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Bus & Taxi Information

Bus Information Courtesy of Southern Vectis

Getting to the festival

Image Copyright Southern Vectis - www.islandbuses.info During the festival Southern Vectis will be running special shuttle buses and extra late buses on their normal routes to make it easy for visitors and residents to get around the Island.

Between 0700 on Thursday 9 June until 1200 Monday 13 June Southern Vectis will be running special festival shuttle buses to meet every incoming and outgoing ferry to take visitors direct to and from the festival campsite bus station. These buses will run until 0200 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and all through the night on Sunday.

From Ryde

Wightlink Fastcat from Portsmouth

Hovertravel hovercraft from Southsea

Route 9 buses going via Fairlee will call in at the festival site. In addition there will be shuttle buses from Ryde Bus Station direct to the festival site.

From Fishbourne

Wightlink ferry from Portsmouth

In addition to Route 9 buses operating via Fairlee, which can be caught at the end of Fishbourne Lane, there will be shuttle buses operating at other times.

From Yarmouth

Wightlink ferry from Lymington

In addition to Route 7 buses to Newport, where passengers can change to festival shuttle buses, there will be Festival Direct shuttle buses operating at other times.

From Cowes

Red Funnel Red Jet ferry from Southampton

In addition to Route 1 buses to Newport (every six minutes), where passengers can change to festival shuttle buses, there will be Festival Direct shuttle buses operating at other times.

From East Cowes

Red Funnel ferry from Southampton

In addition to Route 5 buses to Newport via the festival site, there will be Festival Direct shuttle buses operating at other times.

Staying elsewhere on the Island?

Southern Vectis run an extensive network of buses all over the Island every day. Route 1, route 3 and route 9 run 24 hours on Friday and Saturdays. See Southern Vectis' routes and times section for full details. There will also be extra buses to Newport, where you can change for a festival shuttle, which will take to directly to the festival campsite.

N.B. Please note that diversions are in operation on route 5 and route 9 during the festival, so these buses will not pass the festival site.

At the end of each night, Southern Vectis will be running plenty of buses back to all Island towns directly from the festival campsite.

Festival Fares

Festival Shuttle - Cash Fares: £5 adult / £2.50 under 19's (freedom & rover tickets accepted)
Island Shuttle Return - £9 - valid for a return journey on the festival ferry shuttle between Cowes, East Cowes, Ryde or Yarmouth and the festival campsite. Buy online in advance ONLY.
Special After-Show Buses - Cash Fares: £5 adult / £2.50 under 19's (freedom & rover tickets accepted)
Newport Shuttle - Cash Fares: £3 adult / £1.50 under 19's (freedom & rover tickets accepted)
Freedom tickets for unlimited travel - £22 adult / £11 under 19's / £44 group (up to 5 people travelling together). Valid for unlimited travel on any Southern Vectis bus, including all special festival buses for up to 7 days. Available on normal Southern Vectis buses, from Paypoint outlets and Visitor Information points in Newport and Yarmouth bus stations, or buy online in advance.

Normal fares apply when travelling to the festival on our regular network buses.
Through tickets to the festival site can be bought from any bus stop on the island – just ask for a rover ticket.

Getting out and about

The Newport shuttle runs between the festival campsite and Newport between 0700 and 0200 on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. From Newport, you can connect with all Southern Vectis buses, which run daily all over the Island.

Newport (travel time 15 minutes)

Newport is the Island's main town and retail centre. Close to the bus station are Somerfield, Morrisons and Marks and Spencer. There are also plenty of cafés and pubs in the town.

Get there on the Newport Shuttle.

Wootton (travel time ten minutes)

Close to the festival site, but away from the traffic around Newport, Wootton has a Tesco Express, fish and chip shop, Indian and Chinese takeaways, chemist and The Sloop, Woodman Arms and The Cedars pubs.

Get there on the festival shuttle.

Ryde (travel time 30 minutes)

Ryde features sandy beaches, a long esplanade and plenty of pubs and cafés, a ten pin bowling alley and an ice rink on the seafront.

Get there on the festival shuttle.

Sandown & Shanklin (travel time 1 hour)

Beautiful beaches characterise Sandown Bay, with plenty of pubs and cafes and pier amusements in Sandown. Get the Newport Shuttle into Newport bus station, then catch a route 2 for Shanklin, or a route 8 for Sandown.

Compton Bay travel time 1 hour

Compton Bay, on the south coast of the Island, has a stunning beach loved by surfers. This magical part of the Island, away from all the hustle and bustle, is where the festival crowd sunbathed and swam during the incredible 1970 event. Get the Newport shuttle into Newport bus station, then catch a route 12.

Leaving the festival

Each night when the acts finish there will be buses leaving the festival bus station (not Newport Bus Station) taking festival goers back to most key destinations around the Island, including Ryde, Cowes, Sandown, Shanklin, Ventnor, Bembridge (including Seaview and St Helens), Freshwater and Yarmouth until about 0200 – subject to demand, but at least hourly. On Sunday evening, the last night, buses will run all through the night until midday on Monday 13 June, to drop customers off at the ferry ports. Queues will be long, so please be patient.

Keep up to date with the latest bus news by visiting www.islandbuses.info

Isle of Wight Festival Taxi Arrangements

QUAY STREET, NEWPORT: will be closed from High Street to Sea Street between approximately 5pm on Friday 10 and the early hours on Monday 13 June 2011 to allow for an IOW Festival temporary taxi rank. This is the main event pick up point, however Isle of Wight Festival event goers can also be dropped off here.

MILL LANE, NEWPORT: The taxi drop off/pick up point for the campsite is located on the grassed area, when turning left after entering Mill Lane (the access road to Island Harbour).

Note: Taxis can turn left or right when exiting, except when Fairlee Road is closed to traffic after the event has finished on each night when all vehicles must turn left.

FAIRLEE ROAD, NEWPORT: Taxis dropping off day visitors for the event can use the coned off section of Fairlee Road opposite the entrance to Medina High School.

SCHOOL LANE, NEWPORT: An additional taxi rank will be provided on the eastern side of School Lane between Staplers Road and Highfield Road. This will be in operation from 8am on Friday 10 June until approx 12pm (noon) on Monday 13 June 2011.

EAST COWES: DOVER ROAD will be closed during the IOW Festival in the interests of road safety (and to reduce traffic congestion in the area) from Castle Street to the end of the highway (60 metres to the north west).

The closure will be in operation WHEN REQUIRED between 5am on Thursday 9 until approx 8pm on Monday 13 June 2011. Vehicles exiting the ferry will be permitted to leave in a south east direction as normal.

The existing taxi rank adjacent to the White Hart Public House will be suspended, during the closure and a temporary taxi and public drop off / pick up point will be provided in Castle Street (near to Well Road). Access to the IOW Festival taxi rank will be via Newbarn Road and Old Road.

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