this festival is awful

[pink_triangle]

Glastonbury is full of stuck up public school kids who think theyre cool and wear stupid glasses. No thanks. Also the people i know who go to Glasto know stuff all about music.

[benissright]

Having been to both, i can confidently say, i prefer reading.

I like being able to go into town. I like that there arent distractions til 6 in the morning. I like that its in august, so the headliner doesnt come on during the sunlight. I like being able to buy crates and not be forced to bring all my beer in advance or pay £3.50 a pint. I like the intensity of the crowd. I like that its full of my age group having a great time. I like that there are very few kids. I like that i can easily see the 4 headliners if i so choose.

I do however, prefer the sound quality at glastonbury. I like that its easy to get to the front of a tent for a band. I like that if we have a campfire and it goes above knee height for more than a minute (by accident whilst controlled) its not instantly put out by over zealous fire wardens) i like the wide variety of food, even if i am practically forced to eat from the vans 3 times a day. i like that i can buy the guardian with a festival friendly bag each day. i like that i can see bands that i never would normally see.

So really, a lot of people, most people maybe, think that last paragraph is why glastonbury is better. But i value the first paragraph more. And it seems like thomasowen would also prefer those things.

[Cardboard Box City]

Glastonbury is full of stuck up public school kids who think theyre cool and wear stupid glasses. No thanks. Also the people i know who go to Glasto know stuff all about music.

[markeee]

Having been to both, i can confidently say, i prefer reading.

I like being able to go into town. I like that there arent distractions til 6 in the morning. I like that its in august, so the headliner doesnt come on during the sunlight. I like being able to buy crates and not be forced to bring all my beer in advance or pay £3.50 a pint. I like the intensity of the crowd. I like that its full of my age group having a great time. I like that there are very few kids. I like that i can easily see the 4 headliners if i so choose.

I do however, prefer the sound quality at glastonbury. I like that its easy to get to the front of a tent for a band. I like that if we have a campfire and it goes above knee height for more than a minute (by accident whilst controlled) its not instantly put out by over zealous fire wardens) i like the wide variety of food, even if i am practically forced to eat from the vans 3 times a day. i like that i can buy the guardian with a festival friendly bag each day. i like that i can see bands that i never would normally see.

So really, a lot of people, most people maybe, think that last paragraph is why glastonbury is better. But i value the first paragraph more. And it seems like thomasowen would also prefer those things.

[benissright]

the fact there's no arena, with annoying gate trolls stopping you taking any alcohol in..is one massive positive for me

i love being able to walk round glasto with a bag of beers / spirits (in plastic of course)

then pop back to tent and get more supplies and off for the evenings entertainment i.e. stone circle

at reading..forced to buy drinks in the arena, at ripoff prices! i do like reading,. and do go, but i hate the fact we aren't allowed to take any drinks into the arena, and im sure someone said they claim its for 'safety' reasons

what a load of crap..it should all be non glass as it is, and we can drink it at the campsite, so how is it different

[micawber]

Thats nice. But i didnt realise until i got to the festival, that if i was able to do all of this, i would have needed to bring 3 crates WITH me.

I also dont need to drink when im seeing my favourite band.

Intensity of the crowds, ability to go into town to buy supplies at a fair rate, location, ability to actually travel by public transport, ease in which you can travel from stage to stage etc.

These arent bollock reasons.

I loved glasto. But i preferred reading. It also doesnt help that so many people were telling me beforehand that it would be the greatest festival ever and i would instantly realise what a fool i was only going to reading for the last 4 years. Because it did not live up to these expectations.

[gazza_20]

wrong wrong very wrong, day leeds tickets still available from see tickets

how many motnhs they been on sale?

when will people get there facts right?

[benissright]

i wou;d like to agree with you but until the festival has come and gone, it can't be said that the fest wont sell out, my point is that glasto didnt last year

[thetime]

I like being able to go into town.

[benissright]

blimey I love festival to get away from towns/cities, and appreciating the lovely countryside. connect festival is in a part of the worls that is stunningly beautiful.

but everyone gets and wantes differnt things from festivals.

[ArcticMonkeysUK]

Personally i just dont like having to wonder if my tents on fire on a sunday night - which never crossed my mind at Glasto. (might be more aimed at leeds goers this one)

[gazza_20]

Glasto did sell out last year.

[benissright]

not 100% it didnt. if the festival successfully sold it without any worries, ticket scheme for this year wouldn't have been done

[MEGABOWL]

Selling out 100% with worries

And not selling out

is a different thing. The festival sold out last year, fact. It was a worrying sell out though, as it was borderline.

[Cardboard Box City]

not 100% it didnt.

[robsadler]

i think i'll go to my first glastonbury next year.

the reason for this is because it looks immense on the tv, everyone who goes enjoys it and they often get headliners that reading/leeds would never get (still can barely believe radiohead are playing this year though!). they also have a lot of unfashionable acts that R&L wouldn't dream of having (ray davies, badly drawn boy etc) which i would love to see (not really into faddy bands......R&L have some really good new bands, but a lot of faddy topshop bands).

saying that i will still go to leeds. from what i gather you can't plan intensively watching bands at glastonbury. you have to pick a few you really want to see and then chill and take everything in for the rest of it. at leeds i plan the bands i see to the last detail. i look up every single band before i go. when the timetable is released i will then write down who i see and when. if there is a gap, i get some food or get a beer and watch the introducing stage or wander into the comedy tent. you get to see about 30 odd bands i would have thought over the weekend. some may find this hard work and prefer to chill a bit more but i don't find watching music or comedy hard work! this may sound geeky to some people but i'm sure a lot of people on this forum do exactly the same thing!!

i don't think it is true that if you prefer leeds/reading you are more into superficial bollocks.

the main reason that people have said they prefer R&L is that they see more of the bands they like.

you're a clown.

robx

[Budweiser]

I prefer Reading becuase it's a 5 min walk to the festival

x

[thetime]

I prefer Reading becuase it's a 5 min walk to the festival

x

[504329lt]

can i just point out how crap this festival is..

if you want to go to a real festival then go to glasto

thank you

[eFestivals]

Glastonbury? A real festival? Full of over zealous security guards and sponsored stages. Queens Head sponsored by Play Station. Festival site was a complete tip by Monday. £65 for a campervan pass. Also booked Will Young.

If you want a real festival go to Endorse-it-in-Dorset or Strummercamp.

There's over-zealous security at every festival. It's hardly surprising, seeing as they're nearly all the same geezers doing all the fests.

Sponsored stages? There's just one as it happens - and it's almost impossible to see any branding on that stage, very unlike the until-recently sponsored Reading & Leeds fests.

Festival site a complete tip? Well yes, it was hardly what could be called clean and tidy. But it's still a damned sight tidier than the likes of Reading.

Booked Will Young? Yep. And of course, Reading/Leeds doesn't book any simililarly considered to be crap act, eh? That'll be why the bottles always fly. ...... but anyway, with around 50 stages to choose from you don't have to watch Will Young or anything else you dislike. Is there a similar choice at R/L? Nope.

There's plenty of good reasons been raised in this thread for why some might prefer one and some might prefer the other (it's horses for courses after all), but none of the reasons you give are particularly valid.

As the main sponsor of Endorse It, I'd have to agree that's a great fest. ..... but it's not a patch on Glasto.

[eFestivals]

I like that its in august, so the headliner doesnt come on during the sunlight.

erm .... they don't at Glasto either. The headliners don't get to start* till around the time that R/L shuts down to zilch.

(* tho this year was a little different, with the headliners given extra long sets [each at least 2 hours] for the first time instead of the normal 1.5 hours they've had till now. But if you can see sunshine at 10pm in Pilton in June, I'll give you fifty quid.)

I like that there are very few kids.

ermmmm ..... kids is all there is at R/L.

[zero000]

Having laughed at my friends who said "Glastonburys not about the music", I went to Glastonbury this year. I completely retract my previous opinion.

Though Reading tends to have bands that are more similar to my music taste, nothing can touch glastonbury in terms of the festival atmosphere. Watching the sun go down at the stone circle on the first night sent shivers up my spine, you would never get something like that at Reading.

Readings the best festival out there in terms of seeing bands and getting pissed, but Glastonbury is the best for the whole festival experience. I saw 14 acts the whole weekend at glasto, and i know i could easily see double that at Reading but theres so much to explore and do. Plus glastonbury has the added bonus of not having c**ts burn down your tent as happend to me at Reading last year

In conclusion, Readings good but Glastonbury is better

[pedmills]

The reason Glastonbury is the best festival in the world (amongst other things) is that it is so many different festivals in one.

Whatever kind of person you are, whatever your music tastes*, whatever age you are, whatever mood you are in, whatever people you are with, whatever the weather, whatever time of day, there is always something enjoyable for you to do.

Smaller festivals, no matter how hard they try, cannot have this because they don't have 177,000 people to cater for. Less people on site means less entertainment offered so less options for each of us to choose from.

Bigger festivals generally don't have this because they spend all their money on booking the headliners, and forget about other entertainment.

If you aren't bothered about big names, need there to be virtually no commercial aspects and don't need a large number options to choose from, then smaller festivals are perhaps better for you (although I'd still say Glastonbury has a better atmosphere). If you need a lot of big names, aren't bothered by commercialism and have a very chart-orientated music taste then perhaps one of the bigger festivals is for you (however Glastonbury still manages to book just as many big names as reading and v festival etc).

If you are like me and want the best bits of both big and small festivals (and can accept that the very minor commercial aspect of Glastonbury is necessary for it to be what it is) then Glastonbury is the best festival.

*Unless you only like heavy metal, in which case, listen to some different kinds of music!

[benissright]

erm .... they don't at Glasto either. The headliners don't get to start* till around the time that R/L shuts down to zilch.

(* tho this year was a little different, with the headliners given extra long sets [each at least 2 hours] for the first time instead of the normal 1.5 hours they've had till now. But if you can see sunshine at 10pm in Pilton in June, I'll give you fifty quid.)

ermmmm ..... kids is all there is at R/L.

[MEGABOWL]

The sunset slot at Glastonbury is the 2nd from top. It only changed slightly this year because of the length of the headliners sets. Have a look at the Flaming Lips set from 2003 on Youtube, the backdrop is pretty spectacular at times.