As the Isle of Wight Festival prepares to kick off this weekend, getting to one of the country's most important music festivals has not been an easy task for many.<br/> <br />The recent spate of bad weather blighting the United Kingdom has disrupted the many revellers travelling to the south coast holiday island.<br/> <br />Heavy rains caused parking areas to become waterlogged and muddy, preventing motorists from entering the grounds and creating long queues.<br/> <br />Hundreds were forced to sleep in their cars overnight and others were stranded on ferries, not allowed to disembark because of the back-log of traffic on the island.<br/> <br />Despite the difficulties, many festival-goers have been taking it in their stride.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE Unidentified woman saying (English):<br/> <br />"It doesnt bother me overly much. If you're going to go to a festival, you know it's going to be crowded, you know you're going to be waiting a bit in line in cars."<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE Unidentified woman saying (English):<br/> <br />"The weather's rained out the fields and that's what's made it a lot worse so, just one of those things and now we're enjoying the sunshine waiting in the traffic and having quite a good laugh."<br/> <br />The Isle of Wight event marks the start of the summer season festivals with veteran musicians Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band headlining the three-day event.<br/> <br />And - with more rain predicted over the weekend - getting out of the festival may prove just as tricky as getting into it.<br/> <br />Gabriella Podimane, Reuters
