changes as if the heat or wet tempts you to buy stuff from the stalls you'll have to remorguage your house!
There was a very large and extensive tent for children and although we didn't have any kids in our group there was obviously tonnes of stuff for kids to do in there like giant lego, hoops, etc.
There was a small fun fair with the usual rides, rather limited and overpriced: I think the dodge'ems was £3 a go.

I couldnt find anything on the exact location of the festival so did some research of my own. . .
IF YA GOT GOOGLE EARTH HERE ARE SOME CO-ORDINATES OF WHERE THINGS ARE (OR WERE IN 2011):
MAIN STAGE: 51°33'16. 85"N 0°53'3. 18"W
ENTRANCE FROM CAR PART: 51°33'13. 46"N 0°53'22. 61"W
MAIN CAR PARK FIELD: 51°33'11. 70"N 0°53'14. 38"W
ENTRANCE TO SHOW FROM CAMPSITE: 51°33'27. 69"N 0°53'10. 92"W

3. Food & Drink

It clearly states on the website that no food or drink is allowed to be taken into the main arena and this seems to be the case as the attendants on the entrances were checking peoples' bags and such. However we managed to sneek some grub in and I cannot recommend this more for the prices of the the refreshments is extortionate considering this point blank refusal to allow anything in.
As some examples i made a not of some of the prices from some of the featured food vendors on the website.

Purepie: Steak and Ale Pie £4. 50, Cornish Pastie £4. 50

The Mexican Food Stall: Nachos with Cheese £4. 00, Bean & Cheese Burritos £5

Quality Fish & Chips: Fish Chips Peas and a Soda was £8. 00

The Flippin Good Burger Co. : I had high hopes for trying a burger from this stall but instantly walked away when i found their original burger was £5. 50! A Duble Cheddar from the same place was only a couple of quid short of a tenner! ! !

Pizza Express: £6. 50 for a small margaritta

The Swallow Bakery: one cup cake £2. 50

There were a few Mr Whippy ice cream vans scattered around but with a single Mr Whippy ice cream at £2. 50 and a bottle of soda at £2. 00.
There were two main bars one each side of the main stage and all drinks were £4 which included a 175ml bottle of wine, 500ml bottle of larger, etc. Jugs of Pimms were also avaliable but selling a kidney would be wise if you want one of them for £25 a picher is not exactly cheap!
(SEE THE PHOTO ALBUM 'MENU PRICES' FOR SOME SHOTS OF SOME OF THE VENDORS PRICES FROM THE 2011 SHOW)
Ques for food and drink were not really a problem.
I must say that the selection of food avaliable was excellent but the prices were discusting.
Disguise your home brought grub as best as possible for generally they were only feeling the bags presumably for tell-tale scrunching sounds! However if they do find anything they will take it away.

4. Main Stage

I would highly reccommend taking your own fold up chairs as nearly everyone there did the same and they are a god send when you are watching music for nealry 9 /10 hours. Sitting a bit further back gives you the best sound and often you can get a good view of the stage even sitting down although there are two main screens that anyone can see. The nearer you got to the front the more crowded it got and although it was a bit of a nightmare getting through everyone if you needed to go to the bar or the loo everyone was very tollerent and there was a very friendly atmosphere: noone gave us raised eyebrows or verbal abuse for standing on their toe or tripping over their kids or chairs! !
Getting to the very front of the crowd to be at the front of the stage was quite easy and there was no 'moshing' or suffocation involved. It is a fun experince at the front of the stage; there was a video camera that is always panning the front few rows and you can often find yourself on the mainscreens. Also they often throw inflatable balls out at the crowd which get knocked round the place.

5. Festival Atmosphere

The atmosphere at Rewind was great everyone was friendly upbeat and relaxed. it is easy to engage pleople in conversation and there is a great sense of enjoyment there. . . hard to expalin unless you've been. Going in fancy dress is something you should think about as there are thousands of people in all types of outfits and it really adds to the overall 80s atmosphere.

6. Parking

We got talking to some people at the festival and it apparently took 2 hours to get out in 2010 so if you can get dropped off or walk it would be an advantage to you if like us you had a long drive home on the Sunday!

7. THE MUSIC
I was very impressed with the musicians of 2011. they all performed very well and 30 years hadn't seemed to loose them their edge.