Newark Showground Reviews Summary

Accessibility

Pros:

• "An easily accessible show ground for county events"
• "This is a well placed and accessible showground."
• "The showground is easily accessed from the A1 and parking was more than adequate"
• "Easy to access location with multiple entry points."
• "Very easy access from A1."
• "Easy place to find and there was plenty of parking."
• "Free car parking, wheelchair parking and accessible"

Cons:

• "First car parks had closed gates with no signs to direct us"
• "Not very well signposted from A1"
• "No traffic control from a46 to car park. Then no signs to Xmas fair."
• "The car parking was a bit random, and many ended up queuing on a major A road."
• "This place is a nightmare to get to when they hold day time events."
• "Poor organisation. Long queues to get to the site, even longer queues on site to get parked."

Facilities

Pros:

• "Well set out showground, lots of different things to see"
• "The venue was well organised and a great success."
• "Lots of good catering, plenty to entertain young old and all inbetween."
• "Plenty of toilet facilities"
• "burger stands outdoors too"
• "Facilities are good, there's a cafe on site and plenty of toilets."
• "Facilities for all disabilities."

Cons:

• "beer / alcohol dear"
• "Toilet blocks were shoddily maintained, many didn't lock and supplies not maintained throughout the day."
• "the rubbish bins were few and far between"
• "Not enough bins available so rubbish piled up in places, toilets were porta-loos."
• "The 'bistro' canteens were not good, we bought pasties, which were safe to eat, but that's the only compliment you'd give them."
• "The temporary toilets had no water for hand washing and were dirty and smelly."
• "The permanent toilets had massive queues."

Food and Beverage

Pros:

• "Also excellent cafe facilities at a reasonable price."
• "Great food options."
• "Tastes cafe located at various points throughout site providing good food at fair prices."
• "Food comes in excellent portion sizes."
• "We would definitely recommend the lamb burgers!!"
• "I had the best cheese hamburger ever at one of the permanent cafés."

Cons:

• "Coffee was vile, tea was like dishwater and the food was overpriced, under cooked or just very poor quality."
• "Then on the Saturday night £11 for a plate of chips."
• "Charged £11 for a meal and £11 for a child’s portion."
• "£19.50 for me and my Dad for a Burger and a Hotdog was absolutely Ridiculous."
• "The food was good but slightly pricey."
• "Food very expensive and not of good quality."
• "The only downside burgers are 7.50 each and coffees are 2.50 so not cheap if you have a family."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "chilled out friendly stewards"
• "They had a wonderful team who kept the dreaded festival toilets clean and supplied with paper and hand gel."
• "Being part of the National Hamfest team I could not fault the Showground staff."
• "All the volunteers and NHS were so lovely and professional."
• "Very well organised day, onsite staff were lovely and helpful."
• "The staff are always friendly and very helpful."
• "The staff where helpful, I enjoyed my weekend. And the complex was well maintained."

Cons:

• "They only had 2 men operating manual traffic control."
• "One disabled toilet remained out of use all weekend as staff were not cleaning."
• "A waitress of the restaurant approached me in a very aggressive way."
• "Exiting was even worse with only one hand written sign and no marshals at all."
• "The temporary showers were filthy and the temporary toilets were no better"
• "Paul Sparks accused my partner of being aggressive which never happened."

Security and Safety

Pros:

• "Visited for Stonedead festival, very organised, friendly, easy to park and exit after dark was stress free."
• "Great bands, relaxed atmosphere"
• "The grounds aren't completely secure."

Cons:

• "Rife with pick pockets used to be great but now a place where it is unsafe to carry any cash or valuables"
• "Rife with pick pockets"

Value for Money

Pros:

• "Highly recommended to anyone."
• "£7 entry fee was easily recovered with the savings made."
• "And £14 on the door and £10 online wasn't bad either."
• "mix of old and new bands a great weekend for £60 including 2 nights camping"

Cons:

• "We won't be going again next year because of it."
• "To put it bluntly it was rubbish. I felt as I had paid £45 for my family to get in to a market."
• "Went to the antique fair. Paid £20 to get in on the wholesale day rather than £5 on Friday for the public."
• "£10 for 2 of us to get in to collect some birds in all of 5 minutes is pretty scandalous."
• "The entry fee was high for what you got."
• "28 pounds is a lot for 1 hours entertainment."
• "I paid well over £100 for this weekend and feel very ripped off"