Enchanted Garden 2002
March 29th, 2002 by freddie96
Capacity at this year’s Enchanted Garden
For a number of reasons, the capacity at this year’s Enchanted Garden will be going up to 5,000. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to explain why.
Firstly, it should be remembered that the layout of the Larmer Tree site in 2001 was different – and more spacious – to previous years. The extra space was commented on in the many questionnaires and response sheets that we received back, in many cases positively. But it was also pointed out by many that the atmosphere may have been lacking because there were not sufficient numbers to create a vibe in certain areas, most notably around the club tent at particular times.
Secondly, to put the last two years in perspective, EG2000 suffered greatly from the effects of people fence-hopping. This in turn placed a great strain on resources, not least security and toilets, as well as compromising the balance of space and intimacy that is so valued at the Big Chill.
Maintaining this level of intimacy is of vital concern for us, and we would always aim to do this as much as possible – even if we were producing an event for 20,000 people. In this respect, those who felt that EG2000 was too crowded are right. But even though the total numbers on site in 2002 will be nearer that year’s figure than EG2001, with a radical re-design of the site, and the increased organisational and logistical budget, we believe that the balance will be exactly right in 2002.
There are also issues of supply and demand. EG2001 sold out in March – four months before the event – and before most names had been announced for the line-up. This factor in itself can put an enormous strain on the security of an event, not to mention the people in our office who have to answer phones for months and deal with having to say sorry to people who are extremely disappointed on missing out. If the Big Chill does not grow and evolve naturally, there will be more and more frustrated people, as well as giving us an air of ‘exclusivity’ – something that we’re keen to avoid.
With its reduced capacity, the Enchanted Garden pretty much ran at a break-even level this year, though we are pleased to say that our increased security and attention to production detail prevented the previous year’s gatecrasher problem. But breaking even is obviously not enough to sustain a growing company which supports almost a dozen people all year in full or part-time jobs, not to mention over a hundred who are employed by us around festival times.
Finally, there is the question of standards. We feel strongly that the quality of the next Enchanted Garden would be impaired on several levels if we weren’t to increase its capacity. From its inception, this event was designed to be a beautiful, artistically inspiring experience like none other. Continuing to run it as a small-scale event would inevitably mean some curtailing of all those little touches and special features which, we feel, (and are often told by Big Chillers), make all the difference.
Overall, our aim has always been to give you as much as possible for your money. On that basis, as well as all the others touched on here, we strongly believe that we will have the ideal number at the Enchanted Garden next year. We hope you come to agree.
[galleryurl=http://www.bigchill.net/gallery.html?id=15]EG2001 photogallery[/galleryurl]
