Thousands of music fans descended on Hatfield Park on Saturday for the sold out Slam Dunk festival, which saw performances from the likes of Enter Shikari and The Offsprings thrill visitors.

However, issues around parking, as well as accessing water, toilets and food and drink vendors, left some speculating about whether tickets for both North and South legs of the festival had been oversold.

Organisers have put out a statement apologising acknowledging that "some customers did not have an experience to the standard which they expected", but quashed claims that the festival breached capacities. 

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The statement reads: "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 ensure our customers that we are committed to improving the event.

"We would like to ensure 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.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Slam Dunk South 2023Slam Dunk South 2023 (Image: Newsquest)

"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 ensure 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."

To fill out a survey for the Slam Dunk South event in Hatfield, go to forms.gle/3nV9zJQnC4dkhz558