Your first time....

[CardiffWanderer]

No-one else seems to have mentioned being scared and disorientated, but that was my experience, at least for the first day. Plus it was 2007 and it pissed down.

But on the Friday the sun came out, we happened upon the Super Curries dressed in Mortal Kombat gear, and all was very, very good.

[CardiffWanderer]

Or maybe it was the Super Furries. Who knows?

[leanne_win]

My first was 2009, after watching the coverage for years I finally managed to persuade my best friend to come. It was the best weekend of my life, EVER. We just wandered for a couple of days, drinking our way around the site.

Fell in love with shangri la, we strolled up there on the sun lunchtime, I have a lot of love for the weirdness that goes on up there, we ended up getting involved in a 'robbery' that was taking place in one if the tunnels, I 'stole' a 80's VCR.

Funniest moment was a guy pissing on my friends leg during prodigy, he tried to say it was cider, she said it was def piss, it was warm. He shared his cider, and we were all friends.

We swore we would go again 2010, which we

did, musically/weather was better in 2010, (whenever I hear 'sweet disposition' now I get butterfly's) but being a first timer was amazing!

I haven't been since 2010, it's taken me 4 years to persuade my husband to come, he's def going to love it!

[Winslow Leach]

It was a Thursday (I never could get the hang of Thursdays) so the toilets weren't really competing at the time and the smell of weed has always been something that occasionally breaks through the smell of campfires, rather than being all pervading. At least that's how I find it.

[Trebor]

No great need to take acid if your going to listen to Radiohead anyway. They do all the little tricks of the mind for you.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

It was a stupid idea. When I did finally take acid at a festival it was one dark trip. I was walking really strangely and when my mate asked me why I told him I didn't like the noise the skulls of the dead soldiers made when I stood on them.

[yehbutnobut]

Never taken acid, have always kept to shrooms with colourful bouncy and hilarious outcomes. However last year, which was my first, on the Thursday evening our group went for a trudge to find some music over towards the Silver Hayes & found this small and wicked little venue named 'the igloo'. Pumping tech house & techno & the most awesome visuals from the projectors, we thought we'd hit the jackpot with this tiny gem of a venue. Anyways, after doing a few bits & bobs and having a right old stomp, a few hours later we headed up to the Park as we heard Nick Warren was playing up in the Rabbit Hole. We got there but couldn't get in as it was rammed, so went and sat down in a cool shanty style bar which was located next door...

This is when a 'new' friend I'd made offered me a bump of Ket which in the state I was in thought 'how very kind of you' and up it went.

The next hour or so was very interesting to say the least (vague memories of neon colours bleeding everywhere & visions of lots of bubbly shapes etc) which ended with me climatically vomiting in a nearby bin, and then losing the complete ability to use my legs. Funnily enough this also coincided with the only night that it rained, turning most walkways in to the equivalent of long stretches of lethal muddy ice rinks... Needless to say the walk back to our tents over at the opposite side of the fest, and learning again which leg to put forward first, was an amusing one for my mates. My tent was caked shit high in mud when I woke up the next morning...

...I've always learnt the hard way me.

[RichieSpenno]

Arrived on the Thursday (2009). Michael Jackson died. Got steaming on the Saturday; the highlight of the night being filling up on booze at my tent and hearing Pendulum do Master of Puppets. Hungover the entirety of Sunday, then watched Blur (my first ever G headliner) do one of the finest sets I've ever seen.

[Mr.Tease]

Ha, I remember on the first day of my first festival, I'd done no research or anything before going. We set up our tents and then must have stayed there until after sunset (don't remember or understand my thought process at the time- you'd of thought natural curiosity would kick in!). We smoked a spliff, and my friend suggested we go exploring- as we walked to the market area, I couldn't work out what was happening- were we leaving the site? was it some sort of castle thing?

a little later we found ourselves staring at the sweets in the fudge stall- they looked delicious, and it it felt like they were humming, when two women came up and asked us where the Glade was- I couldn't make heads nor tail of the map, and kept forgetting what I was meant to be looking for on it. They then asked if we wanted to go with them, to which I replied "No thanks- we're just looking at this" (points to the sweets). A minute passed, and suddenly the horror of we had just done came into our awareness- my friend turned to me and said: "hey... wait a minute- you're always telling me I keep blowing these opportunities and- ooh! chocolate honeycomb!".

When we eventually managed to tear ourselves away from the stall, we went on a futile search for most of the night, to find the two women, despite not being able to remember what they looked like or where the glade was, or even what it was. I think we ended up going to that bbc radio pyramid thing with the dance music (in the market stalls area), and thought that was the glade.

And they say the rock and roll lifestyle is dead.

We ended up going to the stone circle area (just on that hill once you go through the entrance from the green fields). We didn't even see the actual stone circle, or understand where we were, but I remember a girl walked passed us saying "fuck the music- this is where the real festival is at", and at the time I thought that was a completely ridiculous thing to say- ha!

So yes, that's why I never attack people on these boards when they say they are going for the first time just for the music etc, because why the heck wouldn't they if they haven't experienced the other stuff it has to offer.

[Dog Burger]

First time was 1998, 17 years old, incredibly naive, turned up with £35, eight cans of Stella, a tiny rucksack, and what can only be described as a child's play tent. Of course, it hammered it down non-stop from Thursday to Sunday and my tent collapsed almost immediately, soaking all the clothes I had and making it resemble a sodden canvas body bag for the weekend.

How I got through it, I'll never know, the fearless indestructible nature of youth, I suppose.

Things I remember:

Walking from the drop off point for what seemed like hours down muddy tracks and lanes, with scousers offering ticket stubs, ways in under tunnels or over rope ladders, and the Samaritans or someone standing with a tray of oranges and drinks.

The incredibly loud sound from all the stages. Thinking back now, it seemed that if you got anywhere near the Pyramid or Other Stage the noise was loud enough to make your guts rumble. Doesn't seem that way anymore.

The sound systems at what seemed like every stall, pounding out music at all hours - there was no late night area - the whole place was the late night area.

First time at the Stone Circle. That view, and all the drummers and fire jugglers. People being cheered as they came over the fence. Absolute mania everywhere. My young, naive eyes couldn't really believe what they were seeing. Love at first sight. Hooked for life.

Getting to Sunday night, absolutely frozen and soaked to the bone, sleep deprived, shivering, my adidas sambas a rotten mess glued to my decaying feet and spending my last three quid on the only food I could afford before Pulp headlined the Pyramid. Chips and gravy in a little tray. Shaking with hunger and cold, then the gravy melting the tray, running through my fingers and burning my hands until I was forced to take one last desperate mouthful and drop the tray into the ocean of mud below me.

Then Pulp, just amazing. One of the best headline shows I've ever seen at Worthy Farm, and at the end the PA playing 'Stand By Me' as our little gang of A-level mates - all about to move away to other parts of the country to start university - waddled away through the knee-deep water and mud, holding on to each other and singing at the top of our voices, a few tears from the exhaustion, the ordeal and the sheer surreal beauty of the whole thing. I've been to every one since.

Edited March 17, 2014 by Dog Burger

[Trebor]

That Pulp set was, as always, excellent.

[Bobs]

Glorious Sunshine (2010, possibly the best weekend of my life, it was amazing.

The site was massive, the people were friendly, and my favourite moment was bumping into 2 strangers at Thom Yorke, and well, just sharing everything! Was an amazing memory!

[The Placid Casual]

To think some people left on the first night last year...

[jeffie]

To think some people left on the first night last year...

[Dark Star]

My first was 1998, looking back on it we really didn't have a clue what we were doing, and that was the whole joy of it. We took way too much food for ourselves to cook, though this did give us something to do on the Saturday afternoon when we were all feeling glum about the mud! Walking around on the Thursday evening after arriving and setting up, so much space in campsites on a Thursday evening now is unheard of. Mind you, paying was unheard of for a lot back then. Wandering around looking for the Pyramid stage and not finding it because it wasn't a pyramid that year, we never made it to the Stone Circle but did get to see the rather sheepish looking shit tanker drivers emptying the dance tent of what they'd mistakenly (or not) filled it with! Some awesome bands too, remember the atmosphere was insane for Ian Brown on the Friday night, Finley Quaye earlier in the day telling us that a cup of tea a day is good for you but that drink and drugs is not, while higher than the sun himself. The rain giving way to sunshine on the Saturday afternoon while we watched St Etienne and Monaco on the Other Stage, the Sunday afternoon/evening on the Pyramid being utterly brilliant - if memory serves Sonic Youth, Dylan, Nick Cave and Pulp one after the other. Well worth enduring the mud. We took way too much stuff and way too small a tent for the 3 of us, though probably a good thing in terms of keeping warm as it was cold, getting lost on the way out to find the shuttle bus pickup point (which was up on the main road on the Shepton side of the village that year), walking miles more than needed... and boring everyone to tears about it in the pub the night we returned, but only after about 4 showers and 2 baths each to get rid of the mud!

[Yesiamaduck]

It was 2009, our Coach Journey (estimated to take 4 hours) ended up taking closer to 12 hours due to an accident which meant traffic had to be diverted through Glastonbury. It was so bad that the Coach Driver basically allowed us to rummage through our bags to take out all the alcohols in the world and have a party on the coach, we arrived with everyone hanging out of the Coach with the PA on the coach blaring out the Ghostbusters theme and we were drunkenly singing along at full volume after SIX hours of drinking in a confined coach. Toilets weren't a problem (our coach had none LEMONBUS FTW) and the bus driver let us leave the coach when we wanted to have a woo woo in the long grass in the country and even allowed us to walk to the nearest pub and wait there for him to turn up. The driver in retrospect was an absolute legend and it was the most fun I ever had in a traffic jam.

I arrived at around 11pm and walked right in the gates with NO IDEA what to expect (I bought tickets impulsively whilst drunk that year about 2 months before the event started because they hadn't sold out!) and I had no idea what the hell to expect really... I kind of forgot I even had a ticket until it actually arrived (I was really drunk) and sort of rolled with the punches and booked time off work but never actually looked up anything of Glastonbury other than knowing 'The are 2 big stages and a bunch of smaller ones).

Now one thing has to be said about the fact I arrived so late was that I arrived at Glastonbury when it was dark... in other words all the lights were on and the atmosphere was incredible, I rarely fall in awe with anything but I was in complete Awe when I was walking around the place looking for a spot to pitch tent, I was looking for a hill because I know how water works. I hitched a spot near the Pyramid Stage which was really easy to find and my friends who I had called to say I was there and where I was said they'd 'be there' and they jumped on me whist setting up my tent... I was almost blinded but I was never so happy to be almost blinded. Wandering around taking in the serean atmosphere for the firt time was probably my favorite Glasto moment of all time.

Thursday I was able to actually soak in the atmosphere a bit more with a clearer head and the benefit of a clear day, I dont really remember too much of Thursday other than being nominated the savior of the earth in the circus field and being chases by a giant Earth skinned ball whilst being thrown around in a parachute by children and adults alike. Then I was in the chill n charge tent, chillin and chargin my phone when all of the sudden the sky looked EVIL and we had a huge Thunderstorm with fork-lightning as far as the eye could see, it was awesome and only lasted an hour... this would be the only rain we would see until the very end of the festival. Michael Jackson then died, which was weird and very surreal, but the MJ tribute part outside of Brothers was a great communal moment where everyone sang MJ tunes for an hour or two non stop drinking 3 for £10 cider, everyone was embracing each other and it was a really special moment. All negative connotations associated with the man were dropped and we celebrated music that probably influenced us all whilst growing up.

My friends were all working this year and had the same shift pattern which meant I was effectively at Glastonbury lone wolf the majority of the time which was the absolute best thing that could have happened in my honest opinion on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. One thing I learnt here as opposed to other festivals is Glastonbury is no place to waste time about bickering where to go and what to see and certainly not a place where schedule keeping is important. Sure I made a note to see Blur and a couple of other smaller bands but I was mostly winging it and saw all sorts of incredible things. Though it was falling back on familiar terms that I remember most fondly, I met up with my friends at The Park stage and watched The Horrors and Animal Collective back to back as the sun begun to set... as far as perfect booking goes this ranks up there among them as both bands knocked their respective shows out of the park and really helped fit the magical mood that was felt with the beautiful night that was about to hit us.

The first time I went into the fully operational Trash City/Shangri-La was a real eye opener. Whether it be playing a drum machine in the alleys of of Shangri-la or walking into a room with just a hot tub and a bunch of weird lookin' folk in it and a room with a band playing to 5 people I was completely blown away, at this point I realized how diverse Glastonbury really was having only really indulged in the earthier side of the festival before then. Then I went to Trash City, saw DJ Scotch Egg in some tiny little venue off the side and then witnessed the awesome structures in the main field.

At the end of the weekend it was all round up really nicely with Blur, which was incredible, all 6 of us got together and had a blast for the final hours of my Glastonbury experience. I begun to feel a bit fatigued by the Sunday and this Blur gig was certainly going to be the last thing I did at the festival. The memories of everyone singing 'Tender' during the set and long after stuck with me as a truly magical moment that most headline sets at festivals could only dream of. I slinked back off to my tent and fell asleep and woke up to a soggy wet ground, I missed the rain, I had a fantastic time.. sorry for waffling on

Edited March 17, 2014 by Yesiamaduck

[ghandi]

My first was in 2009. travelled down with a mate from work, really excited not knowing much or what to expect other than info i had gleaned from this site really. There were three of us, all newbies. We didn't get there until about 12pm on the Thursday. First newbie mistake, it was chocker, not a space in site, and the weather red hot. After trapesing across the site we managed to get in beside some roped off campers next to a burger van. We went out straight away and in the evening one of my mates who had met his future bride there who had been travelling with her mates, divided up some E's for us. I took my protion together with the caffeine pro plus tablets i had taken earlier. Safe to say that at about 10pm i was racing off my nut on the way to the naughty corner. Ended up in the hub dancing like an idiot, falling against the side and then falling into my tent at about 4am. I woke up the next day and foolishly took another couple of Pro plus tablets to wake me up. At about 1pm inside the JP tent the bass began to thump in my head and i had to go back to my tent to sweat out the tabs. In fact i lost time and can't remember if this was on the Friday or the Saturday, it was just one big blur of excitement. I remember crying on the Sunday afternoon after watching the Mummers in the Avalon tent, a song had pricked a nerve and the emotion of realising i had to leave early on the Sunday evening becuase of work the next day and the exaustion of the weekend had taken effect. A few lessons learned that weekend and i get there very early on the wednesday now and don't leave until the Monday morning, never again.

[tommyds]

It was 2009, our Coach Journey (estimated to take 4 hours) ended up taking closer to 12 hours due to an accident which meant traffic had to be diverted through Glastonbury. It was so bad that the Coach Driver basically allowed us to rummage through our bags to take out all the alcohols in the world and have a party on the coach, we arrived with everyone hanging out of the Coach with the PA on the coach blaring out the Ghostbusters theme and we were drunkenly singing along at full volume after SIX hours of drinking in a confined coach. Toilets weren't a problem (our coach had none LEMONBUS FTW) and the bus driver let us leave the coach when we wanted to have a woo woo in the long grass in the country and even allowed us to walk to the nearest pub and wait there for him to turn up. The driver in retrospect was an absolute legend and it was the most fun I ever had in a traffic jam.

[glasto-worker]

It was 2009, our Coach Journey (estimated to take 4 hours) ended up taking closer to 12 hours due to an accident which meant traffic had to be diverted through Glastonbury. It was so bad that the Coach Driver basically allowed us to rummage through our bags to take out all the alcohols in the world and have a party on the coach, we arrived with everyone hanging out of the Coach with the PA on the coach blaring out the Ghostbusters theme and we were drunkenly singing along at full volume after SIX hours of drinking in a confined coach. Toilets weren't a problem (our coach had none LEMONBUS FTW) and the bus driver let us leave the coach when we wanted to have a woo woo in the long grass in the country and even allowed us to walk to the nearest pub and wait there for him to turn up. The driver in retrospect was an absolute legend and it was the most fun I ever had in a traffic jam.

[ghandi]

i'm loving that picture glasto- worker, it really brings home the size the sheer scale of the thing, and raises a wee hair on my neck

[russycarps]

No-one else seems to have mentioned being scared and disorientated, but that was my experience, at least for the first day. Plus it was 2007 and it pissed down.

But on the Friday the sun came out, we happened upon the Super Curries dressed in Mortal Kombat gear, and all was very, very good.

[russycarps]

First time was 1998, 17 years old, incredibly naive, turned up with £35, eight cans of Stella, a tiny rucksack, and what can only be described as a child's play tent. Of course, it hammered it down non-stop from Thursday to Sunday and my tent collapsed almost immediately, soaking all the clothes I had and making it resemble a sodden canvas body bag for the weekend.

How I got through it, I'll never know, the fearless indestructible nature of youth, I suppose.

Things I remember:

Walking from the drop off point for what seemed like hours down muddy tracks and lanes, with scousers offering ticket stubs, ways in under tunnels or over rope ladders, and the Samaritans or someone standing with a tray of oranges and drinks.

The incredibly loud sound from all the stages. Thinking back now, it seemed that if you got anywhere near the Pyramid or Other Stage the noise was loud enough to make your guts rumble. Doesn't seem that way anymore.

The sound systems at what seemed like every stall, pounding out music at all hours - there was no late night area - the whole place was the late night area.

First time at the Stone Circle. That view, and all the drummers and fire jugglers. People being cheered as they came over the fence. Absolute mania everywhere. My young, naive eyes couldn't really believe what they were seeing. Love at first sight. Hooked for life.

Getting to Sunday night, absolutely frozen and soaked to the bone, sleep deprived, shivering, my adidas sambas a rotten mess glued to my decaying feet and spending my last three quid on the only food I could afford before Pulp headlined the Pyramid. Chips and gravy in a little tray. Shaking with hunger and cold, then the gravy melting the tray, running through my fingers and burning my hands until I was forced to take one last desperate mouthful and drop the tray into the ocean of mud below me.

Then Pulp, just amazing. One of the best headline shows I've ever seen at Worthy Farm, and at the end the PA playing 'Stand By Me' as our little gang of A-level mates - all about to move away to other parts of the country to start university - waddled away through the knee-deep water and mud, holding on to each other and singing at the top of our voices, a few tears from the exhaustion, the ordeal and the shear surreal beauty of the whole thing. I've been to every one since.

[Dog Burger]

lovely stuff that, fine work.

Edited March 17, 2014 by Dog Burger

[glasto-worker]

i'm loving that picture glasto- worker, it really brings home the size the sheer scale of the thing, and raises a wee hair on my neck

[pie_and_a_pint]

2003, having spent many years umming and ahhing over whether to 'do' Glastonbury or not. Mostly I must say due to what seemed at the time like a revoltingly large sum of money for the ticket - £105!!! - and partly because Mr P&P loathes camping. But we rocked up, driving down from Oxford after work on Wednesday, and pitched our tent *just* before it got dark, on what I now know is Kidney Mead (about three tents down from those fellas who spent all weekend sitting at their tents 'fishing' for laughs with a wallet on the end of a string - I think ME mentioned them in an interview or a book sometime recently).

And then we wandered down to the meeting point, and round the markets, and I bought some wine from a wine bar that had a disco going on at it, and we carried on wandering in the dark, past flags and lights and people and music, and I just *knew* I'd found it, whatever it is.

I drank a lot of cider. I ate a lot of amazing food (including from the late-lamented Garlic Kitchen). Cooper Temple Clause were rubbish. The Darkness were hilarious. Radiohead were excellent. The sunburn I got over the course of the weekend was bloody painful - lesson learned!

Edited March 17, 2014 by pie_and_a_pint