Heritagelive Reviews 

I went to see Stereophonics at Sandringham on 16th August. As well as the issues already stated by others- We sat in the access zone which was surrounded by a fence. When people were leaving they didn't have the patience to walk around the fence due to the many thousands trying to exit all at once so they broke down the fence and stampeded through. When staff tried to challenge them a grown man became verbally aggressive to the point we thought he was about to hit the female staff member and another kicked the fence. This was very intimidating. And don't get me started about how the accessible zone had a slope so wheelchair users struggled to get up and down it safely!

Saw Pet Shop Boys who were amazing on the Thursday, Scissor sisters were good , food prices crazy price, toilets not great, car park was a joke at the end over an hour to get off it,
But my biggest complaint why were the fair rides at the back of where we were sitting allowed to run while bands were on ,did not want that in the background unacceptable racket ruining the show

Annoying to give a 2 star review , but myself and a group of friends went to Audley End for Daltry, OCS , Cast and Sandringham for Stereophonics, Blossoms, Jake Bugg and all 6 acts were superb ( especially phonics as always). However, whilst Audley End was a superb venue, Sandringham was a joke, serious lack of toilets, queue for drinks was a nightmare, and bloody fair rides when the space could have been utilised for more facilities that were clearly needed, for those who had paid to see an excellent line up..and now onto the carnage that was access in and out of the estate. The queue to get to the venue added about 90 mins for the last few miles and was caused by the right turn access into the venue for disabled access and VIP I think,no worries with that, but think about how to move one group into the venue quicker, without, causing serious delays to everyone else. Oh, and then getting out, if we though getting in was bad, the exit away from the venue , was even worse. Audley End, brilliant, cant wait to go again, Sandringham though, never again for me or our group.

We booked to see Michael bubble with a silver VIP package and a Camper van pitch at a cost of over of over £1,000. The organisation was terrible. None of the staff knew what they were doing. Non of them had been trained properly. Booked a vip silver ticket on the website and was supposed to get a follow up email. Nothing arrived. Booked a camper van slot at extra cost but the camper vans were all made to park on a hill so you couldn’t level the van properly level. Took us 1.5 hrs sent to 4 different locations to pick up the cream teas that were in the silver package but the contents had been frozen and not thawed properly so the food was inedible. VIP area was a complete joke. Stage setting was a complete joke and organisation was non existent. Sound system was appalling and it was about 5 songs in before they sorted it out and Michael Bubble was not fully himself. All in all I think the sandringham estate should revoke their licence for running this event.
I will now start the task of trying to get our money back

Okay, first off, let me say that Gabrielle, Beverley Knight and Michael Buble were all magnificent. That being said, I will never attend another event organised by Heritage Live ( my 3rd and each has got progressively worse) To give you some context, we first saw Robbie a couple of years ago at Sandringham and decided to pay the extra £200 for VIP. For that extra money, you were supposed to get lots of extras - all you actually got was a bar and decent loos ... and a chance to be fairly near the stage and a seat if you were quick enough. It was very shabby - some garden furniture and a low fence separating you from the main area. It was at the side of the stage - and to top it all, when Robbie came on, they just let anyone come in to the area and we were pushed back by a large group of fairly drunk people, so not even our limited side view was protected. However, the whole thing was laid out fairly well, with the bar and food trucks etc all laid out all around the edges. Based on this experience unsurprisingly, we decided not to bother with the VIP upgrade ( now 3 tiers and ridiculous prices! ) and decided to just take our own chairs. Like many others we arrived very early with a view to setting ourselves down to the side and were immediately told that seated had to go to the back - at least 1/4 mile from the stage. We did so, and like many others we watched as the day went on as many people ended up with their seats much closer than where we had intended to be.... primarily because I think they simply didn't think things through and alot of the security staff simply gave up after a while. However, the most ridiculous thing was how they had laid out the event. The bar, which in previous years was at the side was placed smack in the middle of the field ? who's idiotic idea was that ? As a consequence, the whole event was divided up - with areas where you could only see the event on a screen ( which by the way was out of sync) and what's with the funfair ?? and as for the disgraceful toilets - well - we just didn't have anything to eat or drink simply because we didn't want to use the disgusting full, dirty ( by 5) toilets. The only thing we said was thank goodness we didn't pay the extra for VIP - which was even further away from the stage and the seating was not even angled directly at the stage. Whoever, designed the layout for this event clearly had no interest in delivering a great customer experience - only in maximising short-term profits. All in all, a rip-off, chaotic, bordering on unsafe with alot of very young inexperienced staff - again no doubt to maximise profit. It has to be said that it is possible to put on really excellent events as Forest Live seems to manage it every year. The tickets are a little cheaper and the upgrade to VIP is not extortionate - the VIP section there is approximatley 30% of the event and is separated by a walkway. You can take your own chair and be really close to the stage- take your own picnic if you wish - but still has all of the other food trucks etc. (FYI Heritage Live staff confiscated a bag of crisps from my bag ... ) We will never attend another Heritage Live event again. I hope the artists become aware of what is happening.

Firstly to say - The one star is for the acts and Sandringham only (I would give them 5 individually, as they were fabulous) however I am not giving Heritage Live any stars as this was such a dreadful experience .

My elderly Mother treated my family (myself, husband and 2 grand children (age 9 and 11) to a once in a lifetime Michael Bublè and special guests concert with a Silver VIP experience at Sandringham yesterday. The VIP experience was £1700 alone (over £300 pp - no concessions for children) plus another £500 for our tickets.

We also booked the shuttle bus to and from Kings Lynn for all 5 of us (another £150).

With our Silver experience we were entitled to VIP parking (which we didn’t utilise as had bought our shuttle tickets first) guided tour of the Sandringham House, a Cream Tea and access to the VIP area where there was seating and other VIP luxuries (clean toilets/smaller bar queues, street artists etc.)

We arrived around 1:30pm so plenty of time to enjoy our treats before entering the VIP area to enjoy the live music from 5pm.

I don’t know where to start really….

Sandringham tour was lovely, but short. Lovely access to the grounds and gardens which was the best part of this entire day.

We collected our cream tea (for 5 of us) and we were told there was only a choice of tea and coffee. Also few meat cream tea options left (we booked the VIP experience 2 days before the event, so couldn’t pre book anything). No soft drink options for the children or anyone who doesn’t drink breakfast tea or coffee. So the children had tap water from a jug. The cream tea was utterly average and borderline unacceptable. Dry scones, literally unable to cut without falling to bits and cutlery missing so you didn’t have a knife to spread your cream or jam etc. Not what I would expect from a Cream Tea experience at Sandringham.

Onto the ‘VIP’ experience. NOT VIP AT ALL and an absolute rip off. Bearing in mind we spent over £300 each for this experience. We were faced with NO seating whatsoever so my poor elderly Mother and lots of other people (including those with mobility issues and of a certain age) had no seating for the entire afternoon and evening. There were no chairs available to hire as we were told that it had been closed as people were not putting them in the designated areas and also, we were told if they were available we couldn’t take them into the VIP area anyway! There were around 8 sofas (can seat 6, but mostly taken by 2 couples so 4 sitting) and 10 benches tops in the VIP area. Plus a small area of joined up sofas under a small music tent, for listening to the street artist acts. NOT ENOUGH FOR EVEN 100 PEOPLE to sit although I would say over a thousand easy VIP tickets must have been sold??? Ridiculous price drinks and average, expensive food as expected. View of the stage was average as VIP area was set to the side. Sound was hit and miss in the area. Toilets were clean though and bars queues were fine.

DANGEROUS: Site set up was dreadful. Far too many people- it felt unsafe. Rubbish, picnic mats, abandoned chairs (as people were not able to use them in all cases as seats were only allowed in designated areas which had bad views of the stage).

Poor view in most places around the site and very disappointingly, the sound was dreadful for Michael Bublè. We stood outside the VIP area to the right of the stage. Even Michael got frustrated when he couldn't hear himself properly at one point!

The most distressing part was when we went to leave 30 minutes before the end of the show to try to avoid the crowds with my Mother and small children, there was no clear signage for exits and when we got to the area we were told was the exit, it was packed of people trying to leave. People were getting angry, fighting and we even saw a person with mobility issues pushed to the floor. All distressing for us as parents and from my Mothers eye of someone with poor mobility and who is vulnerable.

When we finally got out the exit, we found our coach and then sat in traffic trying to leave the estate for over 2 hours! It was carnage! Boiling hot packed bus, no water or toilets.

Overall, this was a dreadful experience and we feel dreadfully ripped off as this was very much NOT the VIP experience my Mother had treated herself and us to. We are not alone as lots of people were expressing their thoughts about this too at the event. It is hard to imagine what on earth the money had gone towards and appears to be an utter scam. Heritage Live, you should be ashamed of your extortion of people advertising such experiences.

We will not be attending any future Heritage Live events and would advise others to seriously consider the multiple
Reviews here before you waste your hard earned money!!

I took 2 of my grown up children see the Pet Shop Boys at Heritage Live Sandringham as I had wanted to see them for a long time.
The boys were absolutely superb and support act Scissor sisters were extremely entertaining.
2 hours of Dave Pearce and his Ibiza Anthem slot , Not So Much .
I decided to pay for VIP Gold passes on top of the tickets so spent roughly £1200.00.
NEVER AGAIN ... A total RIP off and just a way to line the pockets of Heritage Live.
Apart from the excellent toilets , there was nothing Gold about our vip package.
Food stalls were charging exorbitant prices (even by event standards).
We pay less at Ally Pally in London when watching the Snooker or Darts.
£15 for a tiny Duck wrap and £6 for a kiddie cone of chips was way over the top.
Whoever decided to put a funfair there must have been smoking those funny cigarettes.
Queues grew throughout the event for drinks
Arriving at and leaving the event was always going to be time consuming and this was definitely the case. Patience was definitely pushed to the limit.
Whilst the Pet Shop Boys were well worth double the ticket price , the Gold VIP package was worthless and I would advise anyone visiting a Heritage live event DO NOT BUY GOLD VIP packages, you will be very disappointed.

Thanks to the PSBs for such a wonderful gig , sounding as good as ever and giving us an evening never to forget.

I attended the Michael Bublé concert on Sunday August 17th. The concert was incredible, however, the organisation around the festival site and local area was dreadful. Despite leaving in plenty of time it took over 2 hours to travel from Kings Lynn to the festival car park. There were no marked lanes in the carpark and although we arrived at 2.15pm with a plan to see the gardens and house prior to the concert, once on the festival site we were not allowed to leave again. The seating areas were filling up by 3pm and despite following instructions from the stewards to leave clear pathways in case of emergency, by the time the concert began with Gabrielle people were sitting anywhere and no-one was organising emergency exits. As for leaving at 11pm , having only one dirt track for all vehicles to leave the site, it was complete chaos run by very inexperienced stewards who didn't seem to have a clue on how to clear the area. Cars were driving randomly across the site leading to 5 or 6 lanes of traffic, with cars trying to push into the line from all angles and then, ultimately trying to feed through one very narrow gate, only to be led down a very long unadopted track. We were staying 24miles away and we finally arrived there at 2.15am. I am only surprised there were no major accidents. Although we loved the festival we would not be happy to return to the venue again or attend any event organised by the same company.

We went to see Michael Buble, arrived at 4pm with chairs as we had my partners Mother with us who has very limited walking/standing ability. There was no space in the seating area at the back so everyone that was arriving at the same time sat in front of this area. We had been there about 20 mins when we were very aggressively told that if we did not fold our chairs and sit on the floor they would be taken off us. Clearly there had been no thought to the demographic of the audience for this event as the majority were mor mature who clearly couldnt be able to sit on the floor or stand on the uneven ground for hours. Given the price of the tickets it was very poor and spoilt the evening somewhat. As for the parking well words fail (again the same as 2023 when we went to see Robbie). Food and drink prices were extortionate as well £75.80 for 2 carafes of wine, a small guiness and small cider. If you want to go to an outdoor concert go to Thetford Forest, much more organised in terms of parking and where you can sit (and you can take a picnic). We will certainly not be going to Sandringham again.

Like many other reviewers, our experience was dreadful, bordering on dangerous. The management of the event was a disgrace. I was told on the two nights prior to our visit to see Stereophonics, the attendance was c.16 to 18 thousand. On the night we went, apparently in excess of 36,000 and it felt like it.

The layout of the event was just plain stupid. The refrigerated 40 foot food trailers arranged in a compound directly in the centre of what would have been the perfect viewing area, so dividing the viewing into a huge V shape stretching all the way back to the rear fence line, so the stage was either out of sight or too far away to be viewed by many, us included.

The seated section in the middle (which we couldn't get into as it was completely full) had a very stupidly placed two to three metre high illuminated 'Heritage Live' lettering completely blocking the view! Madness. What idiot thought that was a good idea?

Like others, the toilet queues were crazy, I can sympathise with those who went by the fence, I considered it! We sat at the back near the bar and timed people in the queues. I reckon minimum 30 minutes but closer to an hour for most. All that for an appalling semi warm pint of flat Stella at £7.20. Disgusting.

We've been to other heritage Live events at Audlent End Hall and they've been very well managed. Sandringham though? A joke. We left before the end of the Stereophonics set, knowing that it would be carnage getting out and by the sounds of it, it was.

With a two night stay and tickets we are into £700 and we left two thirds through the set. Disgrace.

The security guy told us they'd been surprised at the attendance, for a TICKET ONLY event! I can only presume that the organisers are happy to just take the money and leave a dangerous crowd to take its chances. NEVER AGAIN.

My 1 star is purely because all 3 acts we saw Sunday were amazing . My Mother booked a VIP Experience which was the biggest joke! Only ‘Gold’ vips were guaranteed a seat so my elderly mother had to sit on the floor. There were plenty of toilets but only 2 choices of food which was extortionate- 2 pork & stuffing rolls & 2 soft drinks cost almost & £40!! The artists playing meant a lot of the demographic attending were more senior in years. There were disabled people that struggled to walk with crutches that had also paid for a VIP experience only to find there was nowhere to sit. You could hire deckchairs but were prohibited from taking them into the VIP area. I eventually asked someone if I could take their table for my 83 yr old Mum to sit down when she needed to. We were sat right in front of the ‘Media Tent’ where there were 2 picnic benches/tables and security refused to allow them to be moved to allow elderly/disabled people to sit down. Exit from the car park was OK as we were in the VIP car park although the path to the car park was very dark with ridiculous spotlights blinding you so I unfortunately took a fall & took my Mum down with me and she badly grazed her knee. The roads outside the car park were absolutely grid locked and took us 90 mins away to get to our accommodation 7 miles away. The artists were all brilliant and completely professional given the shocking sound system. Definitely would not attend such an event again, it turned what should have been a great day into a unnecessary stressful one. Clearly Heritage have a lot to learn from this event.

Attended Sandringham yesterday. Gabrielle, Beverly Knight and Micheal Buble were great, but there was too much time between acts of nothing at all! We spent 5 hours sitting on the grass waiting to see anyone at all. MB didn’t come on until after 9pm
The staff did not manage the crowds, we sat all afternoon in our chosen spot, only to have people push in and completely block my view just as the acts came on.
But the very worse thing was leaving at the end of the night!
There were no exit signs, no designated exit routes, and no staff to assist until the situation got totally out of hand. It was total chaos, and took over two hours just to get out of the parking area. Most of that was spent stationary! We would never attend a Heritage event again!

Unsafe event. I went to see the Michael Buble on 17th Aug. (Also pet shop boys on 14th Aug)
Both were busy & took a long time to get out of the car park. However the event on 17th Aug was far too over crowded, to the point of being unsafe. No room to walk between chairs as people who arrived early were squashed into a very small area at the back. As more & more people arrived they were allowed to sit in front of the original assigned seating area. People complaining all over the place, security staff disappeared.
Overpriced food, filthy bins overflowing. Loud music coming from the fairground when trying to listen to the show. Unfair as people who arrived early were forced to sit nearer to it, than people who arrive later. Screens didn't sync with the sound there was a small delay, some sound issues.
Took 2 hours to get out of the car park, cars driving everywhere, car park full of chocking fumes with all engines running,
All the acts were all amazing, especially Beverly Knight, but the organisation was terrible. HERITAGELIVE are just MONEY GRABBING, no care for attendees.

First time we have attended Heritage Live event and being big festival goers and avid live music fans booked Friday, Saturday and Sunday nghts camping close by. Online it said that picics were allowed, however on the Friday evening we had crips and biscuits confiscated, so very mixed messages. I didn't have a problem with people bringing chairs. The demographic of the event meant that people could relax and chat together between sets comfortably in the sunshine, and stand up when the performers arrived on stage. What i did have an issue with were the lack of toilets, so much so they were disgusting by 4pm, and because of the long queues people (men and women) thought it was acceptable to urinate along the fence line, right by people on seats and by children! Its a shame the "security" didnt spend more time ensuring this disgusting anti social behaviour couldnt happen rather than asking elderly folk to remove their chairs and sit on the floor! The security around the pedestrian entrance by the stage was an absolute joke. In fact it was dangerous. There was absolutely no attempt to keep the walkway free of people leading to the people in wheel chairs unable to see the stage, and meaning that when we came to leave slightly before the finish each night we could not get out as people had stood on the walkway to get a close up view of the stage rather than standing in the designated areas to keep the walkway free. The price of the food and drink was extortinate, not very family friendly or inclusive considering the price of tickets for an outdoor event. It took my brother in law 2.5 hours to get out of the car park on saturday night due to a bad traffic management plan and lack of organisation. All of the "ssecurity" were bussed in from god knows where, they were certainly not local so if you asked them any questions out exits, paths, directions, none of them had any clue. We will not be attending this event again despite the fabulous performances and line up.

Never again.
Gabrielle and Beverley Knight were great, pity they couldn't get any of the screens to sync - at least a 1 second delay.
Was about 1/4 mile from the stage, artists were a mere speck.
Thousands of people left halfway through Buble - why was he on so late ? we didn't get home until 2am and left halfway through his set.
Dust everywhere.

Crazy toilet queues, silly overpriced food, only saving grace was that it didn't rain - that would've been hell.

Sandringham for Michael Buble. My husband and I arrived in good time- 2pm- and headed towards the stage with deck chairs. We were mindful of not being right up close. We were asked to move back with our chairs. We did, and were asked again. We moved right back and settled down. As the afternoon progressed, people arrived with chairs and Sat exactly where we had been and much further forward. No one moved them on. I don't mind people having the space and using chairs in front of me, but what really annoyed me was the fact we could have been further forward. The officials were not addressing the issue. One rule for one and all that.
The venue is huge and given the amount of people, there were not enough food vans or toilets. Michael was fantastic - the venue and officials were not.

Absolutely disgraceful, Terrible organisation which bordered on dangerous. Crowd management and facilities poor and staffed by clueless people with no experience. Heritage live just a money making company with no regard for facilities and safety. Sandringham should not give Heritage Live any contract. Also attended in 2023 that was a shambles with improvement promised, well it was worse this year! If only King Charles knew the bad press and impression that this event has generated for the Sandringham Estate. Will never attend a Heritage Live concert again!

I am writing to provide feedback regarding my experience at the recent concert featuring Stereophonics, Blossoms, and Jake Bugg at Sandringham. While the musical performances were outstanding and thoroughly enjoyed, my overall experience was significantly marred by a number of serious organisational and logistical issues.

As a regular attendee of concerts and festivals, I feel compelled to share that this event was, regrettably, one of the most poorly organised I have experienced.

I was deeply disappointed by the poor organisation and crowd management throughout the day. The queues for food and drink vendors were excessively long, making it nearly impossible to purchase anything without missing large portions of the performances.

Additionally, I have significant concerns regarding safety and crowd control. At various points, the crowd seemed to be unmanaged, leading to a sense of unease. There also appeared to be a lack of adequate space, especially in the areas designated for chairs, which created congestion and potential hazards. The general safety measures felt insufficient for the size of the crowd, with bottlenecks in multiple places.

Finally, the pricing for food and beverages was extremely high, which, combined with the incredibly long queues, added to a frustrating and disappointing experience. It felt as though a basic level of customer care was lacking in these key areas.

While the artists were fantastic, the overall event management fell far short of expectation I had for the event.

I would give a -10 score if I could!
Saw Michael Buble at Sandringham yesterday (not cheap tickets!) experienced the following :
The audience layout was horrendous, the screens were too small. If you were seated you had NO chance of a good view so relied on small screens..
They had sound quality issues and the screens had a sound delay which spoilt enjoyment of the artists. Overpriced dreadful cheap quality food traders only fit for a fair ground! Talking about fairground, WHO decided to put fair ground rides that continued working and people screaming which ruined the show when Michael sung as you could not hear properly!!! SO DREADFUL!! Even Michael commented on the fair site from the stage! The very long bar was located in the wrong area as people could have stood there to get a better view! 1 hour 40 minutes to get out of the car park stayed stationary for 1 hour!! The marshals didn't seem to manage it at all with drivers aggressively jumping the queue, signage dreadful!!
The litter bins overflowed and litter scattered all over the floor.. No thought went in at all to plan this venue properly! I won't EVER attend another concert there. ///// This is a HUGE RED FLAG WARNING to anyone considering Sandringham location as a entertainment venue! AVOID ///// I will be sending a copy of this to Heritage as by the looks of it they don't respond on Trustpilot and their scoring is 1 star!! Says it all really.. But hey, they got their money why should they care! Heritage live website does not have a complain link, I wonder why!

the acts were fab, it ends there - we are sandringham annual pass members and live 10 mins away yet we are horrified, going Fri & Sat and what we experianced
arrival Fri using Big Green Bus, pitch up chair within the allocated spaces no problem
Arrive Sat go to same spot at 2pm not allowed go right to the back behind a diferant line, then to watch everyone arrive after us and pitch a chair up in front is grossly unfair, security can't cope it's a mutiny you MUST either allow chairs and have clearly defined bigger area or not allow them full stop.
Big Green Buss - Fri 10.45pm 6 double decker buses full going to Kings Lynn (8 miles) none are allowed to leave until all the other coaches have left £30 return journey a complete rip off you do the coach to avoid parking issues we were no better off, 3 hours to get out on both nights.

Food & drink rip off
I 100% agree with stopping people taking copiuos amounts of alcohol, ruins it for all however sealed soft drinks and snacks should be allowed, I begrude being forced to queue and eat junk at a rip off price just to survive the day & evening

Who ever thought it's a good idea to have fairground rides near where you are listening to live music needs a sense check

all in we went 2 nights, spent hundreds on tickets, coach travel, forced junk food and apart from the acts basically a big vast rip off

Robbie was the same 2 years ago, I thought they may have learnt from bad reviews then and we gave it a go - NEVER again