One local said there were ‘so many unhappy people’
Kim Horton Senior Reporter and Katie Timms Head of Content
14:28, 01 Jun 2025
File image of a stage at Taunton Racecourse
Organisers of a Somerset festival have issued an apology for camping delays this weekend, as well as addressing a number of issues raised by unhappy campers.
Festival on the Hills, located at Taunton Racecourse, took place between May 29 and May 31, with weekend camping available. But festival-goers have complained about a number of issues at the family-friendly event.
One local told SomersetLive camping was “totally over subscribed” and there were “so many unhappy people”. Addressing the issues in a Facebook post, organisers said: “We are deeply sorry for the delays with assigning camping space. Please bear with our team who are trying their best. We will issue updates as we get them.”
Despite the complaints, there were others who praised the stewards, “who are doing their best”. Mandi Usher said: “It’s the size of vehicles and tents now, hopefully sorted soon, we got lucky. It was empty when we arrived.”
A number of disgruntled customers have demanded refunds. In a public Facebook group for the festival, Jayney Gage wrote: “I want a refund of £180 because I’m disabled and been put in a field 2 miles away from the festival with no way of attending. Also I know of people who obviously know people in higher places than me who’ve arrived a lot later than me and have managed to park/camp closer than us. Also at 10pm they’re still selling tickets. I’m so upset because being disabled I can’t even get to the festival given the size of the minibuses v size of my wheelchair.”
Dean Sharp wrote that he was “sat in an overflow field with grass 18-inches high”, adding there were initially no toilets until four portaloos were added. He claims he was charged £5 to use a nearby campsites shower block and had to walk 15-minutes to the festival site, although a “hastily organised shuttle bus” was put in place.
Dean added: “Got grandkids arriving tomorrow till Sunday. Probably gonna leave Saturday and book a campsite on way home for Saturday night. This was supposed to be a family friendly festival. Nothing friendly about any of the staff or organisers so far. Won’t be back ever again. Don’t suggest anyone bothers. They’ve now said they’re full even if you’ve purchased tickets and camping.”
Festival on the Hills said campers took up more square meterage than anticipated with their set ups and they were not prepared for the amount of space occupied.
A spokesperson said: “When running our festival we use The “Purple Guide” for best practice. This is a comprehensive guide to health, safety, and welfare at events, particularly music-led events.
“It’s a widely used industry standard for music festivals. According to the calculations made in line with this guide, we expected to fit everyone in. We took tickets off sale a few weeks ago before hitting the maximum as a contingency.
“Unfortunately, a larger number of campers than anticipated occupied more square meterage with their camping set ups than we had prepared for. We acknowledge that we should have set size restrictions to prevent this and are devastated for letting people down.”
Organisers say they are aware of individuals who were not scanned into the festival and will be in touch with them directly in due course, to discuss how to move forward “in terms of options”.
A spokesperson clarified that the police and fire service visited the site before the launch and “were happy the event was operated to the correct standards”.
“The festival was created five years ago as a non-profit to give back to the local community and charity – we do not take any money for ourselves and have other jobs to enable us to do this voluntarily.
“As an organisation with a larger event portfolio, we are thrilled to have donated thousands to the Somerset carnival circuit and support charities such as Andy’s Man Club and Mind.
“We’d like to thank everyone for their support. We take on board the feedback and will of course use these learnings if we decide to bring the event back next year.”
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