Arriving at FOS
Discussion
murphyaj said:
Can anyone who has been to the FOS on the Thursday in the last couple of years give an idea about how hard it is to get in.
Not relevant now, but the experience of the last couple of years won't help you, Thursday had become the busiest day of the FoS weekend and last year was rammed. I joined the end of the queue to get in 12 miles away at Midhurst and it took me over an hour from that point.Goodwood has taken steps to prevent Thursday FoS from being over-subscribed this year, so it should be better. Even so, the first day always suffers from the lack of experience of the car park attendants. With all Goodwood events, the best option is to already be there when it opens.
Ian Wegg said:
Not relevant now, but the experience of the last couple of years won't help you, Thursday had become the busiest day of the FoS weekend and last year was rammed. I joined the end of the queue to get in 12 miles away at Midhurst and it took me over an hour from that point.
Goodwood has taken steps to prevent Thursday FoS from being over-subscribed this year, so it should be better. Even so, the first day always suffers from the lack of experience of the car park attendants. With all Goodwood events, the best option is to already be there when it opens.
I doubt very much that Thursday was the busiest day. Admissons are capped per day (incl hospitality/members etc) so numbers will generally be the same across all 4 days. 200k for 4 days so approx 50k per day.Goodwood has taken steps to prevent Thursday FoS from being over-subscribed this year, so it should be better. Even so, the first day always suffers from the lack of experience of the car park attendants. With all Goodwood events, the best option is to already be there when it opens.
Parking on Thursday was a shambles last year due to the marshalls either a) being inexperienced and not knowing where to direct cars, or b) marshalls not doing anything because their shift not starting yet. Saw the latter in action where we took ages to get through a pinchpoint where marshalls were standing around chatting rather than directing traffic, as it wasn't 8am yet....
Went again on Sunday and much smoother.
But interesting to see the PR machine at work - the only steps Goodwood took was to remove a member benefit of free Thursday tickets, they didn't reduce admission numbers. In other words just as busy, just more punters paying full price.
WhyOne said:
For Thursday, if dry as noted above, arriving by 8am should give reasonably swift access to the car parks.
Second that…in the last few years it’s always been a Thursday for me and get there for 8am and grab a bacon roll and coffee then stroll around for an hour or so before it gets really busy.MarcelM6 said:
I doubt very much that Thursday was the busiest day. Admissons are capped per day (incl hospitality/members etc) so numbers will generally be the same across all 4 days. 200k for 4 days so approx 50k per day.
That is what we all thought but it turned out not to be true, the 50K daily cap did not include the free members' tickets. There is an extensive discussion here. The most recent published attendance figures - 2022 - show 208K for the weekend, almost certainly that extra 8K were the members on Thursday. 2023 was undoubtedly worse.As I said, not relevant now. Goodwood fixed the problem.
Ian Wegg said:
That is what we all thought but it turned out not to be true, the 50K daily cap did not include the free members' tickets. There is an extensive discussion here. The most recent published attendance figures - 2022 - show 208K for the weekend, almost certainly that extra 8K were the members on Thursday. 2023 was undoubtedly worse.
As I said, not relevant now. Goodwood fixed the problem.
I am very familiar with that thread, and the numbers just don't stack up. While not published, think membership is widely thought to be about 6-8 thousand. And I am certain that not all members attend on Thursday. Would have been very easy to reduce ticket sales to 42000 on Thursday and issue 8000 members tickets.According to their filing they have more than enough cash to swallow that.As I said, not relevant now. Goodwood fixed the problem.
FOS has become a victim of it's own success but the people paying the price are the members. The Instagram crowd is more important than motorsport enthusiasts.
MarcelM6 said:
I am very familiar with that thread, and the numbers just don't stack up. While not published, think membership is widely thought to be about 6-8 thousand. And I am certain that not all members attend on Thursday. Would have been very easy to reduce ticket sales to 42000 on Thursday and issue 8000 members tickets.According to their filing they have more than enough cash to swallow that.
FOS has become a victim of it's own success but the people paying the price are the members. The Instagram crowd is more important than motorsport enthusiasts.
The Membership (not including Associates) is over 10,000. It was published accidentally last year.FOS has become a victim of it's own success but the people paying the price are the members. The Instagram crowd is more important than motorsport enthusiasts.
I tend to agree with the suggestion that it is no longer for motorsports enthusiasts, it isn't for me anymore. It is a shame as I want to enjoy it, but it just isn't my thing.
No ideas for a name said:
The Membership (not including Associates) is over 10,000. It was published accidentally last year.
I tend to agree with the suggestion that it is no longer for motorsports enthusiasts, it isn't for me anymore. It is a shame as I want to enjoy it, but it just isn't my thing.
And not forgetting they all got 2 tickets not 1. I tend to agree with the suggestion that it is no longer for motorsports enthusiasts, it isn't for me anymore. It is a shame as I want to enjoy it, but it just isn't my thing.
I was in a cafe in bishops Waltham this week and overhead a gentleman and his daughter having lunch. They were discussing Glastonbury and how it’s for the influencers and the rich these days and he compared it to goodwood FOS. If he’s on here, I agree.
MarcelM6 said:
Would have been very easy to reduce ticket sales to 42000 on Thursday and issue 8000 members tickets.
And of course for completeness, no, this could never work, and is totally ridiculous.The Duke announced last year that "The only solution was to remove the tickets 'given' to the GRRC".
(For the absence of doubt, please see the following character
)Went on the Thursday in both 2022 and 2023. On both occasions we approached from the backroads through Pulborough/Petworth. In 2022, getting in was a doddle - we rolled up at about midday and got in without a hitch. Easy.
In 2023, it was a nightmare. We hit traffic as far back as Seaford College and it didn't really ease up from that point. By the time I'd finally got on site and parked up, the journey had taken something like 1.5 hours longer than planned. It was the same on the way out as well - queued for about 45 minutes once out of the car park.
I'm really hoping it's better managed this year...I was really put off going again by last year's traffic but I figured I'd chance it.
In 2023, it was a nightmare. We hit traffic as far back as Seaford College and it didn't really ease up from that point. By the time I'd finally got on site and parked up, the journey had taken something like 1.5 hours longer than planned. It was the same on the way out as well - queued for about 45 minutes once out of the car park.
I'm really hoping it's better managed this year...I was really put off going again by last year's traffic but I figured I'd chance it.
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