Slam Dunk, a huge rock and punk festival, has issued a statement apologising to fans for ‘issues’ on site.
Festival organisers address a range of problems at the site – which takes place simultaneously in both Temple Newsam in Leeds and Hatfield – ranging from traffic flow, car parking, food vendors, toilets, accessibility and queues.
The lengthy statement said that the Slam Dunk team would ‘conducting a thorough investigation, whilst working extremely hard to rectify all problems for future events’.
It comes after hundreds of festival-goers complained of poor organisation and ‘overcrowding’ at both sites – though Slam Dunk has sought to assure people that it was not oversold, The Hoot Leeds reports.
A common complaint amongst fans was the huge waits for food traders, with many reporting that they gave up and didn’t eat.
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This year’s festival was headlined by Enter Shikari, The Offspring, and Billy Talent, drawing in thousands of music fans from across the north.
One person said: “Had a great day today at @SlamDunkMusic but definitely lessons to be learned – queues everywhere were a joke (1hour+ minimum) and people were going hungry and without water or drinks because of it. Got to be sorted out for next year.”
Someone else posted: “Three hour wait for food so we abandoned the queue. Now queueing for ice cream as a meal substitute while only hearing Flogging Molly. Got us trapped here all day with not enough of anything: water points, food, toilets, routes in&out. F*cking sh*te.”
One festival goer commented on Slam Dunk’s Instagram page: “I’ve been going to SlamDunk for years now but this year has to have been the worst! And might have possibly put me off for ever returning. It’s amazing seeing the festival grow, but when it reaches the point where people’s safety it as risk it might be worth reconsidering everything.”
Others followed with similar comments like “Luckily we left early because we were starving, the amount of people I’ve seen that have been complaining about waiting 2-3 hours to get out of the carpark or waiting 2 hours for a taxi is shocking. This used to be my favourite festival of the year, it’s my 6th slam dunk and now I’m having serious doubts of ever coming again just due to how poorly organised it was.”
“Slam Dunk Festival would like to address issues which have been raised across the weekend.
“We recognise there were problems and that some customers did not have an experience to the standard which they expected. We would like to apologise for the issues which occurred and reassure our customers that we are committed to improving the event.
“We would like to assure all customers that neither event was oversold, and customer safety is, and always will be, paramount to the festival. Like all other major events, all our event plans were reviewed by local authorities and are in line with industry standards.
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“In response to the car parking and traffic issues, as previously highlighted there was an unprecedented number of cars arriving to the festival site who hadn’t pre-booked car parking. This alongside other external factors created a traffic flow issue which inevitably caused delays into the festival site. As a measure to combat the traffic flow issue we made the conscious decision to stop checking passes for parking to increase the rate of entry to the car park and to prevent further delays. Keeping this in mind, we have made the decision to no longer provide on the day car parking, from next year only those who have pre-booked their car park tickets will be permitted to park on site, along with other measures we are looking to implement, we believe these will create smoother entry into event.
“We also recognise the issues surrounding food vendors and queues. We were assured that we had an adequate number of food vendors for the expected number of attendees, however, we recognise that this wasn’t the case, and we are committed to increasing the number of traders at future events, along with where they are located.
“Similarly, we recognise related issues surrounding toilets and water points. We would like to reassure customers that these facilities are in line with industry recommendations and have been increased from previous years, however this is something which we will increase further for future events.
“We are also aware of access issues, and we will be contacting our access customers directly for their feedback.
“We recognise there are other issues not highlighted in this statement. We will be conducting a thorough investigation, whilst working extremely hard to rectify all problems for future events. We have always been committed to increasing customer experience and we welcome feedback to do this. We encourage customers to complete our post event survey to assist us with this.
“Slam Dunk Festival 2023 would like to thank everyone who has provided their indispensable feedback so far. If you haven’t already, please raise any concerns with us directly through our post-event survey.
“We are sorry about the issues that were encountered over the weekend, we take full accountability, and we are committed to improving our service.
“It is with your feedback, as registered in this survey, that we will be able to consider all concerns when planning future events. We apologise that some of you did not have an experience that was up to the standard you expect when you attend Slam Dunk Festival
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“We are listening to you. We will be updating you on our plans to improve Slam Dunk Festival 2024 later this summer once we have collected all of your feedback.
“Team Slam Dunk”.
You can leave your feedback for the Slam Dunk North Festival on this Google Form from organisers here.
Hip-hop, soul and R’n’B legend Mary J Blige is coming to Manchester for a massive arena show
Danny Jones
Manchester is getting ready to welcome a global icon of hip-hop, soul, pop and R’n’B as Mary J Blige is set to put on a massive arena show.
With a music career spanning more than 30 years, Mary J Blige is an absolute legend of the American music scene, with nine GRAMMY Awards and nearly 40 nominations, along with a plethora of BET, Billboard, and AMA nods over the years.
Currently on ‘The For My Fans Tour’, jetting quite literally all over and recently adding on even more dates, not only has London been given some love, but so has Greater Manchester – and rightly so.
Announcing the special one-off show and Co-op Live debut this Wednesday, 16 April, Mary J Blige won’t have to wait too long to be part of the ‘Family Affair’.
The 54-year-old from New York will be coming to the state-of-the-art, one of the biggest indoor entertainment venues in all of Europe, in just a few months’ time.
On top of the already well-established AO Arena, this is the pedigree of truly worldwide artists that Co-op Live was built to further attract – and it looks to be working.
It’s been the best part of a decade since she was last in these parts, so she’s sure to get a huge reception.
While most audiences in the likes of North America have been treated to fellow R’n’B favourite Ne-Yo, those watching Ms Blige will be keeping things domestic as long-standing London collective and producers, Soul II Soul, will be joining her for the show.
‘Back to life, back to reality…’
So there you have it! Mary J Blige will be coming to Manchester on Friday, 4 July 2025, with her own pre-sale going live at 10am on Thursday, 24 April, but Co-op members can get there even earlier, with the venue’s early access available from the same time the day before.
As for general admission, you can get ready to grab your tickets HERE from 10am on Friday, 25 April.
Fri 18 April – London, UK – OVO Arena Wembley (Sean Paul, Ashanti and Big Joe)
Sat 19 April – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
Sun 20 April – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
22 April – Cardiff, UK – Utilita Arena
23 April – Brighton, UK – Brighton Centre (Sean Paul ONLY)
24 April – Bournemouth, UK – BIC (Sean Paul ONLY)
Sean Paul and Ashanti tickets for AO Arena gig
Just like Ashanti’s 2002 hit, you’d have been ‘Foolish’ not to get tickets when they first came out, however, there’s still a chance for you to ‘Get Busy’ like Sean Paul’s ‘02 throwback.
There’s a limited run of tickets left throughout the venue, including standing, seated and even an option to watch the show from ‘The Mezz’ if you’re after a VIP experience – AllHERE.
There’s no official setlist yet, however, if you consider the past selection of hits from their previous separate gigs, fans are in for a jam-packed night.
Sean Paul:
So Fine
Get Busy
Ever Blazin’
Cheap Thrills
Baby Boy
Bailando
Hot Gyal Today
Infiltrate
Breathe/ Make It Clap
Give It Up To Me
Got 2 Luv U
Mad Love
No Lie
Boasty
Love Me Ladies
Tip Pon It
Volcano
Bring It
Greatest
I’m Still In Love
Light My Fire
Punkie
Rockabye
Like Glue
Deport Them
Trumpets
She Doesn’t Mind
Temperature
Ashanti:
Happy
Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)
Mesmerise
Only U
Baby
Southside
Down 4 U
Body On Me
What’s Luv?
Ain’t It Funny
Always On Time
Foolish
What are the stage times for Sean Paul and Ashanti in Manchester?
AO Arena has a curfew of 11pm; anyone attending this link-up of a lifetime can enjoy their night knowing they’ll be ‘Ever Blazin” after a full night’s sleep.
Doors for the ‘Bring It Tour’ are scheduled for 6pm with a kick-off time of 7pm, with no confirmed or mentioned support acts as of yet.
For those of you heading to AO Arena, luckily, it’s connected to Manchester Victoria Station and it has an integrated Metrolink stop to make your life even easier.
Head along the pink, light blue or yellow lines directly to the Victoria stop, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Train
Considering this live entertainment venue is situated right in the middle of one of Manchester’s most frequented stations, concertgoers should find no problem getting to the arena wherever they are.
Bus
A variety of buses cover AO Arena andVictoria Station on their route, such as the 2 bus, which stops just a one-minute walk away from the venue.
A full list of buses and their routes can be found HERE.
Getting there by car and parking
The Arena has its own official CitiPark, with 958 car parking spaces including 40 Blue Badge parking bays, which can be booked in advance.
Alternatively, anyone attending a gig can park at their nearest train station and jump on a train service or the various Metrolink park and ride facilities.
Walk/cycle
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app.
About the AO Arena
The AO Arena has a few strict policies to keep gig-goers safe, so make sure to check entry requirements carefully before you travel.
For example, only one small bag per person is allowed, and bags like backpacks, travel cases and laptop bags are not permitted inside the arena.
All bags are scanned on entry to check for prohibited items like laser pens, flares, projectiles, weapons, drugs and alcohol, and even selfie sticks.
Sophie Smith -
1st June 2023 
