Bearded Theory 2023

[incident]

43 minutes ago, Johnnyseven said:

I heard someone arguing with a seller on Saturday that as a day had already passed they should get it for a reduced price.

Some people are just idiots.

Not even regarding the point they're making, but if they think the seller (who'll likely either be a volunteer or agency staff) has any discretion to say "Yeah actually you're right, have it half price".

[Johnnyseven]

6 minutes ago, incident said:

Some people are just idiots.

Not even regarding the point they're making, but if they think the seller (who'll likely either be a volunteer or agency staff) has any discretion to say "Yeah actually you're right, have it half price".

They should have waited until Monday and i'm sure they could have had one for free.

[Johnnyseven]

Got chatting to a guy at Bearded whilst he was emptying 2 massive Lenor bottles full of piss into the urinals in Gibbs field on [I think] Friday or possibly Saturday morning? Just wondering if it was an eFester?

[Flaminglippy]

6 hours ago, Skelts said:

I saw quite a few too, mine included. Did you see Pigs x7? I got taken along by friends, never heard of them before. It was like watching Joe Talbot’s twin brother. 

Yeah, thought they were great! 

[Flaminglippy]

Biggest disappointment was the food...paid £9 for this chickpea and lentil curry from the curry place by the Catton bar...look at it! There wasn't even any bloody potato in it that I could see and was so tasteless if I hadn't been looking there is a good chance I would have eaten the polystyrene tray by accident. Bring back 'Becky's Bhajis' and 'Gandhi's Flipflop'! 

[Johnnyseven]

3 minutes ago, Flaminglippy said:

Biggest disappointment was the food...paid £9 for this chickpea and lentil curry from the curry place by the Catton bar...look at it! There wasn't even any bloody potato in it that I could see and was so tasteless if I hadn't been looking there is a good chance I would have eaten the polystyrene tray by accident. Bring back 'Becky's Bhajis' and 'Gandhi's Flipflop'! 

Yeah, the portion sizes were miniscule at a lot of the food places. I got the impression they might have all been told to use the same compostable containers by the organisers (to be good for the environment (as they mostly seem to all use the same ones) but, if so, they should have used a bigger size.

Edited May 30, 2023 by Johnnyseven

[Nobody Interesting]

5 minutes ago, Flaminglippy said:

Biggest disappointment was the food...paid £9 for this chickpea and lentil curry from the curry place by the Catton bar...look at it! There wasn't even any bloody potato in it that I could see and was so tasteless if I hadn't been looking there is a good chance I would have eaten the polystyrene tray by accident. Bring back 'Becky's Bhajis' and 'Gandhi's Flipflop'! 

You should have gone to the Sri Lankan stall. Awesome food.

[Nobody Interesting]

3 minutes ago, Johnnyseven said:

Yeah, the portion sizes were miniscule at a lot of the food places. I got the impression they might have all been told to use the same compostable containers by the organisers (to be good for the environment (as they mostly seem to all use the same ones) but, if so, they should have used a bigger size.

Nowhere we ate used those type (as in pic above) trays so your theory is wrong.

We were pleasantly surprised that most stalls we used had held prices from last year despite the rise in their costs and had not shrunk portions. Sri Lankan had increased prices but last year they were too cheap so I don't blame them.

I always find the people who eat Pizza baffling and this year more than ever - thinner than ever and the toppings so thin you could see the base thrpough it - so a thin bit of bread with cheese and tomato for £12 upwards.

[DaveN]

29 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

You should have gone to the Sri Lankan stall. Awesome food.

Seconded! The Sri Lankan and the Thai stall next to it were good food and not ridiculously priced 

[elgatonegrofabricwardrobe]

I enjoyed the dahl from the Sri Lankan place and the fish curry stall was decent too.

[shoptildrop]

This was my 1st festival in 4 years and 1st one without my Andy (as he past suddenly last year after his 50th 😞 ) went with glamping option as even though was catching up with friends at points, I knew I would be on own and didn't want to set up our lovely tent just for me...

Whilst is was hard at times especially on the Sunday as I just wanted Andy to be there with me, he's always in spirit as I have some of his ashes in a necklace aka his mobile home but obviously not the same

I did have a great time, Witch Fever, Elvana, EMF to name a few were fantastic, loved Big Ed, the silent disco and the karaoke at the knockerdown tent - was there pretty much every night murdering Bon Jovi wanted dead or alive, Simple Minds don't you forget about me with a bit of Cranberries zombie and Kate Bush to boot (given I've never done karaoke ever in public until this year I could get enough of it 🙂 )

Bar choice was not as varied as last time I went in 2019 but it was still pretty decent and spent small fortune!! I opted for greek gyros a few times, pie, crispy duck wrap (overpriced imo), great toastie place on way to woodland and finally had a goan fish curry - did think £12 for a main meal was a bit steep but guess it was inevitable

All in all had a great time despite my personal circumstances, but I do think the changes they made this year worked well particularly the Meadow (spent alot of time there) and the silent disco..

Oh and nearly buggered myself up on Jaipur on the 1st day, that stuff is lethal!! 🤪 

[Digi]

24 minutes ago, shoptildrop said:

This was my 1st festival in 4 years and 1st one without my Andy (as he past suddenly last year after his 50th 😞 ) went with glamping option as even though was catching up with friends at points, I knew I would be on own and didn't want to set up our lovely tent just for me...

Whilst is was hard at times especially on the Sunday as I just wanted Andy to be there with me, he's always in spirit as I have some of his ashes in a necklace aka his mobile home but obviously not the same

I did have a great time, Witch Fever, Elvana, EMF to name a few were fantastic, loved Big Ed, the silent disco and the karaoke at the knockerdown tent - was there pretty much every night murdering Bon Jovi wanted dead or alive, Simple Minds don't you forget about me with a bit of Cranberries zombie and Kate Bush to boot (given I've never done karaoke ever in public until this year I could get enough of it 🙂 )

Bar choice was not as varied as last time I went in 2019 but it was still pretty decent and spent small fortune!! I opted for greek gyros a few times, pie, crispy duck wrap (overpriced imo), great toastie place on way to woodland and finally had a goan fish curry - did think £12 for a main meal was a bit steep but guess it was inevitable

All in all had a great time despite my personal circumstances, but I do think the changes they made this year worked well particularly the Meadow (spent alot of time there) and the silent disco..

Oh and nearly buggered myself up on Jaipur on the 1st day, that stuff is lethal!! 🤪 

The 'some like it hot' toastie was just elite ❤️ I'm sure it's the same place as opposite Leftfield at Glastonbury. I usually go for a toastie, a wine from the wine bar next door and then head in to Leftfield to listen to the late morning debates 🙂

I'm really glad you managed to have happy moments despite the sadness 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Digi

[shoptildrop]

1 minute ago, Digi said:

The 'some like it hot' toastie was just elite ❤️ I'm sure it's the same place as opposite Leftfield at Glastonbury. I usually go for a toastie, a wine from the wine bar next door and the  head in to Leftfield to listen to the late morning debates 🙂

I'm really glad you managed to have happy moments despite the sadness 

Yeah the some like hot toastie was amazing, had that on Saturday 🙂 

[Paul ™]

17 hours ago, bexj said:

I was working on the ped gate on Sunday, there are a few locals day tickets and guest tickets, all approved by the Gate Manager.  

 

I'd be interested in what accreditation they had? What ped gate you on about?

There was a hand stamp idea being muted about for day guests, was it that? 

Guest tickets aren't a new thing, they pay a donation, think this year it was £10 per day

[Paul ™]

10 hours ago, Pinhead said:

Agree about the signage as well. Tho the stewards will always aim to help you all find things, there was very little in the way of signposts and stuff around the site. This should be improved.

No idea why the signs they had made a couple years ago never got used, they were all still in production compound.

[Gnomicide]

3 hours ago, shoptildrop said:

This was my 1st festival in 4 years and 1st one without my Andy (as he past suddenly last year after his 50th 😞 ) went with glamping option as even though was catching up with friends at points, I knew I would be on own and didn't want to set up our lovely tent just for me...

Whilst is was hard at times especially on the Sunday as I just wanted Andy to be there with me, he's always in spirit as I have some of his ashes in a necklace aka his mobile home but obviously not the same

I did have a great time, Witch Fever, Elvana, EMF to name a few were fantastic, loved Big Ed, the silent disco and the karaoke at the knockerdown tent - was there pretty much every night murdering Bon Jovi wanted dead or alive, Simple Minds don't you forget about me with a bit of Cranberries zombie and Kate Bush to boot (given I've never done karaoke ever in public until this year I could get enough of it 🙂 )

Bar choice was not as varied as last time I went in 2019 but it was still pretty decent and spent small fortune!! I opted for greek gyros a few times, pie, crispy duck wrap (overpriced imo), great toastie place on way to woodland and finally had a goan fish curry - did think £12 for a main meal was a bit steep but guess it was inevitable

All in all had a great time despite my personal circumstances, but I do think the changes they made this year worked well particularly the Meadow (spent alot of time there) and the silent disco..

Oh and nearly buggered myself up on Jaipur on the 1st day, that stuff is lethal!! 🤪 

I think I may have caught a few of your performances! Glad you had a good time. I lost my best mate last year and it does hit you every now and then through the festival, you expect to turn round and see them joining in with the fun. I also kept thinking "He'd love these" or "He'd think these were sh*t!". 

[Gnomicide]

Re the food, really missed the Indian food stall that used to be on the left as you walked into the arena from the camping field.  Their breakfast roll with a free hit drink has been our daily starter for years.

One of the burger stalls did a decent bacon roll (no free drink) but was closed in the morning after the first day. We bought some on Saturday from a stall by Convoy Cabaret and it was bloody awful.

[On The Blend]

Seconding the support for the Sri Lankan place, that was cracking. The Greek place near the Tea Tent wasn’t too shabby either.

[Boomtowner]

This was our 7th visit, and probably the best yet. All of the changes worked a treat. Loved the addition of the new tent, even though I only went to two shows there, the excellent Kid Kapichi and Holy Moly. The wood land was as chilled as ever and none of the problems from last year. The line up wasn't a classic one for me (I know I'm in the minority), but I was never bored and probably spent more time in the arena than ever before. Enjoyed the bit I saw of the Go Team, wish I'd seen more. Primal Scream were on form, the last time I saw them was Glastonbury 13, and they were terrible.

Food places were good, toilets were the best I've ever encountered and everything was incredibly well organised. The crowd was as usual, awesome. Never met a friendlier crowd anywhere, and love all of the costumes. As someone said before, like a mini-Glastonbury. It's the first date into our diaries each year, but we were unsure with the new ownership, but we'll definitely be buying early birds. See you all next year.

Only one slight gripe. I didn't think the beer choice was great and that the poster led me to believe that there would be more options. The bar near the Rum Shack had a few decent beers, but a lot sold out quickly.  It would have been nice to have that choice at the Woodland as well.

[Johnnyseven]

3 hours ago, Boomtowner said:

Only one slight gripe. I didn't think the beer choice was great and that the poster led me to believe that there would be more options. The bar near the Rum Shack had a few decent beers, but a lot sold out quickly.  It would have been nice to have that choice at the Woodland as well.

I was told by someone that only a few staff could change the barrels, so once a barrel was done they had to wait until one of those people were about to change the barrel. I did notice beers in that bar came and went from the board depending on when you were there.

I get why they had the main range of real ale in the one bar as it stops a load of half used barrels around the site but the queue in that bar on some occasions was ridiculous early in the festival when they had all of the beers on. They should have more barrels and more staff in that bar if that's how they've gonna do it.

[Pinhead]

21 hours ago, Paul ™ said:

No idea why the signs they had made a couple years ago never got used, they were all still in production compound.

I think they were all in the Glasto font as well?

[Pinhead]

21 hours ago, Paul ™ said:

I'd be interested in what accreditation they had? What ped gate you on about?

There was a hand stamp idea being muted about for day guests, was it that? 

Guest tickets aren't a new thing, they pay a donation, think this year it was £10 per day

On some of the gates there was a handstamp in the shape of the Bearded 'puddle' logo used this year.

[Pinhead]

4 hours ago, Johnnyseven said:

I was told by someone that only a few staff could change the barrels, so once a barrel was done they had to wait until one of those people were about to change the barrel. I did notice beers in that bar came and went from the board depending on when you were there.

I get why they had the main range of real ale in the one bar as it stops a load of half used barrels around the site but the queue in that bar on some occasions was ridiculous early in the festival when they had all of the beers on. They should have more barrels and more staff in that bar if that's how they've gonna do it.

This happened a lot at the bar next to Meadow. Beggars belief.

[Pinhead]

Best food for me anyway was the Greek Gyros place left of Pallett - 4 quid for a sack, yes a sack of the best fries ever prob about 3 potatoes worth.

[Boomtowner]

4 hours ago, Johnnyseven said:

I was told by someone that only a few staff could change the barrels, so once a barrel was done they had to wait until one of those people were about to change the barrel. I did notice beers in that bar came and went from the board depending on when you were there.

I get why they had the main range of real ale in the one bar as it stops a load of half used barrels around the site but the queue in that bar on some occasions was ridiculous early in the festival when they had all of the beers on. They should have more barrels and more staff in that bar if that's how they've gonna do it.

Thanks for sharing, that makes a bit more sense now. especially why one of the beers was out and then came back on. I'm sure that they could have had more than one bar serving  range of real ale. I'll jut remember to pack more beer next year.