Hi there

This is a question for the organisers about the enforcement of the smoking ban at Glade.

I have a medical condition which means that I cannot tolerate cigarette smoke exposure and so for me, the smoking ban means that I can start going out again which is great!

However, despite the smoking ban coming into force on July 1st last year, smoking was still being permitted in the tents at Glade last year. This meant that I had to spend most of the time in my tent or in the drinks tents (where the ban was being enforced ) as we all know what the weather was like last year!

So my question is, will the smoking ban be properly administrated this year or not? I've been to plenty of gigs recently where the smoking ban has been enforced and so clearly it is perfectly possible at Glade too as the tents are considerably smaller than many music venues. It's really a case of whether the organisers will be taking this seriously or not. (Although I would have thought that a licence would be more difficult to obtain if the smoking ban is being flouted at the event?)

(BTW, this question is for Glade organisers specifically and is not posted in order to get loads of grief from smokers arguing the toss so please don't lets get into the rights and wrongs of the situation as this isn't the place to do this :-])

Clare Simpson

welcome to the boards!

im sure that paul (board admin) can pass this on to the organisers at a suitable time, theres usually a whole load of questions that want answers at some point

its a good question - i am not as bad as you sound but my asthma is affected by smoke, especially nasty cigarette smoke. i didnt really notice it being so bad at glade last year but i wasnt really looking out so not sure what the situation was, i remember people smoking openly though. i only get it bad when im in a really small enclosed space like a house where to smoke chokes my lungs.

i think (dont take this for an answer though!) that with large tents and arena's, surely you can get around the smoking ban by having some of the side flaps (hehe) open? becuase the smoking ban applies to enclosed spaces, but not places with a wall missing or a place for the air and smoke to go? or maybe im getting it mixed up

Thanks for the welcome

Yes if it can get passed on that would be good.....

As far as I'm aware, the tents are actually subject to the ban due to the ratio of the openings and as they get closed up at night (due to the noise regs) they then become almost completely enclosed and the same rules apply!

I've gone to all the last Glades and loved it but won't be able to if they don't do something about the smoking; it would be useful to find out before I buy my tickets

I vaguely remember "no smoking" signs on the outdide of the tents last year. We still smoked inside them mind - there was nowhere else to go cos it was raining! It was one of those occasions whereby we kinda thought "everything else appears to slowly be going to pot, so if we flaunt this one thing it hardly matters..." Sorry if I smoked near you though Clare - no offence meant. Didnt' they have those arabic pipes in the chai wallah tent for use as well? Don't those count?

It's an interesting issue at a festival though, where we're supposedly enjoying living in the outdoors for the weekend - it hardly occurs to you (esp as the ban was only just beginning!) NOT to smoke when you're used to it.

It'd take a fairly constant combing of the audience by stewards to ensure it didnt happen in future years - that'd be some quite considerable manpower required in a full vapor tent at 3am!

I think the biggesst factor was the rain regarding the smoking inside ......

ogriff wrote:I vaguely remember "no smoking" signs on the outdide of the tents last year. We still smoked inside them mind - there was nowhere else to go cos it was raining! It was one of those occasions whereby we kinda thought "everything else appears to slowly be going to pot, so if we flaunt this one thing it hardly matters..." Sorry if I smoked near you though Clare - no offence meant.

He he he - thank you Not your fault in any case - it's down to the organisers to sort out.

ogriff wrote: Didnt' they have those arabic pipes in the chai wallah tent for use as well? Don't those count?

Not sure actually - I don't think that there was anything else being smoked in the non-dance tents to be honest...

ogriff wrote:It's an interesting issue at a festival though, where we're supposedly enjoying living in the outdoors for the weekend - it hardly occurs to you (esp as the ban was only just beginning!) NOT to smoke when you're used to it.

Of course - it's a hard thing to get used to - I'm an ex-smoker so sympathise on that score

ogriff wrote:It'd take a fairly constant combing of the audience by stewards to ensure it didnt happen in future years - that'd be some quite considerable manpower required in a full vapor tent at 3am!

Not really... other venues don't seem to have a problem doing this and so if I'm paying a load of wedge for tickets to this I'd expect the same to be honest. Given the issues existing with licensing every year, I'd assume that it is pretty crucial that this is taken seriously in any case.

Hopefully the organisers will provide a formal response in any case - I'd love to be able to come along!

Hi Clare, I've referred it to them and will let you know when I get a response. I've no idea how long it will take, though, as things get a little quiet around this time of year.

This is something that always irritates me, when i see people having a fly smoke in a club, in that these people will help the club lose its licence.

Its not something that the clubs or festivals have put in place as an annoyance, its THE LAW. SO regardless of whether you like it or not, people have to get used to the fact that they have to smoke outside the tents. In the long run you may be harming whether or not the event can take place. Dont you think that a police force, that is already against the event, wont be looking for ANY excuse to get the event cancelled?

Truth is that we dont know if this is something that will be picked up on for next year until after the application goes in, and tbh people coming on and saying they broke conditions that would have been set in the application may not help matters imo......that is if, as Sperge keeps telling us, Police, Council and others who dont want Glade to happen read this site! At the end of the day it may not be as serious as doing illegal substances, but its still against the law like it or not!

*Is a smoker
**Is a selfish bastad at that

<Hurls a load of grief in clares direction>

But fair enough. I tend to be a sheep on these issues, if other people are smokeing inside then I will follow suit. And I won't feel guilty either, for the simple reason someone else did it first.

Chopper wrote:that is if, as Sperge keeps telling us, Police, Council and others who dont want Glade to happen read this site!

Of course they bloody do. So does the local rag. Indeed, at least one of its reporters occasionally posts on here (and in fact, gave us very useful info on several occasions).

As for an official response to the question, I'm not certain there will be one in all honesty, since the application is already under way and Clare is effectively saying a law had been flouted. It's not exactly helpful to the application, is it? If we do get something, it will be something along the lines of the law will be fully complied with etc.

Personally, as a non-smoker myself, I think it's a bloody crazy law. Yes, it's THE LAW. But sometimes laws get repealed. It used to be against THE LAW to be homosexual, but it isn't any more. It used to be against THE LAW to have an abortion, but it isn't any more. We've had reams of badly thought out legislation from this government and I think this one is a prime example. I doubt we'll ever see the whole thing overturned, not in this era of compo culture, but there are campaigns to change the law into a more sensible compromise, i.e. allowing smokers' pubs and clubs or smokers' rooms with their own separate air conditioning etc. It may take years of chipping away to get it, but I wish them luck with it.

Sperge wrote:

Chopper wrote:that is if, as Sperge keeps telling us, Police, Council and others who dont want Glade to happen read this site!

Of course they bloody do. So does the local rag. Indeed, at least one of its reporters occasionally posts on here (and in fact, gave us very useful info on several occasions).

As for an official response to the question, I'm not certain there will be one in all honesty, since the application is already under way and Clare is effectively saying a law had been flouted. It's not exactly helpful to the application, is it? If we do get something, it will be something along the lines of the law will be fully complied with etc.

Personally, as a non-smoker myself, I think it's a bloody crazy law. Yes, it's THE LAW. But sometimes laws get repealed. It used to be against THE LAW to be homosexual, but it isn't any more. It used to be against THE LAW to have an abortion, but it isn't any more. We've had reams of badly thought out legislation from this government and I think this one is a prime example. I doubt we'll ever see the whole thing overturned, not in this era of compo culture, but there are campaigns to change the law into a more sensible compromise, i.e. allowing smokers' pubs and clubs or smokers' rooms with their own separate air conditioning etc. It may take years of chipping away to get it, but I wish them luck with it.

Personaly I'd say those are bad anologies, laws against homosexuals and abortions stem from differnt times. I'd say the closest modern one would be the weed declasification. Despite many calls from senior people to move it back to class B it hasn't been. The goverment can't go back on legislation too quickly, admiting you fucked up is admiting that your weak and imperfect in the eyes of a spin doctor. Proves how much of a deluded fantasy land high level politions live in. And in the smokeing bans case I think if the law doesn't get repealed quickly it never will be, the genral poltical climate is already anti-smoker, it'l only get more so.

But yea, tactful ignoreing will probably be the organisers response.

Well, it wasn't intended to be a direct analogy or a contemporary example, it was more challenging the notion that simply because something has become the law, that's it, pack your bags and go home. Yeah, it has to be complied with now that it's in force, and if you do get caught breaking it you have to be prepared to face the consequences, but if you think it's a bad law then by all means campaign against it, that's basically what I was trying to say.

Sperge wrote:Hi Clare, I've referred it to them and will let you know when I get a response. I've no idea how long it will take, though, as things get a little quiet around this time of year.

Many thanks, much appreciated!

Sperge wrote:Well, it wasn't intended to be a direct analogy or a contemporary example, it was more challenging the notion that simply because something has become the law, that's it, pack your bags and go home. Yeah, it has to be complied with now that it's in force, and if you do get caught breaking it you have to be prepared to face the consequences, but if you think it's a bad law then by all means campaign against it, that's basically what I was trying to say.

Ah fair one, I agree with you whole heartedly on that.