What can I expect...

[albert_hofmann]

First went glasto in late 80's when I was a lad and carried on til 95.

Children, mortgages, work and real life took over from then and never managed to get back.

This year is also my 40th and were going back.

Taking my 13 yr old son and a mate with his 13 girl n 15 lad.

This will be a completely different type of fezzy experiance cos we got the kids with us this time.

What can i expect to have changed since 95?

is the site a lot bigger/layout altered?

have you seen many kids/teens attending in recent years?

is there plenty of other stuff to entertain other than music..?

They are worldly kids and have seen a lot of shit and not easily shocked so we aint worried about over 18 kinda stuff....

Anything you can recommend that may appeal to them.?

TIA

[grumpyhack]

The Kids Field is pretty good these days. They may like to think they're too old for it but they'll probably still enjoy.

[HurrahBrother]

Green fields has lots of stuff for kits of all ages. Arts, crafts etc and a fair few opportunities to get your hands dirty.

There is a circus field, comedy tents etc.

[BuriedBones]

The site is definitely bigger, unsure how much exactly, maybe 25% or so?

The layout is broadly the same in terms of the locations of camping areas and the main stages.

The Dance tents to the north west and the John Peel tent are new, the market areas are much bigger, the drug dealers that you would have seen in '95 at Oxlyers are now at the stone circle, oh and there is a really big fence round the outside, which is good in that it will stop you wandering too far!

The main difference between '95 and now is the monorail I would say.

[jeffie]

The site is definitely bigger, unsure how much exactly, maybe 25% or so?

The layout is broadly the same in terms of the locations of camping areas and the main stages.

The Dance tents to the north west and the John Peel tent are new, the market areas are much bigger, the drug dealers that you would have seen in '95 at Oxlyers are now at the stone circle, oh and there is a really big fence round the outside, which is good in that it will stop you wandering too far!

The main difference between '95 and now is the monorail I would say.

Edited January 4, 2010 by jeffie

[albert_hofmann]

And Morrisons supermarket - a great addition

[jameshunt]

Expect to be older.

[lord stradmor]

Nicer loos, better soundsystems, better food, prettier gurls, fewer drugs...

[Kyelo]

fewer drugs...

Edited January 5, 2010 by BenchBuddah

[LusciousLucy]

You have to decant all your booze into plastic bottles if they were in glass originally.

NO soundsystems

A queueing system to get into anything after dark in the Trash City and Shangri-La areas.

Ridiculously large crowds all crammed/herded into areas because of no soundsystems and the markets being more or less shut. Everyone heads over to The Park or SL and TC and Arcadia...the trainline becomes an uber mish.

Lots of teenagers and families now...all making up the crowds for Dizzee and Gaga!

A safer atmosphere cos of the fence but not as outthere or as lovely as the mid 90s.

£5 for a 99 apparently!

It is certainly bigger campingwise than in 95, the entire southern section of the festival now goes up the hill...but what a view!!! And the Dance Village is somewhat larger than the 3000 capacity tent we had in Silver Hayes!

Cinema Field is now a camping field (Kidney Mead)

Toilets are now pretty much pristine...obviously hit em after the poo suckers have visited for super cleanness but in all honesty, with Loo Cleaning Teams at most areas and very regular poosucker visits you certainly wont experience a Pyramid of Poo like in 95!

Still the best fest on the planet though.

Edited January 5, 2010 by LusciousLucy

[lord stradmor]

Ok, so maybe I should have quantified that with "fewer drugs openly consumed or on offer".

I haven't ben able to score for years. Probably cos I now look like an undercover policeman. For a laugh, watch out for the fat bloke in the greenfield/dance area being avoided by everybody. I look like I've got a forcefield round me...

[G1T]

Types of drugs used has probably broadened a bit, in that ketamine and nitrous are around these days, but otherwise I doubt much has changed. The level of usage I'd suspect has fallen though, certainly the openness of it has plummeted. The Stone Circle used to be dealer central, and haven't heard one openly touting wares for a few years now, let alone the bartering that used to go on, shouts of "anyone got any acid i can swop for some hash?" for example. Not seen a hash truffle/cake for sale for a few years now either, when the place used to be like some kind of hippie bake off. The main thing you hear in the stone circle now is the whooshing of balloons getting filled up. Constantly. Pretty sure you see fewer really wrecked people generally about the place too nowadays.

If you used to hang out in the green fields you'll be shocked by the change there. They're relatively tiny now and surrounded by lots of other more babylonian things on all sides. What used to be the quiet end of the site around the tipi field is now, as others have said, absolutely rammed full of people and entertainment all night. The green fields on the other side of the main drag seem less than they were too, and are dead at night now.

Otherwise for the rest of the site, a few things have changed here and there, there's certainly a lot more of it now. The crowd's changed a lot as well, no dogs on strings, very few dreads, basically the travellers have gone. People are better dressed and worry more about things like showering, clean toilets and sitting on something other than the ground. 'Lots of people looking for the festival and no-one being it' was the way I summed it up in 2002, and it's gone on from there. That said, the festival's adapted to it now, so it's a different beast, but no less excellent for all that.

Just be ready for things to be a bit different TBH.

Edited January 5, 2010 by G1T

[eFestivals]

And Morrisons supermarket - a great addition

erm .... can you tykes please stop it with giving out bullshit?

The OP asked for good info in a Questions forum, and some are choosing to feed back shite - that's not what these forums are for, they're here to help improve people's festival experience, not mislead them into believing what you've posted in true and via that perhaps spoil their festival experience.

[grumpyhack]

If you go onto forums like this you have to learn to read between the lines and read around a bit to understand the fun of posts about things like the Monorail.

[mikeb]

I haven't ben able to score for years. Probably cos I now look like an undercover policeman. For a laugh, watch out for the fat bloke in the greenfield/dance area being avoided by everybody. I look like I've got a forcefield round me...

[albert_hofmann]

when i first went in the 80's everything appeared to be legal and on offer....openly

as the years passed the crowd did change and far more students and plum in gob types attended

police got allowed in (prob cos of licence) and it all went a bit hush hush but you could still score

then the E revolution kicked in and the festival changed, not just the people, lots of raves and all night action, everyone was pilled up, speeding or tripping.....

it also started to become more commercial and was changing to appeal more to the straight, down the middle masses

did it change for the better...??

i think not

i liked it when it was full of hippies/travellers etc. to me festivals are a hippy thing

the atmosphere was amazing and everyone was your mate and the drugs were great and no-one got ripped off

it didn't matter who was on stage, the first 2 years i dont remember ever standing in front of a main stage waiting for/watching a band... too much fun to be had elsewhere, could i still do this...??

the last time i went in 95 i couldn't find any trips until sunday, that was no good to me

but we still had a good time and as the last time it was possible to fence jump and the 25th anniv i called it a day

now i am all grown up and sensible (?) this is the first time i have bought an official full price ticket... i got kids and for nostalgia, a laugh and to let the kids see what i've been banging on about for years i am returning for my 40th and glasto 40th

this will, in all probability, be the last time, ever

or maybe i come back for the 50th, if its still running....

by then a ticket will be £500...

[LusciousLucy]

The ticket was £52 in 95.

[albert_hofmann]

The ticket was £52 in 95.

[MissB]

These were good times, My first was '97 and for the next few years I used the fake stamp, rope ladder method for around £20 and I'm glad to be able to say I was part of those times.

But the festival couldn't survive like that and it was either tighten up or shut down.. times have changed.

By 2000/001 the crowds were really quite uncontrollable and theft was a huge problem, nearly everyone I know had something stolen at some point and that is not the Glasto vibe.

So you'll probably find it to be a lot different now, and because of the price a totally different crowd... those travellers that came in free can't anymore.

There's no doubt that it's lost a little bit of it's heart because of that but if it's have it as it is now or not at all I know what I prefer.

As a parent you'll probably be pleased that the festival is safer these days.

[grumpyhack]

I prefer it since the fence. Crowd levels are sensible and it wasn't much fun having to worry about your tent being done over by the scallys.

[ukslim]

I first went in 1995.

When the superfence went up, it immediately put a stop to the almost lawless atmosphere - no more dogs on strings. Far less illicit trade - be it open drug sales, unofficial sound systems, etc. I remember being astonished in '95 to see a grubby (but cute) hippy chick sitting on a filthy blanket with some jewellery laid out on it, and a piece of carboard with "Piercings £5" scrawled on it. You don't get that any more.

The healing fields are a bit poorly attended nowadays. The people who are into that stuff were apparently largely fence jumpers. Funniest sight there last year was someone trying to sell a pile of "f**k Bush" T-shirts as "retro cool".

At first the superfence meant vastly fewer crowds. There was just so much SPACE. Lovely. And yet perhaps it took a bit away from the atmosphere. Year upon year, the licence has allowed more tickets, so it feels bustling again.

Last year, for me, was the first year that I didn't once find myself in a ridiculous crush where two crowds moving between stages collide. I'm glad to see the back of those.

The new Park Stage, and the area around it, is a delight. A delight that can be ruined by mud, which makes it an ordeal to walk up to, alas. But that won't apply this year, right?

To compensate for the lack of unofficial sound systems, there's quite a few late night/early morning venues, such as the Rabbit Hole Cafe, again up by the Park.

Shangri-La and Trash City contribute some much needed "weird" to replace what the hippy fence-jumpers brought to the table. But there's a problem with both of these: during the daytime, there's not much going on. After midnight, the Pyramid/Other crowds pour in, packing both places solid so all you can do is shuffle along in a crowd. The best time to visit either of these is during a headline slot. Pick one you don't mind missing.

Edited to add: The King's Field is now tainted by the sound of NO2 being dispensed, and all the attendant litter. Bah.

Edited January 11, 2010 by ukslim

[Niblet]

Don't expect the same weather as in '95 - that was a scorcher not witnessed since, apart from maybe in 2006 when there was no festi...

[idiotheque]

i went last year for the first time.

we met micheal evis when he was looking around the site and he looks so relieved to see young people there.

from that i'm gathering that the youth populaiton of glasto went down, but now it's on the rise again?

2010 there should be loads - almost everyone i know is going!

[abu hamster]

It doesnt rain anymore and the Monorail makes getting round the site really easy!

[dwukky]

Echoing some of the views placed here already since 2002 (and definatly since the 2006 fallow) the rules are enforced enough for there to be a safe feeling, but not so much that it dampens the freeness of the site.

By day (thats upto the pyramid / other closing) the site is very free and easy, other than when the audience exchange happens at the main stages nearly everywhere is a gentle walk away, and you don't really feel that your in a place thats got 300,000 people in it (counting staff and paying ppl here).

At night the places that remain open (Trash City / Shangri - la / Dance EW and some venues in the Park) really are over subscribed. If you want to get into one of those areas its best to go when the headliner is starting and its foolish to try to move venues once they [the headliners] have finished unless your leaving the area. Given the fact a sizable chunk of the ppl on site are there for the nightlife (and seemingly more year on year) its something I feel they need to start looking at.

The food is as varied as its ever been. Prices last year were just on the right side of fair (bearing in mind its a festival) and nearly every cluster of camping has both a 24 hour food area and "grocers"

Also last year it felt like most people were onsite by the end of wednesday, so if your not planning on being there at the beginning pack for a long walk to a gate and then a long walk to where your camping. I can't ever recall seeing so full so quickly.

It still succeeds at seemingly having something for everybody, and still manages to feel fresh yet stable..

enjoy