BST Hyde Park Reviews 212

We went to see Lana Del Rey at BST Hyde Park and having read many of these reviews in the led up, I was dreading it, but our experience was overall quite positive. We had purchased Ultimate Diamond tickets and on our arrival at our dedicated entrance, there was no queue (arrived at 1630hrs). We went through airport style security and had our bags checked. We were then shown around around the Garden area and ultimate bar, which was complimentary and had plenty of seating available and I never had to queue once to get a drink. The toilets in this area were also well maintained. We got some food and although there were some queues for the pizza kiosk, there were barely any queues for the other food vendors. We went into the Diamond viewing area around 1745hrs and stayed in there for the rest of the show, so can't comment on queues for facilities from then on.
Yes it does get crowded, but we never felt unsafe. The smoking and vaping is annoying, but unless it's banned altogether, I can't see how it will not be an issue (I'm a non-smoker). It is also annoying how some people arrive for the show late and then push their way towards the front - but again, I se this more as people being inconsiderate rather than it being the fault of the organisers.
The security staff and St John's reacted very quickly to a medical emergency that occurred near us, which was also reassuring.
Exiting the venue was the only time I had to queue, but it's no different from exiting a sports stadium, where large amounts of people are trying to exit through narrow walkways.
I would happily attend another concert at this venue.

Decided to treat myself to Gold Circle tickets to see Bruce Springsteen on Saturday. We were packed in like sardines so it was impossible to get away from smokers, dope smokers, drunks and 'whirling dervishes ' which half ruined the concert for me. I would never pay the extra again although the experience has retired me from open air concerts in the future

Not able to get disability access as not enough available for demand . So took wheeled walker. The disabled toilets were a disgrace, just oversized porta loos which were unclean and smelled.
Sitting in a chair meant no view at all not even of the screen, as people pushed and shoved forward when Bruce was due on, even though you'd been there since one to secure a spot.
Payed for an upgrade on Sat. And although the toilets were better, too small. Garden area gas no view, so still had to have the same experience.
There were other people with mobility problems there who couldn't get a disabled ticket.
I felt discriminated against with the toilets and no shuttle bus to get you there unless you'd taken a car!.
I had to walk and stand so much I'm unable to weight bear at all atm.
I feel more disability tickets need to be available, better toilets and help to get to the venue.
I'm upset that I probably won't be able to go again as the experience was just too tough.
Also as someone with food allergies, found it difficult to find suitable food available.

Billy Joel was amazing. What hasn’t were the amount of oversize bags, umbrellas , pop up stool seats ( not inline with BST guidelines. )Alcohol which is as obviously snuck in (4 packs , bottles of wine) any drinks brought on site had to be opened when bought. The same thing happened last year so it’s obvious bag checks are not being carried out properly. ANYTHING COULD BE SNUCK IN !!!!! Security needs to tighten up on this. Non in the crowd ,only saw them dotted around the edge .Should anything serious happen no one would be able to help until a member of staff was found .

The first festival I’ve been to so to be fair I don’t have much to compare it to, but I found the staff so amazing I felt compelled to write this review. They were always so kind with giving us water (sometimes even snacks), would take peoples photos for them, friendly answering any questions - and most importantly had top notch crowd control. I was in golden circle and surrounded by a few ignorant people if I’m honest, they were patient with everyone when making sure everyone had a fair and SAFE festival experience. Also think it’s worth noting I attended BST on the last day so I can’t imagine how exhausted they must’ve been, but they didn’t let it affect their attitude for the sake of the fans.

Performance was amazing of course, just wanted to spotlight the hard working staff!

Billy Joel was great.
But....for some reason the North (Marble Arch) exit was closed, so leaving the concert was through a side exit. It was dangerously packed with people, and several flashpoints occurred. Badly lit and not well signposted - as I guess this was not planned for. Stewards did their best, but too many people in a tight funneled space was poorly managed by the organisers. It looks to me that the closed North exit is the larger exit point, so planning for it being closed must be better else there will be incidents and injuries.

Bought All VIP Terrace Garden tickets on 2 June 2023. (I think the cheap tickets were sold out). I knew I'd prefer decent toilets and a little breathing space if that were possible so stumped up £499.90 for two tickets. I paid an extra £29.40 for cancellation protection and when I saw Lana turning up late on YouTube to loads of gigs and having the power pulled at Glastonbury, knowing this performance was on a Sunday - needing to get to work the next day - I even investigated cancelling the tickets - then saw I'd been charged £48 'Service Fee' - never noticed that when I made the booking - additional to the 'transaction fee'. Had weeks of anxiety where I sometimes could get into the BST app - other times couldn't. Received emails from axs telling me to jump through various hoops. Did those, was able to see the tickets on my phone on the Sunday morning, got to Hyde Park - nothing. Logged onto their guest wifi as advised by security - nothing. Switched off wifi, walked away from the gig - hoping to get a better signal down at Knighstbridge - nothing. Came back logged onto their wifi - nothing. Eventually he spoke to his boss, who when we said we had Platinum (wrong!) then Terrace (correct) he led us in - phew! A girl there was helping people with their phone. Once she'd got them in, she turned to us. It took about 10 minutes but we could see people going in, could see the stage, the screens, the lovely white fencing, flooring, civilised seating and bar area, toilets. It all felt it was going to happen and we relaxed. She messed about with my phone until we were in. I'd not brought a battery back up so I put my phone into ultra stamina mode and just concentrated on enjoying the evening rather than filming. We made our way to the drinks tent, ordered a white wine each, realised they sold Organic Prosecco at £40 a bottle so requested that as well. Yes, they do have to take the top off but I tucked it into my bag where it was surrounded by waterproofs and a tarp I'd brought to sit on if necessary. I wanted to sit on the bar stool at the table and soak in the ambience without being jostled but my partner wanted to get a good seat. A banker overheard me saying, "But I'll get all territorial and start snapping". He advised us to make our way AROUND to the other side as this was his 3rd BST concert that week. We started to follow his advice but felt we wouldn't get around. We were then directed to the TERRACE (we'd not noticed the terrace up to our left). A huge area in front of the stage was cordoned off so we wouldn't be getting close to Lana. We were elevated though, panoramic views of the wonderful screens which curved around. She was on earlier than I'd anticipated, wore a beautiful green dress which tied in with the Hyde Park green of the stage and park. The sound was wonderful. We didn't get there until after 6pm so cannot say anything about the support bands - we only saw the bearded guy who was fab. I would definitely go again based on my experience yesterday.

Excellent venue
Third concert, amazing venue, bit pricey on food but it is, what it is.
My favourite go to concert

We went to see Billy Joel on 7th July 2023. Arrived at about 6pm, and the venue seemed absolutely packed. There seemed to be far more people there than in previous years. The paths were difficult to walk along to get the food and drink stalls because it was so busy. I would echo other comments about the poor stewarding and lack of customer care - it felt virtually none existent once in the venue. We’ve been to a few previous BST and Proms in the Park events and they were all very pleasant and well organised within the venue (both Amex and Barclaycard sponsored) but this time it felt edgy, overcrowded and disorganised. On the plus side, for us at least, we learned from previous experience that paying more for the Gold Circle would be worthwhile - and it was, with good views and sound quality, and out of the main crush behind the barriers (which really did look like a crush). Billy Joel and his band were brilliant - a great show. But the really bad thing that the organisers must address as a priority for future events is safety at the exits. You cannot safely funnel thousands of people through small exit gates with no active crowd control - especially when there are large crowds of people wanting to go left or right once outside and masses already heading in both directions, many rushing for public transport, and into the darkness of the park! It felt very unsafe and was a recipe for potential disaster. The exiting process was very poorly managed, and in my opinion the organisers should be thinking carefully about how it can be done more safely and efficiently in the future. Getting this right would also enhance the customer’s experience of the event overall.

I'm really surprised about all these negative reviews - I didn't have any problems at all (and was really dreading it after seeing these reviews!). We were in general admission. Ladies toilets were fine - no queues, just a bit of a walk. Bars looked like they had massive queues but they moved really fast. We didn't bother trying to cram up as close to the stage as possible - it didn't really seem like you would get a great stage view from general admission so figured we might as well be comfy. Leaving was fine - just walked to Bond Street station. Overall it's a concert in a park - it won't be the same as a concert in a purpose-built stadium. Though whoever decided to put a fake tree in front of the screen should probably be fired :) Springsteen was excellent of course.

Saw pink and Bruce Springsteen, both amazing artists and support acts. Sadly there is no crowd security both during the shows and afterwards. During Bruce a full on fight started and one security staff attended Ed. Foot paths not kept clear and upon exiting was a scrum were i feared for our safety as being usher from behind could have ended badly and no staff to be seen. The amount of litter you had to walk through to get out was disgusting.

We went to see Billy Joel on Friday 7th July. We had golden circle tickets.
Having read the negative reviews we decided to skip most of the day and just come for the evening.
We had dinner just outside Hyde Park with some awesome mocktails - best ever at Feya. That was awesome.
Then we walked to the south entrance and got in for about 1810. There were very short queues for drinks food and toilets and the view was absolutely awesome.
We saw Darryl Hall and then Billy and it was the best performance and acoustics we have ever seen even though wrve seen him perform at lots of venues. The Great Oak Stage was so impressive, the audience were so wonderful everyone so friendly dancing and singing.
The weather and sunset were amazing.
Truly a great experience.
Elizabeth Line from Bond Street made it so easy to get home.
We took small snacks in our bags but the food offer looked awesome. We bought drinks at a bar. No queues.

The tree blocked the view of the side screen , the viewing platform blocked the stage for people in the main area, everyone had to gather at the sides. Bruce was great as always. The experience was spoiled by the tree and platform

View of stage poor . Tree blocking screens . Viewing platform blocking centre of stage so people were crushed either side of it to get a view of stage . Couldn't see all of stage because of these obstacles. Wouldn't go again. More consideration needs to be given to the audience who aren't in the Golden Circle.

After reading reviews I thought I’d chip in.
Had a GA ticket on a very hot day and arrived about 4pm.
Luckily found a patch of shade to park in but really there could be more available to hide in. It turned out to be a good spot (about 300 miles from the stage) that had an excellent view of a screen and good sound, even though the sound lagged the screen significantly - that’s physics though! Had thought of a vip upgrade in coming years but after reading reviews might scrap that. I’m just a bit old to stand all day and I find ground sitting uncomfortable and laying down is a big no no! 2 days later and I’m still tired!
Visited toilets once - no queues and they were clean… maybe I was lucky.
Spent £4.50 on an Calipo and then stopped looking at prices… like OMG prices. Felt unnecessarily overpriced and a tad greedy… not like they’ve had to take supplies up a mountain and the tickets were expensive enough to cover litter sorting etc. at least water was plentiful. Food was really nice too - fine dining pricing maybe had a subliminal effect on the taste!?
So acts were amazing. I don’t feel the need to be stage close as you’ll struggle to be close enough to make any significant difference anyway IMO - it’s atmosphere you need and you’ll get that further back (as well as merry revellers who kept knocking over their overpriced beers and then queuing for ages to replace them … about 3 times… they probably maxed out their AMEX but have enough air miles for a round the world trip now!)
Leaving was unnecessarily badly managed. Still baffled as to the logic of bottlenecking everyone. Must have been scary for some. Of course tubes and trains were non existent but that’s just business as usual for the UK at the moment and no fault of the event.
Overall a mixed bag. I loved the experience and would go again.

Firstly I wanted to make it clear that nothing was wrong with the artists, support and Billy Joel were amazing. The Stewards though were appalling. Generally unhelpful and toilet facilities were badly done and disgusting, and that's event disgusting, not regular disgusting.
When it finished several thousand people were badly funneled through a tiny exit, and honestly we were in fear that something was going to go badly wrong. It would not have taken much for there to be a fatality. We had two walking disabled and we were pushed, tripped and manhandled. It was only by luck that this event has not had a dreadful disaster.
On the way out an extremely racist steward took umbridge that we are a mixed race family and racially abused my sister in law then hit her. All thankfully on video and now reported to the police, though no police anywhere on the night. after our bad experience another woman was attacked by several stewards across the road, jumping on her and forcing her to the ground from us near marble arch, thankfully again caught on video. these stewards were absolute scum, and I do not exaggerate when I say we were in fear of our safety.

I paid just over £300 for a VIP Diamond View for Billy Joel yesterday. Thought I'd have an amazing view, could sit down and not have to stand with people and heads in my way like previous concerts, how wrong was I.....
I didn't get to sit on a single chair the whole 7 hours I was there. All the tables and seats were taken, so i had to sit on the grass with a drink and food. Wouldn't have minded that so much on it's own. But having to stand up to see Daryl Hall and Billy Joel for the last few hours, people brushing past and only seeing Billy's head from far away..... I could have cried. I was aching too from standing so long and it was a really hot day. I tried my best to enjoy it but i didn't pay £300 to have that experience! If I'd paid for GA then fine. I won't be doing this again. I went alone too because nobody would pay that money for a ticket to go with me.
Hugely disappointed 😞 but Billy was amazing 👏 all credit to him, certainly not the BST organisers.

Absolutely dreadful experience
Complete waste of money and absolutely no value in buying extremely expensive Hyde away tickets
Feel completely scammed

Not sure why there are so many bad reviews, we got Diamond View and it was great! Was so well thought out and a vip festival experience. Toilets were actual toilets and always clean and available. Didn’t have to queue for anything the entire time, quick entry into the venue, staff were very helpful and friendly, and the view of the stage was brilliant! Music and atmosphere was great! A lovely day out :)

It's a funny old world. I'm reading some terrible reviews here on Trustpilot, but the experience that I and my family had at the Springsteen gig last night was quite the opposite.
I attended with my family; 6 of us in total. My son is in a wheelchair, and we had some challenges to overcome in order to spend the maximum amount of time together in Hospitality.
The staff were amazing! Kindness personified; they bent over backwards to accommodate us.
Special thanks to Sue Osborne and her colleague Steve at the Diamond VIP entrance, to Max at the Accessible entrance, and to the staff at the Accessible viewing ramp, who were all amazing. As were the shuttle service staff.
We were all so grateful for everything these people did. They really helped us have the most amazing time.