120,000 are expected to start arriving in Portsmouth for the extended Portsmouth Victorious festival.
For the first time, it will begin on Friday with Southsea common recording high craze. Over the weekend, the stage will be graced by Rita Ora and Olly Murs.
To avoid being help up in the extra traffics on the road, the visitors to the festival are being advised by the Portsmouth City Council to make plans for their trip and opt to use public transport, ride a bike or walk to the festival site.
Cllr Simon Bosher the Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for traffic and transport said that Hayling Ferry shuttle bus services are also available to make commute to the festival more convenient.
We’re eager to have a wonderful bank holiday weekend and we hope that the visitors can be supportive and use the public transport so as to have minimal number of cars on the road.
We will have our traffic team working round the clock, with an objective of reducing the cars coming into the city. We are hopeful that the residents will take advantage of the allocated park and ride and also encourage visitors from outside to use other public and convenient means of transport.
The organizers and the Hampshire police department have been working closely together to ensure the safety of all the participants. This assurance was given by the Superintendent, Annabel Berry.
The security plans are being reviewed in accordance with the protocol of pre-planned events and as such, there may be extra police officers patrolling the area.
Seeing that this is a family event, we are looking forward to having fun in a family atmosphere. In this case, the police and Portsmouth city council as well as the event organizers are working closely together to ensure that there is very minimal disruption at the event.
It will be a busy weekend at Portsmouth and traffic delays should be expected to and from the city, whether you are attending the festival or not. The visitors to the festival are required to respect the community as they arrive at the event, during the time they will be at the event as well as when they leave the city after the event.
If you intend to participate in the 2017 victorious event, make your travel plans right to and from the event. If you wish to drive and park in the allocated sites, do not leave any valuables in the car. If you are cycling there, make sure you secure your bike with a D-lock.
We also want to caution the participants of the risks related to both psychoactive substances as well as controlled drugs, which can be catastrophic and in some worse cases, fatal. It is illegal to have drugs at the festival.
We are looking forward to having a safe and fun filled event. The officers on patrol are available to offer assistance. You can approach an officer or call 101, if you see anything or anyone suspicious.
