Herrington Country Park Sunderland reviews by real event-goers

Review of Monument Festival

Review of Monument Festival

Thoroughly enjoyed the day, yet again. You can't book the conditions from the previous week and The Kooks might have their reasons for letting people down, but that's their business. For value, this festival can't be beaten. Jake Bugg and Neds were worth the admission alone. The View were superb, as were The K's. If there is a criticism it is that access to the main tent was uncomfortably blocked by people with camping chairs and queues in the mud for toilets. Otherwise, how can anyone complain about something of this quality, at such a competative price, right on the doorstep?

Review of Monument Festival

Some good bands and the pricing of the ticket and food & drink was fair. However, the organisation was somewhat chaotic -- starting late and nowhere near enough toilets! Also, could have managed the ground better (e.g. with straw or sand) as it was incredibly muddy in lots of places. Big shame that The Kooks pulled out at the last minute too.

Review of Kubix Festival

Having been to a couple of these Kubix events,the weather didn't put us off,we continued to enjoy the event

Review of Kubix Festival

Unfortunately Kubix has gotten worse with each year I attend.
I would like to say the music is always great, the acts chosen are fantastic.

The main issue I have is access. This year was the first year I was unable to add on a disabled pass when buying tickets. There was some confusion and delay sorting this out and logging my access card against my name in my case it was only sorted days before.
However when I got there and was helped, the staff at check in and security were brilliant! Also the security chap at the disabled access toilets was great too!

Last year there was an entrance at the top of the park, next to the disabled parking area for the VIP and disabled access.
This wasn't a thing this year and the VIP and disabled access was one single lane in the same place as the general access, which was on the grass with nothing put down on it to support wheelchairs and crutch users.
I appreciate Kubix cannot control the weather, but even upon our arrival at 13:30ish the grass was so boggy and slippy.

I use crutches to get around and can't stand for long (my access card is for walking distances and queuing) with there only being one lane in with everything else, it was a far walk to get to the entrance to then wait in a queue to get to another queue for security, also in the grass with nothing put down to walk on.

This year I did consider the crowd to be dangerous at one point with people fighting, stumbling around due to the amount of alcohol and what appeared to be drugs they had taken.
This did take quite a lot of enjoyment out, feeling uncomfortable and being on guard for being banged into or fell on or pushed and inevitably we left early.

Review of Monument Festival

The only downside for me was that I had an accessible pass as I'm disabled and the toilet situation was horrendous

Review of Monument Festival

Rough is the word. Did not appreciate being frisked and searched when others weren't. Some were asked to remove shoes and hats, some weren't. My partner was touched around the breasts.
The place stunk of faeces. Males were urinating anywhere and everywhere. The toilets at monument were a health hazard, no running water or hand sanitiser. They didnt flush..mud and urine made the surface very slippy. How do you expect children to use these when they cant sit down in the mess?
1 security man that I saw patrolling. The mud was a disgrace. People falling down in the liquid mud in a dark tent, very unsafe. I twisted my ankle when lost my footing on the uneven surface in the dark. The marquee goes up a week in advance of the first kubix event. Get land flattened and flooring put down like they do in football stadiums. Camping chairs within the arena when this was advertised as not allowed. You need to be more consistent in your rule enforcement. Not enough space when the tent was emptying, bottleneck of the crowd. The noise of the fairground rides spoiled the performances on the 2nd stage. The stage times were all off and there was long waits between acts with nothing entertaining to do. You say you are a small independent events company , and it shows. Really amateurish organisation, pathetic announcement when the HEADLINER cancelled. An absolute s**t show. A farce I was charged to take part in. So annoyed I went and stayed as long as I did. I would be embarrassed if I were you. Was it worth it? Your name should be mud..bit like herrington country park.

Review of Monument Festival

Sound quality was poor in both tents, most of the vocals couldn't be heard except for Jake Bugg, who was brilliant as a headliner as the Kooks didn't show up.
We went to the smaller Human League event the week before and there were no problems, but for some reason the organisers also decided to put at least 100 toilets out of use at the Monument Festival and put the urinals where you had to go through a tent to get to them - no one knew they were there so, consequently, the queues for the remaining toilets were huge, so not nearly enough toilets!

Review of Monument Festival

Very disappointed the main act dropped out, however Jake Bugg delivered. The stalls and c**ktail bar were a nice touch but pricey. The main act in the tent was an improvement from Kubix the week prior who had their main stage outside in the rain. Campsite overpriced at £20pp and you'd have to hold your breath to use one of the very few toilets.

Review of Monument Festival

toilets hadn't been cleaned after the previous music festival the week before

Review of Monument Festival

Disappointing that The Kooks cancelled. While I know this is not the organisers fault, as the headliner cancelled a part discount should definitely have been offered, as they were the only reason myself and many others were going.
Black grape being put on to fill a slot really ruined a lot of the atmosphere, not many people seemed to enjoy them at all. They did not seem to fit the vibe for that stage at all. Jake Bugg did a really good job at filling the headline position however.

There was a good selection of food stalls, at good prices also. The bars were also good, especially having a bar inside the tent. Did feel for the staff as they had no flooring to protect them from mud however.

The toilets were disgusting. Don't think they had been emptied since the event the previous weekend, which really is not good enough.

Review of Monument Festival

Ground conditions, toilets , timings, main tent not a stage, overall smell, no show from headliner. Issues to be sorted but would go again if rectified.

Review of Monument Festival

Review of Monument Festival

Thought the big tent for main acts killed the atmosphere and spoilt the joy

Review of Monument Festival

We really enjoyed Monument however more toilets were needed. There were way more last year which was much better. Also preferred the main stage not in a tent.
Bars ran out of tonic early on which isnt good.

Review of Monument Festival

I really enjoyed Monument Festival! It was a shame that the Kooks cancelled at the last minute but Jake Bugg more than made up for that! He was brilliant! The site was well set up! 🎪🥳🍾🥂🎉😁

Review of Monument Festival

Review of Monument Festival

Kooks Headliners cancelled, no notice of this no mention on website. Grounds were a mudbath and toilets were a disgrace no toilet roll from 2pm.

Review of Monument Festival

Review of Kubix Festival

In my personal experience I would not recommend kubix. It's a poorly organised event. Being a person who needed access to additional facilities due to disability this was the definition of a nightmare. Just trying to get the access was one thing but I can firmly say that kubix is not an accessible event. The disabled toilets were not monitored, anyone was using them, there was no ramps or mats or wood or anything down so that those in wheelchairs could use them. The mud was like a big outside of the toilets. I feel the event organisers could have placed the toilets on concrete or provided some boards or something so that the ground was solid where they were so that people with wheelchairs could get in and out with ease.
Not only that but trying to get the access card thing from the gate took us half an hour because the system they were using was hardly efficient. I think it's safe to say, we will probably not go back to kubix.