Forget nipping back to the tent because you donโt fancy the next band โ two Leeds Festival attendees apparently decided the only reasonable solution to their dance-music problem was to jump in an Uber and head more than 80 miles to Creamfields.
And, according to reports, the whole spontaneous mission ended up costing them nearly ยฃ1,000.
Festival logic, mun. ๐๐ค
๐ช Leeds Not Banging Enough? Off To Creamfields!
The story emerged following Leeds Festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend, when festivalgoer Aiden Warhurst and his partner decided they werenโt getting quite enough four-to-the-floor action.
According to Mixmag, the pair posted in the Creamfields community looking for tickets on Saturday, 29 August, less than two days after Leeds Festival had begun.
Their reasoning was brilliantly straightforward: several dance performances at Leeds had been cancelled, and they wanted their house music fix.
So rather than accepting defeat, cracking open another warm campsite beer and watching somebody elseโฆ
They called an Uber.
Destination?
Creamfields.
More than 80 miles away. ๐๐จ๐ถ
Thatโs commitment to the rave.
๐ธ โWhatever It Takesโ
Things escalated rather rapidly.
The pair reportedly managed to secure Creamfields tickets for around ยฃ300 each, while Warhurst estimated that the taxi journey could add another ยฃ300 to proceedings.
That puts their spontaneous festival switch somewhere around the ยฃ900 mark.
All because they needed, in their own glorious words, some โoonts oonts.โ ๐
If that isnโt one of the most British festival stories weโve heard all summer, we donโt know what is.
Most of us have spent 45 minutes debating whether paying ยฃ14 for loaded fries is financially responsible.
These two effectively went:
โNo house music? Taxi to another festival, butt.โ
Absolute scenes.
๐จ Why Were Dance Sets Cancelled At Leeds?
There was actually a more serious reason behind the lack of dance music.
Several electronic performances were reportedly cancelled at Leeds Festival and its sister event Reading Festival due to safety concerns.
At Leeds, sets involving Silva Bumpa, Locky, Omar+ and ALISHA were among those called off, while a Prospa B2B Skepta performance at Reading was also cancelled.
Prospa subsequently argued that larger UK festivals need to rethink the capacity given to dance music, suggesting demand has grown beyond what some of the smaller tents and stages can safely accommodate.
And thatโs arguably the bigger conversation hiding underneath this wonderfully bonkers Uber adventure.
๐ง Are Festival Dance Stages Becoming Too Popular For Their Own Good?
Rock fans know exactly what happens when a festival sticks a ridiculously popular act onto a stage thatโs far too small.
Suddenly youโve got thousands of people trying to squeeze into an area designed for considerably fewer bodies.
It isnโt fun.
More importantly, it isnโt safe.
Dance music has become a huge part of modern multi-genre festivals, and if demand regularly overwhelms designated areas, organisers may eventually have to start putting more electronic acts onto larger outdoor stages.
Nobody wants performances cancelled.
Artists lose their moment, fans miss something theyโve paid to see, and occasionally someone apparently ends up getting an Uber halfway across northern England.
๐๐
๐ค The Riff Report Verdict
Weโll give them this:
They REALLY wanted to dance.
Thereโs festival dedication, and then thereโs abandoning one major festival, buying tickets for another one and watching the Uber meter climb towards financial Armageddon because you desperately need some house music.
Utter madness.
Utterly brilliant.
And precisely the sort of chaotic festival tale we live for.
Would we personally spend nearly ยฃ1,000 chasing โoonts oontsโ?
Probably not.
Thatโs approximately 63 overpriced festival burgers, and weโve got priorities. ๐๐
But fair play to them โ while everyone else was complaining about cancelled sets, these two apparently decided to physically relocate themselves to another bloody festival.
That is commitment, mun. ๐ค๐ฅ
๐ธ RIFF REPORT QUESTION
Whatโs the furthest YOUโVE ever travelled because a festival wasnโt delivering the music you wanted?
Would you have taken the ยฃ300-ish Uber to Creamfields, or would you have stayed at Leeds, grabbed a pint and accepted your fate? ๐๐บ
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Zero Apologies. ๐๐ค
