Punchestown News

Punchestown Confirmed as World Class Venue

14-Jul-2009

Following the most successful Oxegen festival to date Punchestown racecourse is now firmly established as a world class venue.

During the four days of award winning Festival over 80,000 people descended on the 450acre Punchestown site. Almost 150 acres were dedicated to 65,000 festival goers who braved the elements in any of the three designated camping areas that were specially kitted out with shower areas, a 24 hour convenience store, a phone charging station and even a beauty salon. Naturally with an attendance as large as this the clean up process is a massive one as explained by Pat Ryan, of Ryan’s Cleaners "Our team of 350 cleaners move on site first thing on the Monday morning following the Festival. Once any suitable tents or equipment have been claimed by the boy scouts for various charities we will start the clean up process sorting through and disposing of the waste. This process will take a number of days but the site will be completely litter free by the following weekend. A separate team will be dispatched to the surrounding roads which will be spotless by Tuesday lunchtime at the latest".

The traffic management system was second to none with minimal disruption or delay to festival goers or local residents. Three complementary services were in place in the form of the Naas shuttle service, the Sweeper service to collect pedestrians at night time and the Park and Ride from Goffs. Commenting on the logistical side of Oxegen, regular Festival goer Jennifer Douglas from Dublin commented "Having attended Festivals throughout Ireland and Europe I know what to expect when it comes to transport and potential delays. It was so simple to get from the centre of Dublin to the main entrance of Oxegen. The free Park and Ride service was brilliant and I used the Naas Shuttle service which was completely hassle free. The layout, facilities and line-up really could not have been better. Even the toilets were above standard than what I’m used to at festivals - I think I will be back!"

The team at Punchestown endeavor to cause minimum disruption to local residents during the Oxegen Festival. In an effort to ensure this is the case over 400 Naas GAA and 80 Ballymore Eustace GAA volunteers form a stewarding panel that man neighboring houses, properties and gateways ensuring that there is no illegal parking and to report any concerns held by the residents. In addition to this the Punchestown Racecourse office was manned each day of the festival from 9am to 3am with mobile patrols in operation throughout the night. As a result of their involvement in the Oxegen stewarding operation, Naas GAA will receive approximately €40,000 with the Ballymore GAA receiving around €15,000 and local charities also benefit to the tune of €70,000. Past beneficiaries include NAS Na Riogh Housing Association, St Vincent De Paul, Ballymore and Eadestown Parishes and the Kildare Youth Services.

The Oxegen spin off was not only evident locally but nationally with every retail outlet ranging from the supermarket chains to the local stores doing specialist camping and festival goer packages. David Hatchell, General Manager, Eurospar Naas said "We had a bumper weekend, there’s no two ways about it. Even in the build up to the Festival business was on the increase but over the duration of the festival itself we did a great trade in everything from cosmetics to the deli counter".
Commenting on the event, Richie Galway of Punchestown Racecourse said "Once again the event was a great success and all the feedback is positive from our point of view. The traffic system implemented by the Gardai ensured that there were no transport issues and seemed to work very well. With an attendance of 80,000 there will always be some issues but thankfully these were all of a minor nature. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the volunteers from both Naas and Ballymore GAA whose contribution to the smooth running of the event is invaluable".
Louis Harte, Oxegen Festival Site manager "Punchestown is undoubtedly a world class festival site. It is unique in Ireland for the specific facilities and services it offers for an event this size and status".

Michael Byrnes, Chief Super Intendent – "Like all good policing and traffic plans they are constantly under review with all parties involved and thankfully this one really worked very well. Above all we would like to compliment the 80,000 people in attendance for their good humour and courteous behaviour they were a pleasure to deal with".

For further information please contact Shona Dreaper, PR Manager, Punchestown Racecourse sdreaper@punchestown.com or 045 897704 Go to Tickets