The International Contingent

[MetaKate]

6 hours ago, Mash2 said:

My only concern is that its been so hyped up that if I don't immediately ascend into nirvana after entering the gates I'm going to feel let down.  Seriously, really looking forward to it.  Usually, I'm hyper focused on the music at a festival.  For this one, I plan on spending a lot more time exploring around without pre-set destinations.

It's a bit of a different beast I think. My brother has been to Coachella, Bonnaroo and Firefly and I can draw similarities to his experiences and mine, but bottom line, Glastonbury is a city gone mad. 

Great perk... when you're in, you're in (assuming you stay inside the fence which I 100% recommend), which is great in regards to liquor etc. The nightlife options are unparalleled. There are massive impressive installations. 

Come prepared for any type of weather also. 2016 was my first year and the mud was the stuff of nightmares,  while last year it was gloriously hot. 

I had hyped myself up for 2016 and didnt know what to truly expect. I had a minor meltdown trekking my stuff through the mud on the way to my camping spot...but even after all that... nirvana isn't hard to find. Theres truly something for everyone and if you're not enjoy something move on! It was my third time last year and theres still parts of the site I havent seen. 

You're going to love it. 

[beefykoala]

13 hours ago, MetaKate said:

It's a bit of a different beast I think. My brother has been to Coachella, Bonnaroo and Firefly and I can draw similarities to his experiences and mine, but bottom line, Glastonbury is a city gone mad. 

Great perk... when you're in, you're in (assuming you stay inside the fence which I 100% recommend), which is great in regards to liquor etc. The nightlife options are unparalleled. There are massive impressive installations. 

Come prepared for any type of weather also. 2016 was my first year and the mud was the stuff of nightmares,  while last year it was gloriously hot. 

I had hyped myself up for 2016 and didnt know what to truly expect. I had a minor meltdown trekking my stuff through the mud on the way to my camping spot...but even after all that... nirvana isn't hard to find. Theres truly something for everyone and if you're not enjoy something move on! It was my third time last year and theres still parts of the site I havent seen. 

You're going to love it. 

Spot on. I'm a Bonnaroovian (already secured a ticket for my 6th one next year!) but I've done Glasto 3 times back in the 00s. Whenever I do a US festival I have the thought in the back of my mind of "yeah but it's no Glasto, is it?". Apparently it's much bigger and wilder now, so maybe it'll re-ruin festivals for me all over again!

[MetaKate]

4 hours ago, beefykoala said:

Spot on. I'm a Bonnaroovian (already secured a ticket for my 6th one next year!) but I've done Glasto 3 times back in the 00s. Whenever I do a US festival I have the thought in the back of my mind of "yeah but it's no Glasto, is it?". Apparently it's much bigger and wilder now, so maybe it'll re-ruin festivals for me all over again!

You're going to have a busy June! Being in Canada it's not possible for me to do both if I want to keep working at my job ?.

I am doing Shambalah when I get back though!

[Calvin Klein]

Anybody here pre ordered the book?

Mine is on its way although I fear it will take a while to arrive.

It seems we can't enter the competition for tickets though. Only UK residents.

[Calvin Klein]

Bump!

Has anyone ever had to leave their luggage in London while they go to the festival? On previous times I've always had someone that could hold them for me, but this time I don't. I'm wondering if anyone knows or suggests such a service.

Another option would be to take everything with us and use the lockups but I don't like the idea of carrying around luggage around the site, even if it's just once each way.

[jimmillen]

12 hours ago, Calvin Klein said:

Bump!

Has anyone ever had to leave their luggage in London while they go to the festival? On previous times I've always had someone that could hold them for me, but this time I don't. I'm wondering if anyone knows or suggests such a service.

Another option would be to take everything with us and use the lockups but I don't like the idea of carrying around luggage around the site, even if it's just once each way.

The lockups would definitely be safe - but I absolutely agree the last thing you want to be doing is hauling suitcases into & out of the festival. 
 

I don’t have recent personal experience, but there are luggage storage services at all the main London airports and rail stations. Not self service lockers but managed service type of thing. 
 

Afraid it’s probably not gonna be cheap for the full 5+ days of the festival. 😕

[philipsteak]

There are websites which are essentially like airbnb for luggage. You book a spot online and then drop off you bags. Usually shops, hotels, hostels. Usually cheaper than the ones at stations or airports

Edited February 16, 2020 by philipsteak

[dondo]

1 hour ago, philipsteak said:

There are websites which are essentially like airbnb for luggage. You book a spot online and then drop off you bags. Usually shops, hotels, hostels. Usually cheaper than the ones at stations or airports

Yes. I used this one before and they were great

https://stasher.com/luggage-storage/london

I'd probably go for a hotel/hostel rather than a shop if it's going to be for an extended period. I used a Premier Inn 

Edited February 16, 2020 by dondo

[sirjonnyp]

There's a shop near my old workplace (WC1H) that stored bags as a service, except the bags were just left on the (very small) shop floor, no security whatsoever. So yeah, definitely don't go with the shop route! 

[Mark H]

Hi International Friends,

Have just seen that Singapore Airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights from now until the end of May citing low demand due to Covid-19. 

We are booked to fly from NZ on June 14. Actually wondering for the first time if we will get there now ☹️
 

[sirjonnyp]

There's a few of us in the same situation in the corona virus thread, although we all seem to be booked on Cathay from Melbourne. Cathay have forced a load of staff to take leave until June, which also doesn't bode well. The general consensus is as the moment that if you have booked with an agent/third party, they should rebook you a flight that will get you there. I've booked direct with the airline, so would hope that they do the same. It seems as though the spread of the virus is being slowly reined in now - certainly outside of mainland China and the cruise ship - so I'm quietly confident that we'll make it. 

[Reckoner]

They’ve cut flights mostly on routes that are already heavily serviced like to Sydney. Much like Cathay, they aren’t going to go belly up so we’ll all definitely get there but we all probably should start build some flexibility into our plans, especially if you need to connect along the trip. 

[Mark H]

Thanks both for the intel. We have a bit of a buffer time wise, 2 nights in Singapore and 6 in London before Glastonbury so rescheduling should be possible.
 

We are travelling with our 2 year old and parents though so will need to be a bit selective about what flights we are rebooked on as  travelling the whole distance without a stopover/at bad times would be hard on all parties.

 

 

[assorted]

Heahtrow Express is currently 5.50 each way for what is likely most of our Glastonbury dates. I booked a round trip yesterday. 🙂

[Calvin Klein]

wanted to check the vibe in this thread.

At this point I'm more worried about being allowed in the UK if Glastonbury happens considering I will be going through Spain

Where's everyone coming from?

[Heather90]

5 minutes ago, Calvin Klein said:

wanted to check the vibe in this thread.

At this point I'm more worried about being allowed in the UK if Glastonbury happens considering I will be going through Spain

Where's everyone coming from?

I'm coming from Switzerland and another of my party from Poland. If the festival is on then I expect flights to be unaffected, although possibly less choice in times. I'm booked to fly into London on the Monday night and I plan to be on that plane! 

How the Coronavirus plays out is the main variable. I'm hopeful we will be well over the peak by then 

[SwedgeAntilles]

Sweden, via Amsterdam. I TOO like to live dangerously. 

[assorted]

I’m coming from NYC, USA. Direct flight. I’ve got quite a bit of anxiety about it happening or not as it’s been a trip I’ve been planning on and looking forward to, via haunting this forum, all year. And I doubt I’ll be able to pull together another group to do this if it cancels. 

Ah well. Fingers crossed. Cheap train tickets From London to Bath (by shuttle bus city) should be on sale in a few weeks and if the festival hasn’t cancelled I’m going forward buying them. I won’t act as if it’s canceled until it is, I’ve committed too much already. 

Edited March 11, 2020 by assorted
Brevity

[MetaKate]

Im coming over from Calgary direct, but the plan is to do a bit of southern France and northern Italy beforehand.  

I haven't booked anything yet but flights are very cheap right now so I might take the risk.  

[SwedgeAntilles]

1 minute ago, MetaKate said:

Im coming over from Calgary direct, but the plan is to do a bit of southern France and northern Italy beforehand.  

I haven't booked anything yet but flights are very cheap right now so I might take the risk.  

Yeah flights are (unsurprisingly) crazy cheap at the moment. Got an email today from Jack's Flight Club for return flights Stockholm to Cairo for like 150 euros 

[Bryanrebe]

I'm flying from New Zealand through Australia and Dubai to London on 20 May, so should be safe there for now.

My problem is the first two weeks of our trip are in Italy (Rome for a wedding and Northern Italy). The wedding is still going ahead on 26 May as of yesterday.

 

[sirjonnyp]

Australia via Hong Kong 😧

Quantas have changed their routes to avoid Singapore and reduce capacity. I'm on Cathay so that isn't really an option, but their statement about profits yesterday isn't encouraging at all. 

[kalifire]

6 minutes ago, sirjonnyp said:

Australia via Hong Kong 😧

Quantas have changed their routes to avoid Singapore and reduce capacity. I'm on Cathay so that isn't really an option, but their statement about profits yesterday isn't encouraging at all. 

Hold strong, @sirjonnyp - we’re in the same boat but I’m quietly confident about the trip now. HK has experienced its peak, and Cathay will touch the Au-HK-London route last of all. I’m more worried about Glasto going ahead than I am being able to get to England, at this point. 

[Calvin Klein]

1 hour ago, MetaKate said:

Im coming over from Calgary direct, but the plan is to do a bit of southern France and northern Italy beforehand.  

I haven't booked anything yet but flights are very cheap right now so I might take the risk.  

I was thinking about doing northern Italy prior to the festival as well but that is no longer an option. 

I'll stay in Spain for 10 days before a week in London, and then take the coach to Glastonbury.

I've had Buenos AIres-Madrid plane tickets since November. And booked an airbnb in London but that's it. Haven't booked the flights to London yet and I might have to wait a little bit more. 

There are too many variables right now which has pretty much killed any buzz about the festival for me

Edited March 11, 2020 by Calvin Klein

[Ayrshire Chris]

Wherever you are coming from, be it New Zealand or just across the channel it will be great to see the  flags of all your nations on the farm!  

Edit, as long as your flags don’t block the view of the stages!😁

Edited March 11, 2020 by Ayrshire Chris