Up to 30,000 music fans who have managed to get tickets for this summer’s big stadium concert at Ashton Gate in Bristol are being urged to book their places on the shuttle buses, or face uncertainty about how they are going to get there.
The concert by rockers Arctic Monkeys is taking place on the Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday at the end of May at Ashton Gate Stadium, and there will be a wide area with parking restrictions and road closures on the afternoon and evening of the gig.
So a large fleet of shuttle buses is being assembled to bring fans to the stadium, with four starting points in the west, north, south east and centre of the city, as well as coach services picking up from 16 points around the south west and the Midlands, for fans coming from further afield.
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Ashton Gate stadium bosses are urging people to start thinking now about how they are going to get to the stadium on the day - because they won’t be able to just rock up in their own cars and park nearby.
The special event shuttle buses are being laid on at four locations in the city - three of them have free parking: The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, Portway Park and Ride and the Brislington Park and Ride on the A4 in from Keynsham and Bath. There’s a fourth shuttle bus which will pick people up from Temple Meads station and the city centre.
Two coach companies are also running coaches to the stadium from further afield. Big Green Coach is also operating a coach only return service from Bath, Birmingham, Cheltenham, Exeter, Gloucester, Plymouth, Taunton and Worcester while Bakers Dolphin is providing a coach only return service from Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea, Clevedon, Gordano Services, Highbridge, Nailsea, Weston super Mare and Worle.
Both companies have drop-off and departure points close to Ashton Gate with special access through roads which are closed to the public.
Ashton Gate Stadium said the coach services and park and ride buses get booked up quickly, so people should get in early, or face the stress of finding another way to get there. “Tickets for these services, which include free parking, excluding Route 3, are available by pre-booking only and highly likely to sell out at least a week before the concert,” said a spokesperson.
“With road closures, temporary parking suspensions and Resident Parking Schemes in place on the day of the concert, there will be no parking near the stadium. Our Shuttle Buses are the fastest and greenest way of getting to the stadium and will be operated by First West of England Ltd frequently between 3pm – 7pm,” they added.
After the concert, the shuttle buses will get priority to get through the traffic, and are the only vehicles allowed inside the road closures - taxis are directed to the Sainsbury’s store around a half mile walk away from the stadium.
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