TORRENTIAL RAIN fell as the last of the Oxegen music fans left the campsites in Punchestown, Co Kildare, yesterday.
Many abandoned their tents despite being asked not to do so, and the clean-up operation is likely to take several days.
There were long delays for traffic between Punchestown and Naas yesterday, and gardaí warned all motorists or taxis wishing to pick up from the Oxegen site that they had to use the park-and-ride facilities at Goffs. However, there was no repeat of the traffic chaos which marred the recent AC/DC concert at the same venue.
There were 114 arrests during the festival, with one serious assault in which a man was struck with a bottle in the neck on Friday night, but he is making a full recovery in hospital. The other arrests were for relatively minor offences and gardaí reiterated their satisfaction with the behaviour of the crowd.
Fans exiting the campsite yesterday said they were pleased with the weekend despite the incessant rain which fell on Saturday and the downpour yesterday evening which turned the venue into a morass of mud.
Dory Schultz (18), from Athlone, described it as “the best weekend of my life” and said her highlights were The Script, Lady GaGa and The Killers. “The rain was horrible, but it didn’t take away from our enjoyment of the weekend.”
Lauren Dudley (22), from Kent in England, said: “I had a great weekend, but I wasn’t a big fan of the weather. We missed several bands because we had to get changed or else we’d get hypothermia.” Nathan Simpson (23), from Enniskillen, said: “It was my first festival. There was a great atmosphere where we were camping. The Killers finished it off brilliantly.”
Andrew Donovan (17), from Goatstown in Dublin, said: “I thought Blur were unbelievable. The crowd were quite hectic at Kings of Leon, but I thought The Killers stole the whole show.”
Luke Byrne (17), from Terenure, said: “The line-up was great, but the weather was absolutely appalling. Sleeping was horrible. The water was seeping through the tents and dripping on you. It was absolutely disgusting.”