Glastonbury 2022 - overcrowding rumours & thoughts

[moogster]

22 minutes ago, March Hare said:

Fuck me a lot of these posts are tiresome with the scouser accusations. Get a grip of yourselves and stop calling out a region based on your prejudice

It's quite puzzling for me, not being British. I am starting to think Liverpool is the equivalent of Marseille for the French?

[drunk pumpkin]

This was my 12 festival and as a group collectively our 34th  

All of us agreed that the site was the busiest we've even know. Everywhere was busy, even when major acts played there were thousands of people milling around. 

It feels like more tickets were sold (on top of the extra allowance)

I know the festival had a funding commitment to the 3 main charities due to the covid impact and no revenue but it feels like they  tried to increase the numbers to raise the revenue.

If this is the case I hope it goes back to a smaller crowd.

[gazzared]

4 hours ago, Superscally said:

Nah man. I go to Liverpool matches. Have done for many years Very crowded around the stadium. Have done 14 Glastos, never felt as crowded as I do pre-match. This year at Glasto was different gravy. It was toooooo busy. First time I've abandoned Baggy Mondays as wasn't going to get in tent despite getting there earlier than ever. Slower to get around than some muddy years. Wet Leg was insane. Also look at the crowds for lesser known bands like Gabriels at the park. The size of the Fontaines crowd during the colossal DiRo set...

 

It definitely felt too busy just moving around anywhere...I bumped into homer in the  morning and he said your  were meeting up for baggy mondays but I sacked it off aswell as the crowds were massive. I made it as far as the glade and watched mellomatic and then  manages to get to Greenpeace to watch oh my god it's the church.....sexy Jesus DJ set and it was brilliant 🤣

[Havors]

1 hour ago, Johnnyseven said:

I think the weather had something to do with this, and the desperation to get back to the farm after Covid. It was forecast to rain from Friday so folk wanted to get there early to enjoy a couple of days of sun.

Yeah definitely. It was a perfect storm... everyone desperate to get there after 3 years, the train strikes meaning people coming early and the weather looking ace for the start. And the large amount of people bunking in 🙂 

[Watergirl]

It was definitely very busy / felt busier. There was no quiet time. Even at 11:00 a.m. there were tons of people out and about. And yet I never had to queue for a toilet. When you see bad queues, try the other side of the same block of toilets. Or walk to the next toilet location.

[MonkeyPox]

I saw this forum come up on my mobile suggested story feed and thought I might be able to contribute something of worth so I joined up.

I've been going to the festival since the 80's. Once I even had a ticket, other than that I used to just walk in for the most part right up until the 'superfence' arrived. Up until that point I knew people who were part of crews that used to sell hand stamps (used to be required for entry) which they had either stolen, bribed or beaten from security/stewards. These were the more organised crime side of the black market for Glastonbury entry, the 'tunnel scousers' were all over the place and most of them I met seemed to have thick west midland's accents which is odd for people from the north west. Anyway history lesson over what it teaches us is that there's always a way in for those without a ticket.

On to the modern era and in theory I work for a ticket and for the past several years I arrive several days before the festival starts and have certain duties I'm meant to perform. In reality this never really happens and I just tool around the site on my bike seeing mates most of the time in between partying and chilling out. This year though was different. There was a bad feeling around the site, hard to put my finger on but there was a general feeling of discontent. People really stressed out, lots of shouting and a feeling of cost cutting pervading everything. People were also pissed off that fields that had traditionally been for crew had been moved or altered. So given this background of discontent I saw a widespread ramping up of the usual blagging and scamming that always goes on. A crew in the same field as us had an unbelievably luxurious set up including freezers, fridges, sofas and even carpet?? under their enormous open canopy. I couldn't work out why they had such a setup considering there were only a few of them. As it got closer to festival week I realised why. They managed to import around 30 people without tickets who then lived there until the Wednesday morning who left before the gates opened to get the best camping spots. There was no goodwill towards the organisers so these people just thought fuck it and brought in as many as they could.

This was just in the field I was staying in, talking to other people in the crew bars like Maceos many people were pissed off with the way thing were going and just decided to 'stick it to the man'. So maybe this goes some way to explaining why it was so crowded because I've never seen such widespread and organised pre-festival people smuggling since the bad/good old days. I left on Saturday because it was getting dangerous and unpleasant. I don't think I'll bother next year which is a shame.

[assorted]

It was my first time, but I had the thought “this festival feels oversold and underfunded” multiple times during the week. It was still a lovely spectacle and everyone in my group had a great time, but I hope this was an exceptional year versus a new direction the fest is taking of cost cutting while overselling. I know this wasn’t just me and that this was new because I had tons of mini-conversations over the week, a lovely feature of the culture of the festival, and multi-year regulars brought up how crowded it was without my prompting.

I get the feeling that everything special about the festival comes from the enormous good will afforded it from its non-profit ethos. If they start cost cutting while also not caring about clearly dangerous overcrowding, it’s hard not to assume it’ll be the beginning of the end regardless of glowing bbc coverage. I think there were only no injuries or fatalities from those crowds simply by luck, and I can’t see that luck holding out if they continue in that direction.

But here’s hoping this was a unique year for whatever reason. 

[JohnEW]

On 7/5/2022 at 1:03 PM, Old_Johno said:

I only heard of 1 confirmed fence jumper first hand who climbed over into the wateraid camp and went to the first aid tent there after hurting their ankle. Not sure they added to the numbers.

Not quite accurate. I camp in the WaterAid field and whilst I didn't see the incident I know and spoke to some friends who did. There were 5/6 who came over the fence into our field, or the wood next to it (a known weak spot). One, a young female, broke both her ankles very badly and by the time I heard about it, was in hospital in Bristol trying to avoid life changing injuries. Her "mates" had just run on into the festival and left her.

[fred quimby]

Apart from Thursday evening Mrs Q and I didn't really think it was any busier then normal and we got around just fine, easy in fact. Maybe lucky. 

Weather may have made it seem busier, no blaring sun so not everyone looking for shade and easier to move around, or mud bath where people can stay put. 

[March Hare]

42 minutes ago, JohnEW said:

Not quite accurate. I camp in the WaterAid field and whilst I didn't see the incident I know and spoke to some friends who did. There were 5/6 who came over the fence into our field, or the wood next to it (a known weak spot). One, a young female, broke both her ankles very badly and by the time I heard about it, was in hospital in Bristol trying to avoid life changing injuries. Her "mates" had just run on into the festival and left her.

Wtaf 😱 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Wincing just thinking about that.

[mufcok]

3 hours ago, MonkeyPox said:

I saw this forum come up on my mobile suggested story feed and thought I might be able to contribute something of worth so I joined up.

I've been going to the festival since the 80's. Once I even had a ticket, other than that I used to just walk in for the most part right up until the 'superfence' arrived. Up until that point I knew people who were part of crews that used to sell hand stamps (used to be required for entry) which they had either stolen, bribed or beaten from security/stewards. These were the more organised crime side of the black market for Glastonbury entry, the 'tunnel scousers' were all over the place and most of them I met seemed to have thick west midland's accents which is odd for people from the north west. Anyway history lesson over what it teaches us is that there's always a way in for those without a ticket.

On to the modern era and in theory I work for a ticket and for the past several years I arrive several days before the festival starts and have certain duties I'm meant to perform. In reality this never really happens and I just tool around the site on my bike seeing mates most of the time in between partying and chilling out. This year though was different. There was a bad feeling around the site, hard to put my finger on but there was a general feeling of discontent. People really stressed out, lots of shouting and a feeling of cost cutting pervading everything. People were also pissed off that fields that had traditionally been for crew had been moved or altered. So given this background of discontent I saw a widespread ramping up of the usual blagging and scamming that always goes on. A crew in the same field as us had an unbelievably luxurious set up including freezers, fridges, sofas and even carpet?? under their enormous open canopy. I couldn't work out why they had such a setup considering there were only a few of them. As it got closer to festival week I realised why. They managed to import around 30 people without tickets who then lived there until the Wednesday morning who left before the gates opened to get the best camping spots. There was no goodwill towards the organisers so these people just thought fuck it and brought in as many as they could.

This was just in the field I was staying in, talking to other people in the crew bars like Maceos many people were pissed off with the way thing were going and just decided to 'stick it to the man'. So maybe this goes some way to explaining why it was so crowded because I've never seen such widespread and organised pre-festival people smuggling since the bad/good old days. I left on Saturday because it was getting dangerous and unpleasant. I don't think I'll bother next year which is a shame.

How are they managing that? Is it really that easy to get additional people in if you're on site working in the days leading up to it?

[Splatt]

Know a few people who work on site. All said there were more workers than they've ever seen by the Tuesday and were not convinced a large number of them were actually working the fest. Might be something in it.

[Jay Pee]

1 hour ago, JohnEW said:

Not quite accurate. I camp in the WaterAid field and whilst I didn't see the incident I know and spoke to some friends who did. There were 5/6 who came over the fence into our field, or the wood next to it (a known weak spot). One, a young female, broke both her ankles very badly and by the time I heard about it, was in hospital in Bristol trying to avoid life changing injuries. Her "mates" had just run on into the festival and left her.

I wonder if she thought Snapped Ankles were playing in Tom's Bar?

[MonkeyPox]

19 minutes ago, mufcok said:

How are they managing that? Is it really that easy to get additional people in if you're on site working in the days leading up to it?

Obviously I'm not going to post details of how to circumvent security on site but before the festival starts security is significantly different to the main event.

On a totally unrelated note the 'superfence' isn't difficult to overcome when it isn't being closely watched before the festival starts!

 

[charlie.light]

17 minutes ago, MonkeyPox said:

Obviously I'm not going to post details of how to circumvent security on site but before the festival starts security is significantly different to the main event.

On a totally unrelated note the 'superfence' isn't difficult to overcome when it isn't being closely watched before the festival starts!

 

Ye the issue is what you do on site once in, as before the festival you’ll stick out like a sore thumb 

[jimmillen]

33 minutes ago, Splatt said:

Know a few people who work on site. All said there were more workers than they've ever seen by the Tuesday and were not convinced a large number of them were actually working the fest. Might be something in it.

TBH I thought watching @Sawdusty surfer’s state of the ground videos pre-festival there seemed to be a lot of people just wandering around… Hmmmm. 

[MonkeyPox]

9 minutes ago, charlie.light said:

Ye the issue is what you do on site once in, as before the festival you’ll stick out like a sore thumb 

Correct. If you're an idiot you'll be weeded out within hours. However if you were a smart cookie, made your way through the wall by whatever easy means are available and then acted 'natural' you could easily slip between the cracks. I'd just say it isn't that difficult to blend in if you aren't a group of assholes.

[clarkete]

3 hours ago, JohnEW said:

Not quite accurate. I camp in the WaterAid field and whilst I didn't see the incident I know and spoke to some friends who did. There were 5/6 who came over the fence into our field, or the wood next to it (a known weak spot). One, a young female, broke both her ankles very badly and by the time I heard about it, was in hospital in Bristol trying to avoid life changing injuries. Her "mates" had just run on into the festival and left her.

Ouch.  I knew it was hard, but that's one to add to the state of the ground reports. 

[Sawdusty surfer]

2 hours ago, jimmillen said:

TBH I thought watching @Sawdusty surfer’s state of the ground videos pre-festival there seemed to be a lot of people just wandering around… Hmmmm. 

Overall I'd say that before the gates open to the public just about everyone there is really rather busy. For anyone that appears to be just wandering around there will be hundreds grafting. The grafters maybe deserve an occasional wander as well? 

[jimmillen]

Just now, Sawdusty surfer said:

Overall I'd say that before the gates open to the public just about everyone there is really rather busy. For anyone that appears to be just wandering around there will be hundreds grafting. The grafters maybe deserve an occasional wander as well? 

Fair - your on site experience definitely trumps my idle observations the other side of a screen. 🙂

(Thanks for the videos BTW!)

[March Hare]

3 hours ago, Splatt said:

Know a few people who work on site. All said there were more workers than they've ever seen by the Tuesday and were not convinced a large number of them were actually working the fest. Might be something in it.

I think it’s more that people have waited a long time to be there, the demographic of workers is younger and plenty were new workers wanting to explore the site.  Plus the Tuesday was the solstice with amazing weather and a stunning sunset. 

Plenty of reasons why it looked busier on Tuesday without it being illegitimate.

[Pinhead]

I picked up on this - it seemed 1 in 5 wristbands were local crew acreditation supplied looking round. Its in danger of becoming a festival fir its crew and not its public.

[charlie.light]

2 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

I picked up on this - it seemed 1 in 5 wristbands were local crew acreditation supplied looking round. Its in danger of becoming a festival fir its crew and not its public.

So how do you rectify this, keep all crew out the gates and only allowed in for shifts.no one would volunteer with that deal. 
 

the crew are an integral part of the festival, without them there is no festival. 

[Sawdusty surfer]

4 minutes ago, charlie.light said:

So how do you rectify this, keep all crew out the gates and only allowed in for shifts.no one would volunteer with that deal. 
 

the crew are an integral part of the festival, without them there is no festival. 

Have a crackdown on liggers