Press release: Highways England is doing its V best for festival-goers

Highways England is assuring road users that it’s doing its best to make journeys as smooth as possible as tens of thousands of music fans head to V Festival in Staffordshire and Essex this weekend (19 to 20 August).

Festival-goers and road users are advised to be prepared and plan ahead as more than 70,000 people make their way to Weston Park in Staffordshire and 100,000 to Hyland Park in Essex, respectively.

David Patmore, Assistant Emergency Planning Officer at Highways England, said:

Months ahead of the festival, we work hard alongside event organisers, the police and other partners, using our expertise in handling traffic to help ensure festival-goers have a trouble-free journey to kick off their weekend of fun.

We strongly advise festival-goers and road users in the area to plan ahead, ensure vehicles have sufficient fuel, and to have plenty of drinks, such as water, available in the vehicle in case of any delays.

Signs will direct festival traffic on different routes depending on which direction it is arriving from.

Traffic is also expected to be busy in the same areas on Monday morning as people head home from the festival.

Weston Park, Staffordshire

David added:

The campsite opens at midday on Friday 18 and closes at midday on Monday 21 August, so we expect the run-up to and from these times to be particularly busy. We also expect traffic to be busier in the area throughout the weekend.

The M5 will be operating a contra-flow system between junctions one and two with 30 mph speed restrictions implemented because of the Oldbury renewal scheme. There may be some issues around junction six of the M6 with the ongoing repair scheme on the A38(m) with local traffic busy around junctions five and seven.

Therefore the M5 will be very busy for those heading to and leaving the event from the south west – so they need to pick their travel time very carefully to avoid delays or perhaps even find an alternative route as far south as Worcester or the M50 to the A49 and head onto the A5.

Those travelling from the south should use junction 10a of the M6 and then to travel onto the M54 towards the venue. Using the M54 to junction three from the south is the best way into the festival and attendees can be off the motorway and parked up in less than 20 minutes. Those travelling from the north should use junction 12 of the M6.

Hyland Park, Essex

Although there are no planned road closures, we expect the A12 near Chelmsford, the M11 junctions seven to nine and M25 junctions 29 to 28 to be much busier than normal.

Highways England provides live traffic information via its website, iPhone app, local radio travel bulletins and electronic road signs. Travel information is also available by phone from the Highways England Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000 and updates will be provided via Twitter @HighwaysEAST and @HighwaysWMIDS.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.