Crowd control issues

[Db79]

Also agree that some clearly big crowds have been put on small stages. Pyramid line up is pretty weak this year, it has the biggest field and best access so having acts like Wet Leg, TLC and Sugababes on there would probably have sorted some of the bottleneck issues.

[Ashl]

6 minutes ago, jparx said:

Yeah we’ve noticed a lot of this too. Just feels like way more people around, which either means they’ve sold too many tickets or too few crowd control measures. 

I also think they really cocked up with some of the artist/stage placements. Why on earth were Wet Leg so early on the park? And the Thursday Williams Green stuff needs to be scaled back or more acts of a similar level on different stages.

The vibe of the festival has been amazing and we’re having a blast, but it’s the first time I’ve noticed such big logistical issues.

Bizarrely Wet Leg was fine down the front not a crush in sight probably the best crowd I've been in!

[Alvoram]

Ok so as a first timer then, are these crazy crushes not normal?

Been in a couple already including the Arcadia one. We were at Williams Green all day Thursday, it was insanely busy. (Although you had to laugh at the youngsters rushing into the tent on opening only to walk back out with looks of disgust on their faces when they realised it was a movie! 😂)

We are enjoying it, a lot, but have both said that sometimes the crowds / crushes are a bit scary, do not feel well managed, and almost seem like a disaster waiting to happen. 

Edited June 25, 2022 by Alvoram

[Alvoram]

Also, is it possible that a lot more people have got in without (genuine) tickets? 

[Kalopsia]

Got caught in the awful Park/Arcadia crush last night, it was awful. Its never felt this bad before, I'm dreading tomorrow when the Sunday ticket holders come in with their chairs and blankets. 

[WM90V]

I’ve no idea what was happening for TLC but it was the most disgustingly rammo thing I’ve ever seen in my life. 

[JoBalls]

8 minutes ago, Ashl said:

Bizarrely Wet Leg was fine down the front not a crush in sight probably the best crowd I've been in!

It’s because you couldn’t get to the front through the crowd that had gathered further back 😂

I agree that some of the placements on the lineup, I know they have to spread stuff out but there have been some massive acts on smaller stages and it’s so dangerous, especially on Thursday when there’s nothing else going on. 

[evilduck]

Also got stuck in the park/Arcadia crush last night. That was madness, never felt that unsafe at Glasto before. My friend had a panic attack but we had to just keep going to get out. Wanted to hang around for Carl Cox but we ended up chilling halfway up the park before going home 

[Toilet Duck]

8 minutes ago, Db79 said:

Also agree that some clearly big crowds have been put on small stages. Pyramid line up is pretty weak this year, it has the biggest field and best access so having acts like Wet Leg, TLC and Sugababes on there would probably have sorted some of the bottleneck issues.

Everywhere is rammed though. I was up by the landsend bar for wet leg, there was indeed plenty of room closer in, but getting back out of the park took forever. Went back down to the pyramid for Crowded House and for an early afternoon Friday pyramid slot, their crowd was huge too. Wandered around to the other to see Supergrass and caught the end of first aid kit, crowd was nearly as big as it was for the Libs that morning (thankfully the repeaters make that a much better experience all the way back now). Thinned out a bit for Supergrass but still a massive crowd…everything after that was at capacity. It’s taking as long to get between stages as it would in a muddy year, but the whole site is open to walk on, just not at any pace. Still thoroughly enjoying every minute mind you!!

[Nessipessi]

Calvin Harris at the Arcadia tonight will be a disaster. I am not going anywhere near

[Kalopsia]

I've changed my plans to avoid acts I'm concerned about, Calvin Harris, Olivia Rodrigo, it's really a shame.

[Wooderson]

"Gap" from Pyramid through to Mandela Bar after Sam Fender only second time in more than a dozen fests ive felt things get out of hand. How many people are on site this year???

[Db79]

18 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

Ok so as a first timer then, are these crazy crushes not normal?

😂

Usually only pre or post headliner and/or the tracks to the late night areas. It doesn't happen between acts mid afternoon.

[kagey]

Really not enjoying this year

Caught up in Williams green,  trying to get a friend out of Wet Leg, TLC disaster, then Arcadia / The Park took the biscuit

Just rammed fields everywhere, not able to get close to the action if you want to stage hop,  never on all my times here has it been so bad

... and certainly bursting the Glasto bubble

[WestCountryGirl]

The only other time I had a crowd-panic moment (cause of my own issues with crowds) was leaving Adele in 2016, and that was because of the added mud element slowing everyone down.

I felt panicked yesterday leaving Crowded House - I was right down the front and as people were moving in for Wolf Alice, everyone just kept stopping still. I had no idea how far I was from the crowd thinning out, and people were pushing and generally not being cool about the situation. I can't imagine how bad the Arcadia/Park situation was.

Tried meeting friends for TLC and aborted mission, despite being in the field close to our meet spot, because it got too insane. Luckily caught the friend coming in as I was leaving and we just left via the quietest route and went and had a lovely drink and a chat.

I don't go in too much for the late night dance stuff, and I think after Macca tonight I'm just going to call it a night. The prospect of the crowd for Calvin at Arcadia seems like a genuine nightmare to me now.

[barcelonista1899]

5 minutes ago, Toilet Duck said:

 Went back down to the pyramid for Crowded House and for an early afternoon Friday pyramid slot, their crowd was huge too. 

Crowded House on the TV the crowd looked tiny.. crowd was broken up/empty past the sound desk.

I'm not there but my two cents are:

- Security/ stewards- if it's the same as last year there is still a big shortage after the pandemic, not to mention staff dropping out last minute with COVID. Was certainly the case last year. 

- Weak lineups and the shift to mainstream. I.e. Sugababes and TLC in previous years may have been considered 'novelty' acts which, if up against other strong acts maybe wouldn't have attracted larger crowds? Pyramid stage was piss poor yesterday.

- I think after so long maybe people just aren't used to big crowds and don't remember what it was like previously?  Queues have been insane for places for years at night... Maybe we're all just remembering things differently? 

 

 

[Mr.Tease]

9 minutes ago, Kalopsia said:

I've changed my plans to avoid acts I'm concerned about, Calvin Harris, Olivia Rodrigo, it's really a shame.

I'm not there this year, but I remember doing something similar in 2019, which I thought  seemed more crowded than the previous few years, especially on the Thursday- decided then there's no point in planning/trying to see anything on a Thursday in future, and instead would just potter about in quieter places. So it's not necessarily new.

Maybe everyone's (punters and stewards) a bit rusty too and not used to crowds and how to behave/act in large crowds due to the past 2 years of lockdowns and social distancing etc?

[Mr.Tease]

4 minutes ago, barcelonista1899 said:

Crowded House on the TV the crowd looked tiny.. crowd was broken up/empty past the sound desk.

I'm not there but my two cents are:

- Security/ stewards- if it's the same as last year there is still a big shortage after the pandemic, not to mention staff dropping out last minute with COVID. Was certainly the case last year. 

- Weak lineups and the shift to mainstream. I.e. Sugababes and TLC in previous years may have been considered 'novelty' acts which, if up against other strong acts maybe wouldn't have attracted larger crowds? Pyramid stage was piss poor yesterday.

- I think after so long maybe people just aren't used to big crowds and don't remember what it was like previously?  Queues have been insane for places for years at night... Maybe we're all just remembering things differently? 

 

 

I think this plays a role- crowds are the first thing I forget- nearly all my memories of Glastonbury I seem to 'forget' there were loads of other people about- it's only when I go back and look at the photos, everything looks rammed- in my mind it was just me pottering about with a smattering of other people!

[Alvoram]

4 minutes ago, Wooderson said:

"Gap" from Pyramid through to Mandela Bar after Sam Fender only second time in more than a dozen fests ive felt things get out of hand. How many people are on site this year???

I was there then too… It was similar after crowded house. I assumed this part was normal as people were swapping stages.

It’s the crushes at Intersections that surprised me, so many routes and yet nobody moving. Also the sheer density of crowds for acts that are too big for their stage is worrying. WG really was silly. We were very close to the tent, and the sound was just ‘ok,’ but a little low though. Looking backwards, there were thick crowds trying to see, for as far as I could see. I wondered how the sound was for them, as it felt like if we were 25 metres back, we’d have not been able to hear. 
 

3 minutes ago, Db79 said:

Usually only pre or post headliner and/or the tracks to the late night areas. It doesn't happen between acts mid afternoon.

Ahh well it was happening all day trying to exit pyramid at the Mandella bar!!! 

[kagey]

5 minutes ago, barcelonista1899 said:

 

Maybe we're all just remembering things differently? 

 

 

Absolutely 100% No

I've been festivalling for 30 odd years, and this is real shambles

Valid points about line up and scheduling defo making it worse, but these crowds are really bad and genuinely scarry at times

Won't be doing Arcadia again that's for sure

[Zoo Music Girl]

Sorry to hear these stories. Definitely a bit off-putting but I hope everyone stays safe and has a good time regardless.

I've been in bad bottleneck crushes at Glastonbury a couple of times but it's pretty rare. Amount I'm hearing about from last couple of days does sound unusual. I do remember 2019 feeling overall very busy, though, more so than usual. If they've added capacity since then, makes sense it will feel worse. But once somewhere adds capacity they don't often take it back down, do they?

I went to Primavera for the first time this year and everyone was saying very similar things re crowding. As I hadn't been before it was hard for me to judge it but the issue there.seemed to be they added more people but didn't really think through where everyone would go. There was a huge area of the festival 20 minutes walk away from the main stages that was usually pretty empty as everyone congregated in the main area. Sounds like similar issues with booking big bands on small stages and not giving much thought to how to spread the crowd effectively? On top of more people.

I do find it a bit mad that festivals are being careless with this stuff in general, especially since AstroWorld 😒 

[Orens]

Perhaps stage slotting/crowd control/security measures might have to do with the obvious loss of organizational knowledge that occurred to all festivals over the past 2 years. A lot of people in the business have had to switch jobs during the pandemic, and that made a lack of experience in operating a festival as complex as Glastonbury.

[Neville Street]

I agree with the two posters a couple above, sorry for anyone affected by the worst of the people jams. I can remember plenty from the last few years, we have just forgotten what it’s like to a certain degree.

Yesterday we managed  to criss cross the site and pack in Steve K & Seth L in CN, half of Crowded House on Pyramid, most of First Aid Kit on Other, Beans on Toast in Rabbit Hole, half of Arlo Parks on Park, a pint at the Cornish Arms, Sam Fender and Billie Eilish on Pyramid. I even managed a quick solo trip to see 4 Paul & Jacqui songs in Acoustic between Sam F and Billie and got back to our gang slap bang between the mixing desks at Pyramid before she started.

it’s busy, we just need to be patient and relearn how to deal with crowds. They even emailed us about it last week!!

Edited June 25, 2022 by Neville Street
Typos

[Zoo Music Girl]

2 minutes ago, Orens said:

Perhaps stage slotting/crowd control/security measures might have to do with the obvious loss of organizational knowledge that occurred to all festivals over the past 2 years. A lot of people in the business have had to switch jobs during the pandemic, and that made a lack of experience in operating a festival as complex as Glastonbury.

Makes sense. Key thing will be if the organisers listen to and learn from it. I would hope Glastonbury do. I had a fair few issues with Primavera and won't be back, but cherry on the top for me was their attitude about it post festival. There were huge issues with bar queues (especially first day) and overcrowding and they basically said people had forgotten how to do festivals and were used to just getting a beer from their fridge, which I found hugely patronising and insulting. Taking the learnings and improving is surely a big part of it.

[hodgey123]

Combination of poor scheduling and more people I guess. If TLC and Sugababes have barely any competition then of course people are going to flock there