Glastonbury 2022 - overcrowding rumours & thoughts

[LowerMead]

This was my tenth consecutive Glastonbury, I didn't notice any massive differences save for a few pinchpoints at specific points. 

The only way it really impacted me was missing Wet Leg.  I'd actually gone to see Orlando Weeks as I was a big fan of The Maccabees, but as soon as I arrived it was apparent that most people weren't there to see him, it was getting rammed by the minute and we were rather penned in against the Park Bar. I wanted to see Crowded House afterwards, it soon became apparent that there was no way I would get out, so ejected and had a real effort to get past the wave of people add headed up there, I saw on TV that it filled up beyond the ribbon tower - mostly with people all wanting to hear Chaise Longue.  If you were booking the stages today you'd probably put Wet Leg on a bigger stage, but these are the dynamics of festivals, sometimes a band rides the zeitgeist and lots of people want to see them. 

My only other grumble was not being able to get from William's Green to Avalon on Saturday night to see Beans On Toast, because of the one way system that had been put in, we would have had to go all through Shangri La to get there, in a massive crowd.   I know it's for everyone's collective safety but that whole hype of the South East corner means far too many people want to get there at the same time, in the dark, and many having been on the sauce all day. It's a bit of a recipe for chaos but I'm not sure what else they can really do, whilst those (very popular) late night aspects of the festival exist. 

As others have said, a combination of no mud/no extreme heat meant people were inclined to get around a bit more than they otherwise might have, with the consequent increase in crowds. 

Edited July 11, 2022 by LowerMead

[dotdash79]

4 minutes ago, LowerMead said:

My only other grumble was not being able to get from William's Green to Avalon on Saturday night to see Beans On Toast, because of the one way system that had been put in, we would have had to go all through Shangri La to get there, in a massive crowd.

I thought you can still get to Avalon without going into the one way system.

[alanr]

1 minute ago, dotdash79 said:

I thought you can still get to Avalon without going into the one way system.

I did it on Sunday night to see The Duellers on Avalon. Had to get into the 1-way system, as soon as I got on the railway line turned right then into Avalon. Didn't take much longer than usual.

[Johnnyseven]

2 hours ago, dotdash79 said:

I thought you can still get to Avalon without going into the one way system.

There's an entrance to Avalon through the markets from Greenpeace, did they close this off?

[Glastov2]

3 hours ago, LowerMead said:

This was my tenth consecutive Glastonbury, I didn't notice any massive differences save for a few pinchpoints at specific points. 

The only way it really impacted me was missing Wet Leg.  I'd actually gone to see Orlando Weeks as I was a big fan of The Maccabees, but as soon as I arrived it was apparent that most people weren't there to see him, it was getting rammed by the minute and we were rather penned in against the Park Bar. I wanted to see Crowded House afterwards, it soon became apparent that there was no way I would get out, so ejected and had a real effort to get past the wave of people add headed up there, I saw on TV that it filled up beyond the ribbon tower - mostly with people all wanting to hear Chaise Longue.  If you were booking the stages today you'd probably put Wet Leg on a bigger stage, but these are the dynamics of festivals, sometimes a band rides the zeitgeist and lots of people want to see them. 

My only other grumble was not being able to get from William's Green to Avalon on Saturday night to see Beans On Toast, because of the one way system that had been put in, we would have had to go all through Shangri La to get there, in a massive crowd.   I know it's for everyone's collective safety but that whole hype of the South East corner means far too many people want to get there at the same time, in the dark, and many having been on the sauce all day. It's a bit of a recipe for chaos but I'm not sure what else they can really do, whilst those (very popular) late night aspects of the festival exist. 

As others have said, a combination of no mud/no extreme heat meant people were inclined to get around a bit more than they otherwise might have, with the consequent increase in crowds. 

Another mindless bit of a scheduling. Given Wet Leg's well-known popularity, especially among the general Glastonbury demographic, they should have been upgraded to a much bigger stage. The sound was a complete shambles too.

[clarkete]

Just now, Glastov2 said:

Another mindless bit of a scheduling. Given Wet Leg's well-known popularity, especially among the general Glastonbury demographic, they should have been upgraded to a much bigger stage. The sound was a complete shambles too.

That's been discussed previously... 

 

[CaledonianGonzo]

40 minutes ago, Glastov2 said:

Another mindless bit of a scheduling. Given Wet Leg's well-known popularity, especially among the general Glastonbury demographic, they should have been upgraded to a much bigger stage. The sound was a complete shambles too.

Every act playing on a stage and billing exactly suited to their size just further robs the festival of magic as you lose the opportunity to see bigger bands on the small stages.

[Glastov2]

27 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Every act playing on a stage and billing exactly suited to their size just further robs the festival of magic as you lose the opportunity to see bigger bands on the small stages.

Or see them at all?!

[Glastov2]

1 hour ago, clarkete said:

That's been discussed previously... 

 

If that's true, I'm very surprised the festival buckled on that. Surely the punters' experience is more important than what is, in the grand scheme of things a fairly small act. Small enough to play that early on the Park as well...

[clarkete]

4 minutes ago, Glastov2 said:

If that's true, I'm very surprised the festival buckled on that. Surely the punters' experience is more important than what is, in the grand scheme of things a fairly small act. Small enough to play that early on the Park as well...

No knowledge personally and I didn't try as I'd not long seen them, merely shared the link to @notjoseph's post as I knew it was relevant. 

[dotdash79]

A must see breakout act on a small stage that is rammed works well for the festival, the band and the broadcaster but not for the ticket holders. 
 

a bit like flags at stages

[CaledonianGonzo]

45 minutes ago, Glastov2 said:

Or see them at all?!

Everyone who was really keen to see Wet Leg could see them.....?

[Purple aki squat]

Maybe it’s already been said but the overcrowding/crush between the other stage exit by leftfield after PSB on the Sunday night was horrendous. I was genuinely scared, no crowd control at all. That exit point is far too narrow especially considering the number of people in the other stage field that night. Friday and Saturday were fine, no idea how many Sunday tickets got sold, it was noticeable the difference though.

Apart from that and the obvious wet leg fiasco it was the same as normal.

[dotdash79]

Putting more Loo’s there whilst welcome also contributed to some issues with access. 

[Suprefan]

2 hours ago, Johnnyseven said:

There's an entrance to Avalon through the markets from Greenpeace, did they close this off?

Dont know about the other days but obviously on Friday night they tried to close it off for Sugababes. I went that way and broke through to get into the field. I dont think I realized they even had a one way system to begin with for that area except when it was really late due to SE corner. It was open and normal at the end of their set so i have zero idea what they were trying to stop cause there was lots of room. 

[Suprefan]

5 minutes ago, Purple aki squat said:

Maybe it’s already been said but the overcrowding/crush between the other stage exit by leftfield after PSB on the Sunday night was horrendous. I was genuinely scared, no crowd control at all. That exit point is far too narrow especially considering the number of people in the other stage field that night. Friday and Saturday were fine, no idea how many Sunday tickets got sold, it was noticeable the difference though.

Apart from that and the obvious wet leg fiasco it was the same as normal.

I think its worse in that intersection because you also have spillover from The Glade area now. It never felt bad walking through that part from Other in the evening when everything was happening and you could walk through pretty easily onto WH and such with no trouble.

[danbailey80]

Ok genuine question here. When people say they were crushed and scared are we actually talking worse than than a proper mosh pit surge? Like in the 90s for example? 
 

Or just very busy, not moving and tedious? Did your actual body feel genuinely crushed? 
 

im not going to highlight anyone but a few posts have described a crowd watching tlc, for example, and were horrified to discover that, shockingly, they were so crushed as to be actually next to someone’s rucksack god forbid. 
 

I’m not saying there’s an issue here. But I also feel the need to state that I knew approx 15 people this year, some working some normal punters and NONE of them thought any different. 
 

can we be a little bit careful not to give any ammunition to locals/ mendip. They will be quoting this thread rubbing their hands together. 

[Tom White]

6 minutes ago, danbailey80 said:

Ok genuine question here. When people say they were crushed and scared are we actually talking worse than than a proper mosh pit surge? Like in the 90s for example? 
 

Or just very busy, not moving and tedious? Did your actual body feel genuinely crushed? 
 

im not going to highlight anyone but a few posts have described a crowd watching tlc, for example, and were horrified to discover that, shockingly, they were so crushed as to be actually next to someone’s rucksack god forbid. 
 

I’m not saying there’s an issue here. But I also feel the need to state that I knew approx 15 people this year, some working some normal punters and NONE of them thought any different. 
 

can we be a little bit careful not to give any ammunition to locals/ mendip. They will be quoting this thread rubbing their hands together. 

I never felt physically crushed. But for me Calvin Harris at arcadia was proper 'over-peoply' - and I had to leave.

(most people in the crowd were pleasant so all good - but it's the busiest crowd I've ever been in, I think)

[Skip997]

21 minutes ago, danbailey80 said:

Ok genuine question here. When people say they were crushed and scared are we actually talking worse than than a proper mosh pit surge? Like in the 90s for example? 
 

Nowhere near as bad as the 90's, but the most crowded since the big fence.

[jimmillen]

I was in a crowd at Reading in 2012 that was far worse than anything I experienced this year at Glastonbury - surge of people all squeezed in & moving at once, you had no choice but to shuffle in the same direction, keep moving & stay on your feet. Even that didn’t feel especially dangerous but conscious I’m a 6 ft tall reasonably fit & strong guy - very different story if you’re smaller, or have mobility issues. 

TBH I don’t get the impression anything at Glastonbury this year was a really dangerous “crush” getting even remotely close to situations that have ended in tragedy in the past…? 

Definitely agree it was very very busy though and crowds often frustrating. 

[prog seller]

34 minutes ago, danbailey80 said:

Ok genuine question here. When people say they were crushed and scared are we actually talking worse than than a proper mosh pit surge? Like in the 90s for example? 
 

Or just very busy, not moving and tedious? Did your actual body feel genuinely crushed? 
 

 

I've never been before, so have nothing to compare it to. Personal gripes are not being able to get into certain parts   "X Closed- find alternative routes"  It took me a good 15 mins to get out of the small gate by the toilet in west holts before TLC, as I was literally going against the crowd coming in. 

Another trek was trying to get across the pyramid about 3:45 with a day bag and another bag, again against the flow and it being a bit much (yes I could have found another route, blah blah) but that just isn't my thing for a festival.  I stayed away for the rest of the time, reluctantly in the quieter areas due to my dislike of crowds. 😅

[SighMo]

2 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Everyone who was really keen to see Wet Leg could see them.....?

Yep. I managed to see all of Kae Tempest get to Wet Leg, find my son in front of the sound desk and then we both quite easily managed to get to within a couple of rows from the front to see some other friends we'd managed to spot. There was a decent amount of space to jump around in. 

 

[plaskins]

I was thinking of starting a separate thread with a poll as quite a few seem to think it was a bit over crowded this year. Something along the lines of would you be willing to pay x amount more for a ticket to have less tickets sold and a quieter site in general.

 

Personally I found it busy everywhere but not unbearably so. I did think it seemed busier than ever, but I hadn't done a festival since Glastonbury 2017 so you forget the scale after a 5 year hiatus I think? I'd probably pay a bit more for my ticket if it meant the capacity was reduced a bit though. But if there was a lot of jibbing in on the sly then that wouldn't make much difference anyway. Plus it would reduce everyone's chances of getting a golden ticket I guess! Thoughts?

[Crazyfool01]

12 minutes ago, plaskins said:

I was thinking of starting a separate thread with a poll as quite a few seem to think it was a bit over crowded this year. Something along the lines of would you be willing to pay x amount more for a ticket to have less tickets sold and a quieter site in general.

 

[jannybruck]

 

2 hours ago, danbailey80 said:

I'm  not saying there’s an issue here. But I also feel the need to state that I knew approx 15 people this year, some working some normal punters and NONE of them thought any different. 

can we be a little bit careful not to give any ammunition to locals/ mendip. They will be quoting this thread rubbing their hands together. 

Nah, fuck that. We're barely a year away from a massive fatal tragedy that happened at a music event and any and all issues with overcrowding need to be addressed seriously and looked at regardless of how in love with the festival people are. This isn't some cutesy garden fete, it's a multimillion pound event that's been going for decades and should have this sort of shit absolutely nailed by now.

As has been said before, just because you or your mates didn't experience crushes or bottlenecks doesn't mean they didn't happen. People were literally posting on here the day after about being terrified multiple times over the weekend, and those lived experiences should be viewed as just as valid as yours.