If you love music, I don’t really think Glastonbury is for you. At least, I now know it isn’t for me. It reminds me, in a way, of a decent pub, cosy and convenient, with a good choice of attractive features. BUT on New Years Eve. So rammed with incomers/amateurs, intent on doing the pub experience as “large” (sic) as they can, making sure also everyone knows it. Thousands of the fuckers.
Disclaimer, this wasn’t my first time, if certainly my last. I went a couple of times in the early 90’s, when it was a much smaller event, altogether more contained and less corporate. Feral and edgy even, with peace and love mixing freely with drugs and threat. Loved it, I think, but the change between 93 and 94 was already apparent, the size seeming to double overyear (and that wasn’t the fence jumpers!) This time I had blagged a press pass, saving me a wedge I am glad to have saved, along with certain “advantages” in the camping and, um, facilities, for which, at 66, I am grateful.
“Don’t like music?” But there is so much on offer. For sure, and that is the rub, with a 100 odd stages dotted over the metropolis, scheduling is a nightmare, and, when it can take 30 to 45 minutes to cross the site, stage to stage, it can be a challenge to choose who to grace and who to not. Top tip: avoid the stars and the main stages, if you can. Or, more to the point, don’t bother even trying to fight into the Pyramid/Other for headliners, unless you have staked your claim the day before, and are thus going to forego anything else whilst waiting, including other bands and other stages, eating, drinking or urinating. The area “around” such stages becomes so solid and rammed as to make life as unenjoyable an experience as can be imagined: a bit like being in a MRI. I made the decision to not see any of the big players, yer Eltons and all that; much better view on telly. I had planned on Blondie but, arriving towards the end of Cat, the nearest I could get was just below one of the giant screens, the stage unseeable to my left. I am an up close and personal at the barrier type gig goer, so the idea of watching a screen in a field seems pointless, as indeed seemed la belle Harry when she tottered out. In giant close-up on said screen she looked less icon and more artefact. Glen looked good, he making for a superlative rhythm section with Clem Burke, who cans till hammer like a God. But that ain’t a gig, feeling I-player would give me a better chance, so off I tottered.
Don’t get me wrong, I did see some corking acts across the less dense areas, adjective as appropriate for what you wish, the Park stage, Arcadia, Avalon, as well as less headline fare at the big stages, in fact, almost anywhere where the cameras might not be. Which is my beef: the festival has become a tool of the BBC, for them to flaunt their coverage and incite envy in their audience at home, all thinking it must be that much better to be there. Frankly, and if you want to see the stars, not. Too crowded and crammed, random and rammed.
Bonus of hospitality? A safer camping arena with a dedicated carpark with less of a trek between the two. Still hugely oversubscribed: latecomers were diverted elsewhere, late meaning Thursday, a full day before the main stages even open. Showers and proper toilets. Invaluable, frankly. Don’t mock me; as someone who prefers to stay on my face rather than off it, a good shit and a shower, first thing, ahead of a decent coffee sets you up for any old armageddon. The interstage area was a bit of a glory hole, really, apart from the fascination of the press tent, where all the journos and photographers would be beavering away. I could charge my phone in peace, have (more) coffee and pretend I was famous. (Only AWs know the name of all the famous indie writers of yore, with them, in our eyes, nearly as fabled as the acts they put down!) The photo guys seem the stars, mind, as the Guardian and NME (yup, still a presence) writing tables looked deeply corporate, the editor doling out instructions to the team of college boys and girls that write such stuff these days.The photo guys were moaning how little press pit access they were being given, especially by the more heritage acts: closed pits mean no unflattering close-ups!) The main advantage were the gated off walkways between Pyramid and Other stage, as, especially when the Swarm (as in the Living Dead) were moving en masse, saving a bundle of time.
I was lucky, I guess, given the weather, its my wellies unused and neglected, but the heat had its own challenges. Such as shade. More than once I settled for seeing a band I hadn’t necessarily sought, for the joy of it being in a tent, closed to the unforgiving Helios.(No bad thing, but annoying when you had really wanted to wander over (ha!) and catch someone you later heard was awesome.)
Food was good, but not cheap. To paraphrase a Guardian article, pity those poor Cypriot sheep, being milked to death for all that halloumi!! Drink around £6.50 a pint.
Who did I see and who did I like? Well, a bit of a mix, with highlights being the Hives, the Unthanks, the Pretenders, Leftfield, Gwenno, Working Mens Club, the Mary Wallopers, Steve Earle, the Saw Doctors, the Damned, Cara Dillon, N’fady Kouyate, Rick Astley/Blossoms and Track Dogs. (Going through the programme and seeing all the acts I wanted to but didn’t/couldn’t, has just proven quite upsetting!?!)
I confess I bailed at around 6 on Sunday, despite best intentions for the War on Drugs and Rickie Lee Jones; I was ready for my bed, after the smooth 3 hour drive, dreading the exfiltration gridlocks, apparently up and standstill even by midnight.
A very honest review – realistic and grumpy, so just my thing! After trying and failing to bag tickets a few years in the row in the mad online rush, the more I think about the more I realise I probably dodged a bullet. Yes, on telly it looks great, but I had wondered about trying to schedule different stages in and moving from place to place, and you’ve just confirmed what a nightmare it is.
So if you can’t really get to the main stages with the Big Acts (or at least, you can’t without missing out on a load of other stuff), then really you are left with all the smaller, more obscure stages. So in the end, is the Glastonbury experience really different to any of the more boutique festivals out there? I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound like it. It’s become too big, hasn’t it? Simple as that maybe.
I was there in ’71 (I think), with the pyramid stage. There was plenty of space and it was free. I haven’t been since.
Only ‘cause you’re banned HP. What was it you were doing behind behind Eavis’s farmhouse?
Oi’m a keen amateur veterinary worker.
I enjoyed that gushing piece on England’s premier weekend ‘do’ Retro. If I ever attended ‘Glasto’ as it’s known to pop fans I doubt I’d bother to watch any music act, there seems to be too much going on to enjoy.
My only festival this year will be the Wigan Diggers Festival, there’s ale, music, personality and err pies.
I went in 1990 the year of Happy Mondays, The Cure and Sinead O’Connor playing. I remember that I enjoyed bits of it but it got right on my tits that some people thought they had a right to get in for free just because they were a Levellers fan, had a dog on a string and seemed to live in a dilapidated old bus, and being made to feel boringly straight because I didn’t neccesarily agree. The 50,000 or so that went that year seemed a bit much to me even then, so I know I wouldn’t cope with it at all these days and not just because I’m so much older.
From watching it on the telly ever since it clearly started to change around the mid nineties, into the kind of thing that nowadays really is just another thing to tick off the social calendar or go to the once just to say you’ve been. Ha, I accidentally ended up in the “going just once” category myself. I’ve heard from people I know who have been in very recent years that it’s all about the communal experience…yes, I can see that might well be the case. It also explains the baffling popularity of gigs in places like the O2.
I don’t dispute that a lot of the crowd you see on TV look like they’re having a fabulous time but the sheer size of it means I just couldn’t bear it. Give me a 3 or 400 capacity indoor gig anyday where I’m in the same postcode as whoever I’ve paid to see. A festival of about 5000 capacity is about my maximum these days.
I went to that one 1990. My one and only time. We drove straight up after the England v Belgium game and queued for hours to get in. Then carried a big tent for a long way and not finding anywhere decent to pitch it. Ended up putting it up on the side of a road/path which meant it shook all over the place every time a Land Rover came belting past. I remember it being pretty cold and muddy as well. I saw Lush, James, Blue Aeroplanes and Galaxie 500 as well as The Cure and Happy Mondays .
I honestly can’t remember too much of it. I’ve just had quick google around and it says Julian Cope was playing, who I’d have wanted to see but I really don’t recall him being on.
If memory serves, I saw pretty much all those as well. Didn’t World Party play on the Sunday? And I have a vague recollection that Julian Cope might have been ill or something…I certainly don’t remember seeing him either.
I was at Shepton Mallet in 1970. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, Dr John, Mothers, Canned Heat, Steppenwolf and, er, the Maynard Ferguson Big Band. I remember very little because I was out of my tree most of the time. It rained a lot, I remember that – the Byrds played an acoustic set because the stage was too wet for electrics. According to Wikipedia DONOVAN played for 2 1/2 hours on Sunday morning to keep the crowd entertained while the organisers tried to manage the chaos caused by the weather. You’d think I’d remember such a HIGHLIGHT, but perhaps I was queuing for the medieval bogs.
That was it for me and festivals, apart from End of the Road in 2011, which I’m pretty sure was my last time in a tent. Glastonbury is my worst nightmare – it’s why God gave us BBC iPlayer, after all.
Me too at Shepton Mallet – I remember Jefferson Airplane and the foul, foul toilets. The girl, sorry – chick, I was with went off with a roadie from a group I had never heard of. Funnily enough, I don’t remember there being all that much rain but as I too was out of my tree I’m surprised I remember anything
Didn’t Donovan organise the weather for that gig?
He certainly invented it (weather)…
That would have been Crowded House.
No, they invented PORTABLE weather…
Arf!
Great write up. I’ve never been and I would I think like to go ‘just to say I have’
But do I? On tv from the drone shots above it looks massively oversubscribed. And has done for the past couple of decades. I went to a few big outdoor stadium shows in the ‘90’s to see the likes of The Stones and Guns n Roses and was less than happy. I’m not a pusher or a shover and the thought of being stuck fast in the midst of an all day multitude with my bladder is enough to make me piss myself in a literal non-ironic manner. So I stay at the rear. And it’s pointless. You see nothing other than the side stage screens and all you hear is the constant crowd babble. The vibe was for me minimal.
I might go, you never know. But I’ll be at the back or at the toilet.
I started going in 1987 and for about 10 years it was my main summer holiday. My last was 2000, and it was already too busy to move.
But nowadays I need the toilet more often and more urgently than before. Plus my meds make me UV hypersensitive, and there’s a distinct lack of shade on site.
If I had a time machine I’d go back to the early 90s, but it is one of the many things I have sacrificed in return for being dull but healthy.
I think I’d quite enjoy all the hippie/marginal things around the side but you’ve mentioned the one word that has always put me off… “shade”.
I pick sporting fixtures either end of the football season on the basis of where I’m not going to be in the sun – Court 18 when I used to go to Wimbledon – so an open field with thousands and thousands of people during a heatwave? No thanks.
Saw a great match at Shepton Mallet last season.
I have some of the same issues for camping with the added whammy of sleep apnea meaning I need a CPAP machine to get anything close to quality sleep, so hotels/motels only for me. See below.
Never been, but the shots of thousands of people give me the horrors. Elton was good though.
Never been, or to any other festival for that matter. Didn’t fancy it at 25 and certainly don’t at 50. So, happy to accept I’ll likely die a festival virgin.
Entertaining write-up though. Sounds like hard work. And all those people…
How do you get a press pass?
My regular festival is Wilco’s biannual Solid sound one in deepest Massachusetts. 4 main stages, about 10,000 punters and I sleep in a proper bed. And at a huge art gallery (Mass MOCA) where one can shelter from the sun, the inevitable rain and even use proper toilets. You can also walk into downtown North Adams for restaurants, bars, stores etc
Oh and my favourite current band play multiple sets every time. Perfect!
“about 10,000 punters and I sleep in a proper bed”
Must be a big bed…
Hey – it’s one way to pay for the ticket.
Glasto fills me with sheer horror. Not just the acts – Foo Fighters and Guns’n’Roses ffs? 180,000 people milling around half of whom will be pissed up people with very little interest in the music that they have coughed up to see.
I was at Black Deer last week – a lovely small festival with great acts. 10,000 average over the 3 days. Good food great fans – I met people who I met there last year. Park the car on day one stay in hotel for two nights and then drive from festival on day three. So civilised that I have booked for next year already without knowing the artists.
That’s a great way to do a festival. In a similar sort of vein we tend to go in our camper van (not one of the VW ones) to a nice, proper campsite in striking distance of the festival site, with daily-cleaned toilets and showers and the opportunity for a little “festival respite” in the mornings. Then we either drive or cycle in. Works brilliantly for us. Still wouldn’t go to anything too big mind.
I went there once as a punter- in 86. Quite enjoyed it. The Waterboys were on and they were great. I remember The Housemartins coming on rather sheepishly because pop bands with actual hits were a rarity on the bill in those days. Paul Heaton (after a rapturous response to their first few tunes) said “I thought you’d all have beards and would hate us.”
I had a press pass the following year because I was covering it for Radio Wales. As I mentioned in a previous Glastonbury post, the Beeb wasn’t all that prevalent at the festival back then. I interviewed a few people (I remember a nice one with Rolo from the Woodentops but only after I’d finished I realised I’d wound the tape on the wrong way on the Uher so it was unusable).
I also had a pass in 1989 but this, I’m ashamed to say, was obtained via subterfuge. Radio Wales weren’t sending anyone that year but I knew the press manager and I told him they were and that I was returning. He never checked. The Waterboys played then too and I recall chatting with Mike Scott and watching his band play around a campfire backstage way after their set and after most of the bands had left. My friend Sue was with me and she’d made a special t-shirt for Van Morrison (also on the bill). She wanted to present it to him personally but was unaware of what a miserable grump he was. Still, we went to his backstage portakabin and, believe it or not, he came out, accepted the shirt, muttered a thank you and even signed two of her albums. I also went to the loo and found myself standing next to Elvis Costello looking like some sort of weird superhero in his black cape. He said hello but I was tongue tied and blanked him. Sorry Elvis. If you’re reading. (You never know do you?)
I had a band at the time and I’d brought along some of our own t shirts hopefully to hand out to NME types. I bumped into a friend who was singing backing vox with the Hothouse Flowers. The lead singer was with her and he took a shirt saying he’d wear it during their pyramid set. I was overjoyed! Jostling near the front in the press pit in anticipation of imminent fame imagine my horror to find him walking onstage with the shirt tied around his hair. After one song he chucked it into the crowd where it was immediately torn to pieces.
I haven’t been since.
1986 was the peak of the ‘big music’ Waterboys era. I saw them supporting Simple Minds at Milton Keynes that summer and there were on the best live form I have ever seem them (and that is a lot).
Their combination of The Pan Within and Because The Night is still one of the greatest music moments ever for me.
That was a highlight for me too. In 1989 I asked him about the lovely song ‘Saints and Angels’ (which they finished the set with in 86 but which- as a diehard fan- was new to me and which they never actually released officially until years later) and he said he couldn’t remember it at all. Which surprised me. But hey. Rock stars…
So speaks a man who did not, against the best available advice, go to Fred Again 😂
Brilliant summary @retropath2, pretty much my own analysis to a sweaty T.
Narrowly missing the 1979 event through abject impoverishment caused by desperately saving disposable in order to go backpacking in Greece, I finally made it to the 1981 malarky, which was totally fabtastic.
Over the years since, I’ve lost track of attendances, but I’m into double figures. Over the years it has seemed to me that there have been distinct Glastonbury phases:
Phase the first: ramshackle and charming, dirty and uncomfortable. Rather underwhelming in terms of artistic content.
Phase the second: exactly as retro has it – edgy and slightly feral. Bogs still awful. Drugs and hippies, good vibes on the whole, and the exposure to new music became a magnificent part of the experience.
Phase the third: Dogs on strings, buses busting through hedges. Arseholes aplenty. We could get a pitch for a little stall and sell cups of tea and home made flapjacks from a VW camper. Huge fun for a big party of us from the Bath area. Music still great, loads to do, better bogs, but the slippery slope had started, thanks to the Travellers. Wankers.
Phase the fourth: The crims arrived en masse on the back of the sheer scale of numbers and the easy pickings. A girlfriend of a pal was robbed at knifepoint in the middle of the night. One of our cars was broken into. The ‘Security’ monkeys were letting folk in through gaps in the laughable perimter fence, which then got toppled at the back of the site, resulting in massive overcrowding for the available facilities.
Phase the fifth: The permanent perimeter Wall went up, and the stalls all became the corporate ones – the same overpriced food and drink you see at any large outdoor evenet in this country these days – Silverstone for the F1, Badminton Horse Trials etc etc. Waaaay to expensive to get a pitch, and all the little folk who sold 2nd hand LPs, home made tie-dyes, silver jewellery or sandwiches and drinks from a Baby Berco were priced out, never to return.
We are still in the fifth phase, and it’s still a great event, but it’s a long, long way from the early days, and sadly nowhere near as earthy and wholesome.
I last went in 2016, and I doubt I’ll be going back again.
I remember going 1994 with my pal Wendy (who saved me from falling into a shit pit) and her two rather posh friends, one of whom had recently had surgery and took a folding chair to sit on between acts. We were about level with the Pyramid stage mixing desk, so not blocking anyone’s eyelines, but The Levellers’ fans still laughed and chucked empty cider cans at her. C*nts.
By 1999, glamping had arrived, Texas and the Beautiful South played the Pyramid, and everyone seemed to be called either Jacinta or Tarquin. I gave it one more year, and spent 95% of that in the Acoustic tent.
One year, two mates and I spent the entire Saturday in the Circus Tent. It was wicked.
PS Find of the Festival this year for me (courtesy of the iPlayer)? The Lathums.
Tuneful, joyful, melodic, finely wrought pop-music:
I completely agree. In fact I posted about them on the Glastonbury thread yesterday only to be greeted with a criticism that they are ‘indie landfill.’ Can’t agree really. I think their songs are highly crafted and lyrically astute. They can also play. To be honest they weren’t a complete new discovery for me as I’ve already bought their first two albums. But I was pleasantly surprised by their live clout.
I went just the once in 2000. It was overcrowded and chaotic but great fun. I went with some pals who I spent most of Friday and Saturday with but on Sunday we wanted to see different stuff so I was on my own most of the day. It was actually my favourite day. I wandered most of the site and just sat down whenever I heard something of interest. Bowie closed the show Sunday night and was incredible.
I’d love to go again but the body probably isn’t up to it any more. It’s a young persons game innit.
If you had to go only once, despite everything, you picked the pivotal year: last year of the pathetic old fence, last year of the enjoyably edgy and feral era, year of the massive rush of fence-busting free-loaders and crim gangs, but year of David Bowie’s astonishing performance.
Sorry you didn’t have a good weekend (but I’m glad you didn’t have to pay for it). Every year I watch it and I do rather long to go back (I went quite a bit in the nineties and noughties). Never had a really hot year, never had a really wet year and every year was great in terms of vibes/fun/good music. There was a considerable difference when the “super fence” went up and I can only think of one situation where it felt overcrowded after that. Before that it was seriously crowded and very edgy at times.
We last went to the festival back in 2009 and haven’t bothered trying to get a ticket since because it’s impossible to and/or they’re really expensive. We did go to ‘Worthy Pastures’ which was what they did in 2021 where we were able to roam the grounds and do what you do at a festival (just without the bands). It was really nice to be back there, see all the familiar sights, something that was a part of my younger years. Why do I get nostalgic over bins, signposts and sodding long drop toilets? I’ve no idea. I would like to go back, but in the meantime End of the Road has more than taken up the role of favourite festival for me.
I wonder how many of the festival attendees actually go to Glastonbury. It’s a nice walk up to the Tor
It’s a lovely walk, innit. There’s a nice ice cream van on the way back down (which was handy to encourage our daughter to keep going).
Haven’t done it in about 25 years, but I trust the ice cream van was there then too!
I mention on the Chrissie Hynde thread that I’d eaten muesli with barley wine. This was the morning after sleeping in the tower at the top of tor and waking up to a mist covering the ground below, it was like waking on an island surrounded by the sea.
Is that a euphemism?
😉
That one could be.😉
I think it’s too immersive for that. I’ve been 13 times in the last 20 years and never once left the site during the 5 days of the festival.
I did however go to Worthy Pastures in 2021 (when they opened the site for camping only – no music) and spent loads of time exploring the surrounding villages. Including the Tor! Lovely little town and you can see how it influenced the vibe of the festival.
Been to Glastonbury the town and surrounding area a few times and the walk up the Tor on a summer’s evening is a must.
I went in 79, 81, 82, 84, and 84. The one in 79 was very Heaven. 81 was also fun. 82 ok for the company, but the bill was pitiful. 83 improved the bill, but was becoming a bit smug. 84, it was all over. Or I’d grown out of it. I hated the smugness, the London boho trustafarians, and the huge wanker element (a wide variety of onanistic types). I recall the many folks who said it was cool to break in. This is why you can’t have nice things, and unfortunately need “The Man” to enforce social civility. Ironically, it is the “cool” who make us require them.
Twice in one year? Grass must have been really good that year!
It was! And mushrooms. That’ll be 83, then.
They’re not cool, they’re crims.
And while i think of it, this post was put up at 08:42, not 07:42. WTF?
Site doesn’t recognise BST, cos it’s an artificial construct by “The Man”?
Attended pretty well all of those before bowing out in 84 – starting own business, marriage, ‘responsible’ life, etc.
I actually enjoyed them all – there was always something if you looked. There was space, you could breathe.
Watching it on the telly over the weekend was like watching a cosmopolitan bun fight and not for me.
I’m glad I went when I was young.
I first went in 93, completely agree about the balance between feral and peaceful at that time, you could see the main stage stuff without too many issues if you wanted but vividly remember walking just slightly off track and found myself in what felt like an almost deserted copse with sun streaming through the trees. It was quite magical.
I was quite taken with this lot. As my grandmother used to say, They don’t know what to do next to be daft.
They maybe daft Mike but bloody enjoyable, thanks for that. 🙏😎🙏
Happy to enjoy the best bits from the comfort of the sofa nowadays…the view is far better and a lot more comfortable
I agree. The telly provides the best viewing angle by miles. I always enjoy tuning in for the weekend, though that didn’t stop me from tutting at the tv sound. There was absolutely no bottom end, no throb or thrum from any of the rhythm sections. Admittedly my tv setup is at the low end of Fi even with a posh soundbar. As much as I adore them, electric guitars can sound scratchy and weedy in these circs.
I saw the phrase ‘indie landfill’ a bit further up. I didn’t note too much of that this year. Not as many shit band names like The Pigeon Detectives or Catfish and The Bottlemen. With their ‘woah oh ohhh’ endless choruses and shit thwap thwap thwap drummers.
Good.
I mentioned elsewhere that the TV sound wasn’t great. Mine is going through a fairly decent 5.1 system. Blu-rays sound amazing, Glastonbury not so much.
I went in 1987. Kept us going in anecdotes for a few years.
I ‘m pretty much done with festivals though – it’s a young person’s game.
Except.
We went on Belle & Sebastian’s Boaty Weekender, the summer before lockdown. It was excellent. Music aside, it met my requirements for comfort – cruising the Med in the sun, waiter service while watching the bands, an air-conditioned cabin with own bathroom just a couple of minutes away.
It’s the only way to do it.
An interesting read and sorry you didn’t enjoy it. It was a 100% different experience to mine. I was queued up to get in at 5am on Weds and left the site around 2pm on Monday.
I had no serious issues getting to the larger stages / acts, but I don’t want to be down the front. You’d obviously need to stake out your spot well in advance for that! I’ve become quite good at picking the less-congested routes for some of the stages (eg it’s better to approach The Other Stage from BBC Introducing, and there are good back routes to the Pyramid like the camping paths from Peel or Acoustic Stage). You do need to leave plenty of time due to the size and busyness of the site. I do tend to swerve it when they put big acts on small stages though (Mel C on Avalon?!) as they can’t cope with the audience size and make for a poor experience. Largely skipped the Park this year too, due to the sound bleed from the bars.
It’s crazy crowded in general of course, and the Market paths don’t really work. Due to the heat, I moved around far less than usual this year. I love some of the hidden gems like the Toad Hall and Mandala stages. Great to mix those in and have some calmer experiences.
Highlights were largely social and exploring. Beers in the Circus Field on Thursday etc. Music and spoken word though: Sophie Ellis-Bexter, The Magic Numbers, Lana Del Rey (despite the abrupt ending), Dom Joly, Elton, Foos, Cerian…
Main complaint, over the last 4 we’ve suffered intense heat on site, and they need to add more shaded areas, rather than instruct people to find shade for safety, when there is so little. They also need more water taps etc, as too much time is spent queueing. The audience has also pivoted more this year to young and wealthy, which is an inevitable consequence of the increased ticket price and the state of the UK I suppose.
Still a great weekend, despite a few challenges.
I wouldn’t say I didn’t enjoy it, @kidpresentable, I just didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I hoped. There were good bits, just outweighed by what I felt was a cynical exploitation of expectation: promising the earth and delivering Las Vegas, which seemed enough of a result for those who see Las Vegas as heaven. I see it a shabby sham and Glasto’s mettle is, too, burnishing, if you forgive my mashed metaphors.
I will be much more in my element at Cambridge, next month, and Shrewsbury the month after, each with a lot more gain and lot less pain.
You wouldn’t say you didn’t enjoy it @retropath2?
Based on your OP, and the supplementary above, it’s tempting to suggest that you – in fact – didn’t enjoy it, although you might not say it.
I’m getting mixed signals here…
Probably as I have mixed feelings about different aspects. As festivals go, it didn’t pass my muster, yet had moments of sheer joy. Think a sort of paraphrase of Charlie Watt’s thoughts on being in the Stones.
👍
I went a few years from 1989 onwards. It was busy the first time and got progressively busier. each time I went back. I remember a lot of walking, a lot of expensive food, that it was very very hot and there was a constant FOMO.
I think even then there were a lot of people there to say they had been there. The Pyramid stage might not have been so star or heritage focused,, but there was an evident spectrum from there to the Greenfield and Stone Circle. You went where you felt comfortable.
Sometimes Glastonbury felt unbearable, lonely, tiring, but other times it was overjoyous – peak musical experiences too numerous to list.
The best bits were when I just let go of trying to do everything and just enjoyed where I was. I think my favourite memory of Glastonbury is my mental map of the site with the associations each part brings back and the sense that it is a place where it is always midsummer – as that was the only time I went there.
Probably the price and the limited number of tickets do make it an exclusive event on the summer calendar, which is a shame. But that it exists is not something to bemoan. Subsequently I enjoyed smaller festivals, such as WOMAD – less pressured by numbers and competing stages, but I always had the feeling that they were sparklers compared to the firework display that is Glastonbury.
How long does it take to get out of the car park at the end? Months? And what is the toilet/garbage situation at the end of the weekend?
I was out from starting the engine, to reaching a public road, in about an hour this year. However, is has taken me 3 hours some years. I intentionally left about 2pm on Monday when it had largely calmed down.
A mate tried to leave at 10.45am Monday and said that took a few hours.
If you can remember where you put your car, anything from instantaneously to 10 hours, dependent upon luck and timing.
Litter is appalling: 210k people dropping tins and drink cups constantly for 10 hours a day. Toilets? Your sniff is a good as mine……
Getting off the site can be ok, but you’ll always end up in a tail back on the A303 somewhere near Stonehenge.
Everybody needs an A303
even if you were heading for Wales.
To be fair, that’s nothing to do with the festival, it’s like that more often than not.
We were in a long traffic jam on our way to Torquay, a couple of years ago, and by the time we’d got to the roundabout I needed the loo. Turns out Stonehenge, despite being an English Heritage site, accepts National Trust membership. So we went in for a pee and ended up doing the whole Stonehenge tour for gratis (our annual family NT membership costs less than 4 tickets to the ‘Henge).
Here’s what paid for it, anyway
https://atthebarrier.com/2023/07/02/glastonbury-2023-an-alternate-view-festival-review/
Crikey, are Kangaroo Moon still at it?
Yup. The old fella on mandola was great!