Slam Dunk Leeds: Festival issues statement over complaints of overflowing toilets and four-hour parking queues

Many festival-goers have taken to social media to complain about safety, sanitation and accessibility at this year’s sell-out Slam Dunk Festival at Temple Newsam, which finished on Sunday. Some had questioned if the event had been oversold, leading to issues.

Festival organisers have now issued a statement, responding to the complaint, and said that customer safety is “paramount to the festival”. 

“We recognise there were problems and that some customers did not have an experience to the standard which they expected," the statement said. "We would like to apologise for the issues which occurred and reassure our customers that we are committed to improving the event."

“We would like to assure all customers that neither event was oversold, and customer safety is, and always will be, paramount to the festival. Like all other major events, all our event plans were reviewed by local authorities and are in line with industry standards.”

According to festival-goers, issues included 30 minute queues to the portaloos, which were on a slope causing them to rock. They also reported urinals not emptied, which caused leaking onto the festival grounds as early as 3pm.

Taking to social media, one visitor has started listing flagged issues in an attempt to report the festival to various authorities: “I am reporting Slam Dunk North for the absolute complete lack of Health & Safety at their event. If anyone has any evidence of this please DM me photos, etc. Pictures of the crowding, unsanitary conditions, queues for water, that bottleneck at the end, etc.”

Others quickly joined in listing their issues, as another said: “I’ve been going to Slam Dunk for years now but this year has to have been the worst! And might have possibly put me off for ever returning.” 

They added: “It’s amazing seeing the festival grow, but when it reaches the point where people’s safety is at risk it might be worth re-considering everything. The lack of toilets and food stalls was disgusting. 

“Having to choose between queuing 30 minutes for the toilet or start heading towards the band you want to see as you have to take into consideration how long it’s going to take to get through the crowds.” 

Other complaints included the parking, in which visitors say they were queuing for up to four hours to get in and out with no staff directing them.

In their statement, the festival organisers said: “In response to the car parking and traffic issues, as previously highlighted there was an unprecedented number of cars arriving to the festival site who hadn’t pre-booked car parking. This alongside other external factors created a traffic flow issue which inevitably caused delays into the festival site.  

“As a measure to combat the traffic flow issue we made the conscious decision to stop checking passes for parking to increase the rate of entry to the car park and to prevent further delays.  Keeping this in mind, we have made the decision to no longer provide on the day car parking, from next year only those who have pre-booked their car park tickets will be permitted to park on site, along with other measures we are looking to implement, we believe these will create smoother entry into the event.” 

They continued: “We recognise there are other issues not highlighted in this statement. We will be conducting a thorough investigation, whilst working extremely hard to rectify all problems for future events.  

“We have always been committed to increasing customer experience and we welcome feedback to do this.”