Source: City of Portsmouth
To help everyone enjoy the weekend and to reduce delays, Portsmouth City Council is asking residents and people attending the festival to plan journeys in advance, ideally by walking, cycling, riding rental e-scooters and e-bikes, or catching the bus or train.
The August bank holiday weekend tends to be a busy one in Portsmouth, both for people living in or visiting attractions in the city, as well as those going to the festival. Instead of driving into Portsmouth, people can try the Park and Ride service from junction 1 on the M275, with regular buses travelling to the city centre and seafront throughout the days. The service closes at 7.45pm, except for Sundays when it closes at 6.30pm.
As part of their greener travel strategy, festival organisers are making every effort to reduce emissions from travel to the site and are therefore not providing an onsite car park. Instead, they have introduced a dedicated festival park and ride service running from Lakeside North Harbour, which will transport festivalgoers to and from Clarence Pier.
Regular buses, ferries and trains will run regularly from all nearby stations, including the Xelabus X27 festival service from St George’s Square near Gunwharf Quays. People travelling to the festival from outside Portsmouth can also book a sustainable coach trip with Big Green Coach.
Rental e-scooters and e-bikes from Voi are available to ride until 10pm. Following the popularity of Voi’s rental scheme to travel to the festival last year, additional rental parking is being made available at the Seafront Esplanade car park, Seafront Clarence Esplanade and St Helens Parade. Rental e-scooter and e-bike racks within the area of the festival will be removed and deactivated, including those at Clarence Esplanade, Jack Cockerill Way, Avenue de Caen, Southsea Terrace and Palmerston Road.
The council is working with organisers and police to close some roads around the festival site, to ensure the area is safe for people attending the festival or setting up and taking down infrastructure. Vehicle movement will also be limited around the area.
Parking will be reduced as some roads will be part of the festival site, and others will be used for temporary taxi ranks and bus stops for the festival shuttle. Drivers who park near the festival site should check temporary signs to make sure they are not parking in prohibited areas where vehicles could be removed.
Cllr Steve Pitt, Leader of Portsmouth City Council said: “Victorious Festival and a bank holiday always means a busy weekend in Portsmouth. Planning your journey and making small changes can help everyone move around more easily, and we’re asking people to walk, cycle, take the bus or rent an e-scooter where possible. We appreciate everyone’s patience during road closures, and I hope that the festival continues to be a fantastic event that is enjoyed by tens of thousands of residents.”
Festivalgoers can check out the Victorious Festival travel information on the event website and full details of all parking restrictions and road closures is located at www.travel.portsmouth.gov.uk/victorious-festival-2024