People who have hated Glastonbury

[micropizza]

One year a group of friends invited new people, when one of them arrived it looked like they'd spent hundreds on new camping gear that the internet told her to get, spent ages unpacking loads of crap but then it rained and she didnt like the mud so she left, leaving all her setup behind.

ON THURSDAY.

[Barneym]

18 minutes ago, NickM45 said:

Reminds me of Nathan Barley and the rise of the idiots. They should have popped a couple of pingers - would have made for a more interesting vid.

Ha I’d have loved to have seen that, goes from Adel to fuck it I’m lost in the Common but I’ve just met this bloke and he is my best mate now so it’s all good

[gooner1990]

5 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

We were nearer the top of Pennards that year.

We were camped in Kidney Mead....I got VERY drunk at the cider bus on the Thursday night, so drunk to the point that when I went to walk up the side of the (empty) Pyramid field back to our camp, I wobbled to the side, fell in a ditch and eventually had to be pulled out by some kind Oxfam stewards. 

After much piss taking by my mates, I was put to bed... in my drunk state one of my friends just opened my tent, threw me in and zipped it back up again, I woke up fully clothed on top of my sleeping bag wondering why my leg was vibrating....turned out I was asleep on my phone and it was ringing....I came round and answered it, and was my mother sounding very worried:

Mother 'are you ok?'

Me: 'yes, well, you've just woken me up and I think I have a hangover'

(Its at this point I remember she's in Cyprus on holiday')

Mother: 'Well I'm watching Sky news in the hotel bar and they are showing Glastonbury is flooded,  I just wanted to check you hadn't been washed away'

Me: 'its flooded? I didn't even know it was raining'

Mother: 'well I thought you would be exactly the person to know it was raining given you are there'

I then stuck my head out of the tent to see it absolutely lashing it down, assured my mother I was fine, took a big gulp of water and went back to sleep for another three hours' 

😄 

[gooner1990]

15 minutes ago, Spindles said:

I took a first timer in 2017 and he made a similar comment.  He had a fantastic time, even though he barely saw a single gig, made friends with camp mates and spent most of his festival sitting round the campsite chatting and hoovering up lines of anything offered.  He loved the SE corner, had the time of his life on a few nights out and that was enough for him.

I think that's the beauty of Glastonbury to be honest.  It doesn't have to be about seeing gigs in a field or going full tilt every night in the SE corner, it can be about whatever YOU enjoy spending your time doing. As an old git most would probably consider my festival activities boring as fuck, I wander round during the day, see a few bands, retiring occasionally to the greenfields for a cuppa and a smoke, after the headliners I'm usually back at camp for a chat before bed and I've not been up til dawn in a few years.

There's something for everyone at Glastonbury, just a shame that some people don't find it.  I think a part of that is that for first timers it's easy to focus too much on the main stages.

I used to find it funny in the early days of me festivalling (not specific to Glastonbury) people sat there with  the mini-guide and a pen circuling acts they needed to see and a POA of making sure getting from one stage to another in good time for each act.

I just couldn't personally do that, sure there are a few 'must-see's but the rest of the time I just wander about and look to see who's on as otherwise I just get annoyed at myself for missing too much because of crowds/mud/drunkness etc

[clarkete]

1 hour ago, kalifire said:

I'm slightly fearful this might happen to me this year. I'm taking my ex. Her ticket was a gift I gave her before we split and since we remain good friends, I'm honouring it. But it means she's not especially invested, given she's getting in for free and hasn't been before. Her reaction to the line up is that she wasn't "taken with it", which is fine. It's because she hardly knows any of the acts, so she's been going through the Glasto playlist on Spotify for the last few weeks. Still, there are apparently "no standouts".

I know she doesn't have any time for dance music, values her sleep to the point she won't go without, and insists she won't be able to get through it all without at least one shower.

All of that is OK individually, but I'm just slightly concerned that it could develop into some kind of perfect storm and cause her to write it all off. Luckily she does enjoy a variety of music, loves to dance salsa, and is totally into environmental stuff, so I'm encouraging her to focus on areas of the site that will speak to her. I've also reminded her to bring earplugs.

Well there's only a tiny proportion of the line up, as we know there's sure to be something she likes, plus the non music stuff which you say is up her street. 

You in WV or a van, or got another shower solution? 

Edited April 11, 2022 by clarkete

[philipsteak]

1 hour ago, Mardy said:

What annoys me most is that I think they were probably on comp/hospitality tickets. Pretty sure they didn't even fucking pay. It's enough to make you want to join ISIS, really.

A few years back my work went through a phase of comping stays for blogger/vlogger types. They were all, without exception, fucking awful. The only variance was how awful.

Thankfully we seem to have grown out of it now. 

[Mardy]

4 minutes ago, philipsteak said:

A few years back my work went through a phase of comping stays for blogger/vlogger types. They were all, without exception, fucking awful. The only variance was how awful.

Thankfully we seem to have grown out of it now. 

hehehe, it's all a bit too close to this

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p04txm0s/pls-like-series-1-1-how-to-become-a-superstar-vlogger

[Hugh Jass II]

33 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

I used to find it funny in the early days of me festivalling (not specific to Glastonbury) people sat there with  the mini-guide and a pen circuling acts they needed to see and a POA of making sure getting from one stage to another in good time for each act.

When I was younger I would work to almost military precision in terms of who I wanted to see, where and when. I often felt that any time spent not watching a band was wasted time. It was far too stressful, and knackering to boot, was often burnt out by the Sunday.

These days I'm a lot more relaxed. I like to have a broad plan, but that's usually a couple of must sees and a few things that I wouldn't mind seeing but wouldn't be devastated if I got waylaid elsewhere. 

[Jacksamthompson]

Great thread guys. In my head peoeple are stupid to go straight into Glasto without doing another big festival beforehand to make sure you actually like em. I think a lot of festival virgins dont appreciate actually how much of the weekend is taken up sluming it 'camping'. 

[jfaragher]

1 hour ago, gigpusher said:

That video made my heart sad. The absolute worst bit is at one point I thought to be fair to them they probably still saw more of the site than some people who go every year. 

1 hour ago, NickM45 said:

Reminds me of Nathan Barley and the rise of the idiots. They should have popped a couple of pingers - would have made for a more interesting vid.

1 hour ago, Jay Pee said:

Yep, don't watch.  Horrific video

I'm going to go against the trend here and say that this video makes me happy, because it reminds me that Glastonbury is for everyone, we all get to do it our own way, and everyone's experience is different.

Can't say they're the kind of people I'd willingly go out for a pint with though tbh.

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, Jacksamthompson said:

Great thread guys. In my head peoeple are stupid to go straight into Glasto without doing another big festival beforehand to make sure you actually like em. I think a lot of festival virgins dont appreciate actually how much of the weekend is taken up sluming it 'camping'. 

I’ve pretty much done only Glastonbury… I worry anything else would be disappointing … I did do beautiful days last year and was a little underwhelmed … although I still enjoyed it … I did come away with some energy left though which is entirely sapped at Glastonbury 

[squirrelarmy]

3 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

I’ve pretty much done only Glastonbury… I worry anything else would be disappointing … I did do beautiful days last year and was a little underwhelmed … although I still enjoyed it … I did come away with some energy left though which is entirely sapped at Glastonbury 

I used to do Leeds fest yearly and thought it was the best thing ever until I did Glastonbury. 
 

There’s no other festival in the country on the same scale. 

[Jacksamthompson]

3 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

I’ve pretty much done only Glastonbury… I worry anything else would be disappointing … I did do beautiful days last year and was a little underwhelmed … although I still enjoyed it … I did come away with some energy left though which is entirely sapped at Glastonbury 

On the other hand... going to other (lesser) festivals upholds your love for glasto! Ive been to loads of other festivals, but havent got lucky with glasto tickets before. Ive hyped this up so much i dont think anything can live up to it unfortunately. 

[Jay Pee]

16 minutes ago, jfaragher said:

I'm going to go against the trend here and say that this video makes me happy, because it reminds me that Glastonbury is for everyone, we all get to do it our own way, and everyone's experience is different.

Can't say they're the kind of people I'd willingly go out for a pint with though tbh.

I am still struggling to come to terms with the fact that oxygen thieves make a living out of doing shit and uploading it.

Not sure who are the biggest offenders?  the content providers or the content watchers?

just having a Stewart Lee moment.  

[am00]

3 hours ago, Smeble said:

There’s a video on YouTube from a few years back of a vlogger couple who literally just turned up for the day on the Saturday, essentially just to vlog and say they had ‘done Glastonbury’ I can only think the reasoning behind that is they hate festivals, hate camping and just want to ‘be seen’. Such a waste of a ticket. Hopefully they have never been back and leave tickets for people who actually want to go.

I came across this recently I think? They arrived one afternoon and went home the next?! 

...waste of a ticket was the first thing I thought of !! 

[jfaragher]

1 minute ago, Jay Pee said:

I am still struggling to come to terms with the fact that oxygen thieves make a living out of doing shit and uploading it.

Everyone's got bills to pay, everyone's got to eat.  There are plenty of careers that are worse, and at least they're not actively fucking over the planet or exploiting vulnerable people.

Not saying they're not pricks, but fair play to them if they can get away with swanning about doing fun shit as a job.

[GT3]

11 minutes ago, Jacksamthompson said:

Great thread guys. In my head peoeple are stupid to go straight into Glasto without doing another big festival beforehand to make sure you actually like em. I think a lot of festival virgins dont appreciate actually how much of the weekend is taken up sluming it 'camping'. 

 

For me it was the opposite, I stupidly turned down a chance to get Glastonbury tickets for years due to previously having a bad experience at a couple of other festivals including Creamfields due to various restrictions such as entering arenas with various searches, not allowed to bring your own drinks, huge queues at bars, limited amounts of portaloos, no music after dark, groups of troublemakers round campsites etc. 

Anyway luckily I decided to give Glastonbury a go in 2015 and was amazed that it was nothing like any other festival I’ve been to with complete freedom to do whatever you want for 5 days with a fantastic friendly atmosphere everywhere. I’ve been every Glastonbury since despite having very little interest in attending any other festival again.

[crocodiles]

18 hours ago, JoeyT said:

My Wife has been with me 3 times I think. She doesn’t hate it but equally doesn’t love it either and whatever any of us think £280+ is a lot of money to shell out if you’re hearts not in it.

Having said this, 2016 was her last one and all of the ones she’d previously attended had involved rain. Obviously the 2 festivals since she hasn’t been have had unbelievable weather so if her not being there guarantees this then it’s a sacrifice I’m more than happy to make 😂

Similar I talked my wife into going 2016 not her cup of tea but she stuck with it and enjoyed despite the horrendous mud .

I did compromise by booking worthy view there was no way I wanted to risk trying to put up a tent in a rainstorm  and being surrounded by party people 🙃 😅. 

She said  that's done as a one off ....managed to get her back for 2017 and 2019 .

But that's her done . Not going this year but ticket gods allowing I'll be back in next couple of years . 

[gooner1990]

35 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

I’ve pretty much done only Glastonbury… I worry anything else would be disappointing … I did do beautiful days last year and was a little underwhelmed … although I still enjoyed it … I did come away with some energy left though which is entirely sapped at Glastonbury 

I think you need to lower your expectations with other festivals, have a look at my sig...I've done plenty of other festivals...commercial and independent, all good, none that I didn't like, just different. 

Festivals are what you make of them not purely just what's on offer in terms of live acts etc.

Some of my best memories from festivals just involve my friends and nothing to do with some world  famous artist on the main stage. 

[Crazyfool01]

9 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

I think you need to lower your expectations with other festivals, have a look at my sig...I've done plenty of other festivals...commercial and independent, all good, none that I didn't like, just different. 

Festivals are what you make of them not purely just what's on offer in terms of live acts etc.

Some of my best memories from festivals just involve my friends and nothing to do with some world  famous artist on the main stage. 

Maybe that was my issue with beautiful days … my festivals now are just me and best mate … at Glastonbury the times I’m not with him are filled with acts I’ve split from him to see … and the time I’m with him is great as he’s got his family so I don’t see so much of him … at beautifull days he had his daughter there so the downtime wasn’t quite the same …  

[gooner1990]

2 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

Maybe that was my issue with beautiful days … my festivals now are just me and best mate … at Glastonbury the times I’m not with him are filled with acts I’ve split from him to see … and the time I’m with him is great as he’s got his family so I don’t see so much of him … at beautifull days he had his daughter there so the downtime wasn’t quite the same …  

Sounds like you need to find new festival friends to go with!....isn't there some sort of 'camp solo' thing on here? Even if you're camped with your mate you could meet up with people from here seeing as your one of the more prominent users of this forum.

[Crazyfool01]

2 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

Sounds like you need to find new festival friends to go with!....isn't there some sort of 'camp solo' thing on here? Even if you're camped with your mate you could meet up with people from here seeing as your one of the more prominent users of this forum.

Oh for sure … this is gonna be a great year for meeting and bumping into people …. Soo looking forward to it 

[gigpusher]

53 minutes ago, jfaragher said:

I'm going to go against the trend here and say that this video makes me happy, because it reminds me that Glastonbury is for everyone, we all get to do it our own way, and everyone's experience is different.

Can't say they're the kind of people I'd willingly go out for a pint with though tbh.

Yes but only being there for 2 days and taking the time to watch 2 football matches!! I love that everyone can have different Glastonburys and I love that so many of us love the same place for entirely different reasons. I know there are people on here who would hate the way I do Glastonbury and I'd hate the way they do it but we all love it. 

I think it was the Glastonbury tick at the end that just made me sad because it felt like that's all i was to them. 

[Smeble]

1 hour ago, Jacksamthompson said:

Great thread guys. In my head peoeple are stupid to go straight into Glasto without doing another big festival beforehand to make sure you actually like em. I think a lot of festival virgins dont appreciate actually how much of the weekend is taken up sluming it 'camping'. 

2007 was our first festival, only ever been to day things before. Loved it despite the shit weather, But I agree if you are in any way doubtful that festivals are your thing then Glastonbury may not be the best first one.

[joeltg]

Me.....for not having a ticket this year. 😉