Residents and visitors are being encouraged to plan their journey ahead of the bank holiday to make the most of the weekend.
Portsmouth City Council is working with Victorious Festival organisers to help create a safe space for festival-goers and this includes the closure of some roads and facilities within the festival site.
There will be road closures on Avenue De Caen and Clarence Esplanade from 6 am on Friday 27 August until 8 am on Tuesday 31 August. Any drivers who park their vehicles within these areas should check the signage on the roads and make sure their vehicles are moved outside the site area before the closures come into place.
Some residential roads surrounding the festival site will be closed to through traffic from 10.30 pm to midnight for the three day period. Access will be for residents only, who will still be able to use their cars during this time.
To ensure the safety of festival-goers as they leave the event, Duisburg Way, Clarence Parade, Avenue de Caen and Palmerston Road will be closed between 10.30 pm until midnight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Clarendon Road, Grove Road South and Portland Road will operate a one-way system and will be open for buses and taxis only. Roads will reopen as soon as possible after crowds have dispersed.
The Pyramids and D-Day car parks will be closed during the festival weekend.
Southsea Castle, D-Day Story and Southsea Skatepark are within the Victorious Festival site and will only be accessible to ticket holders on Saturday and Sunday.
Southsea splash pool and beach volleyball courts are within the Victorious Festival site and will be closed from Thursday 26 August and accessible to Victorious ticket holders on Saturday and Sunday. The volleyball court will reopen to the public on Tuesday and the splash pool on Wednesday.
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For those not planning to visit the festival, there are a host of seafront attractions and places to eat and drink still open as usual outside of the site. They are listed here – https://www.visitportsmouth.co.uk/featured-pages/seafront-attractions-open-as-usual
The council advise people not going to the festival to plan their journey, if possible, by using alternatives to the car and avoiding peak times. By planning ahead people could use one of the following alternatives for a cleaner and greener way to travel during this busy time in Portsmouth:
- Walk or Cycle
- Rent a Voi e-scooter – visit voiscooters.com
- Catch the bus – First bus firstbus.co.uk and Stagecoach – stagecoachbus.com
- Portsmouth Park and Ride PR1 service will be operating as normal from the Tipner site every 15 minutes from 7 am to 7 pm on Friday, 8 am to 7 pm on Saturday and from 9 am to 5:45 pm on Sunday. Overnight parking is not permitted.
- Portsmouth Park & Ride PR3 Southsea service will operate its normal timetable but will terminate at Clarence Pier instead of the D-Day Story between Friday 27 August and Tuesday 31 August. With a higher volume of traffic than normal in Southsea, passengers may experience delays and are advised to check the real time information displays at bus stops for updates.
- The Southsea open top bus will operate a revised route during this time. For updates visit co.uk/open-top-26.
For people going to the festival, the easiest and quickest way to get there is via the frequent Victorious Festival Park and Ride which operates right through to midnight from Lakeside North Harbour Car Park. For more information on this and cycle parking at the festival visit the Victorious website, victoriousfestival.co.uk. Gosport Ferry and the Hayling Ferry will also be running special festival services which you can find out more about on their websites.
Councillor Lynne Stagg, Portsmouth City Council’s Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transportation, said: “We are expecting a very busy bank holiday weekend as we welcome Victorious Festival back to the city this year. Ahead of this I would like to ask people with cars in the road closure areas to move their cars promptly to help us prepare the area. Also for people planning to travel somewhere this weekend I would encourage you to plan ahead and consider using public transport, walking and cycling to enjoy a safe and stress free weekend.”
For general information on visiting Portsmouth visit visitportsmouth.co.uk. To find out more about Portsmouth Park & Ride visit parkandride.portsmouth.gov.uk. For more information about the festival, the Victorious Park and Ride service and other ways to get to and from the event visit victoriousfestival.co.uk.
