People who have hated Glastonbury

[Jay Pee]

3 minutes ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

As much as I love it, I can equally see why someone would hate it just as much. Mud, adverse weather conditions, a lot of walking, lugging all of your heavy equipment for miles, living in a tent for five days, setting up, taking down, queues, crowds, unsanitary living conditions, lack of sleep, mentally and physically draining, inhumane toilet facilities, limited shower availability...

It ain't for everyone.

A good few of those are why I want to go 🙂

Not sure about the inhumane toilets shout. It ain't that bad. It's no triple quilted shite roll but a reality check on how pampered we are in regular life

[Punksnotdead]

Absolutely right. Not everyone loves it, and we shouldn't judge them if they don't. It's probably just as well, imagine if 40 million people were trying to get tickets in October!

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

Just now, Jay Pee said:

A good few of those are why I want to go 🙂

Not sure about the inhumane toilets shout. It ain't that bad. It's no triple quilted shite roll but a reality check on how pampered we are in regular life

Yeah, I'll take the "pampered" version all day long. 

But I agree with you, the test of character is a part of what makes it great. I often use the "Glasto-scale" as a discomfort level barometer for normal life. Is it worse that Glastonbury? Nope. Then crack on.

[Jay Pee]

1 minute ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

Yeah, I'll take the "pampered" version all day long. 

But I agree with you, the test of character is a part of what makes it great. I often use the "Glasto-scale" as a discomfort level barometer for normal life. Is it worse that Glastonbury? Nope. Then crack on.

The fitness for Glastonbury thread can be a bit tiresome with ultra marathon type anecdotes but taking that out of the equation, there is a lot to be said for making an effort to be peaking fitness wise in mid June.

It can be an exhausting week especially if wet and if one isn't physically prepared it can end up a bad experience. 

[WestCountryGirl]

My fiancé's Mum went at some point in the mid-80s and hated it - all she's said to me about it is that she spent most of the time at her tent!

Doesn't surprise me. She's quite alternative in her ways, but not a fan of anything too busy. Much like her son!

[giantkatestacks]

Took my son for the first time when he was 11, in 2016. He enjoyed some of the music but hated the crowds and the lack of showers and we had to leave on Sunday to get him back to school which meant he missed Coldplay which annoyed him even further!

He now refuses to come to any festivals with us after years of smaller festivals like Shambala and Green Man. 

[Wanderlei]

It's nice when you go with someone who hates it and slowly learns to love it. That's what happened with a girl I went with for a few years. That first day I thought she'd be a nightmare for the whole festival, but she embraced it more and more, and came to another couple of Glastos with me. 

[Beerqueen]

21 minutes ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

As much as I love it, I can equally see why someone would hate it just as much. Mud, adverse weather conditions, a lot of walking, lugging all of your heavy equipment for miles, living in a tent for five days, setting up, taking down, queues, crowds, unsanitary living conditions, lack of sleep, mentally and physically draining, inhumane toilet facilities, limited shower availability...

It ain't for everyone.

I think probably half the people I know wouldn't even camp in a proper campsite with full facilities.   But when you add in all the rest that you describe, it's quite a small percentage who would enjoy it really.

[Jay Pee]

1 minute ago, giantkatestacks said:

Took my son for the first time when he was 11, in 2016. He enjoyed some of the music but hated the crowds and the lack of showers and we had to leave on Sunday to get him back to school which meant he missed Coldplay which annoyed him even further!

He now refuses to come to any festivals with us after years of smaller festivals like Shambala and Green Man. 

Completely relate to that. I still say if you do the figures on Bearded Theory it's all there.

Bands, travel time to get there, price of pint, price of food, walk from the tent to stage, people who get it, location, atmosphere.. it's an absolute win across the board. Love it 

But is isn't on a layline within sight of the Tor with the history etc etc.

 

[Beerqueen]

3 minutes ago, Jay Pee said:

Completely relate to that. I still say if you do the figures on Bearded Theory it's all there.

Bands, travel time to get there, price of pint, price of food, walk from the tent to stage, people who get it, location, atmosphere.. it's an absolute win across the board. Love it 

But is isn't on a layline within sight of the Tor with the history etc etc.

 

I agree, I love BT as it is very manageable and so much less exhausting.  I love Glasto but certainly wouldn't want to do it twice in a year.  So Glasto, BT, and Farmer Phil's (my local festival which is small and easy to do) is great for me.  All have the same festival family vibe.  Each give me a real feel good vibe.

[Gnomicide]

My mate's been 3 times, enjoys it but not as much as he likes smaller ones like Bearded. If you could rope off Avalon and charge a third of the ticket price, he'd go back. The effort v reward isn't worth it. 

[gfa]

23 minutes ago, Beerqueen said:

I think probably half the people I know wouldn't even camp in a proper campsite with full facilities.   But when you add in all the rest that you describe, it's quite a small percentage who would enjoy it really.

Small but growing percentage though, 20 years ago nowhere near as many young people were going to festivals - now in the UK over one and a half million people go to one (or more!) each year I think.

Edited April 10, 2022 by gfa

[Beerqueen]

1 minute ago, gfa said:

Small but growing percentage though, 20 years ago nowhere near as many young people were going to festivals - now in the UK over one and a half million people go to one or more every year I think.

Oh I agree, festivals in general are much more mainstream now.  I never thought of going to a festival when I was young, I was 40 before I did!  I regret not going earlier but when I was young I thought Glasto was for edgy, cool, non-mainstream people not boring people like me!

[gfa]

1 minute ago, Beerqueen said:

Oh I agree, festivals in general are much more mainstream now.  I never thought of going to a festival when I was young, I was 40 before I did!  I regret not going earlier but when I was young I thought Glasto was for edgy, cool, non-mainstream people not boring people like me!

Haha - its interesting to think about who from my group will be still doing them in a few years time, let alone when i'm like 40! There's two of us who will be going as long as possible but one person I can see this being their last potentially.

[dogeggs]

Had a few that didn’t like it enough to return…but the one that stands out is my best mates wife. Turns out she really didn’t like the crowds or the mud. 

She hated it all so much that she pretty much ruined the whole weekend for him - saying she’d had enough and was leaving. she’d go back to the tent, he followed - she’d start packing and he’d try to convince her to stay…That was the routine from Friday onwards. 

He was prepared to leave with her if she went, but loved it there enough that he had to at least try different solutions to get her to hang it out til Sunday. 

The saddest part for me is my mate, who loves it there as much as I do…but didn’t really know what to do for the best at the time. In hindsight they should’ve just gone - but nothing felt that straightforward at the time. He’d been coming with me every year since 2002 but hasn’t been back since that year with his wife.
Every year he texts me on the Monday to ask how it was and that one year he’d like to come back. Heartbreaking.

[am00]

54 minutes ago, Jay Pee said:

A good few of those are why I want to go 🙂

Not sure about the inhumane toilets shout. It ain't that bad. It's no triple quilted shite roll but a reality check on how pampered we are in regular life

It's triple quilted if you bring the triple quilted in your bag with you....the little things can help! 

[Matt42]

8 minutes ago, dogeggs said:

Had a few that didn’t like it enough to return…but the one that stands out is my best mates wife. Turns out she really didn’t like the crowds or the mud. 

She hated it all so much that she pretty much ruined the whole weekend for him - saying she’d had enough and was leaving. she’d go back to the tent, he followed - she’d start packing and he’d try to convince her to stay…That was the routine from Friday onwards. 

He was prepared to leave with her if she went, but loved it there enough that he had to at least try different solutions to get her to hang it out til Sunday. 

The saddest part for me is my mate, who loves it there as much as I do…but didn’t really know what to do for the best at the time. In hindsight they should’ve just gone - but nothing felt that straightforward at the time. He’d been coming with me every year since 2002 but hasn’t been back since that year with his wife.
Every year he texts me on the Monday to ask how it was and that one year he’d like to come back. Heartbreaking.

Happy for someone to explain to me why I’m wrong but the wife is badly in the wrong here. She could let him go without her but I bet she doesn’t, probably something she likes to hold against him. Sounds like a poor relationship to me.

[Beerqueen]

4 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Happy for someone to explain to me why I’m wrong but the wife is badly in the wrong here. She could let him go without her but I bet she doesn’t, probably something she likes to hold against him. Sounds like a poor relationship to me.

I was typing a response to the original post along the lines of "I hate some of my fellow females who do the whole drama-queen, poor me stuff".  Sounds like she portrayed herself as the poor little thing who was not enjoying herself and her husband wasn't allowed to enjoy himself either.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Beerqueen

[Smeble]

Friends we went with in 2007 have never been since, partly the weather and mostly the lack of lineup before ticket day, yes yes I know, We have had that conversation. They go to Download every year but stay in a hotel rather than camp, one is a huge sick note, blames any number of ailments for not turning up to anything she doesn’t want to go to. We have given up asking them if they will try on t day. Spent most of 2007 sat in their tents avoiding the rain.

[dogeggs]

26 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Happy for someone to explain to me why I’m wrong but the wife is badly in the wrong here. She could let him go without her but I bet she doesn’t, probably something she likes to hold against him. Sounds like a poor relationship to me.

Nah, the decision to stop was his alone I believe. ‘Just give it a break for a year or so, then come back on my own one day’ was what he said at first if I remember, but that was back around 2014/15.
 

Other stuff happened at home for him, they’re happy with a kid now. I think he’s probably just moved on from it all. But if he’s like me - he won’t ever say never. 

That said, I try not to ask - or bring it up just incase it bums him out or comes across like I’m rubbing his face in it. Likewise I don’t think I’d want to hear that he’s hung his wellies up for good. I think we’re both content thinking ‘one day maybe he’ll be back’.
 

 

Edited April 10, 2022 by dogeggs

[dogeggs]

26 minutes ago, Beerqueen said:

I was typing a response to this along the lines of "I hate some of my fellow females who do the whole drama-queen, poor me stuff".  Sounds like she portrayed herself as the poor little thing who was not enjoying herself and her husband wasn't allowed to enjoy himself either.

She’s lovely. Just struggled with it massively and was prepared to go home alone, but he would’ve insisted on going with her. I’d be the same (Luckily my wife loves Glastonbury too though). He tried his best to find alternative ways for them to stay that avoided her biggest issues. They lasted til Sunday so they both compromised, but it ended with neither of them really enjoying themselves. Just a horrible place to discover you can’t cope with huge crowds, as you can’t always avoid it that easily.

As for drama queens - I camped with a couple in 2005. They were back home by Saturday tea time 😂.

[Beerqueen]

Just now, dogeggs said:

She’s lovely. Just struggled with it massively and was prepared to go home alone, but he would’ve insisted on going with her. I’d be the same (Luckily my wife loves Glastonbury too though). He tried his best to find alternative ways for them to stay that avoided her biggest issues. They lasted til Sunday so they both compromised, but it ended with neither of them really enjoying themselves. Just a horrible place to discover you can’t cope with huge crowds, as you can’t always avoid it that easily.

As for drama queens - I camped with a couple in 2005. They were back home by Saturday tea time 😂.

Sorry, I obviously misjudged her, I just had a certain image in my head which I shouldn't have. 

[dogeggs]

3 minutes ago, Beerqueen said:

Sorry, I obviously misjudged her, I just had a certain image in my head which I shouldn't have. 

All good, my original post was pretty vague so it’s easy to reach that conclusion. If anything the fact she isn’t just a selfish cow is worse -

Two lovely people finding out they’re in an impossible situation…at Glastonbury of all places…makes the whole thing sadder to me. 

[Beaver89]

Thankfully we've never had a nightmare 'hating it' person in our crew (yet) ...unless I've forgotten someone...

That said one of the guys I first went with back in 2008 never came back but that was a simple "glad I've done it, it's not for me". As we know, it's not for everyone. I'm just glad he didn't have a terrible time while there.

It's an interesting form of gratefulness to have that we haven't had any significant drama (yet) although at least one mate has had a ruined weekend at the hands of his girlfriend at the time - they did not last long for a multitude of reasons. (He is now married and she loves the festival so it all ended well). 

Reading the thread, I really feel for those who don't handle crowds or certain vibes and so leave or hide in the tent as with a little guided hand there is a field and space for everyone. Don't like loud music and crowds? Try the green and healing fields. Want that small festival vibe - try Avalon and Acoustic and Williams Green with a little nip to West Holts for the big stage feel - or even camp towars the edge of Park Home and stay up there! Can't stand the rain, mud and toilets?... ummmm... have they never heard of the festival? (NFR NFC!!!)

I'm only saying 'yet' above as a virtual 'touch-wood' but anyone causing drama with us would be directed to the bus rank pretty quickly after suitable attempts to accommodate any issues as suggested above. But I also think anyone who could cause any of that would be discouraged a lot earlier in the process to avoid it in the first place.

[Beaver89]

11 minutes ago, dogeggs said:

Just a horrible place to discover you can’t cope with huge crowds, as you can’t always avoid it that easily.

I had a fear with my partner that she might go down this route the first year she came with us as she doesn't (didn't) really do crowds and had panicked in gig crowds before. She was crying a bit during Arctic Monkeys (not just because she doesn't like them!) as she was completely overwhelmed by the scale of everything. It probably helped that she was with a small group who knew the festival inside out and iirc she stood in the middle of us to get some safe space (and come to terms with being subjected to Alex Turner). She obviously wasn't going to go off by herself on her first night and the group was unanimous.

She has since said it definitely worked out for the best as it meant she could get used to it and then knew what to expect for The Rolling Stones the next night. Now that crowd - that one even shocked the veterans! She also absolutely loves the festival now with 4 under her belt now too and excited for June!

An aside - in that Stones crowd, somehow a mate of us arrived late, found us, passed out, left, returned, passed out again, left and returned all within probably 30 minutes. We still aren't sure how and we still don't believe he hadn't taken something. (Suggested alternative was dehydration and exhaustion.)