BBC News, West of England
Jayney GageA wheelchair user who was unable to get into a festival after being left stranded miles away in a field, said she is “really, really upset” and “disappointed”.
Jayney Gage, from Wellington, said she got “stuck” in a camping field two miles away from the Festival on the Hills with no provision to get her to the main event site.
Organisers of the three-day event in Somerset said they are “devastated for letting people down” but they had a “larger number of campers” then expected and have since refunded Ms Gage her money.
Ms Gage, said: “I literally look at the same four walls 52 weeks a year – it ruined something I’d been looking forward to for a year.”
Set up five years ago, Festival on the Hills is a not-for-profit event with all money raised going to the local community and charity.
The festival, which took place between 29 and 31 May, was moved to Taunton Racecourse this year at short notice.
Ms Gage, who suffers from functional neurological disorder (FND), said she had to save up and “live very frugally” to pay for the festival tickets.
“We turned up and we got directed to a field – down a single track lane – where we were told we could camp,” she said.
“I don’t know how far it was but it seemed about two miles away [from the festival site].
Ms Gage, said not only was her wheelchair unable to “cope with the field” but the minibus used to shuttle festival goers to the festival site was too small for her wheelchair.
“It was just impossible,” she said.
“They didn’t take into account that somebody that was being put in that field was disabled.
“For me to go out, it really is quite exhausting. My conditions mean that I have to pace myself. It is upsetting.”
In a statement, organisers said had Ms Gage contacted them directly with her concerns rather than posting on social media they would have “addressed these immediately”.
“We sadly couldn’t monitor all socials comments whilst running the festival,” they said.
They added that they had “expected to fit everyone in” but a “larger number of campers than anticipated” had occupied a larger area with their camping set ups than they had been prepared for.
“We acknowledge that we should have set size restrictions to prevent this and are devastated for letting people down,” they said.
“We take on board the feedback and will of course use these learnings if we decide to bring the event back next year.”
Ms Gage has also been offered a full refund.
