Too many chavs at Glastonbury?

[ThePrisoner]

I know there has been a lot of moaning on here already (which, without wanting to sound selfish myself, I'm pleased to see, as before now I thought I was the only person who was a bit unhappy with this year's festival!)

Don't get me wrong, I did have a good time. But having been 7 times now, I'm unfortunately seeing each year getting worse. The main things being the following:

- Flags. I stood pretty near the front for some of the bands but couldn't see a damn thing because of the blanket of flags. Why do people take them? Is it so their friends can find them in the crowd? A good idea, but only if you're a selfish bastard. Plus that doesn't explain why there was so many England and Union Jack flags! I think flags should be banned, but characters etc on sticks are fine as they don't get in the way and some are quite funny!

- Chairs. Part of being at a festival is sitting on the grass (weather permitting). I don't remember seeing any chairs when I started going to Glasto, and now there are hundreds! Again, it's selfish, unless you have serious back problems or if it's too muddy to sit on the ground. I saw so many young people sitting on them when there was perfectly dry, green grass beneath them! It would be funny if it wasn't so annoying. I have visions of a future Glasto where every single person is sitting on a chair, as if at a theatre. Along with being ridiculous there simply wouldn't be enough room for everyone to use a chair.

- Cars. I only live in Bristol but it took half a day to get home, because of the traffic. Some people might have no option but to drive there, however there were coaches going from all major cities, and there's a train station at Castle Cary, and a shuttle bus to the site from there. I saw just a couple of people in most cars I looked at. Can they not lift-share if they really have to drive? Two huge fields were provided for the cars (and of course Glasto is so environmentally friendly - not!) Just think - without them, there would be more room for the festival itself! Also, apart from being bad for the environment, if everyone took a car there would be no room for the festival!!

- Litter. It's all very well for Eavis to say it's not a problem as there are litter pickers to tidy up afterwards. But shouldn't he be encouraging them to not drop it in the first place? I wonder if they throw unwanted food on the floor at home?! By the last day the site is like a rubbish dump (the seagulls seem to think so too!). It's really difficult to find a spot of grass to sit on which isn't covered in chicken bones, rotting meat and chips. (Hmm, this might be where the chairs come in handy)

- All the people, too many people? - I arrived Thurs morning, as the accident in Bristol made it impossible to get there on Wed. The fields already looked full, and it took two hours to find a space. I don't know how other late comers managed - there just wasn't enough space for all the tents. Gazebo's could be to blame, and of course tape - which makes me so angry! Please don't step over it people! It's a tripping hazard and should be taken down. I cut through any tape I come across.

I'm sure there were more people this year. I got stuck in so many bottle-necks that it actually became dangerous at times. (A van was trying to get through a crowd and I saw people's feet so close to the wheels. People were pushing through the crowd making the situation worse, and it got pretty scary).

- Chatting during gigs. Why do people go to a gig, get near the front, and then proceed to chat all the way through it? I was quite near the front for the Fleet Foxes. I think there was a problem with the PA as it was very quiet, but that wasn't helped my almost everyone around me chatting. And not about the Fleet Foxes or music in general, I might add. Groups of people would then take pictures of each other, as if to prove that they really were there. But if they were questioned about the gig itself, they would have no idea! These people ruin it for proper music fans. It's a struggle to hear over their voices, and if they weren't there proper fans could be nearer the front.

- Hair washing. If people want to wash their hair, fine. There are showers where they can do so. But of course they don't want to que up for hours for a shower, when they can wash it at the campsite taps, getting in the way of people who just want to wash their hands! While many people were in long queues just needing some water before they became completely dehydrated, others were shampooing their hair, and when you think they're almost finished, they get the conditioner out! Why the hell are people like that at a festival. And like I said, they can use the showers if they really have to. How very, very selfish. If everyone dedided to wash their hair at the taps the queues would reach Scotland.

Ok, I think that's it. I really didn't intend for this to turn into a essay. Glasto has so many things to offer, but I'm getting so sick of the chavs/townie's that I might not go next year. I'm sure other people have stopped going for the same reasons, as each year there are more, resulting in more litter, longer hair-washing queues, more chatting during gigs and more flags.

I don't think it's fair to blame young people in general (I'm in my 20's by the way), just chavs and other selfish types. If everyone was like that, there couldn't be a festival.

[Mardy]

I don't quite know what you mean by chavs there. Most of the people you seem to be talking about and the ones I saw behaving like that were quite well spoken, posh, well educated and middle class. But pricks of the highest order.

Can I suggest you don't call them chavs, but something more appropriate?

[tijuana_man]

generally agree with your points but you are probably about to get bashed for not putting these views on the relevant threads that already exist.

and using the word 'chav' might get you some grief too.

i agree about the cars with just a couple of people in, although someone did point out to me that a lot of people walked the last few miles and left the driver in the queue. we did the same but we were on a coach (it was only a few of us, not the whole coach) but we did bump in to a lot of people on the way who had left a solitary driver behind sweating in the queue while they were off to get pissed at the brothers bar until their mate arrived

[swell]

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zzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! f**king lighten up dude

[LostRiot]

I don't quite know what you mean by chavs there. Most of the people you seem to be talking about and the ones I saw behaving like that were quite well spoken, posh, well educated and middle class. But pricks of the highest order.

Can I suggest you don't call them chavs, but something more appropriate?

Edited June 30, 2009 by LostRiot

[sammysundae]

woah! chill out. it really didn;t bother me that much. there were a few dickheads there. but i found that it went hand in hand with there being more young people there. which was a positive for me.

[Joshuwarr]

Wow. At lot of the points you make you soon contradict a second later or just sound stupid:

"I think flags should be banned, but characters etc on sticks are fine as they don't get in the way and some are quite funny!" riiiiiiight.

"Is it so their friends can find them in the crowd? A good idea, but only if you're a selfish bastard." ok so good ideas come from stupid bastards?

And the issue on chairs is all to do with old people! Its the old who sit on the chairs in the crowd! I mean the campsite is fine but ITS THE BLOODY OLD NOT THE YOUNG. I mean if someone is getting on and needs a sit down then thats fine as long as its far away from the stage.

Your point about cars would be good but there is already a lot of people going to efforts to share lifts and take other transport so its unlikely its ever going to be perfect.

"But shouldn't he be encouraging them to not drop it in the first place?" I'm guessing Love The Farm, Leave No Trace or the bins that were dotted every few metres meant nothing to you then?

Too many people? Nowhere to camp? What are you on about? There was pretty much no difference in attendance from last year and there were plenty of fields with loads of space if you actually bothered to wander up to areas such as the Park or near to John Peel or EVEN the Dance Field which had lots of little spaces which could easily take a few tents.

The chatting point I have to agree with. It was so annoying when my mates talked during the Yeah Yeah Yeahs >:-(

Hair washing I dont mind as if you want to wash your hands buy some hand sanitizer which costs about a quid from most supermarket or actually use the gel provided in a lot of the toilets.. Its not hard to find or ask around for some.

But I'm glad we've realised that chavs are people who sit on chairs, drive cars, chat, wash their hair, drop litter, camp and generally act like the majority of festival goers

[Glitter+Vodka]

what time were u heading to bristol? we got the bus there and literally didnt get stopped in 1 bit of traffic!

aside from that, most of what youve said has already been moaned about on another 59 threads, but thanks for letting us know how you feel.

I think maybe we should ask neill to merge all the damn things to stop clogging up the page with identical moaning threads, so people who dont want to moan/read others moaning can post in peace.

[ThePrisoner]

I'm sorry if the word 'chav' offends anyone. I'm not referring to a type of class of person. I could say 'townie', although that might not be appropriate either. Can you suggest one that is? Perhaps there isn't a word to describe that type of person, but 'pricks of the highest order' is fine with me!

That's cool that people decided to walk during the traffic jams, and that could explain why the cars looked empty. Friends of mine got off the bus, went to the pub, got back on, and continued to do that until they reached the festival! I have no sympathy for the car-drivers having to sit there for hours in the baking hot sun! (It annoys me when they grumble about the traffic - they are the traffic!) It's just a shame the environment had to suffer too (I'm sure people would've left their engines on), and it's laughable when Glasto calls itself eco-friendly.

Please don't mention Brother's cider - I've become addicted to the toffee apple flavour and don't know where I can get hold of some!

[ninja-style]

why the f**k do you go to a festival and look for every little thing to moan about.

lighten up you arrogant twat

[lovestospoon]

WHO CARES?!

Why did you bother to write all of that, what sort of elated reaction were you expecting?

[ninja-style]

LOL^^^