I would like to ask the Guys & Galls " should we pay an entrance fee for the Sheffield Mayfest when other venues do not charge. Recent shows "Graves Park Highland Show, Norfolk Park, ( I know it is not in Sheffield,) but Rotherham Show.
What are we actually paying for, Is'nt it time now to to have free entrance, maybe a small fee for car parking

There should be a fee, it keeps all the scutters away.:thumbsup:

Originally posted by scubatony61
What are we actually paying for,

Isn't that blinkin' obvious once you get inside?

We shouldn’t have to pay a fee to get in a public park which we already pay for

I have not heard of this where is it?
What bands are on?
Are there bands on?
How much is the enrance charge?
Is it still running as it is now June?

Is it as good as the Dev Jam '05 ?

Originally posted by ROBERT
We shouldn’t have to pay a fee to get in a public park which we already pay for

But you don't already pay for all the activities that were on at Mayfest - music, entertainments arena, stalls, fairground. It was an excllent afternoon out, and it didn't organsie itslef. And as the Council has decided not to bother organising things like this themselves, how do you think it would get paid for othwerwise?

If you want to get in for free everyday - don't expect anyone to put anything like Mayfest on ever again.

I always complain at having to pay to get in but once inside, it's pretty good value really. We saw some good music, my kids got to meet some of their favourite bands (and were given CD's etc for nothing), we watched the circus, did craft activities, won a sandcastle building competition, were entertained by all manner of people and animals and had a really lovely day out.

Would you get all that at a free event? I'm not so sure.

Originally posted by MrHelicopter
And as the Council has decided not to bother organising things like this themselves, how do you think it would get paid for othwerwise?
If you want to get in for free everyday - don't expect anyone to put anything like Mayfest on ever again.

The devonshire Jam was totally free. Everyone played voluntarily.

Nobody has said where this mayfest is yet. Is it now finished?

It was last weekend in Hillsborough Park ....... Sunday and Monday

i agree with scubatony,
i have lived in sheffield all my life and think that it is disgraceful that i should have to pay to get into park that i have paid to upkeep for 34 years.
itrs the same when there is a music festival in the park, they block it off and even put large fence up so no-one can see in from outside,
i bet the local councellors don,t have to pay to get in

yes but even when bands play for free there is loads of other stuff to pay for... marquees, toilets, security, insurance, stages, promotion, to name only a few.. an event like that occurs serious costs and any money that is made (i can't speak for the organisers) probably goes back into the event enableing the organisers to offer even more the following year.

however, this is seemingly a council run event so if there is any money made once all the invoices have been paid, it would be intresting to know how it is used.

any ideas?

Originally posted by onedizzybird
yes but even when bands play for free there is loads of other stuff to pay for... marquees, toilets, security, insurance, stages, promotion, to name only a few.. an event like that occurs serious costs and any money that is made any ideas?

It's just greed and greedy promoters.

All of that was free at Dev Jam '05

how many favours were called in though... surely there must have been some cost???

also wouldn't it be nice to be able to pay some of the bands for playing, give them a bit of money towards promoting themselves or to buy new equipment.

Originally posted by muddycoffee
It's just greed and greedy promoters.

All of that was free at Dev Jam '05

That's incredibly naive TBH.

All that happened is that SOMEBODY ELSE paid.

None of it is free, and it's certainly not 'greedy promoters'.

Chemical toilets don't empty themselves, security and safety planning needs staffing, setting up and cleaning up needs to be done, etc, etc, etc.

Dev Jam is great, but it's an off beat, cookie, slightly hippyish gathering that's hardly on a par with MayFest. And it still needed paying for.

Originally posted by Tony
That's incredibly naive TBH.

All that happened is that SOMEBODY ELSE paid.

None of it is free, and it's certainly not 'greedy promoters'.

Chemical toilets don't empty themselves, security and safety planning needs staffing, setting up and cleaning up needs to be done, etc, etc, etc.

Dev Jam is great, but it's an off beat, cookie, slightly hippyish gathering that's hardly on a par with MayFest. And it still needed paying for.
I'm sorry but I think you are being Naive. I have never heard of mayfest until this thread, and dev jam is a yearly music festival with thousands of visitors. It has chemical toilets, tents and marquees, Huge PA systems and security, and it's free for the public

its sponsored by hallam fm and loads of other companies so yes it should be free or it should be any profits are given to the childrens hospital or some other charity.

Originally posted by savbaby
its sponsored by hallam fm
No wonder we've never heard of it then.

Thank you for your feedback on Dev Jam 05!!

Devonshire Jam is organised by an incredibly dedicated team of student volunteers from Hallam Volunteering at Sheffield Hallam University Union of Students.

They have worked solidly since September raising the funds to put on the event... organising fundraising auctions, pub crawls and speed dates to name a few! Thank you to everyone who donated! We also had support from some of our suppliers who helped us out with some favourable deals.

The volunteers were extremely passionate about putting on a free event for the community in the heart of Sheffield and I think they did a brilliant job!

I hope that everyone who came down had a fantastic day and we would welcome your feedback on our event. You can email us on hallamvolunteering@shu.ac.uk

I personally would like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers and performers who gave up so much time for free... especially Nel and Bex who organised the whole thing from start to finish!!

If you wanna check out some photos from the day... go visit our website (I can't post the address... perhaps someone can do it for me!) ... they should be up on Wednesday!

Jayne

i recall mayfest happening last year and possibly the year before. hats off to hallam for organising dev jam it must be a very time consuming task when there is study to be done and well done for getting out there fundraising, hope the people of sheffield appreciate the effort. if everyone who went put a least a pound in the bucket i'm sure this would go some way towards organising next years event.

we all want things for free but unfortunately events such as these cost a lot of money to put on... people cannot always afford to give their time away for free, some people build their businesses upon events like these, you cannot expect them to provide their time and equipment free of charge event after event can you? and what about the organizers?

organizing an event can be a full time job for a few key individuals on the management team and some events can take the year to organize...should they be expected to live off nothing because the event should be free?

muddycoffee, i saw you praising devjam on another thread, they had sent you a bands pack...do you not think that this costs money???

i'm all for free events its great but it just is not always feasible, where an event is free though, it makes you think of the organisation and when the donations bucket comes round digging deep into your pocket putting in a few quid will go some way towards covering the costs.

Is Mayfest what used to be the Sheffield Show ?

What I originally posted has been forgotten

Recent shows "Graves Park Highland Show, Norfolk Park, ( I know it is not in Sheffield,) but Rotherham Show.

They are ALL FREE except for a small car parking charge so why can't the Mayfest follow suit, its great for the kiddies but when the parents have to start thinking about shelling out for an entrance fee aswell as the icecreams etc, then it becomes a dear do.
So come on organisers if you do not charge an entrance fee you will not have to spend a boat load on fencing to keep people out and pay for security people to patrol to stop people climbing the fence to get in to see a great show.

On another point MrHelicopter wrote:-

But you don't already pay for all the activities that were on at Mayfest - music, entertainments arena, stalls, fairground. It was an excllent afternoon out, and it didn't organsie itslef. And as the Council has decided not to bother organising things like this themselves, how do you think it would get paid for othwerwise?

Yes I quite agree with him, but no fencing cost + a small increase in stallholders/rides fees = more people through the gate, over the fence, under bushes, coming in the cars, vans,trams anything because it will be bigger because people will not be having to pay.
I have spoken to several people who have said they were not going to the Mayfest because they had to pay and they stated various other shows that were free

the mayfest event is over 10 months in planning and for that amount of time the organisers deserve some financial reward.

FREE once inside
the main arena had, motorbikes and mini stunts, birds of prey working dogs and others
the lawsons circus show
the beach, the kids disco tent,
the hallam fm stage,

the event is not funded by the council it has to be self financing the fencing off the park costs hundreds of pounds,
the security and safety marsahlls cost hundreds of pounds
dozens of toilets costing £30+ each
privat on site first aid facility £???
40 tons of kids play sand £??
hundreds of deck chairs to chill out in
dozens of marquees for the beneift of all up to a £1,000 each
tables annd chairs for people to eat their own food in marquee to shelter from the sun or rain
Safe power generation adn distribution long with water and rubbish removal hundreds of pounds

and at the end remove all the rubbish and restore the park to how it was before,

Yes it costs to get in but how much is it now to see a 90 minute film at the cinema, even a dodgy DVD costs a fiver.

If you dont like it dont go, over 30,000 people attended over half of them children many of whom have never seen a circus, and many of whom dont get a day at the seaside, so to see kids diging in the sand, or laughing at the clowns in the circus in my book is a fiver well spent on its own.

Before a coment is made I am biased as I have been involved with the event since its inception, and I am involved as a supplier to the mayfest and other events around the city and in Hillsborough park.

I still have my opinion and that is that the mayfest and other events that charge admission offer good value as a whole package.

We did have the old Sheffield show but as I remeber that was not a free entry event.

The Rotherham show is a fun day out for caged birds and hamster fanciers and does have the jazz/ folk tent playing music all day, but not much else in tersm of large entertainment.

Well next year if you decide to do it again, then I suggest that you advertise it on the forum, and invite some of the forum bands to play, instead of relying on hallam FM to advertise it for you. A great deal of the population of sheffield don't listen to commercial radio stations and have no intrest in the infantile presentors and hours of constant commercials, and no I don't want a quick fit fitter, and if one ever comes around they will get a piece of my mind.

From what I have gathered it has already happened, and I haven't seen a list of the bands that played there at all. Where were the application forms? Were was the event advertising?

I hope you have better luck with it next year.

Originally posted by muddycoffee
Well next year if you decide to do it again, then I suggest that you advertise it on the forum, and invite some of the forum bands to play, instead of relying on hallam FM to advertise it for you. A great deal of the population of sheffield don't listen to commercial radio stations and have no intrest in the infantile presentors and hours of constant commercials, and no I don't want a quick fit fitter, and if one ever comes around they will get a piece of my mind.

From what I have gathered it has already happened, and I haven't seen a list of the bands that played there at all. Where were the application forms? Were was the event advertising?

I hope you have better luck with it next year.

the bands that Hallam would have got to mayfest would be to supply for the youngsters.... as after all this is what mayfest is designed for.

kids anything up to 13 dont normally like the bands that would normaly play in sheffield,

Originally posted by Robbie_Lovin
kids anything up to 13 dont normally like the bands that would normaly play in sheffield,
Not true,
I know loads of younger kids who love local bands and cannot get into pubs where they usually play. In addition there are a good few bands with very young teenagers in themselves. E.G Teen species.Teen Species (http://www.teenspecies.co.uk/) Who's lead singer and guitarist was only 12 until recently and they are a stonkin' band.

I live in Sheffield and didn't notice any publicity for this event at all. I remember the Sheffield show from years back in Hillsborough park and it used to be free. However for some reason it went downhill probably as the displayed events like the army abseiling wall were banned as being too dangerous.
It had a few years spell in Graves park with some big promotor running it and therefore charging for what was a pathetically low standard of entertainment. I never went in myself but heard the grumbles from people leaving and could see a certain amount through the security fencing.
So now they've changed the name and it's back in Hillsborough is it? Why is it now being aimed at young children that doesn't make sense, is there any reason why older people shouldn't have events that they'd like to listen or watch or even participate in?

Chris
Going on your comment regarding Rotherham show:-

The Rotherham show is a fun day out for caged birds and hamster fanciers and does have the jazz/ folk tent playing music all day, but not much else in tersm of large entertainment

what about all the various marquees, with prizes for cakes,buns,jams,fruit, vegetables,paintings by children, the list goes on, oh and yes the hamsters and caged birds ( but not in the same cage).Sorry forgot the jazz band.
You have obviously NOT been to the same one as we have been to and thoroughly enjoyed, there is far more than you described, and no I have no link to Rotherham Show.

But what about, Graves Park Highland Show, Norfolk Park Show/

Originally posted by WallBuilder
I remember the Sheffield show from years back in Hillsborough park and it used to be free. However for some reason it went downhill
I too remember the sheffield show in the 70s when it had a marquee full of bugerigars, and potted plants etc. and us kids used to go around all the commercial stands collecting badges, stickers, paper hats. In those days it had tiny remains of an agricultural show. And it was absolutely massive it took up the whole of hillsborough park and was full of people for a whole weekend.

Much later I played in Brass bands and regularly played at the sheffield show when it was in Encliffe (a much smaller affair), and other local park shows, including graves park motor show. The highlights were always things like horseriding displays and dog shows. But as they got more commercial they got much less interesting. Nobody wants to walk around hundreds of trade stands with a few pictures, or a stand of lada cars, and rackety radio djs gabbling on 10 to the dozen they want to see old fashioned things like cake stalls, dog obedience displays, budgie fanciers and stunt horse riding morris dancers and a brass band playing selections from oklahoma and paint your waggon.

sorry but wirral show dont charge , halton show manchester show sheffield again charge 5 quid to get in disgusting and it was pay again inside glad i didint go has would have been sick at watching wednesday fans celebrating but seriousley its the events company thats in charge that charge the money

Good chance if it was free your rates would go up to cover the events.

we are fleeced in sheffield the rates would go up but its pay pay again when u get in i remmebr going to graves park it was 3 pound to get in but you would get bags of freebies you dont know

Two things.. How many of the people complaining about the cost actually went? I did, and I consider it good value for money in terms of the things that were there (must admit the weather helped though :))

Secondly, I saw plenty of advertising for it, although admittedly I live in Hillsborough (banners on the railings round Hillsborough corner)! I might be thinking of something else, but wasn't there a big advert on the roundabout by Waitrose? It could have been better, but then I would have guessed the event couldn't have coped with attracting two or three times as many people! Maybe next time they should advertise for a month at the top of the forum! ;)

what exactley was free there aprt from circus

i tried to take pictures of the fair on friday but security was a disgrace saying it is dangerous during build up i have been to hundreds of build ups at fairs u keep your distance i was not alowed near the fair closing the park was a little bit rich on principle i dont think you should have to pay to go into a public park

i went last year and found that it was not worth the entrance fee that they charged and so this year i will be going to the sheffield fayre in norfolk parkt hat is free to get in

well another question is why the after dark is so expensive too 6 pound last year other cities put sheffield to shame leeds free manchester free nottingham free why do we in sheffield put up with this the best thing last year was the fright night it was free and was packed

mayfest must take incredible organisation, its always well run ive taken the kids to the last few and they always have a great time. its only a couple of quid to get in not a fortune and i would sooner pay a couple of quid and get to see loads of stuff for nowt than get in for free and pay for everything. it seems some people are never happy, but judgeing by the amount of people there this year most enjoy it emensly.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK FELLAS

i think they should have an entrance fee, but make everything else free like a theme park. although this is very unlikely as many if not all the attractions are for separate profits, and the mayfest organisers would see little-none of this profit. otherwise it should be free admission and then you can choose what to pay for, again this is unlikly because of the above reasons.