LOL

[FIBRE+]

Absolutely gutted

I looked forward to Bloc every year and it was the one festival I made sure I've gone to every year for the past few years. It WAS one of the those festivals where everyone was there for the right reason, every random we met was really nice no matter how wrecked they\we were. The holiday park aspect was brilliant, better than tents and nice and very sociable, and to top it off the most important bit, the music was always good too!. The venue had to change by the sounds of things but you really didn't have to mess with the format.

Doesn't look like anyone I know will be going this year despite London being much closer than Minehead, it's too close to the sort of people I used to go to Bloc to avoid. I'm guessing Bloc will be full of Nathan Barleys this year, anyone who has watched it will know what I mean, if you aint go watch it it's a great series. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/nathan-barley

I'm sure there's plenty of reasons for all this but it's too big a change, it would have been better to make a new festival as such, well call this something else and put Bloc on hold for a year and relaunch it using the old format as a base and build on that. I guess our opinions wont count for much as i'm sure this will do very well being in London, I just hope this isn't the end of Bloc as we know it.

Any recommendations for something else to go to?. Might take the plunge and head across the water to a euro festival.

[danielleclaire]

Might consider it if you could just get a day ticket - but the lineup would have to make me vomit in my own hands to pay that price for an evening. I have tried a couple of the nights bloc were at held by eastern electrics etc and they really dont do it for me. Portaloos in the dark and cash and carry bar at London prices.

It will sell out but it will be the crowd that appeared last year, I am way too old and grumpy to elbow through crowds of cool kids with their quiffed hair and boat shoes.

[FIBRE+]

This is the worst possible case scenario I imagined mulitplied by infinity.

We have been coming over from Ireland in a group of approx 12 people for the past 2 Bloc weekends.
have spoken to all involved and no one has the slighest interest in going this year.
I would be of a strong opinion that very little Irish will travel this year, if at all any.

Disasterous news, especially given the way we have been promised somthing far superior to past Bloc weekends.
A total let-down

We all love the Irish at Bloc, definitely brought something and always in good spirits . I think the changes will put off a lot of people travelling from anywhere across the waters.

[Pumpkinbobparkin]

The venue and new ideas sound great but it's just not Bloc, it's a totally different event!
Not to mention no more Bloc TV, arcades and sea breeze!
Where am i going to get my fancy dress fix now, how am i going to break the news to my wig collection?
Did i mention NO MORE BLOC TV, waaaaaa!
I miss you already Bloc x

[dj_yt]

Well, the first five years were awesome. Thanks and respect Bloc. Those weekenders will live with me forever, no matter how wonky my memory becomes.

It's time to hand my Bloc Batten onto the youngsters and let them enjoy the reborn festival.

[BLOCwknd]

yo guys

strong opinions, forcefully put...

Never fail to get blown away by the strength of feeling the Bloc family have when we make a big announcement.

So, sincerely - thanks for your attention.

First up thanks for re-inforcing all the positivity from Bloc's reign at Minehead.

No one enjoyed those years more than we did, but as any fool know - we had to move on. Three years of sold-out Bloc, each more hair-raising than the last, was more than the good people there could handle.

We've been seriously investigating this area of London as a home for Bloc since back in 2010. We got proper heart palpitations, sweaty palms and unseemly giddiness when we realised the Shangri-La crew were about to take control of 60,000 square metres of waterside docklands licensed until 6AM - and we badly wanted Bloc to be the flagship music festival.

This is when we knew that Olympic London was going to be the next stage of Bloc's evolution.

With this kind of pedigree and potential, it would be sheer madness to limit our ambitions to staging just an identikit warehouse party, or city day festival. What do you think we've been scheming all these months...

Anyone who's been to the late night area of Glastonbury knows just how overwhelming and other-worldly our new partner's productions are. It's truly mind boggling and extraordinary. We're going to take these production values and combine them wth Bloc's precision in audio programming to open a whole new world of next-level possibilities.

There will be totally new, purpose-built, hi-spec venues - some on land and some floating on water. There will be the biggest and most diverse lineup Bloc has ever known. There will be mind-blowing audio-visual experiences that we could not have even dreamed of in the restrictive bricks and mortar of a holiday park. There will be unforgettable sunrises over the water. There will be the rock-solid sense of community and togetherness. And there will be BlocTV.

The reason we've had such a full-on response to this news is that you all believe in Bloc and it means something to you. We believe in this move. So come with us.

First lineup is out by Feb 1st...

[shamottle]

That was a party political broadcast for the Bloc...err...Party...

Like most of those above though, I won't be going. It looks like it'll be fantastic but hardly a festival is it? More a 2-day event for people based in London. Ho hum.

[dublinstep]

Anyone who's been to the late night area of Glastonbury knows just how overwhelming and other-worldly our new partner's productions are. It's truly mind boggling and extraordinary. We're going to take these production values and combine them wth Bloc's precision in audio programming to open a whole new world of next-level possibilities.

There will be totally new, purpose-built, hi-spec venues - some on land and some floating on water. There will be the biggest and most diverse lineup Bloc has ever known. There will be mind-blowing audio-visual experiences that we could not have even dreamed of in the restrictive bricks and mortar of a holiday park. There will be unforgettable sunrises over the water. There will be the rock-solid sense of community and togetherness. And there will be BlocTV.

I live in London now, not in Dublin any more. I was hoping to go this year (was at 1-4, missed 5) but the fact that it is in east London (I could probably even cycle there from Peckham) is a real downer. As mentioned before by others, a huge part of the buzz of Bloc was going to the chalets on the coast. The 'bricks and mortar of a holiday park' are what gave Bloc that friendly vibe, being able to walk on a beach, go to the local pub, get a bag of chips, meet people out and about in Hemsby or Minehead who were obviously from the festival and chat to them. Being able to roll home into a bed in ten minutes - or have the option to go back to someone else's chalet for a beer with the new people you were hanging out with earlier - a rare occurance that happens at nights out for me - was really great, especially if you were travelling from abroad.

Dont want to sound negative but I think this is a bad turn for Bloc, London has enough parties and 'mind boggling audio visual experiences', I just want the friendly atmosphere and chalets, it was enough, more than enough - that sense of community of which you speak ultimately stemmed from the residential aspect of the festival. Moving 'onwards & upwards' into east London parties is a backwards step.

Also. The VIP tickets thing is a load of shit.

[boompty]

Foot. Shot. In.

That's all I have to say

[mrgriff_rox]

Yeah, what dublinstep said, spot on!

[xdeletiax]

I just want the friendly atmosphere and chalets, it was enough, more than enough - that sense of community of which you speak ultimately stemmed from the residential aspect of the festival. .

this. so much this. we dont need the bells and whistles. just a friendly spot where we can meet like-minded people, listen to great music, make new friends and have a great time. i cant feel pissed off though, iv been to 3 blocs and feel really lucky. hopefully it wont be the last!

[Million]

it did sound like the venue had to change, but it could have been put on hold, maybe have a year off and do some smaller party's, maybe that's what this is until they re-group and come up with a suitable venue for next year, i live in hope that bloc in holiday parks with all the fun that it brings hasn't disappeared up its own arse.

London partying can be decent, but u have to be open to the fact that it can be full of barley esque fuks recording everything on their iphones every second on the day as if the whole weekend/night out is actually a film about them, not dancing and generally getting in the way of anyone that does wanna dance, which i fear the new bloc will attract like flies around shit, saying that, give em a year and they will always have moved onto sommat else.

You cant do what u did for 5 years and this new london venue, it just not gonna ave the same community spirit, people scattered around in different hotels??.
People went for the music and to meet up, everyone was nice, people made the effort to go, minehead isnt the most accessible place is it, thats what made it good, people could be arsed.
I aint spoken to a single person from my lot, or bods ive met @ bloc that are up for this, despite who ends up playing

and as for this
Express' tickets to Bloc entitle you to entry on both nights as well as dedicated 'express only' queues for entry and wristband exchange. There will also be a dedicated bar, cloakroom and loos for 'Express' tickets only.
So whats this saying, mere mortals who only have 99 quids can fuk off and go shit in a bush cos the important extra 25 quids crew are using the bogs at the moment.
No I'm sorry, youre not allowed in to watch the headline act, you have to wait outside until we let everyone else in who has coffed up and extra 25
Why dont you go the whole hog and have the "express trendy bar" toilets dump piss and shit onto the 99 quid loosers. Partying london style

segregation my friends, never good is it, were better than you attitude, something that the music has never lent itself to, the whole point of the scene is being poked fun at, its a coming together of the like minded based around music and you're splitting it down the middle for 25 notes. - Will there be an utter cunt with a tash dressed in drag on the door looking you up and down, deciding if you can come in or not based on what you look like and or what you are wearing/who you are with?
Its beyond me all of that, it kind of rubbishes all what you have said over the years

as for the party political broadcast, its well dubious.

I hope this goes well for Bloc, failure is never a good look. Its bound to sell out
Im hoping you have a better plan for next year, get back to the roots of bloc and what made it so fucking ace for the last 5 years

People surely realise that some tuff decisions had to be made and hats off for making them
you can see on here how important a date it is for people, dont fuck that up chasing bullshit like so many do.

[Christyboyrebel]

Right I've got over feeling sick and now I'm just left with a big load of genuine sadness. Real no-fooling sadness at the thought of not going to Bloc for the first time.

Pretty much everything's been said on here already (and a lot better than I could say it) but I just wanted to high five all the forum users who always made the run up to Bloc so frickin' exciting - the countdowns, the fancy dress breakdown, the random madness - all lost and gone. Sad days.

I wish we could go back to the simple times when the biggest worry was complaining that the Fenchurch dome wasn't big enough, or even that the Hemsby chalets were too grim. Fuckin glory days they were.

Keep checkin' in Bloccers, maybe there's better days to come.

[emily]

Agree with what everyone is saying. London is already saturated with loads of parties and raves. I don't need to spend £50 on a ticket to experience something mindblowing, I need a £8 ticket and the number to my dealer. Also, two weeks before the olympics? are you trying to win over another market? You've lost all your bloc fans (well the ones like myself who won't be able to afford it - even though I live here) because there isn't anywhere for us to camp. I love city festivals, its great not having to lug loads of stuff via train or hitchhike down to the westcountry - but having to return home in the morning (at 6am in the morning?) That'll be the worse comedown ever. It's great that BLOC is trying to evolve but maybe they should have asked us first? We're the ones who've been attending for the last 5 years?!

[djsynth]

As everybody is sayin' here Real BLOC was another thing.

With my friends I went to 4 BLOC in a row and spending our time in the chalets or by the seaside was amazing, I met straordinary people and listened to wonderful music.

Now we have a party Berghain style in London, sorry guys but it's not the same. Where should the atmosphere be?

So I'm sorry to say that no Italian Crew will be at BLOC this time.

I hope strongly for coming back to your roots next year.