Luxury flushing toilets will be introduced at Parklife Festival in less than three weeks’ time – to the relief of many, it would seem.
VIPee are promoting the toilets as part of a UK-wide festival tour this summer, with Parklife their first stop.
The toilets, which were created by entrepreneurs Jav Samsa and Mark Samuel, have warm running water, are highly eco-friendly, and could cut water use by 90%.
Mr Samuel, who has worked in the portable sanitation industry for over 20 years, said these toilets offer something completely unique to festival-goers.
“It’s been clear for a number of years that the portable toilets at festivals are in quite a bad state of affairs,” he said.
“If toilets have put people off going to festivals in the past, our toilets will let them know that there’s a new system out there.
“Now they know it’s in place, more people will want to go to the UK’s biggest festivals.”
These vacuum powered toilets will be used at seven festivals in the UK, including Global Gathering, V Festival and Sundown.
Word of these toilets is spreading fast – and festival-goers are certainly glad to hear the news.
Sophie Donnellan, a recent graduate from the University of Manchester, who has been to Parklife and Leeds Festival, said: “When I first saw the email about these new toilets, I thought ‘this is exciting!’
“I think it’ll make festival-going more enjoyable and much less stressful and it’ll make more and more people want to go.
“It’ll also encourage a wider demographic to go to festivals – anyone who wasn’t sure about going before will now be more open to the idea.”
Sophie recalled her horror at witnessing the state of Parklife’s toilets when she attended the festival last year.
“At Parklife the worst experience was trying to go to the toilet on the second day,” she said.
“It was disgusting so we boycotted it and made shelters out of coats so no one could see us wee.
“We had toilet roll and everything, so we came prepared!”
To Sophie, it appears these state of the art facilities cannot come soon enough.
“Toilets at festivals are all disgusting,” she said.
“The first day they’re fine and once they’re actually used no one wants to use them and it’s a traumatic experience.”
“I think these changes will make a big difference for girls because they’ll be able to go in and use them. It’s not as bad for boys.”
A THRONE AWAY FROM HOME? A VIPee toilet poster
However, not everyone shared Sophie’s optimism.
Nathan Smith, who went to Glastonbury in 2011, said: “I’m not really that bothered about toilets when I go to a festival – I think if you’re looking to go to a festival you know what to expect.
“You don’t go for luxury, you just go to have a good time – although sometimes the toilets are really bad and it makes feel a bit sick.
“Maybe it just shows that Parklife isn’t a proper festival.”
First photo courtesy of Editor5807, via WikiCommons, with thanks.
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
