Ban flags in front of the stages

[Clarence Clemons]

17 hours ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

Please tell me you've had parents come up to you with under 12s hoping for a free run at a Saturday night 😄

 

yeh that was definitely happening during the chem bros at 11pm!... right by the flares!

in all seriousness we had a few disapproving looks from families during the day times...

[DTichborne]

On 5/25/2022 at 4:38 PM, jow95 said:

I mean come on, I’ve stood in a wide variety of positions in that field and whilst you might not see what sort of shoes macca has on this is an overreaction no?

Genuinely not. In recent years, once you get to the latter end of the day when the field is busy, if you're not near the front then you see pretty much nothing. In extreme instances such as The Rolling Stones, I couldn't see a single inch of the stage for the entire set, from a decent vantage point.

I'm aware that by carrying on about it I sound like a grouse which I promise I'm not, but most large festivals banned them in front of stages and there was a reason for that. Obviously I'm not expecting to see everything unless I'm right at the front... this is an outlier instance and Glastonbury is the only large event I go to where this happens. 

Edited June 7, 2022 by DTichborne

[guypjfreak]

5 hours ago, DTichborne said:

Genuinely not. In recent years, once you get to the latter end of the day when the field is busy, if you're not near the front then you see pretty much nothing. In extreme instances such as The Rolling Stones, I couldn't see a single inch of the stage for the entire set, from a decent vantage point.

I'm aware that by carrying on about it I sound like a grouse which I promise I'm not, but most large festivals banned them in front of stages and there was a reason for that. Obviously I'm not expecting to see everything unless I'm right at the front... this is an outlier instance and Glastonbury is the only large event I go to where this happens. 

Truth 

[Splonk]

Taking a look at some old pictures of the Pyramid, some bellends seem to think it's OK to put two or three flags on a single pole.

There's even one with 5 flags on a single pole.

Get rid.

 

 

[March Hare]

Is the fake taxi auditions flag going to be there this year? Asking for a friend.

[squirrelarmy]

7 hours ago, Splonk said:

Taking a look at some old pictures of the Pyramid, some bellends seem to think it's OK to put two or three flags on a single pole.

There's even one with 5 flags on a single pole.

Even as a flag carrier I agree with this. There’s no need for more than a single flag.
 

I can understand adding something small to the top of a pole to add that little bit of quirkiness but if your friends can’t identify one flag to help find you in the crowd then adding more isn’t going to help. 
 

A single flag on a long pole isn’t that much of an obstruction, adding more just annoys people and gives the rest of us flag carriers a bad name. 

[bennyboi]

Big question is why? 
 
If I had to guess it’s an attention disorder, they get chuffs from spotting themselves on telly. 
 

why would you burden yourself with dragging a 15ft pole round with you. 
 

Genuinely funny ones get a pass “Gary shags crisps” “Men with Ven” & the Ray jay flag spring to mind. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by bennyboi

[squirrelarmy]

10 minutes ago, bennyboi said:

Big question is why? 

Mine is to help my mates find each other. We’re a very mixed group with wide varieties of taste and planning when it comes to scheduling.
 

This year most of us aren’t even camping together. Having a easily recognisable and mobile meeting point makes it easy to navigate crowds and helps to get back to the group after trips to the bar or loo. 

[March Hare]

 

26 minutes ago, bennyboi said:

Big question is why? 
 
If I had to guess it’s an attention disorder, they get chuffs from spotting themselves on telly. 
 

why would you burden yourself with dragging a 15ft pole round with you. 
 

Genuinely funny ones get a pass “Gary shags crisps” “Men with Ven” & the Ray jay flag spring to mind. 

Efesters should post their flag designs here for vetting

[Dave_c]

I think it adds to the atmosphere, would be really weird with no flags, it's part of the fabric of Glastonbury now. 

[BBC7BBCHEAVEN]

On 5/25/2022 at 8:36 PM, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

Agreed. It's horrendous festival behaviour. I tried to listen to Regina Spektor in 2009 on the Pyramid and there were people waiting for N.E.R.D just talking over the piano and didn't give a damn about the atmosphere or the beauty of the performance. It's just plain rude. Move to the side and talk about how much you would love to fuck Pharrell and then come back in an hour.

 

Haha to be fair Regina totally messed up timings for the day by running way over. I'm a huge fan of both so didn't mind, NERD keeping the crowd going to the point that they had to turn the screens off is one of my favourite Glasto moments, and imo acts like Regina should never be on such a big stage

In general though I couldn't give two shits about the people around me, it's a massive festival there's absolutely no reason not to just move if someone's annoying you and I always avoid obviously obnoxious/drunk groups

 

 

 

 

 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

On 6/8/2022 at 10:47 AM, BBC7BBCHEAVEN said:

 

Haha to be fair Regina totally messed up timings for the day by running way over. I'm a huge fan of both so didn't mind, NERD keeping the crowd going to the point that they had to turn the screens off is one of my favourite Glasto moments, and imo acts like Regina should never be on such a big stage

In general though I couldn't give two shits about the people around me, it's a massive festival there's absolutely no reason not to just move if someone's annoying you and I always avoid obviously obnoxious/drunk groups

 

 

 

 

 

It was early on the Pyramid but the front was quite packed. Not easy to move when you're shoulder to shoulder, esp when a good portion of the crowd are there for the next act. Also, why should everyone have to move for obnoxious people? They should be the ones who change their behaviour, not the other way round. They should learn some manners and not talk over/act like yobs over someone who is performing, and that is a fairly standard expectation for any stage, venue, or festival of any size.

[cmscratc]

Ive just got back from Download and whilst its a different crowd and the headliners stage setups are more elaborate there, it was refreshing having no flags in front of the stage and being able to see whats going on from wherever you want to be.

Sometimes at Glastonbury it can be hard to even see what is happening even on the screen because a flag is blocking a camera. I'm hoping this year there are less flags but worry that after the long break people will be giddy! 

[jow95]

On 6/7/2022 at 5:35 PM, DTichborne said:

Genuinely not. In recent years, once you get to the latter end of the day when the field is busy, if you're not near the front then you see pretty much nothing. In extreme instances such as The Rolling Stones, I couldn't see a single inch of the stage for the entire set, from a decent vantage point.

I'm aware that by carrying on about it I sound like a grouse which I promise I'm not, but most large festivals banned them in front of stages and there was a reason for that. Obviously I'm not expecting to see everything unless I'm right at the front... this is an outlier instance and Glastonbury is the only large event I go to where this happens. 

Appreciate your points but I do disagree on how much can be seen. I saw Adele and killers from various parts of the rear of the field as well as the end of the foo fighters and various other non headliners and just didn’t feel it was much of an issue. I’m sure the stones was worse so I’ll take your word on that. Looked heaving on the telly.

As with them being banned you might have a point regarding other festivals, although I do feel the lack of arena searches at glastonbury also play a big part. Very difficult to police that many people in a field without searching on entry.

I took a flag for one set (ELO 2016) and the effort of carrying the bloody thing made me realise it’s not worth it.

 

[DTichborne]

I put this also in the "controversial opinions" thread but why is this even a controversial opinion? If you went to see Paul McCartney then this is what you saw... and even the big screens didn't help that much for any of the shots not taken from the stage.

[strummer77]

13 minutes ago, DTichborne said:

I put this also in the "controversial opinions" thread but why is this even a controversial opinion? If you went to see Paul McCartney then this is what you saw... and even the big screens didn't help that much for any of the shots not taken from the stage.

Exactly this. Said for a while you could have a few, tall, permanent flag poles to help people find their mates etc - with entered designs on. 

Loads of flags were indefensible even if you like flags - way to short, large or contained multiple flags. 

[DTichborne]

15 minutes ago, Barry Fish said:

It not really "hard" to police to be honest...

Security can cut a path through a crowd quite effectively if they want too if they want to intervene...

Its simple a choice for the festival organisers if they can be arsed or not.  Reality is its become a symbol of Glastonbury and I would imagine the organisers like the way it looks on TV and photos.

They're banned from the Arcadia field for safety reasons, it can totally be requested. 

As I said, I don't want loads of rules but if one rule of the festival is "don't be selfish to others" then surely this is not a big ask. 

[DTichborne]

17 minutes ago, Barry Fish said:

 

(removed double post) 

Edited June 27, 2022 by DTichborne
Site has double posted

[theglastokid]

The flags annoy me as they totally block your view but it's part of Glastonbury now I guess. They shouldn't be allowed in the tents though, just no need. Personally I can't see why people would want to walk around all day carrying it just so they can spot their flag on TV when they get back? Some will say it's so friends can find them easily enough but we had no flag and always managed to meet up.

[LetsGoToMars]

This was our view for Noel Gallagher.

The flags look great on TV but its shit for the people in the crowd. I think the organisers are more concerned with the former unfortunately. 

[willgooneday]

Glasto must be the only large UK festival where you can walk from campsite to arena without a proper arena check nowadays as a result of not really doing the whole arena day ticket shebang the rest do. Whilst that's probably one of the things that means it's unique it also means you're gonna get things like people with rucksacks and flags that would normally be left at the camp site. Last time I went to Download a bottle of water and a jumper was pretty much all I could get into the arena.  It also means you're gonna get more people doing drugs at stages, most festivals the diehard druggies hang about on the camp site. 

I'd imagine the local farmers and the police would never go for it but moving the campsites outside the super-fence could be a way to enable arena rules at the stages like most festivals as well as increase capacity. 

Edited June 27, 2022 by willgooneday

[LetsGoToMars]

For Macca we managed to get right near the front, in front of the safety barrier, so no issues with flags. Instead we had some dickhead who brought an acoustic guitar and waved it around for the whole gig.

 

 

[D-Low]

2 minutes ago, LetsGoToMars said:

For Macca we managed to get right near the front, in front of the safety barrier, so no issues with flags. Instead we had some dickhead who brought an acoustic guitar and waved it around for the whole gig.

 

 

The flags don't really bother me (pretty poor selection of funny/witty ones this year) but I saw that guitar holding w*nker earlier in the day too at Kae Tempest. Literally, why? Surely that's not enjoyable.

[Skoo]

That acoustic guitar was in the crowd for Turnstile too, at one point the singer crowd surfed and grabbed it for a bit, legend. 
 

I have zero beef with the flags. 

[Skoo]

5 minutes ago, willgooneday said:

Glasto must be the only large UK festival where you can walk from campsite to arena without a proper arena check nowadays as a result of not really doing the whole arena day ticket shebang the rest do. Whilst that's probably one of the things that means it's unique it also means you're gonna get things like people with rucksacks and flags that would normally be left at the camp site. Last time I went to Download a bottle of water and a jumper was pretty much all I could get into the arena.  It also means you're gonna get more people doing drugs at stages, most festivals the diehard druggies hang about on the camp site. 

I'd imagine the local farmers and the police would never go for it but moving the campsites outside the super-fence could be a way to enable arena rules at the stages like most festivals as well as increase capacity. 

The day they do this is the day I stop going.