The Festival site is in clear view from Wye Meadow Camping  
The Campsite for the Hay Festival 2015  
  
 
 
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Frequently Asked Questions about Wye Meadow Camping

1. WILL YOU CONFIRM OUR BOOKING?
When you complete the 2015 booking web based form, you should include the e-mail address you want to use for receipt of your confirmation. (Please double check you have correctly entered your e-mail address when completing the form). All bookings will be confirmed back to the lead camper's e-mail address on the web form.

2. JUST HOW CLOSE IS THE CAMPSITE TO THE FESTIVAL?
Wye Meadow Camping is the closest place you can stay to the Festival site.  You can see just how close from the above picture taken from the site’s Wye field across the Festival Field to the Festival site. (Also see right hand picture at the top on the Camping Facilities Page.)   To reach the Festival, you’ll need to leave the campsite via the pedestrian gate on the Brecon Road, which is on the opposite side of the road to the Festival entrance. (See map on directions page). Please take special care when crossing the busy Brecon Road.

3. HOW DO I FIND THE CAMPSITE SITE? or WHAT POST CODE DO I ENTER IN MY SAT NAV?
Please visit the directions page.

4. CAN WE BRING OUR DOG?
Dogs are welcomed at Wye Meadow but only if they are well behaved. For the sake of other non dog loving campers, our rules on dogs at Wye Meadow are that they should not be free roaming (i.e. on a lead if any risk of not staying under control and close to you) and that they must not cause any nuisance to others camping. This includes making sure they do not foul on the campsite where others will be camping during the festival or where children may play.  Please let us know when you book that you are bringing your pet. You’ll be allocated a suitable spot. (If in our judgment, a dog is not well behaved, the owners will be asked to leave for the sake of our other campers. Any balance of camping fees not already used will be refunded.)

5. DO YOU HAVE AN ELECTRIC HOOK-UP OR CHEMICAL WASTE DISPOSAL FOR MY CARAVAN/MOTORHOME?
Wye Meadow is a haven of agricultural peace for 50 weeks of the years and turns into a campsite just for the two Festival weeks.  This means there are no electrical hook ups in this green field site.. For those with toilet self-sufficiency of their own, there is a facility for emptying your chemical waste. Ask the Wye Meadow Crew on site about access.

6. CAN WE BARBECUE ON SITE?
You may B-B-Q on site providing you use a B-B-Q kettle not in contact with the ground to contain any hot charcoals. Please note open fires are not permitted on Wye Meadow. Please dispose of ashes with great care in the waste drum dedicated to ash disposal. Do NOT place hot ashes into the skip. Whilst on site please always ensure you take responsibility for your safety and that of others.

7. CAN WE RENT A CARAVAN OR HIRE CAMPING EQUIPMENT FROM YOU?
Sorry. Wye Meadow Camping only provides you with the camping facilities described on our camping pages.  For the first time this year, Pillow Adventure Travel are offering pre-erected tents onsite. See the Pillow website

8. WHERE CAN WE CAMP ON THE SITE?
With a few hundred people camping on the busiest night, we have to work out camping places in advance. When you first reach the site, please park your vehicle in the area designated for new arrivals and check in with the Wye Meadow Crew.   All pitches will have numbers associated with them and you’ll be advised of your pitch number and be accompanied to where it is.  Please camp within the boundaries of the plot allocated, taking care not to encroach on your neighbours’ ground.

9. CAN WE STAY NEXT TO OUR FRIENDS WHO ARE CAMPING AT YOUR SITE?
If you let us know when you book, who your friends are that have already booked, we will make every effort to arrange an adjacent pitch for you. Please quote your friends booking reference if you can. If you are part of a group that will need several adjacent pitches, please tell us when the first booking is made. The earlier you book, the better the chances are of us being able to provide adjacent pitches.

Requests for pitches that occupy the same type of row are easier to arrange. Double Standards and Standards occupy common rows but both Backpackers and Large pitches have rows with only their own size of pitch. So for, example, if you book 1 x Backpackers and 1 x Large pitch, we will not be able to place your two pitches side by side. If you were to book a Standard and a Double Standard, there is a much better chance we could site you together - except for requests that come in when the site is full or close to being full.

10. CAN WE PITCH UP WHERE WE CAMPED LAST YEAR?
If this is important to you, please advise where the pitch is that you prefer and we will do our very best to accommodate you. Ideally, let us know your pitch number from last year.

11. WILL WE BE ABLE TO PARK OUR CAR NEXT TO OUR TENT?
All pitch sizes, apart from the back packers pitch, which is designed for campers who arrive on foot, allow for a single vehicle and two adults to be parked alongside a tent or caravan.

12. CAN WE HAVE MORE THAN ONE TENT OR PARK MORE THAN ONE CAR ON OUR PITCH?
Providing your keep within your allocated boundaries with your camping equipment (including guy ropes and the like) & your vehicles and are not likely to cause any possible nuisance or inconvenience to your neighbouring campers, you can pitch however many tents and park however many cars are appropriate for your needs on your pitch.

13. CAN WE LEAVE OUR CAR ON THE SITE FOR THE DURATION OF OUR STAY?  
Once you have arrived we recommend that you do so.  You do not need to move your car to reach the Festival and Hay is a short walk away.  You can also travel into Hay on the shuttle bus from the Festival site. You must vacate your pitch by 11:15 on the day you are checking out. (You are entirely responsible for your car, camping gear and other valuables whilst camping at Wye Meadow. Wye Meadow Camping will not accept responsibility for any loss or damage to your property; you should take appropriate precautions and come properly insured for any such eventuality.)     

14. WE ARE DEPARTING THIS EVENING AFTER ATTENDING AN EVENT AT THE FESTIVAL, CAN WE LEAVE OUR CAR HERE & COLLECT IT AFTER THE EVENT?
Please make sure you have taken down your tent and moved off your pitch by 11:15, so that the incoming camper can start to set up by 11:30. Subject to availability of parking space at Wye Meadow outgoing campers can, at no extra charge, leave their vehicles in a parking area set aside for departing campers. Please ask the crew as to where you should park. Please note that this is NOT a guarantee of a parking space for the day you leave. All parking in the leavers' parking area will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

15. HOW LATE CAN WE ARRIVE AT THE SITE?
Traffic is usually very busy on the Friday before the Spring Bank Holiday, so the Wye Meadow Crew will be on hand until 10:30 that evening.  We encourage you to arrive well in advance of that time.  There is no artificial lighting on site – so we would advise you to leave home early and arrive on site whilst there is still plenty of daylight.  Sunset time in Hay on 22nd May will be 9:10 pm.  On all other Festival days, check-in will be available up to 20:00 (8 pm).

16. HOW EARLY CAN WE PITCH UP?
You can check-in at Reception from just after 11.00 am on the opening day (Thursday, 23rd May) and from 08:00 am on every other day of the Festival. As explained above, if your pre-allocated pitch has been occupied the night before, it will not be clear for you to pitch up on until 11:30. It is usually possible for you to park in the arrivals car park whilst you wait for you pitch to become clear.

17. WHAT TYPE OF PITCH SHOULD WE BOOK?
Please thoroughly read the description of the four pitch types on offer and then decide what’s best for you.

18. DO YOU HAVE SHOWERS & DO YOU CHARGE EXTRA FOR THEM?
Yes. The showers are the one place on the site we are able to provide campers with hot water and the costs for using this facility are covered by the camping fees....... but we cannot provide hair dryers but aim to provide power for your own hairdryer in one section of the ladies block. The web page about the facilities warns you about the peak time shower queues. Please check it out.

19. HOW MUCH WILL I HAVE TO PAY?
Please download the price checker and read both sides of the document.

20. DO I NEED TO PAY A DEPOSIT WHEN I BOOK?
We do not ask for a deposit except for bookings over £300. If we confirm your booking by e-mail, you can rest assured that providing you arrive on the day/time indicated on your booking form, a pitch will be kept for you. Please bring the reference number on the e-mail confirmation with you when check-in to Wye Meadow. (If you don't have a reference number, you won't have a confirmed booking!) We like to think the trust we show in not asking for an up-front payment will be repaid. This can only happen if campers, whose plans change subsequent to their booking, advise us about any relevant changes so that any inconvenience to ourselves and to other intended campers is minimised.

21. HOW DO I PAY THE CAMPING FEES?
Please pay by personal cheque made out to "Wye Meadow Camping" or by cash. Payment in full is due at check-in time. We regret that, because the campsite business only operates for ten days a year during the Festival, it is not practical to consider acceptance of payment by either credit or debit card. If you are happy to pay all your fees directly in our bank account before 15th May 2015, you should e-mail us asking for details.

22. IS THERE ANY CATERING AVAILABLE TO US ON SITE?
For more information with illustrations about superb coffee barista and excellent onsite catering offering at the Wye Meadow Centre, please see the bottom of the Camping Facilities Page.

23. CAN WE ARRIVE BEFORE THE FIRST DAY OF THE FESTIVAL?
In exceptional circumstances, you can do so a day or two in advance only by special arrangement but the site will not be operational until Thursday, 22nd May.   If in exceptional circumstances, you camp in advance of the 22nd, we ask you to make sure you do not hinder the transformation of the fields from agricultural land to campsite.

24. I LIKE IT SO MUCH HERE, I’D LIKE TO COME BACK AND CAMP LATER ON. WHEN CAN I DO THAT?
Wye Meadow Camping only operates during the Hay Festival but you’ll be very welcome back again for the 2016 Hay Festival.

25. CAN WE ACCESS THE RIVER WYE FROM YOUR SITE?
Sorry, no. it is fenced off because it is a sheer drop down to the river and access there would be dangerous.. However, a very pleasant riverside park, called the Warren, is about half a mile down the road and you can enjoy any recreation you had in mind alongside the river from there.

26. AND FINALLY........ ARE THERE ANY CAMPING PITCHES AVAILABLE?
The Wye Meadow Camping Home Page will show current availability right up to the date when Advanced Bookings close (Thursday, 14th May for 2015.) You can download and view our latest Availability Chart. If it shows your type of pitch is available on any night you want to camp at Wye Meadow, please submit a completed booking form.

FYI: A copy of the 2015 " Wye Meadow Camping Welcome & Campsite Guide" can be downloaded from here. All lead campers will be given a copy of this year's guide at check-in. If you print it off the web, please note there should be two folds made in it to turn it into the leaflet intended.