What is your arrival strategy ?

[august1]

1 hour ago, dotdash79 said:

We have a hotel booked for the Tuesday night on the side of the site we want to be. 
will travel down on the Tuesday, early night up at 4am shower and then in the queue. Worked great last year hope it works the same this year. 

whats the logic of getting up early and joining the queue? decent camping spot?

[dotdash79]

7 minutes ago, august1 said:

decent camping spot

Yep that’s the idea, thought might be able to get up a little later as we are so close. 

[Missrenegade]

Can I check regarding re entry please? Came last time on a coach so had everything to take in all at once. If we park up and can’t manage everything, what are the queues like to get back in? Is it better once you have the band sorted?

[dotdash79]

20 minutes ago, Missrenegade said:

Can I check regarding re entry please? Came last time on a coach so had everything to take in all at once. If we park up and can’t manage everything, what are the queues like to get back in? Is it better once you have the band sorted?

At worst it’s a couple of min , most of the time there is no queue. Just make sure you get a pass out and don’t lose it. 

[Fishinginthelongdrops]

I’ve never had to queue for re entry. Check on the way out where the re entry line is so you don’t end up joining the first entry queue on the way back in.

[Missrenegade]

3 minutes ago, dotdash79 said:

At worst it’s a couple of min , most of the time there is no queue. Just make sure you get a pass out and don’t lose it. 

Thanks! Our plan is to drive down on Wednesday morning from North Wales. Need more equipment this time with being that little bit older. I cant sleep on the floor anymore 🤣

[Fishinginthelongdrops]

1 minute ago, Missrenegade said:

Need more equipment this time with being that little bit older. I cant sleep on the floor anymore

If it’s your first time by car, don’t underestimate how far from the gate you might have to park and how far that gate might be from your preferred camping spot. If you need 2 trips to carry stuff in you need to consume a lot of it while onsite or carry it back out again. Two trips to the car on Monday morning will feel like torture.

[buddiepaul]

I got picked up last year about 10am on Wednesday as I am closest to site. Under two hours later straight into car park. Hopefully same again this year. 

[Missrenegade]

18 minutes ago, Fishinginthelongdrops said:

If it’s your first time by car, don’t underestimate how far from the gate you might have to park and how far that gate might be from your preferred camping spot. If you need 2 trips to carry stuff in you need to consume a lot of it while onsite or carry it back out again. Two trips to the car on Monday morning will feel like torture.

A lot of it will be food/drinks and also we’re stuck with the tent that 4 of us are sleeping in as all travelling from different places. Good to know there’s a different re entry queue 😊

[Fishinginthelongdrops]

8 minutes ago, Missrenegade said:

A lot of it will be food/drinks and also we’re stuck with the tent that 4 of us are sleeping in as all travelling from different places. Good to know there’s a different re entry queue 😊

If you want to park near each other to help with carrying stuff in, it might be worth meeting a few miles from the site to arrive in convoy. It’s not unknown to be directed to a car park miles away from the one you were aiming for.

[IFinallyGotATicket]

1 hour ago, dotdash79 said:

At worst it’s a couple of min , most of the time there is no queue. Just make sure you get a pass out and don’t lose it. 

What happens if you lose your pass out 

[Fishinginthelongdrops]

2 minutes ago, IFinallyGotATicket said:

What happens if you lose your pass out 

You have to go through a long process of proving that you are a genuine ticket holder to get issued a new pass out.

[stuie]

10 minutes ago, IFinallyGotATicket said:

What happens if you lose your pass out 

You have to go on a walk around the outside of the fence to the 'Box Office' who will check your photo and interrogate you to make sure you are indeed the ticket holder and make sure your wristband hasn't been tampered with. 

[coma girl]

2 hours ago, Missrenegade said:

Can I check regarding re entry please? Came last time on a coach so had everything to take in all at once. If we park up and can’t manage everything, what are the queues like to get back in? Is it better once you have the band sorted?

I always do two trips via Gate D on and have never had to wait long at all to get back in the second time.

Like others have said just make sure to keep your ticket and pass out very safe for coming back in.

[Crazyfool01]

If trains is your entry method … advance tickets available now 

 

[2019]

8 hours ago, Crazyfool01 said:

If trains is your entry method … advance tickets available now 

 

Thanks! I've just booked 13:00 out of Paddington to CC on Wednesday. It all now feels very real!

[Lizzim]

I don't think we have a strategy.  We've done it by car, by campervan and by coach all with varying degrees of success.

The worst :

- 2009. Campervan 13 hours from Liverpool  (before they opened on Tuesday) our first Glastonbury festival and it didn't put us off 

- 2016. Car.  Dallied around M5 service station till about 1pm cos of the weather delays. Didn't help.On site at 10pm, at least we were able to put our head torches to proper use pitching up.  No queues at gate though. Just horrendous mud to drag our gear through. Nearly gave up and went home. I was broken.  That year the coaches from Edinburgh and Glasgow took 24 hours to get to site! Not sure who's journey was worse.

2011. Car. Joined for Gate D at about 7am.  Except the q was a dead end and then the rain started. On site about 1pm.  

The best

2019. Coach from Liverpool at midnight Joined q at 7am. Pitched up by 10 am

This year we're going for Sticklinch.  Hotel by the M5, breakfast then driving in.  Hopefully it'll all work fine.

Our experience with coach has been good but we are too old now to travel light.  

 

 

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by Lizzim

[lendan]

This will be our 1st time so this is a great thread. 
We’ll be leaving about 2am from suffolk and hopefully get there about 6-7am and join the queue. 

As a newbie is it just luck on how busy each gate will be or are some generally busier than others?

[Crazyfool01]

9 minutes ago, lendan said:

This will be our 1st time so this is a great thread. 
We’ll be leaving about 2am from suffolk and hopefully get there about 6-7am and join the queue. 

As a newbie is it just luck on how busy each gate will be or are some generally busier than others?

pretty much pot luck depending on  arrival time , sometimes particular gates might have specific issues on the day but impossible to predict tbh ... only real way of guaranteeing a queue free / minimal queue entry is to enter from 11am onwards . Those first hours will see you join the end of quite a long line , once the gates open it can easily take a few hours to get through plus a bit more as you shuffle your way through . make sure you have a hat , suncream and adequate hydration . you will enter the site from the side you approach so just enter by the nearest gate its not easy/ impossible  to get around the site to enter elsewhere . west carparks you can choose gate A or D though .

[kalifire]

On 4/1/2023 at 4:03 AM, Obiginnaw said:

I'm very very tempted to do the overnight Tuesday this year, purely because the Solstice is on the wednesday so seeing that come up in the fields could be a bit special

(having said that it could piss it down with rain so then i'm sleep deprived and i don't get the sunrise)

Recommended! Naysayers like @The Nal will never know the joy of giddy disorientation you have by joining the queue when you’re usually asleep. There’s a unique magic involved in travelling to the farm under cover of darkness and experiencing dawn break over the site. The growing hustle of excited activity. The cheers of delight when the gates open and you’re close to getting in. The pleasure of walking into an almost empty site, taking your pick of the fields and watching it all fill up.

That said, some year it’ll absolutely piss it down and I might then change my mind. 

[a6l6e6x]

Arriving Thursday by coach, hoping to be set up by midday and pissed beyond comprehension by 1pm

[TheDayman]

Our tried and tested Irish strategy will be rolled out again for 2023!

Monday: most of the convoy depart from Dublin early morning and set sail for Holyhead. A nice drive down the country with our favourite tunes should land us into Bristol just in time for a decent feed and “few” brews going into the night.

Tuesday: Time to do the essentials shopping and pick up the rest of our people who fly in that evening. Excitement levels nearing max out at this point.

Wednesday: An early start should have us on the farm for 4-5am and sure we all know how it goes from there! 🕺💃

Edited April 8, 2023 by TheDayman

[The Nal]

6 hours ago, kalifire said:

Recommended! Naysayers like @The Nal will never know the joy of giddy disorientation you have by joining the queue when you’re usually asleep. There’s a unique magic involved in travelling to the farm under cover of darkness and experiencing dawn break over the site. The growing hustle of excited activity. The cheers of delight when the gates open and you’re close to getting in. The pleasure of walking into an almost empty site, taking your pick of the fields and watching it all fill up.

That said, some year it’ll absolutely piss it down and I might then change my mind. 

I did it one year, never again. 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

I've tried different methods before. Key is, there is no pattern! 

2009 - 14 hour coach from Ipswich, picked up around 10am. Had to direct the bus driver through Colchester as he didn't know where the bus station was and I was the only Col. local on the bus. Was a hilarious journey as everything went well until we got stuck in massive traffic around Frome. It was crazy, never experience anything like it, something that year must have gone wrong, but because it was my first I thought it was normal! We were moving a few metres every five minutes. Was on my own, but was a great chance to party on the coach. Got through the gates finally around 11pm, then took another hour to find the people I was camping with who had to put my tent up for me because I'd polished off two bottles of my six pre-mixed vodka/redbulls! Got totally disorientated that night and wandered around for ages getting lost.

2010 - Coach from Victoria. Horrible queue just to get on the coach because they were being super anal about which time you had on your ticket and people were queuing up at almost every gate for the coaches. Think this was one of the last years they did it like that. Journey was fine though and we were in through PGA in a breeze.

2011 - Drove for the first and only time. Car full to the rafters. A friend next to me. We went down on the Tuesday. No traffic until a few miles out, then parked and got drunk in the car park. Completely underestimated how full the car was and couldn't recline the seats to sleep. Was in the queue early doors - about 7:30am, but it was already too late and we had to wait a while before we got anywhere near the wristband area. Was then another awful trudge to where we'd agreed to camp, PGB to other side of the Park, then had to go back and do it all again for the rest of the stuff. Put me off driving down forever.

2014 - Again from Victoria in London on the coach. This time they didn't care what time you had on your ticket, they just shoved everyone on wherever they could. Lovely journey drinking red wine. Had to queue once there, but didn't take long. First time camped opposite the Pyramid.

2017 - Flew in from Germany, stayed at a friend's house in Bristol, got to the Bristol bus station the next day asking where the 10 am coach was, and they just ushered us onto the next coach - not a wait or queue in sight. An hour later we in the queue for PGA. An hour after that we were in and camped behind Silver Hayes. Was easily the most relaxing journey to Glasto I've ever had.

Edited April 8, 2023 by MEGATRONICMEATWAGON

[gfa]

6 hours ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

I've tried different methods before. Key is, there is no pattern! 

2009 - 14 hour coach from Ipswich, picked up around 10am. Had to direct the bus driver through Colchester as he didn't know where the bus station was and I was the only Col. local on the bus. Was a hilarious journey as everything went well until we got stuck in massive traffic around Frome. It was crazy, never experience anything like it, something that year must have gone wrong, but because it was my first I thought it was normal! We were moving a few metres every five minutes. Was on my own, but was a great chance to party on the coach. Got through the gates finally around 11pm, then took another hour to find the people I was camping with who had to put my tent up for me because I'd polished off two bottles of my six pre-mixed vodka/redbulls! Got totally disorientated that night and wandered around for ages getting lost.

2010 - Coach from Victoria. Horrible queue just to get on the coach because they were being super anal about which time you had on your ticket and people were queuing up at almost every gate for the coaches. Think this was one of the last years they did it like that. Journey was fine though and we were in through PGA in a breeze.

2011 - Drove for the first and only time. Car full to the rafters. A friend next to me. We went down on the Tuesday. No traffic until a few miles out, then parked and got drunk in the car park. Completely underestimated how full the car was and couldn't recline the seats to sleep. Was in the queue early doors - about 7:30am, but it was already too late and we had to wait a while before we got anywhere near the wristband area. Was then another awful trudge to where we'd agreed to camp, PGB to other side of the Park, then had to go back and do it all again for the rest of the stuff. Put me off driving down forever.

2014 - Again from Victoria in London on the coach. This time they didn't care what time you had on your ticket, they just shoved everyone on wherever they could. Lovely journey drinking red wine. Had to queue once there, but didn't take long. First time camped opposite the Pyramid.

2017 - Flew in from Germany, stayed at a friend's house in Bristol, got to the Bristol bus station the next day asking where the 10 am coach was, and they just ushered us onto the next coach - not a wait or queue in sight. An hour later we in the queue for PGA. An hour after that we were in and camped behind Silver Hayes. Was easily the most relaxing journey to Glasto I've ever had.

Great read, love how you've literally done it completely differently each time (bar the two victoria coach stations).

I can't wait to drive for the first time - but have somewhat luckily only got coach tickets so far 🙂 certainly a weight off the shoulders