Glastonbury 2022 - overcrowding rumours & thoughts

[plaskins]

25 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

 

Just a genuine question.. do we make the festival even more middle/upper class for the sakes of a quieter site.. or maybe god forbid the organisers are just getting to greedy and letting more in to the detriment of the masses onsite. It'll come back and bit their bums if that's the case and they carry on pushing to new limits I guess?

[Crazyfool01]

3 minutes ago, plaskins said:

Just a genuine question.. do we make the festival even more middle/upper class for the sakes of a quieter site.. or maybe god forbid the organisers are just getting to greedy and letting more in to the detriment of the masses onsite. It'll come back and bit their bums if that's the case and they carry on pushing to new limits I guess?

I’m sure they have people looking at these things … and people very much in the know … 

[danbailey80]

24 minutes ago, jannybruck said:

 

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.

Yep I totally agree. That’s my point. All viewed as valid. Just telling my side to show some balance. 

[Reckoner]

The only bad one for me was the Park/Arcadia on Friday Night. 
 

I expect a slow shoulder to shoulder shuffle leaving a main stage, not being able to rock up 5 minutes before and get a good spot, queues at food and toilets were annoying etc but that was the one time where I actually felt like things could get out of control. People pushing 4 different ways with minimal chance of actually getting to the place you needed, no organization to help except a sign saying the park was closed when it was the only place with any space to spillover into. (Apart from the tents that got trampled) 

They definitely need an exit from the park to the right looking up the hill, even if just at night. Seem crazy to send everyone down the hill into the pinch point. It’s not really about crowd numbers but controlling the flow of people so you are all moving relatively in the same direction and not trying to all go separate ways. 

[LoraMaze]

1 minute ago, Reckoner said:

The only bad one for me was the Park/Arcadia on Friday Night. 
 

I expect a slow shoulder to shoulder shuffle leaving a main stage, not being able to rock up 5 minutes before and get a good spot, queues at food and toilets were annoying etc but that was the one time where I actually felt like things could get out of control. People pushing 4 different ways with minimal chance of actually getting to the place you needed, no organization to help except a sign saying the park was closed when it was the only place with any space to spillover into. (Apart from the tents that got trampled) 

They definitely need an exit from the park to the right looking up the hill, even if just at night. Seem crazy to send everyone down the hill into the pinch point. It’s not really about crowd numbers but controlling the flow of people so you are all moving relatively in the same direction and not trying to all go separate ways. 

That was my experience of that crush, it was a 4 direction crush with no crowd management featuring a lot of spangled people…and yes, I did feel crushed and it was scary. The only crush I’ve previously been in at Glastonbury was trying to see Fat Boy Slim at 1am on a Thursday at the Blues, which was in a bottleneck. That one was due to a scheduling boo boo, this same crush scenario in Arcadia happened the next day too…that seems pretty inexcusable to me.

[Reckoner]

Yeah, In answer the the question posed above, that one felt dangerous enough that we bailed out into the park entrance where there was space to wait it out. 

[dotdash79]

Making the bottom park entrance only and making the top part exit ensuring a 1 way towards the stone circle then dow to the railway line would at least take 1 direction out 

[gizmoman]

My 17th Glastonbury and luckily I didn't have any problem this year, in years past there have been times I was concerned for my safety as I ended up in a crush, the festival have, in my view, been very lucky that there hasn't to date been a serious incident, I have said on here before I believe it's just a matter of time until their luck runs out. The hyping of so called "secret sets" is the most irresponsible of the current issues, they should be actively seeking to reduce crowd numbers not trying to build up huge crowds at the smaller stages, also the Wet Leg situation was obvious, I intended to see them but decided against because I could see there may be issues. They should have been moved. Didn't go near Williams green all weekend but know from experience what it can be like, putting on popular acts on a Thursday is asking for trouble, I suspect they think that the crowd is self-regulating to a degree, if it gets too busy people will go elsewhere, but it's a dangerous strategy, you should be avoiding overcrowding if at all possible. The queueing situation (food, toilets etc.) is less of a problem, it's inconvenient and not ideal but it's not the danger the pinchpoints and potential crushes are.

[gordong]

1 hour ago, Reckoner said:

The only bad one for me was the Park/Arcadia on Friday Night. 
 

I expect a slow shoulder to shoulder shuffle leaving a main stage, not being able to rock up 5 minutes before and get a good spot, queues at food and toilets were annoying etc but that was the one time where I actually felt like things could get out of control. People pushing 4 different ways with minimal chance of actually getting to the place you needed, no organization to help except a sign saying the park was closed when it was the only place with any space to spillover into. (Apart from the tents that got trampled) 

They definitely need an exit from the park to the right looking up the hill, even if just at night. Seem crazy to send everyone down the hill into the pinch point. It’s not really about crowd numbers but controlling the flow of people so you are all moving relatively in the same direction and not trying to all go separate ways. 

We got caught in a crush at about 12:30am on Friday night in Arcadia. Could sense it was getting really, really busy and said to leave but then got caught in a bad bottleneck trying to leave. 
I’ve never had a problem with crowds in my life, but I definitely felt it then. Sobered up very quickly and was trying to keep calm to reassure my girlfriend. When we eventually got out, we walked very fast away until we were somewhere quieter. 

[Suprefan]

The thing with The Park is they kind of finally took notice and made it one lane in and out by the Arcadia crossroads with barriers and stewards. But that was Sunday afternoon for Jack White. It took 3 days to figure out they had crowd control issues? Surely that wouldve been rectified Saturday morning if The Chems had been at Arcadia I bet and there was an even bigger crush.

[clarkete]

2 hours ago, plaskins said:

Just a genuine question.. do we make the festival even more middle/upper class for the sakes of a quieter site.. or maybe god forbid the organisers are just getting to greedy and letting more in to the detriment of the masses onsite. 

I'm not sure greedy is the appropriate word, given he's giving two million quid to charity every year and that's one of his key reasons for having the festival.

2 hours ago, Reckoner said:

They definitely need an exit from the park to the right looking up the hill, even if just at night. Seem crazy to send everyone down the hill into the pinch point. It’s not really about crowd numbers but controlling the flow of people so you are all moving relatively in the same direction and not trying to all go separate ways. 

Would they be able to ensure the crowd is one way at each?  In the past when Park was full (maybe back in the Pulp/Radiohead years? ) I believe they controlled access at the bottom, that's the main reason I can think they don't have another opening. 

2 hours ago, gizmoman said:

 in my view, been very lucky that there hasn't to date been a serious incident, 

There have been lots of serious incidents over the years and tbh I'd be shocked if there hadn't been people hurt in crushes in one or two of those years before the fence, as they had not only more people, but a lot of edginess about the crowd too. 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/1994/jun/27/glastonbury2003.glastonbury

[Dysonism]

3 hours ago, gordong said:

We got caught in a crush at about 12:30am on Friday night in Arcadia. Could sense it was getting really, really busy and said to leave but then got caught in a bad bottleneck trying to leave. 
I’ve never had a problem with crowds in my life, but I definitely felt it then. Sobered up very quickly and was trying to keep calm to reassure my girlfriend. When we eventually got out, we walked very fast away until we were somewhere quieter. 

Was this during Groove Armada? Me and my partner had the exact same experience at about the same time, maybe 10-15 mins prior.

[Reckoner]

2 hours ago, clarkete said:

Would they be able to ensure the crowd is one way at each?  In the past when Park was full (maybe back in the Pulp/Radiohead years? ) I believe they controlled access at the bottom, that's the main reason I can think they don't have another opening.

I actually meant a new exit to funnel people away from the park altogether but that’s probably me being selfish as I camp in South Park and would love an easy escape. 
 

they did manage to implement an in/out system at the bottom either side of the tree that helped, it was just missing Friday night and then attempted to be implemented when the crowd was packed. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

4 hours ago, Suprefan said:

The thing with The Park is they kind of finally took notice and made it one lane in and out by the Arcadia crossroads with barriers and stewards. But that was Sunday afternoon for Jack White. It took 3 days to figure out they had crowd control issues? 

We were up there on Saturday night and it was in place then.

[The Dawg]

8 hours ago, Reckoner said:

The only bad one for me was the Park/Arcadia on Friday Night. 
 

I expect a slow shoulder to shoulder shuffle leaving a main stage, not being able to rock up 5 minutes before and get a good spot, queues at food and toilets were annoying etc but that was the one time where I actually felt like things could get out of control. People pushing 4 different ways with minimal chance of actually getting to the place you needed, no organization to help except a sign saying the park was closed when it was the only place with any space to spillover into. (Apart from the tents that got trampled) 

They definitely need an exit from the park to the right looking up the hill, even if just at night. Seem crazy to send everyone down the hill into the pinch point. It’s not really about crowd numbers but controlling the flow of people so you are all moving relatively in the same direction and not trying to all go separate ways. 

I have often wondered why you can't get fully around the Park. An access/exit point would work really well even if it's a longer way around it would definitely ease the pressure. I found myself cutting through the stones to escape the crowds, but mostly changing my mind on where I was going when at the Park area. Crazy at times. Good excuse to get a beer at the Crow's Nest, if the queue wasn't too big!

[gizmoman]

6 hours ago, clarkete said:

There have been lots of serious incidents over the years and tbh I'd be shocked if there hadn't been people hurt in crushes in one or two of those years before the fence, as they had not only more people, but a lot of edginess about the crowd too. 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/1994/jun/27/glastonbury2003.glastonbury

That article is from 1994, even with fence jumpers the festival was smaller then (though the site was smaller too so could lead to high crowd densities) but it was a totally different festival then, with some of the high profile "must see" acts today the risk of a crush developing is higher, by "serious incident" I mean a Roskilde type situation, we have never had anything on that scale at Glastonbury. To be fair to the festival things have been upgraded over the years with the barriers at the main stages and bridges widening etc. but they need to stop the gimmicky "secret set" nonsense and look again at the late night situation, funneling everyone into one corner of the site isn't ideal.

[gooner1990]

6 hours ago, Suprefan said:

The thing with The Park is they kind of finally took notice and made it one lane in and out by the Arcadia crossroads with barriers and stewards. But that was Sunday afternoon for Jack White. It took 3 days to figure out they had crowd control issues? Surely that wouldve been rectified Saturday morning if The Chems had been at Arcadia I bet and there was an even bigger crush.

They were *trying* to implement it on the Friday night.

[gooner1990]

6 hours ago, clarkete said:

I'm not sure greedy is the appropriate word, given he's giving two million quid to charity every year and that's one of his key reasons for having the festival.

Would they be able to ensure the crowd is one way at each?  In the past when Park was full (maybe back in the Pulp/Radiohead years? ) I believe they controlled access at the bottom, that's the main reason I can think they don't have another opening. 

There have been lots of serious incidents over the years and tbh I'd be shocked if there hadn't been people hurt in crushes in one or two of those years before the fence, as they had not only more people, but a lot of edginess about the crowd too. 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/1994/jun/27/glastonbury2003.glastonbury

Anthony Lee, a 23-year-old volunteer on the Big Issue stall for the homeless, was disappointed at how few stopped to chat or buy a T-shirt. 'I'm surprised, because Glastonbury has got this tradition of caring. I would have liked to have been here when it started. Now, like everything else, it's turning into a theme park.'

I wonder what Anthony Lee thinks of it now 28 years further down the line....!

[CaledonianGonzo]

10 hours ago, jannybruck said:

 

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.

Astroworld?

Macca's show was stopped immediately when someone collapsed in the crowd. It's night and day in terms of response.

[ProperTea]

10 hours ago, Reckoner said:

The only bad one for me was the Park/Arcadia on Friday Night. 
 

I expect a slow shoulder to shoulder shuffle leaving a main stage, not being able to rock up 5 minutes before and get a good spot, queues at food and toilets were annoying etc but that was the one time where I actually felt like things could get out of control. People pushing 4 different ways with minimal chance of actually getting to the place you needed, no organization to help except a sign saying the park was closed when it was the only place with any space to spillover into. (Apart from the tents that got trampled) 

They definitely need an exit from the park to the right looking up the hill, even if just at night. Seem crazy to send everyone down the hill into the pinch point. It’s not really about crowd numbers but controlling the flow of people so you are all moving relatively in the same direction and not trying to all go separate ways. 

I was here. I've been going to events for 25 years and have been to Glastonbury for 16 years and it's the worst crowd incident I've  been in. I was being physically crushed at one point and wasn't able to control the direction my body was going, I guess this is a 'surge'?

I didn't think I was going to die because I kept reminding myself it was Glastonbury and people would look out for each other. 

There were a few people crying which wasn't nice to see.

[gooner1990]

20 minutes ago, ProperTea said:

I was here. I've been going to events for 25 years and have been to Glastonbury for 16 years and it's the worst crowd incident I've  been in. I was being physically crushed at one point and wasn't able to control the direction my body was going, I guess this is a 'surge'?

I didn't think I was going to die because I kept reminding myself it was Glastonbury and people would look out for each other. 

There were a few people crying which wasn't nice to see.

Foo Fighters at Reading 2000 was the worst I was in....back then it was just the main barrier at the front and a free-for-all behind.

For whatever reason there was a lot of swaying about as they came on.....I must have gone 50 ft sideways off my feet at one point, proper shit myself...my jumper ended up half off and tangled around me and I had a girl pressed right into my arm (which was at an odd angle) crying her eyes out....we weren't even near to the front either.

Dave Grohl recognised it when people at the front were falling over and getting trampled on and stopped the set for 10-15 mins, I somehow managed to get out and watched the rest of it near the back!

Speaking to friends afterwards it seemed it was worse further back just in front of the sound desk...perhaps it was people rushing to the stage at the last minute to see them that caused it.

Obviously they don't show the set being stopped in this clip, but you can see how dense it was in the crowd shots.

 

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by gooner1990

[LoraMaze]

8 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

Foo Fighters at Reading 2000 was the worst I was in....back then it was just the main barrier at the front and a free-for-all behind.

For whatever reason there was a lot of swaying about as they came on.....I must have gone 50 ft sideways off my feet at one point, proper shit myself...my jumper ended up half off and tangled around me and I had a girl pressed right into my arm (which was at an odd angle) crying her eyes out....we weren't even near to the front either.

Dave Grohl recognised it when people at the front were falling over and getting trampled on and stopped the set for 10-15 mins, I somehow managed to get out and watched the rest of it near the back!

Speaking to friends afterwards it seemed it was worse further back just in front of the sound desk...perhaps it was people rushing to the stage at the last minute to see them that caused it.

Obviously they don't show the set being stopped in this clip, but you can see how dense it was in the crowd shots.

 

 

I had a similar situation at the Brixton academy once, Placebo started and the whole crowd right in front of the stage started swaying and people were falling over. Me and my mate got the hell out and went home! Never experienced anything like that before…

[clarkete]

14 hours ago, Reckoner said:

they did manage to implement an in/out system at the bottom either side of the tree that helped, it was just missing Friday night and then attempted to be implemented when the crowd was packed. 

Great if they did, especially with what was clearly a loss of some experienced stewards this time around. 

10 hours ago, gizmoman said:

That article is from 1994, even with fence jumpers the festival was smaller then (though the site was smaller too so could lead to high crowd densities) but it was a totally different festival then, with some of the high profile "must see" acts today the risk of a crush developing is higher, by "serious incident" I mean a Roskilde type situation, we have never had anything on that scale at Glastonbury. To be fair to the festival things have been upgraded over the years with the barriers at the main stages and bridges widening etc. but they need to stop the gimmicky "secret set" nonsense and look again at the late night situation, funneling everyone into one corner of the site isn't ideal.

Yes, that was from 94, but I shared to point out there have been numerous serious issues over the years - but not all widely known about these days. 

if you watched the 50th documentary you'd see 2000 was a huge crowd - estimated at 250,000, the site did add a number of areas then (which presumably helped), but I didn't experience anything this year as scary as then - but that's just one old git. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glastonbury_Festival

Agree about very popular acts on small stages for secret sets - in some respects I've added to it by contributing to discussions and sharing any info (not that I have any or people to share it with).

In the days of instant messaging the speed of information dissemination (in some cases unfounded) gets more people on the move. 

10 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

Anthony Lee, a 23-year-old volunteer on the Big Issue stall for the homeless, was disappointed at how few stopped to chat or buy a T-shirt. 'I'm surprised, because Glastonbury has got this tradition of caring. I would have liked to have been here when it started. Now, like everything else, it's turning into a theme park.'

I wonder what Anthony Lee thinks of it now 28 years further down the line....!

See if you can find him on t' Internet, nice rare name too 

[Glastov2]

On 7/11/2022 at 6:15 PM, CaledonianGonzo said:

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

Know a fair few people that wanted to see them and couldn't. We marched straight up after the Libs and were horizontally in line with the sound desk, the sound was appalling.

[Justcalledtosay]

I was in that crush with my wife on the Friday night. In all honesty i've been in worse crushes in football grounds, so it was more frustration and the lack of the unknown i suppose. I was more worried for my wife who was getting a little anxious about not being able to escape to anywhere. When we got to the junction we saw no stewards and a broken electronic ticker sign next to the arcadia entrance. We obviously decided to head away from the Park and Arcadia. You'd like to think it's a big 'lessons learned' job for the festival along with the Williams Green and Wet Leg fiascos.