When I first arrived in Lincoln, I stood patiently in line for my wristband. The queue was – at that time – stretching from the tent where they were acquired all the way to the Westgate junction with Bailgate. The group behind me were discussing if it was the line for the wristbands. I decided to chirp in saying that I hoped so as I was queuing for mine. We then shared a joke about how the line could have been formed simply because someone stopped in the street and being British, we started a queue behind them. If there’s one thing the British are good at, it’s charging the British. From holiday prices in the school half terms, to Hook A Duck costing ten times the amount of the prize given at the local funfair. It now seems that based on the continued success of Weekend at the Asylum, local hoteliers are increasing their prices to cash in on the occasion. Naturally, there’s outrage on the Facebook pages about this and quite right too.
While it’s understandable that prices have to go up, the totals are way above inflation and are simply designed to make more money out of a group of people who don’t have it. Let’s face it, we’re all artists and creative types who prefer to work for the love of what we create over the amount of money we can make from it. It’s highly unlikely that many people visiting have a great deal to throw around on accommodation. Over the past seven years, steampunks have provided local business with revenue that they may not have had if Asylum wasn’t in existence. Yet in return, they decide to try and take us for all we’re worth.
Currently, the VSS who organise Asylum are collating factual data to present to Lincoln Council as well as the Hoteliers Association. It has to be noted that it’s seemingly the larger hotel chains that are raising the prices the most. If this continues, many people who have brought a lot of business to Lincoln and boosted the local economy will be priced out and may not be able to attend. Hopefully the VSS will be able to prevent that from happening. If you have factual information about prices that are rising next year, you can visit the VSS Facebook page by clicking on this link and leave your information. It’s not a stage to voice complaints, just to add factual information.