Camper van field distance

[eyelovefests]

Hi, sorry, I’m sure this has been asked plenty of times before but I can’t find anything on it. 
 

first time in a camper van this year. We’re in east. If we end up right at the back, how long can we expect the walk to the gate for the festival to take? Roughly. Obviously everyone walks at different speeds, distractions along the way. Mud!! 
 

Thanks 😊 

[Brave Sir Robin]

Right at the back, I'd say 25 mins. It doesn't matter too much, as wherever you are in the CV fields it's long enough of a walk that you won't come back during the day, ie you only do that walk at the beginning and end of the day.

[eyelovefests]

Thank you! Is it not an easy pop back if you were down that way then? Even down near the front 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

Just now, eyelovefests said:

Thank you! Is it not an easy pop back if you were down that way then? Even down near the front 

The issue isn’t so much the distance from your van to the gate, it’s getting through the gate as well and then gate C might be miles away from where you are when you decide you want to pop back. It could genuinely lose you a couple of hours going back to your van and back from certain areas of the site.

[Smeble]

Yeah 25 mins is about right, the bigger pain is the plethora of paperwork you need to get through Gate C, it’s fine as long as you don’t lose or forget any of it. You get a wristband but you need your ticket as well, and for some reason a random pass out thing which serves no purpose at all other than to be a right PITA if you lose it.

going back to your van during the day is not worth the hassle, take everything in first thing in the morning and use the lock ups.

[eyelovefests]

Ah yeah! Didn’t think about all the hassle of getting through the gate each time. I did know the camper van fields are “outside” the festival area but didn’t put those two facts together. 
 

Thanks all. Big help 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

10 minutes ago, Smeble said:

Yeah 25 mins is about right, the bigger pain is the plethora of paperwork you need to get through Gate C, it’s fine as long as you don’t lose or forget any of it. You get a wristband but you need your ticket as well, and for some reason a random pass out thing which serves no purpose at all other than to be a right PITA if you lose it.

going back to your van during the day is not worth the hassle, take everything in first thing in the morning and use the lock ups.

The pass out does have a purpose, without it in theory you could go through the gate get your wristband and then pass your ticket and wristband back to somebody by chucking it over the fence or whatever who could then gain access. The pass out shows that you’ve actually legitimately passed through the gates already to get your wristband and enter the site.

[gooner1990]

51 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

The issue isn’t so much the distance from your van to the gate, it’s getting through the gate as well and then gate C might be miles away from where you are when you decide you want to pop back. It could genuinely lose you a couple of hours going back to your van and back from certain areas of the site.

Some friends of ours decided in 2017 that after the Foo Fighters headline set they would go back to their campervan for jumpers, booze and more 'supplies' and then meet us at The Glade.

I can recall them getting back to us over 2 hours later and they all agreed that it had been a stupid waste of time and should have just bought booze at bars and bought a cheap £10 jumper each off one of the stalls as they missed more than half the night out.

The fact that they were all already wasted did not help in their efficiency! 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

6 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

Some friends of ours decided in 2017 that after the Foo Fighters headline set they would go back to their campervan for jumpers, booze and more 'supplies' and then meet us at The Glade.

I can recall them getting back to us over 2 hours later and they all agreed that it had been a stupid waste of time and should have just bought booze at bars and bought a cheap £10 jumper each off one of the stalls as they missed more than half the night out.

The fact that they were all already wasted did not help in their efficiency! 

Yeah I stayed in a pre-pitched caravan once  and a similar thing happened to a couple of my mates. For some reason they went back for a shower and were gone for hours, they said they heard the Libertines walking back but didn’t realise it was actually them. It’s such a faff it just really isn’t worth it.

[gooner1990]

5 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

Yeah I stayed in a pre-pitched caravan once  and a similar thing happened to a couple of my mates. For some reason they went back for a shower and were gone for hours, they said they heard the Libertines walking back but didn’t realise it was actually them. It’s such a faff it just really isn’t worth it.

I think sometimes in your wasted state you convince yourself that going back to a campervan/campsite or whatever won't take that long..because it didn't take that long when you went out at 11am.....then when you get going you realise that due to drunk/stoned/highness, big crowds, mud etc and it being dark that it takes fucking ages. 

I've done it myself in the past, which is why now I usually do any sort of jumpers/booze run earlier in the evening than a post headline mission as it either takes ages, or even in one case get back and can't be arsed to go back out again and end up just sitting at the campsite or going to bed!

[BlueDaze]

Lock ups are your friend...

[Crazyfool01]

There is of course the possibility that the pass out might be scrapped this year isnt there ? if they use those new wristbands ? 

[Smeble]

7 hours ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

The pass out does have a purpose, without it in theory you could go through the gate get your wristband and then pass your ticket and wristband back to somebody by chucking it over the fence or whatever who could then gain access. The pass out shows that you’ve actually legitimately passed through the gates already to get your wristband and enter the site.

Anyone could do that, the pass out thing in no way stops that. 

[incident]

2 hours ago, crazyfool1 said:

There is of course the possibility that the pass out might be scrapped this year isnt there ? if they use those new wristbands ? 

Yeah, that's likely to happen either this year or next.

Scanning wristbands in and out removes the practical purpose of the passout, and has already replaced them at most other festivals - the only reason I think they might keep passouts this year is just because Glastonbury is a far more complex beast than any other festival including the gates and so they may want to be certain that the wristband scanning works as desired at scale.

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

6 hours ago, Smeble said:

Anyone could do that, the pass out thing in no way stops that. 

Think about it properly for a second, of course it does.

Ask anyone who has lost their pass out what a nightmare it is and what scrutiny you are then put under to get back in.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Deaf Nobby Burton

[gooner1990]

8 hours ago, incident said:

Yeah, that's likely to happen either this year or next.

Scanning wristbands in and out removes the practical purpose of the passout, and has already replaced them at most other festivals - the only reason I think they might keep passouts this year is just because Glastonbury is a far more complex beast than any other festival including the gates and so they may want to be certain that the wristband scanning works as desired at scale.

I had an RFID wristband thing in 2019 as I was working and camped outside the main fence....worked fine and was very efficient, but then they didn't have many to do as it was just workers that had them.

Proof in the pudding will be if the tech can handle everyone having them!

[Neil]

19 hours ago, Brave Sir Robin said:

Right at the back, I'd say 25 mins. It doesn't matter too much, as wherever you are in the CV fields it's long enough of a walk that you won't come back during the day, ie you only do that walk at the beginning and end of the day.

a good one kis about 15 mins from the gate, the hill adds a bit of time.

[Neil]

9 hours ago, incident said:

Yeah, that's likely to happen either this year or next.

Scanning wristbands in and out removes the practical purpose of the passout, and has already replaced them at most other festivals - the only reason I think they might keep passouts this year is just because Glastonbury is a far more complex beast than any other festival including the gates and so they may want to be certain that the wristband scanning works as desired at scale.

i think they'll want to try and squash the scams going on with those wristbands before they roll them out more widely.

[Brave Sir Robin]

18 hours ago, eyelovefests said:

Ah yeah! Didn’t think about all the hassle of getting through the gate each time. I did know the camper van fields are “outside” the festival area but didn’t put those two facts together. 
 

Thanks all. Big help 

No worries. I enjoy the ease, peace and comfort of the CV fields sufficiently to put up with the extra walk, but coming back in the day is very much a last resort as others have said. As @Smeble and @BlueDaze say, you can drop stuff in the lockups, they'll take absolutely anything. Handily there is one just inside PGate C where you come in. Although personally I find even the queues for those a bit of a pain, and tend to just lug my stuff for the day (booze and a hoodie essentially) around in a day sack.

[Brave Sir Robin]

51 minutes ago, Neil said:

a good one kis about 15 mins from the gate, the hill adds a bit of time.

Yeah I think we were only 10 mins once. How do you get in that first field at the top of the HoD, is it staff and disabled only, or is that the very first family campers who get in?

[Neil]

5 minutes ago, Brave Sir Robin said:

Yeah I think we were only 10 mins once. How do you get in that first field at the top of the HoD, is it staff and disabled only, or is that the very first family campers who get in?

best i've got is the field beyond the disabled one, and you get in that field by driving to that field.

 

[BlueDaze]

5 hours ago, Brave Sir Robin said:

Yeah I think we were only 10 mins once. How do you get in that first field at the top of the HoD, is it staff and disabled only, or is that the very first family campers who get in?

I am pretty sure E20 (on the actual hill) and E21 (first field at the top) are NOT just for general use... Closest i have ever been is first row of E23 or E19.. and i get there on Tuesday.

[StoneCircle]

3 hours ago, BlueDaze said:

I am pretty sure E20 (on the actual hill) and E21 (first field at the top) are NOT just for general use... Closest i have ever been is first row of E23 or E19.. and i get there on Tuesday.

You have mixed your fields up! E21 is on the actual hill, this is for staff, accessible (disabled) overflow and friends of the Eavis family. E20 is for anyone with a quiet pass and fills really quickly. I have been pitching in E21 since 2011 due to having access requirements. 

[StoneCircle]

9 hours ago, Brave Sir Robin said:

Yeah I think we were only 10 mins once. How do you get in that first field at the top of the HoD, is it staff and disabled only, or is that the very first family campers who get in?

E21 is for staff, accessible (disabled) overflow and recently friends of the Eavis family. 

[Neil]

3 minutes ago, StoneCircle said:

, accessible (disabled) overflow

not very accessible with that hill, not sure anyone could push me up it in my chair.