festivals report in the observer yesterday

[windy_miller]

Personally, 2010 and 2011 were two highlights for me (2011 mainly because I got to play )

[russycarps]

for me it was a perfect storm of lots of little niggles all adding up to a full on official "not as good as it used to be!" rant.

-I think 2010 was the year the hunter welly wearing brigade who dont know or care about what the ethos of the festival used to be first actually outnumbered those of us who do. NOT just 18 year olds, these people are of all ages

-I saw incidents where the old characters that rattle around the place were openly mocked and ridiculed. I've never seen anything like this happen before.

-regimented queues to get in places. At glastonbury!

-bars where people were getting kicked out for drinking their own drinks. At glastonbury!

-flashmobs that had been planned months in advance at the stone circle, a place that used to be renowned for its spontaneous craziness. Flashmobs! the most loathsome form of arranged wackiness.

-paul simon playing NO simon & garfunkle songs

-the ticket price making the festival unreachable for the very people who make the festival what it is

-the corporate camping taking over the festival

-plus other stuff that annoyed me

I'll still be going in 2013 of course as it's still the best festival in the UK by miles

Edited April 3, 2012 by russycarps

[windy_miller]

for me it was a perfect storm of lots of little niggles all adding up to a full on official "not as good as it used to be!" rant.

-I think 2010 was the year the hunter welly wearing brigade who dont know or care about what the ethos of the festival used to be first actually outnumbered those of us who do. NOT just 18 year olds, these people are of all ages

-I saw incidents where the old characters that rattle around the place were openly mocked and ridiculed. I've never seen anything like this happen before.

-regimented queues to get in places. At glastonbury!

-bars where people were getting kicked out for drinking their own drinks. At glastonbury!

-flashmobs that had been planned months in advance at the stone circle, a place that used to be renowned for its spontaneous craziness. Flashmobs! the most loathsome form of arranged wackiness.

-paul simon playing NO simon & garfunkle songs

-the ticket price making the festival unreachable for the very people who make the festival what it is

-the corporate camping taking over the festival

-plus other stuff that annoyed me

I'll still be going in 2013 of course as it's still the best festival in the UK by miles

[eFestivals]

it did seem like a rather long-winded 'solution' though... maybe it'll be easier next time....?

I hope so.

I can think of an easy and better way of doing it, that would allow for two entrances and two exits - and it's probably just the need for more than one entrance that's the issue.

I wouldn't bother with any club nowadays* where I had to queue to get in, so I'm certainly not going to be doing it at a festival. So I didn't.

(* not that I ever did. The only queuing club I ever used to frequent I was able to jump the queue at, via some mates)

[russycarps]

you really think a hundred quid pair of hunters will last longer than a £10 pair of dunlops? Do you think hunters are made out of tevlar and lined with unicorn hair??

I'm guessing you think a versace shirt lasts longer and is more comfortable than a marks and spencer shirt also

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I don't think it's the wellies that are the issue rather than the people in the wellies. I wouldn't normally give a f*ck what people get up to but all around me last year the Hunter wellie brigade were seriously littering the place. I watched as nearly all the contents of tents were allowed to just spew out and get trodden into the ground. There was absolutely no need for it. Love the farm, leave no trace as they say. Pretty hard to achieve but making an effort shows your hearts in the right place.

Apart from that I don't mind the little darlings. They tended to be younger and I was that age once. What better place to cut your hedonistic teeth than at Glasto.

[eFestivals]

What better place to cut your hedonistic teeth than at Glasto.

Hmmmm .... while Glasto has always been that, it's also been more than that to many.

For many people it's been a life broadening experience - maybe even life changing - where they encountered things that they were unlikely to find anywhere else. It made you stop and think, and realise that life doesn't have to be the way that it's laid before us. Glastonbury and festival culture as a whole has certainly had a big impact on me (long before I started efests).

I'm not sure it still has that impact any more (not that it ever reached a lot of people that went, some friends of friends that went in the early 90s made that clear to me), tho I'm not sure that Glastonbury or even its attendees can be blamed for that. The different cultures and lifestyles that used to be encountered within Glastonbury used to be completely outside of the mainstream whereas now many are mainstream, while even the less common things are widely known if still shunned by the mainstream.

Is there any alternative nowadays to the mainstream? Are there new and radical ideas? Or is everything now within a supposedly diverse mainstream where we all end up thinking and acting the same and no one thinks for themselves?

I don't think the problem is really Glastonbury. If there's a problem anywhere it's within society as a whole, where people might acknowledge the problems but choose to go along with them because they're worried to ruffle anything about their own lives.

We need a crisis where people feel they have nothing left to lose by following their heart, that'll shake things up a bit. But who's brave enough to take the risk?

After 13 years of going against the grain here even I'm starting to feel like I'm falling into life's bad-taste trap.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Hmmmm .... while Glasto has always been that, it's also been more than that to many.

For many people it's been a life broadening experience - maybe even life changing - where they encountered things that they were unlikely to find anywhere else. It made you stop and think, and realise that life doesn't have to be the way that it's laid before us. Glastonbury and festival culture as a whole has certainly had a big impact on me (long before I started efests).

I'm not sure it still has that impact any more (not that it ever reached a lot of people that went, some friends of friends that went in the early 90s made that clear to me), tho I'm not sure that Glastonbury or even its attendees can be blamed for that. The different cultures and lifestyles that used to be encountered within Glastonbury used to be completely outside of the mainstream whereas now many are mainstream, while even the less common things are widely known if still shunned by the mainstream.

Is there any alternative nowadays to the mainstream? Are there new and radical ideas? Or is everything now within a supposedly diverse mainstream where we all end up thinking and acting the same and no one thinks for themselves?

I don't think the problem is really Glastonbury. If there's a problem anywhere it's within society as a whole, where people might acknowledge the problems but choose to go along with them because they're worried to ruffle anything about their own lives.

We need a crisis where people feel they have nothing left to lose by following their heart, that'll shake things up a bit. But who's brave enough to take the risk?

After 13 years of going against the grain here even I'm starting to feel like I'm falling into life's bad-taste trap.

[eFestivals]

you can get Hunters for less than £100, and a pair for a tenner wouldn't be very comfortable for more than an hour or so... if at all. A pair of Hunters would last longer ... much longer, than a pair for a tenner, and would be comfortable (probably) all the time. It's a false economy buying cheap shit for your feet

a cheap shirt wouldn't necessarily be damaging or uncomfortable

Hunters... from £45:

http://www.amazon.co...sl_12luergbh1_e

I've bought ten quid wellies. I've bought hunters. I've bought better than hunters.

They're all as shit as each other, and destroy your feet just as quickly.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I bought fishermans waiders last year. They did the trick for 99% of the time no problem. The other 1% saw me entertaining a crowd by falling over in the mud over and over again because the things wouldn't budge in the mud.

[eFestivals]

I just think the snobbery towards people who wear them (Hunters) is hilarious and bonkers. It's not as if you have to be super-rich to be able to afford them

you have to spend 4+ times more than you otherwise have to for the same effect. Russy had it spot on about these.

[jump]

Just had a look on google and you can get Hunters from £25. Can't say I'm fussed, I haven't got a problem with my wellies and they cost £15.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

wrapping your feet in moulded rubber for 5 days is never going to be fun. We got a pair of Hunters second hand for our daughter, and she thinks they're great... I had some cheap ones that gave me blisters after a couple of hours. I'm sure you're right though.... ones that fit well would be the most important factor... I pad mine out with thick socks. If you're feet aren't moving around and rubbing all the time, that helps

I just think the snobbery towards people who wear them (Hunters) is hilarious and bonkers. It's not as if you have to be super-rich to be able to afford them

[grumpyhack]

When my daughters were very young I took them to Barry Island and they loved it. They didn't notice the turds floating in the sea, the mess around them on the beach or the grotty looking Butlins camp on the headland. It was just a wonderful, magical place for a four year old with a bucket and spade.

Festivals are the same. You can allow yourself to get upset by the 'Hunter Brigade' or you can ignore them and enjoy yourself chilling with your old friends.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

You can indeed ignore them. However one thing I couldn't ignore is masses of young ladies trying to drag suitcases across the muddy site. Why on earth did they make this collective decision to bring suitcases!

[Alcatraz]

You can indeed ignore them. However one thing I couldn't ignore is masses of young ladies trying to drag suitcases across the muddy site. Why on earth did they make this collective decision to bring suitcases!

[lost]

each generation rebels against the last, we get older, don't understand youth culture and why the kids don't do the things we used to, thats normal.

[thetime]

Perhaps people should just enjoy the festivals rather than tutting at what people wear ffs!

[greenfairy43]

wrapping your feet in moulded rubber for 5 days is never going to be fun. We got a pair of Hunters second hand for our daughter, and she thinks they're great... I had some cheap ones that gave me blisters after a couple of hours. I'm sure you're right though.... ones that fit well would be the most important factor... I pad mine out with thick socks. If you're feet aren't moving around and rubbing all the time, that helps

I just think the snobbery towards people who wear them (Hunters) is hilarious and bonkers. It's not as if you have to be super-rich to be able to afford them

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

that's just your assumption. If you saw my daughter who wears them (bought second hand), presumably you'd also think she's wearing them because she feels a need to be seen wearing them

and you'd be sadly wrong

they are better than the average welly

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I forgot to say - I probably spent as much as a pair of Hunters myself when I bought those waiders for last year. So I'm a fine one to talk!

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I suspect it's just the Victor Meldrew gene kicking in as one gets older. It's refreshing to be given a clearer insight again as to what's important and what isn't. It's too easy to take the negative path but not half as much fun as the alternative. The timing of this couldn't be better as one of the festivals I'm going to this summer is going to see me and my mate stand out in the crowd as a pair of very old timers. If I go in with blinkered vision I'm not going to get the best experience out of it.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

i wouldn't spend any more time than a nano-second contemplating it at all... chances are you'd be as wrong as you are right

what's the point?

[Katster]

It's not really just the young people who changed, I've seen plenty of older folk around at festivals who do as you all describe and go see the terrible pish acts put on!

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

One man's meat is another man's poison. I'm going to the SGP this year. I will do very little hanging around stages and more traipsing about finding the arty type things that I believe are on offer. I've been wanting to do this at Glasto for years but have never got around to it in a meaningful way.