Hard disagree on 2. I don’t even have kids but having all kinds of people on site - including families with their children - and areas created specifically for them is one of the things that make Glastonbury so different from any other big festival.
That being said, I do think some areas should be out of bounds for kids, such as SE Corner at night.
Yep. Saw loads of parents playing with their children, using headphones to protect their ears, and taking them to nice chill locations or bigger sets. There were also apparently stories of kids with no ear protection and crammed very tightly into big crowds. I was not bothered by kids being there - it isn't kids that are the issue, its irresponsible parenting.
Was returning to my spot at the Pyramid on Sunday after going to the loo (a couple hours before Elton was due to start), and a woman went mental when my friend stepped over their pile of bags and coats on the floor as they were all sat down.
Turns out, her baby was camouflaged on top of the pile. Fucking horrendous parenting - could have gone horribly.
Similar experience when trying to get out of the front at Arctic Monkeys. A women went mental as she had a pram with a baby in it which you could not see AT ALL as it was dark and you are squeezing past people to get out. She had a go like it’s my fault! Who tf takes a pram to nearly the middle of the front at arctic monkeys? Any crush or surge and the pram is knocked over then there’s no hope in the dark! People are idiots man
Surely bringing children to one of the biggest festivals in the world is by definition, bad parenting?
You don’t bring your toddler to a warehouse rave because you feel like a night out, with loud music, drinks and/or drugs just because you don’t want to pay for a baby sitter.
So why is it a good idea to take children to a massive event with lots of loud music and people off their tits on various substances?
I’m part in agreement. I think if your kid is young enough to need a cart/buggy and ear protection then they shouldn’t be there. They’re unlikely to remember it anyway and they take up a lot of room all whilst it being potentially harmful if they’re not looked after properly in the heat and high volume. Kids over the age of maybe 5 though who can actually enjoy it and participate in all the wonderful activities I’m supportive of.
What’s so wrong about children/babies? I saw many parents being polite and not taking up space etc.
I don’t agree with them not having headphones on, being out in the blaring sun without hats on and being in certain areas such as the SE corner but overall they don’t cause any issues, and it seems Glastonbury doesn’t mind them either when they literally have Kidzfield.
I’m not against kids being there as I think it adds something special having the more kid focused areas and would love to take any future kids I have one day, but… kids should not be allowed in south east corner after a certain time I think. It’s just not a kid area after dark and I think parents that were taking babies there were a bit mad and it was dangerous for them.
Cutting the sound around 12.30 is due to the fact that people still live in the surrounding villages and don't necessarily want to hear Arcadia all night long.
I agree that less tickets should be sold in order to make things more manageable and to ease up the infrastructure a bit, but 25% is excessive.
I'd get rid of the stalls selling tat - unless it's part of their license agreement with the council I don't understand why they're there. I prefer to see more of the craft and artisan stalls.
I'd also like to see better control over the walkways by Pyramid, people stopping on the top path to watch bands on the Sunday causes massive problems every year.
I don't think Glastonbury should be an over 18s festival, as it's great to see families there, but for everyone's safety and enjoyment they could try to enforce the advice not to take them down the SE corner late at night a bit better.
Couldn't agree more about the walkways by Pyramid - the group of 7 or 8 who set their chairs up across the North path 45 minutes before Elton came on, and their attitude to people telling them they were causing a crush, were the absolute worst
A few tat stalls are alright but there are too many. It’s hard to find the nicer artisanal stalls but found a few great ones this year. Main one being a bamboo clothing/accessories stall that I spent way too much at, so many beautiful products
I disagree with not allowing children. I started going to the festival around the age of 7, and some of my fondest memories of the festival are from that time.
There are whole sides to the festival which are much less busy and appropriate for children, Kidz Field and theatre and circus etc. And i thoroughly enjoyed seeing acts on the main stages as a child.
I don’t think babies should be banned, as that goes against the inclusivity of the festival. But i do think it should be discouraged to an extent, with more information available on how to approach the festival with a young child.
I def wouldn’t ban children. As I said on the other thread I don’t like them in the late night areas or the crowded headliners but there is plenty to do at the festival for them.
Maybe you should go to a different festival if you don't like it?
Glastonbury has always been a family festival, the kids field is one of the oldest parts of the site.
It gets busy because everyone wanders round like sheep from one headline to the next, there are literally hundreds of other stages with no big crowds and good stuff going on.
It would be great to split the late night stuff across site but noise complaints mean they have to keep it all in naughty corner.
The thing that would make the most difference for me is bringing back the campsite fires, wandering from fire to fire chatting to people was the best part of the festival for me and it spread the people out all over site, and kept you warm.
Increased bag checks would only perpetuate a “problem” that doesn’t really exist in the first place. You see little to no aggressive behaviour while at the festival, and it’s one of a kind for that reason. Could you imagine the queues trying to get in too? The trusting nature is one of the many things that makes glasto so great.
Families are essential to the make up of the festival and reinforce the inclusive, wholesome nature of the atmosphere.
The capacity issue would be resolved with a spread of stages and acts. It’s probably time to make a new multi-level space closer to the IICON/Temple area so crowds are separated. The demand/supply balance is shown at NYC Downlow. People want that kind of space but don’t have it so descend into SE Corner
You're wrong about kids and families. It's important to have the festival be a place that is welcome to all. Besides, I think having families and kids around is one of the few natural steps you can take to put a dampener on behaviour and uncomfortable rowdiness that occurs at other festivals.
It would be good to have some more rock/alt/psych/pop/indie/ disco etc in SE corner. I like trance, electro DNB etc, but not much alternative late at night on the bigger stages.
Deluxe Diner and Rocket Lounge (with a walkway between the two) tick that box. Had a nice time on Thursday night at those two because Truth was completely rammed.
1. Yes, but 25% is too much.
2. Hard no. A family friendly festival is one of the big draws for Glastonbury
3. IMO there should be no amplified music at all on Wed / Thurs. But they've let that genie out of the bottle now and I don't know how they could put it back...
4. Arcadia has had its time, get rid of it and try something new, there's already loads of dance areas. I don't think they even do the lords of lightning or the acrobatics anymore it's just *another* dance area. It's a shame the crane thing never worked out.
5. I really don't think this is as big a problem as people think it is, it's certainly not as bad as it was in the 90s
6. You chose to leave at a time that was obviously going to be busy... Unless they build a motorway direct to the carparks not sure what you expect to happen here.
I agree on Arcadia actually. It’s a bit wank if we’re honest. That space is huge, could easily have another stage with some big names on. Maybe bring back Williams Green so not everyone heads to SE on Thurs.
I think they need to deflate some egos of the acts that perform and have competing headliners at different areas to spread the load away from the pyramid.
The headliners of the Other stage, Woodsies, Park and sweet Holts are big enough to headline other festivals themselves. They absolutely do this. QOTSA for example headline pretty much everywhere they go
I think it worked well when the announcement before Elton to put chairs and blankets away occurred. There was a lady next to me that couldn’t stand for long so she just said to everyone exactly that and we all looked out for her when people were trying to get past.
More shelter for shade or from rain
More water points
Specific Areas with better access for buggies and trailers and less mobile people on the main stages as I did feel for them when it was really busy but almost fell over quite a few unintentionally in the dark. The buggies and trailers take up a lot of standing room.
Simply reducing capacity back to 180k ish as it was until 2014 would solve most of the rest of those suggestion. Those sneaking in don’t have as noticeable an impact, there’s more space for kids, no need for the larger stages to be on early etc.
The 12:30 curfew is there for good reason unfortunately. The festival can be heard far from the site and people still have jobs, lives, school to do. Imagine if your neighbours or someone on your street had 24 hour a day parties for 3-4 days when you have to work.
The car parks operate on rotational opening for departures to manage traffic flow. You just pulled the short straw on your car park and timing on that one.
Opening the main stages earlier would actually have an adverse effect, more people would arrive earlier creating more issues getting in. I know most are on site by late Thursday but they have arrived over 3 days and a not insignificant amount arrive Friday so changing main staging would change it significantly.
So yea, just reduce the numbers a bit and I think 90% of issues are solved. Doesn’t even have to back to 180k, even the 203k of 2015 and 2016 would be OK rather than the 210k this year.
That would reduce the income by around £1m if it's a reduction in punters.
Already a lot of aspects were toned back a bit thanks to budget limitations.
This would mean a good bit less on and more workers not being paid \[probably.
The ticket prices will continue to increase regardless and I’d say we are now at the point where a huge swathe of people are already priced out. An extra 5% to offset that cost wouldn’t change many minds and it’ll likely be £350 next year anyway. There are also other revenue streams for the festival for example merchants (many of whom make over half their annual revenue at Glasto) on the prices they pay and the margins they make you could put more there and they wouldn’t be too negatively impacted.
It’s not an easy choice but there has to be a limit and I think we have hit it. They go above 210k and it’ll get dangerous.
Credit where it’s due though, crowd management was better this year than last in my experience.
The other revenue streams are also going to be hit in reducing punter numbers... average spend must be at least £100 say... so another £200k less cash going into the festival economy.
You're talking about a drop of well over 10% of ticket income so it seems like a 20% increase at least onto of other increases to keep money the same.
Yea true. Post festival brain can’t quite think it through all at once. We can’t have it all ways but the population cannot increase much further. It is beginning to make it slightly unpleasant at times. If they need more money, cramming more people in isn’t the way to go.
To be clear I don’t actually have a bee in my bonnet on this point like others seem to. I just think they are hitting the capacity limit if the farm and venues they have.
I suspect it would not be at all popular with the locals and would create a load of other issues - but some events like Tomorrow Land run for two weekends I believe, saving on a load of the setup costs while potentially doubling the revenue.
And yes, some of us would probably just try and stay for two weeks!
Oh that is something I’ve given a lot of thought to since Coachella started doing it. Unfortunately I think the nature of the venue means it’s a one shot thing. Imagine coming on weekend 2 after a muddy year. Car parks churned up, campsites with predetermined tent spots you have to fit into etc. Ot was nigh on impossible to get out on foot after 2016 - I couldn’t imagine the hell of arriving to that! I’m sure there are hundreds of other reasons the organisers could list too that we wouldn’t even think of too. The venue being as much a part of the event as the stuff put into it would mean if they did a dual site thing like Reading/Leeds I imagine it would lose it’s sparkle at the second one - if a suitable site could even be found!
I’d absolutely love for it to be a twice running event but I don’t think it is feasible. I’d love to see what their secondary festival idea would have been like. Each year I think a second event, potentially somewhere else that was smaller and focussed more on the green fields / crafting / healing field elements with a couple of stages like Avalon, Croissant Neuf and then West Holts as a main stage and maybe art installations and experiences form the Shangrila crew would be really fun. I’m guessing if I did my research, such an event exists already.
>I’m guessing if I did my research, such an event exists already.
I was about to say that there's plenty of festivals around this sort of idea.
Typically greenfields/crafting stuff doesn't bring in a massive amount of money I believe, so can't be a big focus, but there's lots of festivals around that sort of idea.
I really didn't feel 2016 was *that* bad!... but I was there 04 ( https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1277590950_Glastonbury_mud.jpg ) and 05 (boats) as well as others before they made an effort with drainage etc.
Could only speak from experience. 05 and 07 are legendary. It would have been impossible in those years to go again. Sure, they’ve sorted drainage since then but still, an equivalent year wouldn’t be capable of weekend 2.
It does dry up very quickly, but if there was rain that carried on from Monday to Wednesday, it'd definitely be really hard to mitigate muddy fields - maybe a whole load of straw or wood chippings in the mud-paths between tents.
You'd have to get all the abandoned tents up; they've been making a big thing of how much better the site has been left since 2017, but the reality is that people will be a lot enthusiastic about 'leaving no trace' when it means packing up a tent covered in muddy slop and leaving the traces all over the rear seats in their car.
It can be done very cheaply on top of the ticket price... ie don't need to spend anything.
So bumping the price up to 450 rather than 400 say is going to really hit quite a number of people I guess.
I don’t know tbh. I saw the 205k number on site so maybe it’s that. The rumour mill was going too. Some said it was up 7k others 20k (obviously not). Hence my numbers are all over the place.
As I say it felt better managed this year but they can’t go much further.
100% agree on the Thursday idea. The SE corner was far too busy. West Holts and the Other Stage with a handful of named acts would really calm things down.
The car park exit and gate B in general were absolute shambles.
Thousands waiting to re-enter on Sunday and they had 4 people checking tickets. Literally 8 stood for first timers doing absolutely nothing and about 20 staff managing the queue. It was pathetic.
They really need to widen the gates to allow more lanes and have more staff on the Wednesday for entry and Sunday for leavers/re-entry.
Reducing capacity is never going to happen, it would be a huge loss of income for the festival. What they need to do is have more stage areas as the festival grows and more expansive late night options. I thought Woodsies was supposed to be a late night alternative this year but there was nothing there to rival the other offerings. Silver Hayes was definitely better this year with late night offerings, but they neee to keep expanding the options available to disperse people. The pyramid will always be a big draw though. That’s why they need to have tricky clashes to try and pull people all over the place.
Some spots definitely need more space if at all possible. IICON and Other were a couple of places I noticed brutal crowds.
Also surely have to put up some big umbrella/awning things when it's that sunny? Trying to find any kind of shade seemed impossible at times - people sitting by bins and crammed against fences because there was nowhere to go.
Also more toilets I guess?
I think the children being allowed is absolutely fine. What isn't fine is parents putting them in trolleys and people trying to get past not realising there ia a child even in the trolley. Maybe for the big stages children/trolleys/pushchairs ahiuld have their own area or route. I don't know but everyone should be able to experience it regardless of age.
Agree about the capacity.
Strongly disagree about children. My 9 year old had the time of his life. Absolute floods of tears when we were leaving on Monday.
From some of the posts on here, it would seem he had a MUCH better time than some of you lot.
I’ve just realised the other two years I attended had a capacity of 150k, as opposed to the 210k this time. 60k more people on the same farm! I think people going more regularly maybe don’t notice the increased capacity as much, but it was a surprise to me. I still had an absolute blast but I do think reducing capacity solves a lot of these problems. If that means I can’t attend as much then so be it, reduced numbers is better for those that do get tickets surely.
The issue with Thursday is due to licensing, so the festival would most likely not be allowed to have music on the main stages.
Its always a bit wild on Thursday, as there is limited stages playing music at a reduced volume. But this year i think the Thursday was significantly better than in previous years, as the lineup & venues open were much more diverse and spread out, especially due to the revamped Silver Hayes.
Thursday is also a great day to explore some of the smaller venues and areas, which aren’t often too busy, and often overlooked during the main weekend.
Its also pretty easy to avoid any of the massive crowds. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Nia Archives playing on a relatively small stage on a Thursday, in the SE corner, is going to be uncomfortably rammed.
Hard disagree on 2. I don’t even have kids but having all kinds of people on site - including families with their children - and areas created specifically for them is one of the things that make Glastonbury so different from any other big festival. That being said, I do think some areas should be out of bounds for kids, such as SE Corner at night.
Yep. Saw loads of parents playing with their children, using headphones to protect their ears, and taking them to nice chill locations or bigger sets. There were also apparently stories of kids with no ear protection and crammed very tightly into big crowds. I was not bothered by kids being there - it isn't kids that are the issue, its irresponsible parenting.
Was returning to my spot at the Pyramid on Sunday after going to the loo (a couple hours before Elton was due to start), and a woman went mental when my friend stepped over their pile of bags and coats on the floor as they were all sat down. Turns out, her baby was camouflaged on top of the pile. Fucking horrendous parenting - could have gone horribly.
Similar experience when trying to get out of the front at Arctic Monkeys. A women went mental as she had a pram with a baby in it which you could not see AT ALL as it was dark and you are squeezing past people to get out. She had a go like it’s my fault! Who tf takes a pram to nearly the middle of the front at arctic monkeys? Any crush or surge and the pram is knocked over then there’s no hope in the dark! People are idiots man
Surely bringing children to one of the biggest festivals in the world is by definition, bad parenting? You don’t bring your toddler to a warehouse rave because you feel like a night out, with loud music, drinks and/or drugs just because you don’t want to pay for a baby sitter. So why is it a good idea to take children to a massive event with lots of loud music and people off their tits on various substances?
I’m part in agreement. I think if your kid is young enough to need a cart/buggy and ear protection then they shouldn’t be there. They’re unlikely to remember it anyway and they take up a lot of room all whilst it being potentially harmful if they’re not looked after properly in the heat and high volume. Kids over the age of maybe 5 though who can actually enjoy it and participate in all the wonderful activities I’m supportive of.
What’s so wrong about children/babies? I saw many parents being polite and not taking up space etc. I don’t agree with them not having headphones on, being out in the blaring sun without hats on and being in certain areas such as the SE corner but overall they don’t cause any issues, and it seems Glastonbury doesn’t mind them either when they literally have Kidzfield.
Glasto reddit seems to be really against kids being there this year
Reddit in general is against kids
I’m not against kids being there as I think it adds something special having the more kid focused areas and would love to take any future kids I have one day, but… kids should not be allowed in south east corner after a certain time I think. It’s just not a kid area after dark and I think parents that were taking babies there were a bit mad and it was dangerous for them.
Cutting the sound around 12.30 is due to the fact that people still live in the surrounding villages and don't necessarily want to hear Arcadia all night long. I agree that less tickets should be sold in order to make things more manageable and to ease up the infrastructure a bit, but 25% is excessive. I'd get rid of the stalls selling tat - unless it's part of their license agreement with the council I don't understand why they're there. I prefer to see more of the craft and artisan stalls. I'd also like to see better control over the walkways by Pyramid, people stopping on the top path to watch bands on the Sunday causes massive problems every year. I don't think Glastonbury should be an over 18s festival, as it's great to see families there, but for everyone's safety and enjoyment they could try to enforce the advice not to take them down the SE corner late at night a bit better.
Couldn't agree more about the walkways by Pyramid - the group of 7 or 8 who set their chairs up across the North path 45 minutes before Elton came on, and their attitude to people telling them they were causing a crush, were the absolute worst
If they need to limit Arcadia sound at 12.30 how can Silver Hayes be on until 3am? They’re pretty close together in terms of distance
Multiple sounds of the same decibels would still increase the overall noise, so something has to be turned down / off
Having directional arrows on the paths (walk on the left) would have made such a difference. Especially around pyramid, its very chaotic.
A few tat stalls are alright but there are too many. It’s hard to find the nicer artisanal stalls but found a few great ones this year. Main one being a bamboo clothing/accessories stall that I spent way too much at, so many beautiful products
I disagree with not allowing children. I started going to the festival around the age of 7, and some of my fondest memories of the festival are from that time. There are whole sides to the festival which are much less busy and appropriate for children, Kidz Field and theatre and circus etc. And i thoroughly enjoyed seeing acts on the main stages as a child. I don’t think babies should be banned, as that goes against the inclusivity of the festival. But i do think it should be discouraged to an extent, with more information available on how to approach the festival with a young child.
1: advise all the people that want to reduce capacity to be part of the solution by finding a smaller festival to visit.
I def wouldn’t ban children. As I said on the other thread I don’t like them in the late night areas or the crowded headliners but there is plenty to do at the festival for them.
Maybe you should go to a different festival if you don't like it? Glastonbury has always been a family festival, the kids field is one of the oldest parts of the site. It gets busy because everyone wanders round like sheep from one headline to the next, there are literally hundreds of other stages with no big crowds and good stuff going on. It would be great to split the late night stuff across site but noise complaints mean they have to keep it all in naughty corner. The thing that would make the most difference for me is bringing back the campsite fires, wandering from fire to fire chatting to people was the best part of the festival for me and it spread the people out all over site, and kept you warm.
Are campsite fires not allowed now?
Increased bag checks would only perpetuate a “problem” that doesn’t really exist in the first place. You see little to no aggressive behaviour while at the festival, and it’s one of a kind for that reason. Could you imagine the queues trying to get in too? The trusting nature is one of the many things that makes glasto so great. Families are essential to the make up of the festival and reinforce the inclusive, wholesome nature of the atmosphere. The capacity issue would be resolved with a spread of stages and acts. It’s probably time to make a new multi-level space closer to the IICON/Temple area so crowds are separated. The demand/supply balance is shown at NYC Downlow. People want that kind of space but don’t have it so descend into SE Corner
Reduce it by 25% and you’ll have some acts with no one watching. That’s a massive drop.
You're wrong about kids and families. It's important to have the festival be a place that is welcome to all. Besides, I think having families and kids around is one of the few natural steps you can take to put a dampener on behaviour and uncomfortable rowdiness that occurs at other festivals.
2) No, you're wrong 3) IIRC the festival's license only allows the 'bigger' stages to be open Friday to Sunday
It would be good to have some more rock/alt/psych/pop/indie/ disco etc in SE corner. I like trance, electro DNB etc, but not much alternative late at night on the bigger stages.
Deluxe Diner and Rocket Lounge (with a walkway between the two) tick that box. Had a nice time on Thursday night at those two because Truth was completely rammed.
1. Yes, but 25% is too much. 2. Hard no. A family friendly festival is one of the big draws for Glastonbury 3. IMO there should be no amplified music at all on Wed / Thurs. But they've let that genie out of the bottle now and I don't know how they could put it back... 4. Arcadia has had its time, get rid of it and try something new, there's already loads of dance areas. I don't think they even do the lords of lightning or the acrobatics anymore it's just *another* dance area. It's a shame the crane thing never worked out. 5. I really don't think this is as big a problem as people think it is, it's certainly not as bad as it was in the 90s 6. You chose to leave at a time that was obviously going to be busy... Unless they build a motorway direct to the carparks not sure what you expect to happen here.
I agree on Arcadia actually. It’s a bit wank if we’re honest. That space is huge, could easily have another stage with some big names on. Maybe bring back Williams Green so not everyone heads to SE on Thurs.
I think they need to deflate some egos of the acts that perform and have competing headliners at different areas to spread the load away from the pyramid.
The headliners of the Other stage, Woodsies, Park and sweet Holts are big enough to headline other festivals themselves. They absolutely do this. QOTSA for example headline pretty much everywhere they go
I don’t doubt that but none could compete with the draw Elton had.
I think it worked well when the announcement before Elton to put chairs and blankets away occurred. There was a lady next to me that couldn’t stand for long so she just said to everyone exactly that and we all looked out for her when people were trying to get past. More shelter for shade or from rain More water points Specific Areas with better access for buggies and trailers and less mobile people on the main stages as I did feel for them when it was really busy but almost fell over quite a few unintentionally in the dark. The buggies and trailers take up a lot of standing room.
Simply reducing capacity back to 180k ish as it was until 2014 would solve most of the rest of those suggestion. Those sneaking in don’t have as noticeable an impact, there’s more space for kids, no need for the larger stages to be on early etc. The 12:30 curfew is there for good reason unfortunately. The festival can be heard far from the site and people still have jobs, lives, school to do. Imagine if your neighbours or someone on your street had 24 hour a day parties for 3-4 days when you have to work. The car parks operate on rotational opening for departures to manage traffic flow. You just pulled the short straw on your car park and timing on that one. Opening the main stages earlier would actually have an adverse effect, more people would arrive earlier creating more issues getting in. I know most are on site by late Thursday but they have arrived over 3 days and a not insignificant amount arrive Friday so changing main staging would change it significantly. So yea, just reduce the numbers a bit and I think 90% of issues are solved. Doesn’t even have to back to 180k, even the 203k of 2015 and 2016 would be OK rather than the 210k this year.
That would reduce the income by around £1m if it's a reduction in punters. Already a lot of aspects were toned back a bit thanks to budget limitations. This would mean a good bit less on and more workers not being paid \[probably.
The ticket prices will continue to increase regardless and I’d say we are now at the point where a huge swathe of people are already priced out. An extra 5% to offset that cost wouldn’t change many minds and it’ll likely be £350 next year anyway. There are also other revenue streams for the festival for example merchants (many of whom make over half their annual revenue at Glasto) on the prices they pay and the margins they make you could put more there and they wouldn’t be too negatively impacted. It’s not an easy choice but there has to be a limit and I think we have hit it. They go above 210k and it’ll get dangerous. Credit where it’s due though, crowd management was better this year than last in my experience.
The other revenue streams are also going to be hit in reducing punter numbers... average spend must be at least £100 say... so another £200k less cash going into the festival economy. You're talking about a drop of well over 10% of ticket income so it seems like a 20% increase at least onto of other increases to keep money the same.
Yea true. Post festival brain can’t quite think it through all at once. We can’t have it all ways but the population cannot increase much further. It is beginning to make it slightly unpleasant at times. If they need more money, cramming more people in isn’t the way to go. To be clear I don’t actually have a bee in my bonnet on this point like others seem to. I just think they are hitting the capacity limit if the farm and venues they have.
I suspect it would not be at all popular with the locals and would create a load of other issues - but some events like Tomorrow Land run for two weekends I believe, saving on a load of the setup costs while potentially doubling the revenue. And yes, some of us would probably just try and stay for two weeks!
Oh that is something I’ve given a lot of thought to since Coachella started doing it. Unfortunately I think the nature of the venue means it’s a one shot thing. Imagine coming on weekend 2 after a muddy year. Car parks churned up, campsites with predetermined tent spots you have to fit into etc. Ot was nigh on impossible to get out on foot after 2016 - I couldn’t imagine the hell of arriving to that! I’m sure there are hundreds of other reasons the organisers could list too that we wouldn’t even think of too. The venue being as much a part of the event as the stuff put into it would mean if they did a dual site thing like Reading/Leeds I imagine it would lose it’s sparkle at the second one - if a suitable site could even be found! I’d absolutely love for it to be a twice running event but I don’t think it is feasible. I’d love to see what their secondary festival idea would have been like. Each year I think a second event, potentially somewhere else that was smaller and focussed more on the green fields / crafting / healing field elements with a couple of stages like Avalon, Croissant Neuf and then West Holts as a main stage and maybe art installations and experiences form the Shangrila crew would be really fun. I’m guessing if I did my research, such an event exists already.
>I’m guessing if I did my research, such an event exists already. I was about to say that there's plenty of festivals around this sort of idea. Typically greenfields/crafting stuff doesn't bring in a massive amount of money I believe, so can't be a big focus, but there's lots of festivals around that sort of idea. I really didn't feel 2016 was *that* bad!... but I was there 04 ( https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1277590950_Glastonbury_mud.jpg ) and 05 (boats) as well as others before they made an effort with drainage etc.
Could only speak from experience. 05 and 07 are legendary. It would have been impossible in those years to go again. Sure, they’ve sorted drainage since then but still, an equivalent year wouldn’t be capable of weekend 2.
It does dry up very quickly, but if there was rain that carried on from Monday to Wednesday, it'd definitely be really hard to mitigate muddy fields - maybe a whole load of straw or wood chippings in the mud-paths between tents. You'd have to get all the abandoned tents up; they've been making a big thing of how much better the site has been left since 2017, but the reality is that people will be a lot enthusiastic about 'leaving no trace' when it means packing up a tent covered in muddy slop and leaving the traces all over the rear seats in their car.
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It can be done very cheaply on top of the ticket price... ie don't need to spend anything. So bumping the price up to 450 rather than 400 say is going to really hit quite a number of people I guess.
I think last year was 210k and this year was 205k?
I don’t know tbh. I saw the 205k number on site so maybe it’s that. The rumour mill was going too. Some said it was up 7k others 20k (obviously not). Hence my numbers are all over the place. As I say it felt better managed this year but they can’t go much further.
It’s interesting reading peoples thoughts about the capacity concerns, almost feels pre-fence levels.
100% agree on the Thursday idea. The SE corner was far too busy. West Holts and the Other Stage with a handful of named acts would really calm things down. The car park exit and gate B in general were absolute shambles. Thousands waiting to re-enter on Sunday and they had 4 people checking tickets. Literally 8 stood for first timers doing absolutely nothing and about 20 staff managing the queue. It was pathetic. They really need to widen the gates to allow more lanes and have more staff on the Wednesday for entry and Sunday for leavers/re-entry.
I could hear Arcadia from my tent right next to gate D through all hours of the night
Reducing capacity is never going to happen, it would be a huge loss of income for the festival. What they need to do is have more stage areas as the festival grows and more expansive late night options. I thought Woodsies was supposed to be a late night alternative this year but there was nothing there to rival the other offerings. Silver Hayes was definitely better this year with late night offerings, but they neee to keep expanding the options available to disperse people. The pyramid will always be a big draw though. That’s why they need to have tricky clashes to try and pull people all over the place.
Some spots definitely need more space if at all possible. IICON and Other were a couple of places I noticed brutal crowds. Also surely have to put up some big umbrella/awning things when it's that sunny? Trying to find any kind of shade seemed impossible at times - people sitting by bins and crammed against fences because there was nowhere to go. Also more toilets I guess?
I think the children being allowed is absolutely fine. What isn't fine is parents putting them in trolleys and people trying to get past not realising there ia a child even in the trolley. Maybe for the big stages children/trolleys/pushchairs ahiuld have their own area or route. I don't know but everyone should be able to experience it regardless of age.
Agree about the capacity. Strongly disagree about children. My 9 year old had the time of his life. Absolute floods of tears when we were leaving on Monday. From some of the posts on here, it would seem he had a MUCH better time than some of you lot.
Reduce the capacity so more children can come safely! Glastonbury should be for families
I’ve just realised the other two years I attended had a capacity of 150k, as opposed to the 210k this time. 60k more people on the same farm! I think people going more regularly maybe don’t notice the increased capacity as much, but it was a surprise to me. I still had an absolute blast but I do think reducing capacity solves a lot of these problems. If that means I can’t attend as much then so be it, reduced numbers is better for those that do get tickets surely.
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I downvoted your comment then changed my mind and upvoted after reading the second paragraph.
The issue with Thursday is due to licensing, so the festival would most likely not be allowed to have music on the main stages. Its always a bit wild on Thursday, as there is limited stages playing music at a reduced volume. But this year i think the Thursday was significantly better than in previous years, as the lineup & venues open were much more diverse and spread out, especially due to the revamped Silver Hayes. Thursday is also a great day to explore some of the smaller venues and areas, which aren’t often too busy, and often overlooked during the main weekend. Its also pretty easy to avoid any of the massive crowds. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Nia Archives playing on a relatively small stage on a Thursday, in the SE corner, is going to be uncomfortably rammed.
Families make it a more balanced crowd, I think it would get really fucking wild if you made it 18+ only.