What is your arrival strategy ?

[Leyrulion]

14 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

I'm only really familiar with SE corner and Green Fields crew camping. My info re Glade crew camping comes from a friend.

I didn't hear of any Green Fields crew being sited in Bath and West, but we did get told it may happen.

Shangri-La had issues with fitting all their lot in this year, but that's partly due to people turning up early with big vans/trucks/buses/caravans and making sure they have plenty of room and partly due to them having no volunteers organising the parking.  Plus it's a tricky field as it's on a significant slope.

We always manage to fit everyone into Dragon Field, but that's mostly due to us being really organised and on the ball.

I wonder if it's some people relocated from dairy ground to pylon having a issue (which isn't that far tbh).

[a.shep]

33 minutes ago, Twiggy553 said:

Campervan East Quiet. Usually just rock up around Wednes lunchtime. I’m pretty fit so don’t mind the walk to get on site too much

Which field do you usually end up in arriving at that time? This will be my first year in the camper. 

[hblow]

If you fancy a bit more of a lively campsite where would you recommend? I will be arriving on coach on Thurs and unsure of what time so options may be limited haha

Edited November 21, 2023 by hblow

[Dark Star]

The loss of Pylon to customer camping (think it was all hospitality?) wasn't such a big issue as the extra distance/inconvenience it created for people wanting to camp in Bushy Ground or the fields beyond it. The route provided must have been nearly 3x as long as it was previously. Luckily on the Monday it was possible to cut through Pylon to gate A. 

[JayBoogie]

1 hour ago, hblow said:

If you fancy a bit more of a lively campsite where would you recommend? I will be arriving on coach on Thurs and unsure of what time so options may be limited haha

We always go for Pennards - it fills up fast but if you're not going to take up much space I've seen many people rock up on Thurs/Fri and squeeze in somewhere!

[hblow]

Oh awesome thanks for the info, we should be able to as there is only four of us with 3 smallish tents 

Edited November 21, 2023 by hblow

[Kaboom Boxer]

7 hours ago, The Nal said:

I'm not as its been sh*t for the last decade. 

Hey, I’m curious to hear what’s been so sh*t about Shangri-La for the last decade. This will be my first Glastonbury and it had been recommended to me as a highlight. 

[incident]

10 minutes ago, Kaboom Boxer said:

Hey, I’m curious to hear what’s been so sh*t about Shangri-La for the last decade. This will be my first Glastonbury and it had been recommended to me as a highlight. 

Then you'll love it. Especially if you've not been to Boomtown.

It's just that (for those of us who go every year), it feels like it peaked in 2008 or 09 when it was full of new and original ideas that made it genuinely mind blowing (for regulars). Whereas we're all jaded and cynical and it feels like SL has been gradually watered down and become stale. Not helped by the increased popularity which has meant they've refocussed on doing fewer things bigger to allow more people in overall.

[dicko_belfast]

2 hours ago, Crazyfool01 said:

Is all a bit of a balance as to how far you want to carry kit vs how far you mind walking home … but with one tent that should make things a bit easier if you want to go a bit closer … there should also be stewards close to gate a who can advise 

Thanks - we are lucky enough to be fit enough to not mind the walking although obviously it's tougher with all our gear at the start as everyone knows. Was just a bit worried a lot of places might be packed by later afternoon on the Wednesday. Thanks for the tips! 

[Skip997]

17 minutes ago, Kaboom Boxer said:

Hey, I’m curious to hear what’s been so sh*t about Shangri-La for the last decade. This will be my first Glastonbury and it had been recommended to me as a highlight. 

He's talking about the South East corner in general, i.e. Shangri-La, Unfairground, Block 9 and The Common.

It depends what you're after. It's arguable that Unfairground has always been "sh*t". The main problem with "the naughty corner", as it's known to some, is that post midnight it's overcrowded. Certain points produce quite significant "bottle necks", unless you go pre or during the headliners it's a bit of a drag to get into (as a punter), you have to use a convoluted one way system. Having worked the railway track, on a late shifts, pre the one way system, I can say that this had to be put in place.

However, there are loads of great stages and venues, and although it's mainly electronic and dance music, you do get a fair amount of reggae and some quite electic acts.

As a "first-timer" The SE corner is unlikely to be "sh*t", unless it's just not your scene. The build is going to impress, unless you've been to Boomtown, and even then it's unlikely to disappoint.

It has significantly changed and doesn't have the same "weirdness", "strangeness, "wildness" or ability to shock as it once had. Subjectively it has perhaps become stale, but only to the eyes of "veterens".

It's still a wonderful night time "playground" which hosts some amazing artists, skewed towards electronic and dance music, but hey, that's what everyone wants post midnight...no?

Fortunately it's not the only late night area, it's just goes on later than the rest.

[stuie]

10 hours ago, Kaboom Boxer said:

Hey, I’m curious to hear what’s been so sh*t about Shangri-La for the last decade. This will be my first Glastonbury and it had been recommended to me as a highlight. 

Don’t worry… it’s not sh*t. 
It contains some world class venues and stages. 

That post belongs in the ‘unpopular opinions’ thread! 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Yeah, no reason for first timers to worry about it. It's still great - just lost some of its appeal for veterans.

It is also still evolving - Platform 23 came in 2022, No(w)here and Nomad appeared this year....

[The Nal]

11 hours ago, Kaboom Boxer said:

Hey, I’m curious to hear what’s been so sh*t about Shangri-La for the last decade. This will be my first Glastonbury and it had been recommended to me as a highlight. 

Ah then you should love it. 

But yeah I meant the entire SE Corner. Overcrowded and if you've been before its been boring since 2014.  

[gooner1990]

26 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Ah then you should love it. 

But yeah I meant the entire SE Corner. Overcrowded and if you've been before its been boring since 2014.  

This year for the first time since that area took off I didn't go in there after the headliners on any of the main three nights....went in there for about an hour on the Thursday night and had a daytime wander on the Saturday but that was about it....yes its great, but now at the age of 42 I feel I value an extra three hours in bed to ensure I can function the following day a lot more!

Edited November 22, 2023 by gooner1990

[Chef]

Next year I will log off my work laptop on the Friday afternoon then make my way to my sofa and put iPlayer on. 😒

[Scrump]

Whenever I'm lucky enough to have tickets,this is one of may favorite threads!

[JayBoogie]

There was a good post on here a while back about Unfairground/Shangri-La. I won't do it justice here, but the gist was that all these themes around dystopia, corporate greed, climate change, surveillance - just feels a bit too close to home now. You go to Glastonbury to escape that stuff

On the other hand, I would say Block9 is better than it's ever been

[CaledonianGonzo]

3 minutes ago, JayBoogie said:

There was a good post on here a while back about Unfairground/Shangri-La. I won't do it justice here, but the gist was that all these themes around dystopia, corporate greed, climate change, surveillance - just feels a bit too close to home now. You go to Glastonbury to escape that stuff

It's a valid critique, I guess - though it's always had a political element to it and its pretty difficult to be optimistic at the minute.

The year that they did include utopian elements - the Heaven and Hell year - folk were put out the Heaven areas were too elitist.

[incident]

1 minute ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

The year that they did include utopian elements - the Heaven and Hell year - folk were put out the Heaven areas were too elitist.

That's the same critique about it being too close to home, though.

Deliberately made it elitist to fit with the theme, and while they may have been happy with it from the perspective of the story they were trying to tell - it's just not something that works well for a transient festival crowd looking to escape reality.

[Toilet Duck]

17 hours ago, gherkin8r said:

Might well consider that this year then. Good info. Was 2022 one of the first years Wicket became family camping?

Wicket has been family camping since 2010 I think (we camped there in 2009, but had to move up the hill to Lime Kiln in 2010). That year almost all of the field below the road up top was family camping, however, the fence has slowly moved back down the hill, pretty much down as far as the lockups now (or at least it was in 2022) so maybe half of it or so is back in general camping. The lower part is much flatter and you don't end up in a crumpled heap at the bottom of your tent every morning, but we're creatures of habit so still head for a spot near the road that is flatter than other parts of the hill. 

[stuie]

40 minutes ago, JayBoogie said:

There was a good post on here a while back about Unfairground/Shangri-La. I won't do it justice here, but the gist was that all these themes around dystopia, corporate greed, climate change, surveillance - just feels a bit too close to home now. You go to Glastonbury to escape that stuff

On the other hand, I would say Block9 is better than it's ever been

It will be this year - Genosys 2.0

Block9 and The Common are the two best areas of the SEC though. 

[deepkittycaz]

18 hours ago, Leyrulion said:

The fence line was expanded this year and a massive amount of new crew camping space created, pylon ground isn't customer camping anymore. So I thought more camping was going inside the fence.

They have to make trade offs obviously but I know it all kicked off in 22 with local groups being nowhere nearby their areas. I thought with the pylon changes and back of arcadia being production now they'd solved a lot of the issues. 

 

 

 

 

 

Pylon, plus half of Rivermead. The '22 kickoff resulted in us (plus presumably other groups) being moved out of Dairy into Orange Staff, which was definitely too small! Hopefully we don't get moved again for '24.

[O'Doyle Rules]

Hoping that there is more of a shift towards Silver Hayes to balance the crowds - was good this year.

[Derby_Dave]

On 11/21/2023 at 6:47 AM, a.shep said:

That’s helpful thanks. We were considering travelling after work from Leeds so wouldn’t arrive until 10/11pm.. would you say that’s too late and we’d struggle to get a spot? 

I guess if you had purchased an east quiet ticket they would be space somewhere.  There has to be some that don’t turn up till Thursday I guess.

I really couldn’t say there will be someone on here who knows the system better.

 I’m not convinced that they open all night for caravan/camper entry either.

 Sorry can’t be more help.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Derby_Dave

[Leyrulion]

2 hours ago, O'Doyle Rules said:

Hoping that there is more of a shift towards Silver Hayes to balance the crowds - was good this year.

This year was the first when I've seen signs say "Silver Hayes very busy, seek other options" usually that's Shangri-la.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Leyrulion