Creamfields 2012: Review

Creamfields 2012 - Daresbury, Cheshire Words by Anna Sky Hulton Pictures: Marc De Groot (above), Riccardo Magliola (below)

Creamfields 2012 was a festival of two halves, with Friday and Saturday going ahead and being thoroughly enjoyable and Sunday being a total washout.

For the second year Creamfields entertained thousands on a Friday night with a silent disco which included Kissy Sell Out, Brookes Brothers and Riva Starr.

Saturday

We joined the revelries on Saturday when on leaving the safety of our own home we were greeted by torrential rain and thunderstorms for most of the journey.

However, as we neared the Cheshire countryside the sun began to poke through the clouds and it continued to shine while we trudged through muddy fields from our car to the campsite.

Joining the main festival we found ourselves enjoying the sounds of Norman Doray on the South Stage. The relatively good weather had everyone in high spirits as they enjoyed a cheeky drink in the ‘sun’.

The North Stage this year played host to Example and David Guetta amongst others. Example improved on his performance last year (which was a bit disappointing if we’re honest), and despite the driving rain the crowds continued to gather as he performed his chart topping hits ‘Kickstarts’ and ‘Changed The Way You Kissed Me’.

David Guetta headlined the North Stage and miraculously the rain pretty much held off for the duration. During Guetta’s 1.5 hour set he included many of his recent hits, Titanium, Wild Ones and his new single with Sia, She Wolf (Falling to Pieces).

Perhaps not the best we have seen him perform at Creamfields, but the superstar DJ will never be a disappointment. His whole performance was amazing with a lighting rig like no other DJ and pyrotechnics that wowed the crowd.

After 11pm the outside entertainment ended and attention turned to the tents where the ground was becoming more and more unstable.

The AMP (Annie Mac Presents) tent really stepped up a notch with the lady herself delighting the crowds and introducing the Chemical Brothers, returning to the dance festival for a DJ set. The crowds kept dancing late into the night despite the quality of the ground beneath their feet rapidly deteriorating.

Sunday

! Waking up after a night of torrential rain, revellers who had been looking forward to the stellar line up of deadmau5, Tiesto and Groove Armada would be sorely disappointed.

Many found their tents and belongings deep in water and mud, even the luxury camping couldn’t escape some flooding as the field containing Tangerine Fields, Podpads and Octopads also became waterlogged.

Finally at around 10am the rain began to subside and people began to emerge from their tents, running to the two essentials, the toilets and the food wagons.

As the staff in the campsites didn’t seem to know what was going on many turned to Twitter, looking for some sort of guidance. It seemed however that even the headline DJs didn’t know what was going on as Tiesto tweeted, “Rumor is @creamfields is cancelled? Is that true?!!”

Then just a few minutes later he tweeted “Ughhh really sad @creamfields has been cancelled…I just found out…”

Midday came and went (when the music should have started in the main arena) but where there should have been a reassuring thump of dance music there was silence, which was when many realised that the rumours may be true and the event may not be going ahead.

It was then in the early afternoon when Creamfields updated Twitter, Facebook and their website with a statement stating what many had suspected. Campers were asked to leave the event on Sunday where possible, however, many had started drinking before the official statement was made and were well over the drink drive limit.

With festival goers coming from all over the UK and Europe for Creamfields leaving that day just wasn’t an option that some could entertain so for some it meant another night in waterlogged fields, however those worst affected were moved to higher ground, or luxury camping options.

Sunday was a disappointment to many, but looking at the photos that have since emerged the correct decision was made.

A full timeline of the events that led to the cancellation of the event can be found on the Creamfields website www.creamfields.com

Here is a brief overview of what happened overnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning: 3am - 6am - Event overnight Manager closes several structures 6.30am – The Groove Armada Presents, Cream and Super You&Me arenas are deemed unfit to use on the Sunday. 7am - Certain areas of the site are now under 1.5m of water. 7.30am – The event site is classified as a ‘Serious Incident’ by the emergency services. 9.30am to 12pm – A continuous assessment was made of the site by the Festival Director 12pm – The main south exit is flooded and alternative exit routes have to be implemented to allow people access to the car parks.

If you were at Creamfields this year then to find out the latest regarding ticket refunds check their website www.creamfields.com (http://twitter.com/creamfields).