A WHOLE new structure of roads has been built to facilitate fans going to the Oxegen festival and to prevent a repeat of last year's quagmire, the festival's promoter has said.
Roads and tracks have been build to and from the campsites and the car parks at Punchestown Racecourse, while other roads have been built criss-crossing them, MCD's event organiser Sophie Ridley said.
After heavy rain in the last two weeks, and with more on the way, fans may be wondering if the festival - which begins next Friday - will see the kind of conditions that occurred last year.
However, Ms Ridley said that "miles" of roads have been built on the site since last February, when remedial work was first carried out.
"Every headland has a road around it, every field has a crossroad on it. Fans will find it much easier to get around than last year," she said.
She said that despite the recent rain, the weather is not comparable to last year. "We know every drop of rain that has fallen, believe me. The fields are nowhere near as bad."
An estimated 80,000 fans will attend the festival, which features headline acts such as Kings of Leon, Rage Against the Machine, REM, The Verve and Amy Winehouse.
Winehouse, who was a no-show last year, has had well-publicised health problems along with drug and drink addiction issues, but she appeared at Glastonbury last week and her spokesman said she was "really looking forward" to appearing at Oxegen.
The festival will run for three days this year, from Friday to Sunday next week, but entertainment will be laid on for fans arriving next Thursday. The festival proper begins at 5pm on Friday.
There will be a park-and-ride facility for the first time this year for fans coming from the south and southeast at Floods Cross, Newhall, near Naas, which will have a capacity for 1,500 cars.
Garda spokesman Supt Kevin Donohoe said "a lot of time, effort and expense" had been put into the park-and-ride facilities, which also include the bigger facility at Goffs for traffic coming from the north, west and east, which will have space for 6,000 cars.
He said parents dropping off teenagers should leave them at the park-and-ride and everybody coming by taxi will also be left there. He said that attempts will be made over the next week to placate local taxi drivers in Naas who are annoyed that they cannot bring fans to the venue.
A permanent Garda presence will be on site, with 210 officers serving. Supt Donohoe said there were 580 drug seizures last year and 40 arrests for minor public order offences. "If you look at the numbers who engaged negatively with the police compared to the numbers on site, it was very small," he said.
Music fans who want a little luxury on site will be accommodated in the Green tent area where they can buy a ready pitched and fully equipped tent, a tepee, or a Podpad made of wood which has fitted carpets, shelving, lighting, a mirror and a lock along with airbeds.
Makings its debut at an Irish festival this year will be the Myhab, a tent made from recyclable materials and waterproof cardboard with a raised base, a lockable area and a dry area for sticking muddy boots and wet clothes.
Myhabs were invented by a 24-year-old music fan, James Dunlop, who noticed how many tents are abandoned at music festivals. They can be booked at www.myhab.com and cost £240 (€303) for two people sharing.
MCD is striving for a carbon-neutral festival this year and carbon emissions will be offset by renewable energy initiatives in Turkey and China.
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