Victorious bosses unveil plan for better sound at 2017 Southsea spectacle

Officials behind the festival are to come up with a plan to better satisfy the crowds following a number of complaints that the music was not loud enough on Sunday night.

High wind speeds were blamed for blowing music around ‘unusual’ areas of the seafront arenas and more audio towers could be put up next time to ensure sound travels smoothly across the whole site.

Despite the issue, the 2016 August bank holiday bonanza, featuring Oasis legend Noel Gallagher, DJ Mark Ronson and Manic Street Preachers, was hailed as the best yet and pulled in 120,000 spectators, a new attendance record.

Victorious co-organiser James Ralls said: ‘The difficulty was, on the Saturday, we had eight to 10mph winds, and yet on Sunday, there were gusts of up to 30mph. So the sound was getting projected into unusual areas at certain points. There’s not a lot we can do about that, apart from putting in more delay towers to give us more coverage.

‘But what we have to be mindful about are the views of the local residents. We want to produce a new sound plan – if we’re looking to grow then we need to look at how we can project the sound right to the back of the arena.’

Readers took to The News Facebook page to raise the issue.

Jo Jones said: ‘Very disappointed with the sound volume on Sunday night, it was fine earlier but when HFBs came on, it was way too quiet.

‘Couldn’t hear a word despite moving forward.’

Shaw Swanton said: ‘People near us were chanting “turn it up”. We were about halfway and towards the bars on the right. The vocals were way too quiet on the Sunday night.’

Rob Campbell said: ‘Sound was terrible. It kept fading in and out with that crosswind.’

It was a bumper weekend for local businesses as festival-goers kicked off and ended their bank holiday experience having fun at bars and restaurants in and around Southsea.

Sopranos, in Palmerston Road, said the street was packed out with guests. Some bars, including Drift, kept their doors open until 5am to keep Victorious guests entertained.

Council traffic officials say road congestion didn’t appear to be a big problem and 3,000 people a day cycled to the festival. Camping and an extra day of music could be brought in next year as bosses look to grow the occasion.

TICKETS FOR THREE-DAY 2017 FESTIVAL ARE NOW ON SALE

TICKETS are now on sale for next year’s Victorious Festival – including passes for a new opening ‘party night’.

It comes after organisers unveiled plans to hold the Southsea spectacle over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday in future to attract even more spectators.

While the expansion plans have yet to be approved by Portsmouth City Council, which holds responsibility for the land on which the festival is staged, spectators can apply for tickets now. To buy tickets for next year’s event, provisionally being held from August 25 to 27, go to victoriousfestival.co.uk