Site quieter?

[Memory Man]

52 minutes ago, rebeccac said:

But this doesn’t account for why it is so much busier in recent years. I went every year 2013-2019 and it wasn’t anything like the crowd crushes and overcrowding of recent years. 

I think it does

 
public attendance hasnt gone up that much but staff and performers tickets are up significantly. these are tickets controlled by the festival and can be used in any way they wish

 

there are 30,000 more on site now than in 2014 and i think only 7k of these are standard punters. 
 

Stats;

 

2010: 177,500 total cap

 

then it went up to 198k

 

then 203k

 

then 210k 

 

plus however many more are being spun in…

 

Staff and performers dont arrive, do their work and bugger off - they stay and party. And its warm and dry every year now so ppl are out and about all day and night.

Edited July 2 by Memory Man

[Pinhead]

When Glasto tickets have become so valuable that they have practically become a currency to pay people and organisations for services rendered to the festival, the situation of overcrowding will only escalate, until an incident provokes a reconsideration.

Edited July 2 by Pinhead

[kemosabe]

Just now, Pinhead said:

When Glasto tickets have become so valuable that they have practically become a currency to pay people and organisations for services rendered to the festival, the situation of overcrowding will only escalate. Until an incident provokes a reconsideration, it will likely only escalate.

 

Couldn't agree more. The festival got Calvin Harris to play for "free" a few years ago in exchange for some tickets. When they have that reach it will only continue to increase attendances. 

 

I suppose quietly behind the scenes Emily will also look back to the fence jumping time and think that in many ways the festival handled those attendances, so why can't they do these ones. And maybe she's right. 

[Memory Man]

3 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

When Glasto tickets have become so valuable that they have practically become a currency to pay people and organisations for services rendered to the festival, the situation of overcrowding will only escalate, until an incident provokes a reconsideration.

This is absolutely spot on

 

those 60 odd k staff tickets are being utilised to the absolute max

[Ryan1984]

I keep seeing ‘spun in’ being used here - can somebody explain this like I’m 5?

[Memory Man]

It would be extremely interesting to hear about how many they estimate broke in this year compared to the last 2 though

 

It was noticably a lot, lot more strict and well organised at the gate and the girl who wristbanded me told me they’d had tons of runners trying and others trying to just shuffle through. Most will be caught but some wont. 
 

extra ticket random checks and wristband checks were being done too

 

i still saw someone on sunday with no wristband whatsoever on though

[Memory Man]

3 minutes ago, Ryan1984 said:

I keep seeing ‘spun in’ being used here - can somebody explain this like I’m 5?

People being driven in in the back of vans / lorries

 

people being helped in for money by security

 

fence jumpers

 

dodgy EPO wristband tricks (no longer works)

[balti-pie]

1 minute ago, Ryan1984 said:

I keep seeing ‘spun in’ being used here - can somebody explain this like I’m 5?

Typically with staff P tickets, which don’t require ID - someone will escort in someone with a valid ticket, they’ll get wristbanded and come in, then the escorter will remove their wristband and ticket stub and leave them onsite.
They’ll then go outside and find another punter to be spun in, put the wristband on them and spin them in with the same ticket stub that doesn’t require ID, and again de-band them and head outside to do the same thing again. And again. And again.
 

Only way of changing that is by making everyone on-site have a wristband, and checking them regularly I think, perhaps at specific checkpoints onsite. It’ll add another layer of complication though, cos villagers can bring in 5 guests, and they aren’t wristbanded, so not everyone without a wristband is on the con 

[stuie]

36 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

Typically with staff P tickets, which don’t require ID - someone will escort in someone with a valid ticket, they’ll get wristbanded and come in, then the escorter will remove their wristband and ticket stub and leave them onsite.
They’ll then go outside and find another punter to be spun in, put the wristband on them and spin them in with the same ticket stub that doesn’t require ID, and again de-band them and head outside to do the same thing again. And again. And again.
 

Only way of changing that is by making everyone on-site have a wristband, and checking them regularly I think, perhaps at specific checkpoints onsite. It’ll add another layer of complication though, cos villagers can bring in 5 guests, and they aren’t wristbanded, so not everyone without a wristband is on the con 

P ticket holders are stubbed at the gate and require a passout ticket for re-entry so I don’t see how that works?

 

[BookAngel]

2 hours ago, Memory Man said:

this idea i’d certainly get behind, but i dont think those who are into the acoustic field offering would be happy about it! Palais could be moved easily.

what would you then suggest goes in the blank field you created? Curious

 

Only really for extra general camping - which could then allow for an extension of Arcadia's capacity into Park Home Ground, for example.

 

Edit: I love the Acoustic stage, but some of those bands would go down just as well in Avalon or the Park!

Edited July 2 by BookAngel
Edit

[efcfanwirral]

53 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

Typically with staff P tickets, which don’t require ID - someone will escort in someone with a valid ticket, they’ll get wristbanded and come in, then the escorter will remove their wristband and ticket stub and leave them onsite.
They’ll then go outside and find another punter to be spun in, put the wristband on them and spin them in with the same ticket stub that doesn’t require ID, and again de-band them and head outside to do the same thing again. And again. And again.
 

Only way of changing that is by making everyone on-site have a wristband, and checking them regularly I think, perhaps at specific checkpoints onsite. It’ll add another layer of complication though, cos villagers can bring in 5 guests, and they aren’t wristbanded, so not everyone without a wristband is on the con 

I'd never heard of the villager tickets before this year. Its a very odd system to say the least and is very much built on "good faith" 

Edited July 2 by efcfanwirral

[TomTom1239]

There is an important element to queuing for certain spots like nyc, rabbit hole (scissors) - it ensures that only those who really really want to be there are there and contributes to the year after year success of the festival.
 

Glasto is a graft these days and it certainly doesn’t just give you everything without effort. Whether that is fair when you’ve paid £400 I’m not sure but I for one quite enjoy winning the glasto game.

[balti-pie]

2 hours ago, stuie said:

P ticket holders are stubbed at the gate and require a passout ticket for re-entry so I don’t see how that works?

 

I presume they had a little pile of passouts somehow, cos they presented them when coming in. We had a fella go in with two separate people about an hour apart, with the same ticket - we called them out on it, asked for ID, which didn’t match - and made the fella 25 when he was clearly in his forties 🤣 he didn’t remember his star sign, and just walked away.
The ‘escort’ got the hump with us and started moaning that he was a sponsor, was very important, and was going to get us sacked (that would have been interesting,  as obviously we were Oxfam!) and said he was supplying all the electric bikes for the festival staff to use - can’t say I saw any electric bikes either to be honest . . .  And then we didn’t see him coming through that gate again. He almost certainly tried through another one, I would guess 

[glastorome]

10 hours ago, 4AssedMonkey said:

Interesting read this. Think I was fairly lucky in that my taste in music meant I only saw one overly busy area (Holts/Sugababes) and decided not to bother. My experience is therefore that it felt less busy overall -  thinking queues for food/thoroughfares etc. -  but by the sound of it, more “hot spots” than before. It’s therefore clearly a booking issue.

 

Next thought is, are they doing this on purpose? The Glasto setup cannot be so naive after recent years as to not see where act (a) + stage (b) = carnage. So is this to entice certain acts in an attempt to massage ego? Is it to make the festival look better on TV coverage? Is it to generate FOMO in the punters?

 

Truth is we will never know. But I’d bet it’s not an accident. After 15 years of secret sets and big acts on smaller stages causing crowd problems, they’ve chosen to persist with it. I just wonder what benefit they gain from it.

I've thought they manipulated the lineup to get large crowds since the last time I went in 2017. Ed Sheeran headlined the Sunday and there was no one against him with any drawing power on any of the other big stages, we saw London Grammar sub John Peel and they had a massive crowd, then Everything Everything headlined and everyone from LOndon Grammar seemed to head for the pyramid. You couldnt get into Ed Sheeran top track or bottom near the bar, and they had to put a one way system in at the top track, it was carnage. 

 

But it was def premeditated carnage by the festival to get Sheeran a massive crowd.  

Edited July 3 by glastorome

[CaledonianGonzo]

Having the exact same West Holts headliner as 2017 didn't help SZA much.

[ThePope]

11 hours ago, Helsbels said:

This year was a bit of a weird one crowd wise. Got stuck in a crush on the railway track on Thursday night so ended up just going back to the tent. My other half went to San Remo for Job Jobse and said I would have hated it as it was so busy. I'm not a fan at all now of Thursday night as the past few years have been ridiculous crowd wise and an accident waiting to happen.

We managed to get on the barrier for Barry Can't Swim, Orbital, Paloma Faith/Shania and Justice by making sure we arrived towards the end of the act before but had to plan things a lot more than in the past. My mates who arrived later to The Park couldn't get in for Barry Can't Swim as it was too busy by the time they arrived. I wanted to see The Sugababes but also wanted to see Confidence Man so had to make a choice there.

Saturday night the Other Stage and West Holts were only half full for Disclosure and Jessie Ware (who was fab). Arcadia was really busy on Saturday night as well so we gave it a swerve but had been there Friday night so wasn't the end of the world.

I do definitely feel there are too many people on site these days and some of the programming needs to be addressed as coming on here you can tell in advance what is going to be rammed so surely the festival themselves know

 

We arrived at Barry Cant swim the act before, loads of space. My wife went to the toilet about 20 mins before he came on and could still get to the front by going down the right hand side. Queue for Levels is not pointed out either and people just bunch up at the exits thinking its a queue, not well sign posted. Only issue i had was SE corner on Friday night. Bicep crowd at IICON prevented anyone being allowed into SE corner and we had to walk the opposite way back down the one way system. Having IICON at the entrance to SE Corner is an issue, need to have some sort of bypass for it. Means that the rest of SE Corner is out of bounds when its busy. First time in 10 Years I didn't make it down there. Job Jobse rammed Thursday night, unpleasant and had to leave. Other than that, the festival didn't seem as busy as 2022. The 'Spin in' clamp down seems to have worked. Friday midnight about 15 people charged down through Worthy View storming passed security who were all sat down. 

 

[rebeccac]

11 hours ago, Memory Man said:

I think it does

 
public attendance hasnt gone up that much but staff and performers tickets are up significantly. these are tickets controlled by the festival and can be used in any way they wish

 

there are 30,000 more on site now than in 2014 and i think only 7k of these are standard punters. 
 

Stats;

 

2010: 177,500 total cap

 

then it went up to 198k

 

then 203k

 

then 210k 

 

plus however many more are being spun in…

 

Staff and performers dont arrive, do their work and bugger off - they stay and party. And its warm and dry every year now so ppl are out and about all day and night.

I was replying to your post which was about hospitality and influencer tickets? Not about staff? Ironic username!

Edited July 3 by rebeccac
Adding comment

[philipsteak]

10 hours ago, efcfanwirral said:

I'd never heard of the villager tickets before this year. Its a very odd system to say the least and is very much built on "good faith" 

 

They're a massive pain in the arse is what they are. 

Just simplifying the tickets and wristbands would cut down on some of the problems. 

Edited July 3 by philipsteak

[MrZigster]

20 hours ago, Devo96 said:

From what I saw:

 

sugababes closed WH

Kasabian closed Woodsies 

Bicep closed SH and Icon

Charli closed SH

Avril locked off Other 

Friday night shut down Temple and Shangri-La was full by 3am 

it’s difficult to say find alternatives when the alternatives are shut down, and you can’t get into Stonebridge! 

Frank Turner closed Strummerville on the Thursday.

 

Was obviously going to happen. Let's just say I got there early enough to bag me a sofa. Dumb positioning of the year award goes to the bloke who decided to set up his chair smack bang in the middle of one of only three entrances into the sofa circle very early on.

 

Couldn't help noticing on the way up the hill that to the right there is a huge bit of unused space in a natural bowl/amphitheatre type shape that made me think, "that'd be a great spot for another stage. Just have to move a few tipis".

 

Worst crowd I was in was after Bob Vylan at the Truth/Peace Stage Monday morning. Was working 11-7 Fri-Sun so avoided everything else mentioned.

 

Maybe relevant: I re-entered through Gate C about 9pm Sunday night. Nobody scanned my EPO. Mentioned this as it was unusual. Was told. "It's a free festival now man", by the security guy.

[compactdisc]

8 minutes ago, MrZigster said:

Maybe relevant: I re-entered through Gate C about 9pm Sunday night. Nobody scanned my EPO. Mentioned this as it was unusual. Was told. "It's a free festival now man", by the security guy.

 

I believe this has always been the case. The majority (or all?) of the Oxfam Stewards are stood down at 8pm when their shifts finish, and security take over in order to get people off site as quickly as possible.

[Alex DeLarge]

Posted this in the other place but I'll post it here as well.

Anyone feel the crowds were generally a lot less friendly this year?

People seemed more miserable and grumpy, especially with nicer weather.

[paulshane]

12 minutes ago, MrZigster said:

 

Maybe relevant: I re-entered through Gate C about 9pm Sunday night. Nobody scanned my EPO. Mentioned this as it was unusual. Was told. "It's a free festival now man", by the security guy.

 

Similar here, I went back in on Sunday via Gate C at about 8PM ish (stocked up in beer from the caravan) and the ticket check lanes were empty. Security checked my ticket, but didn't take my passout. Seemed unusually early to pack up.

Edited July 3 by paulshane

[LoraMaze]

2 minutes ago, compactdisc said:

 

I believe this has always been the case. The majority (or all?) of the Oxfam Stewards are stood down at 8pm when their shifts finish, and security take over in order to get people off site as quickly as possible.

This is definitely the case. We tried to get help from about 8-10 different stewards on the Sunday of 2022, literally none of them gave a sh*t and kept saying “see that steward over there, go ask them” and several didn’t seem to speak English at all. Weird, all we wanted to know was where ped gate D was 🤣 they should have all known 

[Crazyfool01]

2 minutes ago, Alex DeLarge said:

Posted this in the other place but I'll post it here as well.

Anyone feel the crowds were generally a lot less friendly this year?

People seemed more miserable and grumpy, especially with nicer weather.

No the opposite … I guess I’m probably not a representative sample mind .😂

[Alex DeLarge]

2 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

No the opposite … I guess I’m probably not a representative sample mind .😂

Fair enough.

Probably the nastiest thing that's happened to me at a festival happened. I was having a lovely time at Todd Edwards, dancing with strangers who were sound. 

Then some guy is at the front filming on his Snapchat live thing. I say to the guy next to me "Todd the God" and the Snapchat fellow starts laughing at me and filming me dancing. What a nasty piece of work. Really upset me.

Thanks to the girl who came up and hugged me and started dancing with me to cheer me up though when she saw it happen.

Edited July 3 by Alex DeLarge