Glastonbury's 5 muddiest festivals, according to The Independent

[BrimfulOfAsha]

43 minutes ago, Spindles said:

I've got nothing but respect for the folks who went to a really wet one for their first time and then kept coming back for more.

 

Took me 10 years to come back after 1997 then I had 2007 😂

[fred quimby]

On 6/12/2024 at 10:12 AM, Skip997 said:

They’ve missed 1985.

I was there in 82, mentioned un the article but 85 was way worse. 

82 dud set up the tent which promptly got flooded and I remember rain at times but the mud of 85 seemed much worse

[MEGABOWL]

They’re being kind about 2011. It dried up quick but Wednesday-Friday were pretty bad. Got soaked setting up and then again most of Friday. It was then absolutely scorching second half of Saturday and all of Sunday. The extremes were exhausting. 

[Spindles]

Aye, I stupidly decided to do 2011 on crutches, we arrived at Midnight on the Wednesday night at gate D which by that point was chewed up like the somme.  Thursday the park was gruelling to get through just to be able to get up to the glastonbury sign and what felt like the last patch of green you could sit on.  

The rain overnight on Friday was so bad they couldn't empty the portaloos at the top of Dairy, which meant I started my day by being greeted with the worst toilet I've ever seen, a pyramid of poop about a foot or so above the seat, into which people had pushed beer cans and bog roll like the worst christmas tree in history.

[The Nal]

The mud up in the SE corner on Thursday night in 2011 was some of the worst Ive seen. It was only partially open but it was like glue. 

[kerplunk]

My first in 1990 was little muddy but nothing compatred to 97/98. The cloying mud was bad in 97 especially in the greenfields. I cut through there heading back to my tent (in the dragon field) one night and it was completely deserted. In places my boots were sinking really deep and you had to drag your feet out on every step. It was exhausting. I kept having to stop for a rest, then pick a target point, move on, and repeat until I got through it. That walk has 'stuck'  in my mind well too!

 

I think 2007 though was the only year I felt defeated by it by the Sunday - the rain that day was like a knockout punch. I remember getting back to my car on monday and a woman nearby who'd just hauled herself out too had a meltdown. Pointing her finger back at the site she screamed at the top of her voice "I am NEVER going back there EVER again!!!". Cracked me up, lol

[Metal Monkey]

I really enjoyed 97 & 98. Had a big group camped on Big Ground overlooking the main stage. Barely left the campsite, just stood around drinking wearing bin liners for coats. 99 was a massive relief to be dry though. 

[Neil]

On 6/12/2024 at 10:12 AM, Skip997 said:

They’ve missed 1985.

by all accounts i've heard the very worst year for mud.

[gherkin8r]

17 hours ago, The Nal said:

The mud up in the SE corner on Thursday night in 2011 was some of the worst Ive seen. It was only partially open but it was like glue. 

Nothing worse

[Dg_vic]

I have only been 3 times, 1998, 2005, 2007. 
 

Will efests out together a gofundme to pay me not to attend again?  

[sedra]

19 hours ago, The Nal said:

The mud up in the SE corner on Thursday night in 2011 was some of the worst Ive seen. It was only partially open but it was like glue. 

Yeah I forgot about that one - you stopped and it just sucked you in! Very dangerous conditions there. 

[gooner1990]

On 6/12/2024 at 6:39 PM, charlierc said:

It's kinda wild that 2005 had this ginormous flood, and then after taking 2006 off, 2007 was comparably bad.

 

That double whammy probably did as much as the seemingly unusual headliner choices to make 2008 a slow-seller.

it also gets forgotten that 2004 was also muddy.

 

2004, 2005 and 2007 were my first three it took until my fourth time in 2008 to have a comparatively dry festival! 

[gfa]

still yet to have a mudfest - glasto or elsewhere.

long may it continue 🙂 

[Hugh with a P]

On 6/12/2024 at 6:36 PM, Dark Star said:

2007 is the coldest I've ever been at a festival. 

Yeah same.  It was just impossible to get warm the whole weekend.  Have a friend that never returned after that year.  

[4AssedMonkey]

Reading some of these horror stories makes me realise how lucky I've been.  Only really been to 2 that would be classed as wet - 2011 & 2016.  2011 was a real game of 2 halves, but the Friday was torrential and I nearly slipped over in the slick clay a few times.

 

2016 ground conditions were awful, but I don't recall the weather being that bad over the weekend.  Showery and not warm.  Had a shocking festival that year for various reasons, including the weather.  Put me off going for 2017, which I now regret.

[charlierc]

8 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

it also gets forgotten that 2004 was also muddy.

 

2004, 2005 and 2007 were my first three it took until my fourth time in 2008 to have a comparatively dry festival! 

I wasn't aware of that tbf. But 2004 has that weird mix. I can only comment from YouTube but I recall seeing that Franz Ferdinand's set was in full sunlight, whereas Muse headline show two days later was full-on "can see your breath" cold.

Edited June 14 by charlierc

[charlierc]

7 hours ago, gfa said:

still yet to have a mudfest - glasto or elsewhere.

long may it continue 🙂 

Lucky lucky stuff.

 

I've had a mix. Truck Festival 2019 was wet on the Saturday but not overwhelmingly so, while two day trips I've made to Reading were real polar opposites. 2011 was a mud-fest and one where I sincerely regret turning up in box-fresh white trainers to an ice rink moshpit that turned them brown, whereas when I went in 2017, bone dry and scorching.

[Neil]

a muddy fest is horrid but its also 'an experience'.

[charlierc]

On 6/13/2024 at 12:03 PM, BrimfulOfAsha said:

Took me 10 years to come back after 1997 then I had 2007 😂

Did you feel cursed to only ever get Glastonbury mudbaths at that point?

[BrimfulOfAsha]

23 hours ago, charlierc said:

Did you feel cursed to only ever get Glastonbury mudbaths at that point?

I did! It took another 3 years but then I was rewarded with the wonder that was 2010 🌞🌞🌞. Still my favourite ever Glastonbury ❤️

[charlierc]

13 minutes ago, BrimfulOfAsha said:

I did! It took another 3 years but then I was rewarded with the wonder that was 2010 🌞🌞🌞. Still my favourite ever Glastonbury ❤️

Sounds about right. I remember watching Muse's set at that year's Glastonbury on TV and at one point Matt Bellamy said "It's f**king sunny at last at Glastonbury!", which made me laugh.

[charlierc]

On 6/14/2024 at 10:23 PM, Neil said:

a muddy fest is horrid but its also 'an experience'.

So people declare.

 

Then again a big part is meant to be camping and I try to avoid that where possible. A terrible experience at Reading 2011 when borrowing my friend's tent really turned me off that, and I only stayed overnight after coming along on a day trip for the last day of the thing.

[stuie]

Bit muddy at download! And some next level chair brigade behaviour 😂 not moving for anything (pics from facebook) 

 

[stuie]

On 6/14/2024 at 10:23 PM, Neil said:

a muddy fest is horrid but its also 'an experience'.

Selective memory helps me to remember only the good times! 

 

In all seriousness, photos of mud fill me with dread but when you’re there and you sink into it (literally) it’s not that bad. 

[Neil]

If your muddy plan involves wellies get some good insoles for them. Makes a huge difference to comfort.