Anyone get the sense the end of Glastonbury is nigh?

[stuartbert two hats]

Weirdly, I'm quite excited by this news. Not if it replaces Glastonbury mind, but I don't honestly think that's the main intention with this idea, more to make the most of a strong brand and have a back up if things do go tits up with the land issues at Glastonbury.

 

Can't imagine it being anywhere near the size of Glastonbury though, at least not initially. Like others have said infrastructure and all the rest of it would be a nightmare to implement from scratch on a brand new site. I imagine a relatively small festival in the fallow year with, for instance, environmental/green issues at the heart of the festival rather than as a side issue. Maybe the long term plan is to have two festivals run side by side so that more people who apply for tickets can go? Who knows. They know what they're doing though, they're not dumb, so I trust in their plans...

That's my gut feeling too, although "relatively small" by Glastonbury standards may well still be bigger than any other festival you can think of, in terms of stage density at least.  I don't know about the environment focus though - where do you get that impression from?

[stuartbert two hats]

Could it be scare tactics to try and get people to look after the farm a bit better? Pissing, rubbish etc?

I think it's scare tactics alright, but aimed at the neighbours, not the punters.

[eFestivals]

I think it's scare tactics alright, but aimed at the neighbours, not the punters.

I'm not entirely sure about that.

It might have the effect of doing that, but I don't get the impression that's its express purpose. I'm under the impression that it's a serious plan to hold a festival elsewhere..

[The Nal]

I'm not entirely sure about that.

It might have the effect of doing that, but I don't get the impression that's its express purpose. I'm under the impression that it's a serious plan to hold a festival elsewhere..

 

"A" festival or "The" festival?

[___S_o_m_a__]

Emily & Nick may well put on another event somewhere else at some other time, perhaps during a fallow year or perhaps not, perhaps using the pyramid stage, perhaps not but one thing is for definite - the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts will never move from its current location in the Vale of Avalon.

 

To even suggest that this is a distinct possibility is utter, utter madness.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Well....Emily and Nick aren't farmers. They're in the festivals business, so it makes sense to diversify, especially if Worthy Farm is out to pasture in a fallow year.

[Pinhead]

Well its not as if they have no experience of running other festivals alongside Glasto - the Glastonbury Extravaganza for example. Running another festival elsewhere that incorporates some of the elements of Glasto is certainly feasible, though with significantly less numbers of punters.

 

The thing I cannot get my head around is any notion that Glasto can be picked up lock stock, the *ucking lot, and relocated to another site somewhere else in the country that has the area of land required, the site infrastructure required and the support from local residents and the local authorities that is required. I simply cannot think of another local authority that would not just baulk immediately at any proposal to site a new, 1000 acre festival of 200K people in their jurisdiction, with all the required safety, communications, local fire, medical, ambulance, police and environmental etc. concerns satisfactorily met.

 

This plus the reaction from areas like the Greenfields, who will lose certain aspects of their environment that defines them, such as permaculture - an area which has taken years to properly nurture and establish, Kings Meadow Stone Circle and the Kings Oak etc. Other semi-permanent structures are more portable and could be moved, such as the Greenpeace / Kids Field ships. However, some elements are intrinsic to the existing site and its history and could never be moved, such as Bella's Bridge, the railway tunnels and bisecting track, the overlooking Tor.

 

Moving Glasto from its current site decouples it with the history of its development and whilst this could be considered a nostalgic whim, it surely has to be considered that a relocated festival would loose a significant element of what makes it so special that might negatively impact its future popularity.

 

Its their farm and their festival though, so its up to them.

[Space Shanty]

Is the pissing on the land a particular problem in one or more parts of the current site?

Is it much worse in particular campsites or near particular areas?

[Eternal_Return]

That's my gut feeling too, although "relatively small" by Glastonbury standards may well still be bigger than any other festival you can think of, in terms of stage density at least.  I don't know about the environment focus though - where do you get that impression from?

Nowhere in particular - but I just thought having the chance to create a new offspring festival, you might relish the chance to try to create a festival that returns to its mother's roots somewhat. Plus they can try out things that they've mentioned before like more public transport and pre-erected tents. All ideas that feed into the green ethos and can be trialled and potentially scaled up for glastonbury proper.

[Mardy]

There are long term sponsorship deals and contracts in place. These aren't redone on a yearly basis. The festival is safe for a while.

[zero000]

Another festival would be a really huge task to undertake. Running that and Glastonbury concurrently would be a massive challenge.

I'm also unsure how another festival could maintain the same ethos? I can't see many bands willing to take a pay cut to play a Pseudo-Glastonbury.

The Glastonbury "brand" is incredibly strong, another festival, or the same festival at a different site, wouldn't have the same power to donate such massive sums of money to charity. It would become corporate and sanitised.

[5co77ie]

Is the pissing on the land a particular problem in one or more parts of the current site?

Is it much worse in particular campsites or near particular areas?

i guess it would be near the streams running through the middle of the site - I can't see that pissing in say Worthy View would effect the watercourses so quickly that they send out warning on Friday.

[Pinhead]

I reckon the water pollution issue might have been caused by either a raising of the minimum standards by the testing party (local authority environmental officers?), or by one or two particular areas where there was a short run off into a local tributary, such as near a leaking / overflowing toilet / urinal block or just a section of the fence that people were pissing against that was near a watercourse (e.g. the one on the West side perimeter of King's Meadow). I saw the water testers up there one morning taking samples, though that was on the upper East side near the gateway into Pennards, just below Pennard Gate and the toilet block adjacent to that.

[Sawdusty surfer]

There are long term sponsorship deals and contracts in place. These aren't redone on a yearly basis. The festival is safe for a while.

 

I suspect that most of that type of contract will run on the same timescale as many others including leasing land...ie five years, fallow year to fallow year.

[The Nal]

Is the pissing on the land a particular problem in one or more parts of the current site?

Is it much worse in particular campsites or near particular areas?

 

Presume its Oxlyers, Bushy Ground etc. A horrible part of the site. Stinks of piss and shit (both human and bovine), has awful toilets, a constant flock of seagulls circling like vermin, mass tent thefts, shit food stalls and is the first place to get muddy and the last place to recover.

[5co77ie]

"A" festival or "The" festival?

something else somewhere else I think rather than the big G

[Bignews]

im having a 'gap yah' ,does that make me a dickhead?

[Pinhead]

Oh well, that is the central nexus of the discussion then isn't it really - are we talking the G, or another festival run elsewhere by GFL. The latter seems considerably more realistic and an option to provide a festival during the fallow year (which could then also be made more frequent, giving the farm and its land more priority and recovery).

[Mardy]

im having a 'gap yah' ,does that make me a dickhead?

 

 

I'm having a 'gap life', and I'm certainly a prize twat.

[billum]

With the tickets selling out so fast every year, I can certainly see why business-minded people would think that there's massive un-tapped potential to sell out 'another Glastonbury' at least each year - but whether any new festival, even with Glastonbury co-branding & shared management, could be marketed to have the appeal of the real one we know and love is questionable.

[Quark]

im having a 'gap yah' ,does that make me a dickhead?

Yes

 

Point taken though, it was a generic term used to tar an entire chunk of society, I would say unfairly.  But it made a useful example at the time.

 

I do stand by the fact that I spent 2 hours in the queue on Wednesday listening to a guy talking about his year training junior gymnasts in Eastern Europe and telling the girl he was with about his spirit animal...

[Pinhead]

Yeah, its like "Glastonbury-Lite" - PR suicide imho...

 

Needs to be a new festival with its own identity to succeed.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Pinhead

[eFestivals]

permaculture - an area which has taken years to properly nurture and establish

an area which was planted around 20-ish years ago, and which is 'nurtured' by having nothing at all done to it. It's given a quick spring clean pre-festival.

Edited July 3, 2015 by eFestivals

[eFestivals]

Is the pissing on the land a particular problem in one or more parts of the current site?

Is it much worse in particular campsites or near particular areas?

the measuring of piss is done in the water courses - where all the piss ends up no matter where people piss.

[Pinhead]

an area which was planted around 20-ish years ago, and which is 'nurtured' by having nothing at all done to it. It's given a quick spring clear pre-festival.

 

Could you move it though and still have it look that established?