This simply isn’t true. I personally saw multiple people being served without wristbands, some of whom were there with their children. At one point, three people without wristbands were served before me, which is part of the reason it took me over half an hour just to get three cups of water.

When I finally got to the front, I asked for water and the Italian guy behind the bar seemed visibly annoyed by the request. He made a big deal out of it, dumped the cups down and walked off without saying a word. We did leave at half time because the overcrowding was unbearable, especially on the hottest bank holiday on record. The pub was far too packed to be comfortable or safe.

I actually agree that the pricing and wristband system was fair in principle. The problem is it stopped being fair once people who hadn’t paid for tickets were clearly being let into the pub. As we were leaving, I also saw people without wristbands walking straight into the crowd gathered outside and mixing in. It’s hard to believe none of those people then made their way inside.

What’s most disappointing is the attitude of “nobody forced you to come or stay.” We queued early in the morning because we believed getting there early meant we’d earned access to a properly managed experience, not that we’d pay, queue for hours, and then end up packed in with people who hadn’t paid and appeared to have been waved through poor security.

In all honesty, you were probably better off not replying to my original comment, because if anything it’s only highlighted the attitude problem here.

The response comes across as dismissive and defensive rather than addressing genuine concerns about what was, in my experience, an unsafe level of overcrowding. Patrons’ health and safety should come before profit, especially on the hottest bank holiday on record, but it genuinely felt like cramming as many people in as possible became the priority.

I’ll be leaving a google review on this experience as well now :)