Essential information on getting around

The whole idea of Tramlines is that you wander around the city and soak up the atmosphere; we are trying to turn the whole city into one big festival playground. So, to help with this – and to prevent Tramlines from becoming another great pollution event on the road to destruction – we are begging you: please leave your car at home. Getting around the city and reaching all of the venues is a doddle. The outdoor stages are all within easy walking distance of each other, and the majority of the venues are clustered around that central part of the city too.

#TramlinesTraffic

All weekend on this website and on Twitter, you can check out where the queues are by checking in with #TramlinesTraffic. Please note: this is only for human traffic as we do not acknowledge cars! If you are in a queue, or just at a great gig that has a few spaces left, please Tweet with the hashtag at the end – for instance, “The Main Stage is busy but not at capacity yet! Queue is about five minutes. #TramlinesTraffic”. It should be a really easy way to save you trekking to somewhere that is already full.

Return of The Buskers Buses

We have laid on two free buses, which do regular twenty minute circuits to the further out parts of the festival. The Buskers Bus makes a triumphant return this year. Starting at the Devonshire Cat, (which will also host the Buskers Bus stage and a cider festival!), the 20 minute circuit always features a performance – and will get you to within spitting distance of all the outlying venues. With funds secured from the winter sales of Tramlines Ale, we have also laid on a free bus to circulate around the Blues and Ale Trail. Thanks to everyone who bought a pint or two!

Taxis, Trams and Automobiles

Our taxi partner, City Taxis, will have a text back service that you can use in any of the Tramlines venues. Stick their number (0114 239 3939) in your phone now, it could come in handy on the weekend. Festival maps (which will be in every venue) also have full details of the service. Supertram have a special weekend saver ticket, costing only £8 for the festival period.

Coming from out of Town? A festival with showers!

We hope to welcome a record number of out of town visitors this year – which is great, as one of the main points of Tramlines is to show our friends and neighbours what an amazing city Sheffield is. So if you haven’t found someone’s floor to crash on, why not check out our hotel offers? There are a very limited number of amazing £29 per room deals left at Premier Inn. These are exclusively available to Tramlines Festival Goers – but as the saying goes – when they are gone they are gone.

Hotels are booking up really fast at the moment, which means that rooms aren’t getting any cheaper. We have however managed to secure a deal with all the main hotels in Sheffield – Welcome to Sheffield will have the cheapest rooms available on the weekend.

If you are getting into the festival spirit then you don’t have to go far out of town before an overnight stay is cheaper than getting a taxi home.
If you want to stay over to enjoy the full festival experience – book quickly. There are not many rooms left!

Park and Rides

If you are coming from afar, before you jump into the car, check out East Midlands Trains website for special festival offers. Supertram Park and Rides are at Middlewood (North Sheffield/Woodhead route), Malin Bridge (north Sheffield/Snake Pass route), Don Valley (East Sheffield/Meadowhall/M1) and Parkway (Central Sheffield/M1). We have added two additional Park and Rides for the festival, both are next door to tram stops and parking is reasonable. Motorpoint Arena and Ice Sheffield will both have their car parks open on the weekend – and the tram takes less than 15 minutes into town from there.

Did we mention leaving the car behind?

Hopefully that gives you enough reasons to do the whole weekend on foot. It’s by far the best way to see the whole thing, and it really does make the festival a whole lot better.