Posted: Tue 28th Jun 2016

UPDATED ‘Nothing To Worry About’ For Stereophonics Gig – FAQ

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jun 28th, 2016

Organisers of the Stereophonic gig told us today people have ‘nothing to worry about’ as details of the wristband swap outs was clarified.

UPDATE 9:49pm We have a FAQ just sent through to us by the organisers … our original article is below this:

If you were the ticket purchaser, you should have received an email from your ticket agency confirming details of the event. Should you not have received this, firstly please check your junk mail, failing that, please email [email protected] who will be happy to send you a copy.

FAQs on Wristband Exchange

What time is wristband exchange open?

Friday 5pm to 9pm

Saturday 1pm until 10pm.

Can I collect my wristbands for all the people in my party?

Unfortunately, no. Wristbands will be locked onto each individual person’s wrist. This prevents wristbands getting lost or stolen, which we would be unable to replace. It is also a measure against fraud and ticket touting.

My friend bought my ticket, do they have to be with me when I go through wristband exchange?

Technically no, the only issue you may have is if there is a problem with your ticket, we’ll need to speak to the person who purchased them. This is very rare, and we can deal with this on the day, just make sure you have some way of contacting them.

Why do I have to have a wristband? I already have a ticket?

Customers from different seating/standing areas will access communal areas for concessions and toilets. Showing a wristband when passing through access gates is far easier for both the customer and venue than constantly requesting to see your ticket, and avoids bottlenecks and queues waiting for people to find their ticket in handbags or pockets. It also prevents people passing tickets around to access different areas as wristbands aren’t able to be exchanged between people. As the event is sold out, this is something we need to consider to keep you safe.

Why didn’t you just send a wristband out with the ticket?

Unfortunately, wristbands can be easily fraudulently copied. If we had sent these out alongside your ticket, we ran the risk of people who’d want to copy them getting hold of them and producing their own. Your ticket will be scanned for its validity at wristband exchange, when you will progress to have your wristband locked on your wrist.

If I collect it on Friday, do I really need to wear it until Saturday night?

We’ve purchased festival style fabric lockable wristbands. You’re therefore able to shower in them and go about your daily business. If you do however have a job that does not allow such wristbands that you have to go to on Saturday, we recommend collecting prior to entering on Saturday instead.

I don’t want to collect it on Friday. I’m at the pub watching the match/I don’t have a babysitter…

That’s fine! Come as you’re entering on Saturday. If not a single person exchanges on Friday, we’ll still get everyone through on Saturday. Friday exchange is there as an additional option, for those local and keen on getting their wristband exchanged, especially if they’re wanting to arrive during peak times on Saturday. It’s merely an option, so don’t worry if it doesn’t work for you.

You’re going to have 20,000 people turn up at once…

Whist the wristband exchange is open for 13 hours in total this does not mean we need 13 hours to get all customers through. These timings were chosen for customer convenience. We’ve analysed a lot of data, including previous Stereophonics stadium customer arrival times, local audience patterns, postcode analysis of ticket purchasers etc. This combined with the many years of experience of the many teams involved, gives us the ability to estimate audience arrival patterns. There are many external factors that can affect this, weather, travel disruption or a quarter final Euro’s game for example, however, this has all been taken into consideration when planning our staffing provisions. We don’t want you queueing any longer than needs be.

Why not just give wristbands out at the gate?

The layout of the venue, bordering onto a busy main road, with carparks surrounding it, gives limited space for queuing areas. Therefore, instead of having large slow moving queues that could potentially overflow, we’ve split the ticket check/wrist banding and entrance searches into two different areas. This will create two separate smaller, fast moving queueing systems. The location of the wristband exchange in the sports ground is a neighbouring building on site, so there is a minimal walk between the two areas.

But I’ve never had to do this at any other gig I’ve been to?

This isn’t a normal venue. It’s the first gig here in 30 years, and it’s not purpose built like many stadiums you’d usually attend. We do, however, have a passion for making this venue work and getting more events like this to Wrexham, so have used techniques and tricks learnt over many different types of events to get this venue to work.

That’s all great, so you’re guaranteeing there’ll be no queues and we’ll just sail straight on through?

We’re afraid not, and we’re not going to lie to you! Any large scale event of this capacity has some element of queuing. We’ve been there as customers and we’ve been there as operators, processing 20,000 people safely around a venue takes a bit of time, and we’ll never compromise your safety to speed things up. If you arrive during peak times, you’ll inevitably queue for longer than those who come during quieter periods.

So what can I do to queue as little as possible?

Read as much info as you can about the event before you arrive. If possible, try and attend during none peak hours. The majority of you won’t be able to or won’t want to, hence they’re the quieter times, but if you can, do. Have your ticket out ready at wristband exchange, those extra minutes hunting it out of your bag takes up a lot of time when it’s multiplied by a lot of people. Take and keep hold of the map you’ll receive when collecting your wristband, it’ll tell you where to go from there. Take notice of signage. Don’t bring prohibited items. You’ll only get stopped at the search gate.

I am registered disabled or have a medical condition that I think will prevent me from being able to do this.

If you have not done so already, please contact [email protected] who will be able to discuss your specific requirements directly.

 

ORGINAL ARTICLE:

The ‘wristband exchange’ process has caused complaints, with conflicting advice being given to ticketholders from various ticket outlets meaning a confused picture emerging of the access situation for Saturday.

Today it was clarified that the policy of one ticket to one wristband to one person is being maintained.

We clarified if this means a single person picking up a group’s worth of wristbands was possible either on the day or on the Friday – and were told no on either days, as they get placed on peoples wrists directly.

The entrance to the gig on Saturday at the Racecourse will involve a process where a ticket is swapped (with stub retained if you wish) for a wristband on entry, along with the usual security searches.

The wristband system is being used as there will be various shared areas for both standing and seated ticketholders to use, so ‘people can move around freely once inside’.

Today were were told ‘everyone will go through the hall’ to get wristbands on the day, the hall being Wrexham Glyndwr University Sports Centre – then gaining access to the gig. Several people we have spoken with were unsure where precisely that is, so it is ringed in red below, and on the day will be ‘clearly signposted’. Formal advice states: “When planning your day please ensure you leave enough time to exchange your ticket for a wristband as well as queuing for entry.”

Wristband Exchange will be open during the following times only: Friday 1st July – 5pm to 9pm
and Saturday 2nd July – 1pm to 10pm.

sports-centre-glyndwr

In today’s Nightsafe meeting some of the owners of Wrexham’s night time economy venues (also known as pubs, bars and clubs!) said they were looking forward to the extra trade the gig is bringing. One spoke of how lunches had been booked up, and various afterparties were selling well ahead of time.

We are told the gig will be ending 10pm ‘on the dot’, with a dual audience of just shy of 20,000 expected split between Catfish / Phonics fans. It appears the fanbase will be highly local, with main ticket sales being in the LL11 and LL12 postcodes.

Our full information guide for the Stereophonics in Wrexham can be found here including travel info, parking, park and ride, food info, what not to bring etc.



Spotted something? Got a story? Email [email protected]



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