How would you do Glastonbury differently next time?

[CauliflowerEar]

2 minutes ago, Mark E. Spliff said:

he forgot to deny my assertion that he was also the equally-dismal troll 'Jimbarkanoodle.'  Given that (in his preceding post) he's also contradicted his claim that he sneaked in this year, I'd say this was a very bad day's trolling for this young chap.

You are making yourself look silly, at no point in this chat have i stated whether or not i had a ticket. You are making weird assumptions on my behalf. Whoops! And also, no idea what you are going on about this noodle guy. Maybe you should put your brilliant analytical skills to better use, as no one seems to care about your clever detective work on here, which turns out to be wrong anyway. 

Now, how about that powdered egg?  

[gigpusher]

I already have a few things that I intend to do differently next year. The main one is to try and make Wednesday a little more chilled out. We have a tendency to do an almost  full walk of the site but after years of doing it there aren't as many changes as you'd think and as I am getting older I think I would be better preserving my energy and maybe spend the time doing some relaxing stuff like getting a massage in the green fields or doing some crafts. 

We did pretty well at avoiding crowds or planning to make sure we are in a good spot for most acts but I think factoring in some relaxing acts is important for my enjoyment of each day. I also enjoyed the days where we managed to ditch our bags completely for the evening infinitely more so going to remember to try and factor in time for doing that each day. 

Also determined to be a little fitter next year to make everything better. 

[gfa]

1 hour ago, Gnomicide said:

I treated myself to a tent you can stand up in a few years back. It's a Hi-Gear Aura 3, I don't think they do anymore but it may give you an idea.

Pros - you can stand up! Big ol' porch you can fit a few people with chairs in if it's raining. Can easily accommodate someone else (one of my sons shared it this year). Pretty easy to put up.

Cons - gets very hot. Quite heavy (25kg) so definitely need a trolley, a couple of people to carry or just be strong.

 

*bog roll for scale.

You can get a F&B thats practically identical to this. Pretty steep, couple hundred £ but i'm sure its worth it!

I'm so worried the SE corner isn't going to be as good as i remember, feel like we didn't even do it properly

[Zoo Music Girl]

3 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

Well. it was the only way I could get my camping chair and alcohol on site as I was limited by the coach! 

We always bring our camping chairs on the coach with no problem (they'll come on the coach itself if they won't fit in the luggage hold and go in the bit above the seats or under our feet).

I didn't go this year but based on my experience in 2019 and Machfest and Primavera this year:

- Try to be more relaxed about seeing bands and rushing around and go with the flow more. I say this every year and am still not great at it!

- Take a proper airbed. We've used a self inflating roll mat for years but it's just not good enough now. I really struggled with comfort at Machfest (although partly because it was freezing).

- Mix up the footwear. I took two different pairs of trainers to Primavera and being able to switch between them definitely helped. Although of course that's more to carry...

Would definitely recommend bringing a proper pillow! Even a really thin one. Game changer for me.

[Zoo Music Girl]

1 hour ago, banananey said:

Go by car rather than coach. Yeah the coach ticket is an extra shot at going but getting one at 4am on Monday and being stuck in traffic for ages in London around 8-9 was not fun. Would rather just get straight in the car after the Sunday headliner and go home.

Also going with more people who actually like music so I can see more stuff I actually want to 

Appreciate it's annoying not to use it when you've paid for it but we didn't use our returns when they were at silly o'clock. I actually sold them to someone off here who wanted to leave at that time and bought National Express coach return instead (also gets us much closer to where we live). It would be handy if you could buy singles really but can see why you can't.

I'm going to be open minded about Thursday arrival too this year. Will aim for Wednesday but go for Thursday in coach if it comes to it I think.

[Zoo Music Girl]

Just now, Zoo Music Girl said:

Appreciate it's annoying not to use it when you've paid for it but we didn't use our returns when they were at silly o'clock. I actually sold them to someone off here who wanted to leave at that time and bought National Express coach return instead (also gets us much closer to where we live). It would be handy if you could buy singles really but can see why you can't.

I'm going to be open minded about Thursday arrival too this year. Will aim for Wednesday but go for Thursday in coach if it comes to it I think.

Oh and anecdotally they don't care what the time on your ticket says at the See coach park but I've never actually tried this (i.e. if you have 4am leaving time you could just rock up at 10 and be fine).

[gigpusher]

6 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Oh and anecdotally they don't care what the time on your ticket says at the See coach park but I've never actually tried this (i.e. if you have 4am leaving time you could just rock up at 10 and be fine).

Someone I know this year had a ticket from Manchester and because the delays were so long she actually returned to Liverpool and then got the train back to Manchester so I am guessing they are really not strict on it. 

[Dark Star]

5 hours ago, The Nal said:

Wont be bothering with arriving before 4pm Wednesday ever again

This. Friends didn't arrive from London until about 4pm, and sailed through PGA without any real queue. Others queued from before opening time and had a horror show. I arrived the following morning after getting the 9am bus from Glastonbury town and was in and tent pitched by 9.30. Perk of our deciding to camp in Pylon I guess, though I'm not sure I'd want to be there on a wet year and may return to Lime Kiln. 

Also, due to the train strikes, I binned off attempting to travel by rail and had to catch 3 buses to get from Exeter to the festival. Far less of a nuisance than I expected, and the extra time was no hassle. Nice on the way back to have time to stop for a coffee, pub lunch etc. rather than deal with the holding pens at the Festival Bus Station and Castle Cary.

Only other change is I might get one of those Fresh camping tarps and set it up over the top of my existing tent to see if that reduces morning heat issues. 

[gooner1990]

6 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Oh and anecdotally they don't care what the time on your ticket says at the See coach park but I've never actually tried this (i.e. if you have 4am leaving time you could just rock up at 10 and be fine).

Funny you should mention that, as my return See tickets coach this year was 5.30am on the Monday to Oxford.....our coach got called and there was a guy with a mini iPad thing and he was checking everyone's names off a list to make sure they were booked on that specific coach. You couldn't  board the coach without getting past him first and they were refusing people who were booked on later coaches.

Perhaps the days of just letting anyone on any coach are over....

[Ayrshire Chris]

3 hours ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

I’m sure we are all full of ideas how we will do things differently, but, to use an old quote, the road to hell is paved with good intentions!😉. You will never get everything perfect.  Whatever we decide there will always be things we forget, we don’t do right, we miss out on but it’s Glastonbury, it will be the usual amazing bizarre and unforgettable experience. Just let it happen.

And I meant to add, smile your way through every day and treat it like you might never be lucky enough to get tickets again. That’s always my Glastonbury philosophy 

[Matt42]

Bring trainers. At least one pair.

In this global warming climate walking boots all weekend can fuck your feet up massively. Learnt this the hard way.

[The Nal]

3 minutes ago, Dark Star said:

This. Friends didn't arrive from London until about 4pm, and sailed through PGA without any real queue. Others queued from before opening time and had a horror show. I arrived the following morning after getting the 9am bus from Glastonbury town and was in and tent pitched by 9.30. Perk of our deciding to camp in Pylon I guess, though I'm not sure I'd want to be there on a wet year and may return to Lime Kiln. 

I got a spot in Lime Kiln at 11am on Thursday. Very close to where I wouldve been aiming for had I been there on Wednesday. So I dont really see the point in an early Wednesday arrival. 

2019 was awful. 2013 wasnt great and even as far back as 2010 was 4-5 hours to get in. 

Lime Kiln for 4pm Wednesday next time. Avalon Inn for 5.30pm. 

[CauliflowerEar]

12 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

there was a guy with a mini iPad thing and he was checking everyone's names off a list to make sure they were booked on that specific coach. You couldn't  board the coach without getting past him first and they were refusing people who were booked on later coaches.

Perhaps the days of just letting anyone on any coach are over....

More likely this guy was huge a knobhead that likes to demand everyone obey the rules, he gets a kick out of it. You get these types at festivals sometimes. Sometimes i think that maybe they should just join the security team, although they are normally quite scrawny/nerdy so don't have the bollox to do that job, and would get instantly terrorised if they didn't have their clipboard and walkie talkie.  

[Mardy]

I had a good time, and obviously spending time with my friends is an absolute joy, no complaints there, but for me, this year was a washout, musically. Didn’t see many bands and those I did see mostly failed to move me. PSB we’re great, enjoyed Kacey Musgraves, Snarky Puppy were an unexpected treat, Herbie was pleasant enough, but I failed to come away with my passion for music reignited. EOTR does that much much better for me. I had a good time, but in terms of music, a big fat Meh. 

[Skip997]

Just now, Mardy said:

 this year was a washout, musically. Didn’t see many bands and those I did see mostly failed to move me. PSB we’re great,

Agree.

Even West Holts, normally the one place you're sure to have a great time, failed to deliver.

[kalifire]

Just now, Skip997 said:

Agree.

Even West Holts, normally the one place you're sure to have a great time, failed to deliver.

I saw some great acts on WH, not least Nubiyan Twist, who were a great way to start the festival. For my money, WH delivered more than just about any stage. 

[Mardy]

Saw some half decent stuff on WH - Kikagaku Moyo, Greentea Peng, the aforementioned Snarky Puppy but I didn’t come away having fallen in love with any new music. The fault is mine, I guess, need to be more selfish in my choices, maybe. I dunno. 

[Gnomicide]

1 hour ago, gooner1990 said:

Wasn't that more due to the specific weather that year rather than the tactics of arriving on site?

We sat on the A37 about 2 miles from site for about 4-5 hours......but then walked straight in when we did get there (11am or so) so swings and roundabouts I guess! 🙂 

While that's true, it we'd have travelled down Tuesday night we'd have been in the car parks before the real shit hit the fan, though Campervans were having a nightmare on the Tuesday. A similar thing happened going to Latitude one year where we thought we'd rock up late and it took us 9 hours to get there, 5 more than it should have done. This has led me to believe my using the phrase "shall we rock up later this year?" is a curse.

I certainly don't rule out a later arrival for the future but getting in this year was the smoothest it's ever been for us. 4 hours from back of queue to tent up sounds like a nightmare but it really wasn't. We were sat in camping chairs not moving for about 2 hours of that so only really queuing stood up for an hour or so, then 30 minutes from gate to camp.

 

[kalifire]

The queue wouldn’t have anything to do with why I’d arrive later, personally. I’ve loved arriving in the early hours and queueing up to get in when the gates open. It has its own atmosphere and excitement, as the sun rises over a growing crowd. Magical. 

I’d arrive later because there isn’t much going on and I don’t need two days of that. 

[gooner1990]

21 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

While that's true, it we'd have travelled down Tuesday night we'd have been in the car parks before the real shit hit the fan, though Campervans were having a nightmare on the Tuesday. A similar thing happened going to Latitude one year where we thought we'd rock up late and it took us 9 hours to get there, 5 more than it should have done. This has led me to believe my using the phrase "shall we rock up later this year?" is a curse.

I certainly don't rule out a later arrival for the future but getting in this year was the smoothest it's ever been for us. 4 hours from back of queue to tent up sounds like a nightmare but it really wasn't. We were sat in camping chairs not moving for about 2 hours of that so only really queuing stood up for an hour or so, then 30 minutes from gate to camp.

 

Our entry in 2016 was delayed because of the campervans all over the East car parks....once they had sorted that out we sailed in....its all hindsight though isn't it, and sometimes I find one thing works one year then doesn't the following one.

This year arrived on site (via coach) at 9.45am and were in and pitched up by 11.45am, but then pissed about for another 2 hours (or perhaps a bit less) getting stuff from a friends car that we couldn't take on the coach.

For me its now got so big, that you really do need a trade off for coming in late and pitching far out....I'm perhaps reaching that point now as since I started going in 2004 I've always gone in early Weds AM and just getting a bit tired of it as I just end up out of energy by the end of the Saturday night...there does seem now to be this culture of getting on site as early as possible and it just gets earlier and earlier every passing year, but I then find that Sunday becomes a non-event for me which is one of the main days for music.

We went in 'late' (4 hours after gates had opened) to BoomTown in 2019, camped in the back field but walked straight into the site with no queue whatsoever and the only pain was a bit (10 mins) of a longer walk at the end of each night.

Edited July 11, 2022 by gooner1990

[a6l6e6x]

Chill out a bit on the Wednesday

Bring Gavison

Bring something to hold up the portable shower bag

 

[Mardy]

On the other hand my little portable folding stool was a fucking sensation and I’ll never look back 

[Gnomicide]

4 minutes ago, Mardy said:

On the other hand my little portable folding stool was a fucking sensation and I’ll never look back 

This is the important stuff! My change for next year is taking a telescopic stool* with me everywhere.

 

*not a euphemism.

[dotdash79]

What stools are these?

[Gnomicide]

Just now, dotdash79 said:

What stools are these?