GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL INFORMATION
Mon 16th Feb 04
Leeds Festival Leeds Festival 2004 You need a car park ticket to park in the car parks (£5 in 2003) BUT ... ALL occupants of the vehicle must posses entrance tickets; any vehicles containing persons without tickets will be turned back.
Don't park in any of the unofficial car parks, as there is a chance that they will be shut down by the council. If that happens, who knows what will happen to your car?
If you have space in your car, why not offer someone a lift? Not only will you be helping the planet, you could also make a great new friend. Check both the lift-sharing forum (on the eFestivals forums) or liftshare.com (which can also be used all year round!).
A car park ticket is required for anyone bringing a car into the Festival. This is best bought with your Festival ticket (it will be BIG hassle to get one at a seperate time). The idea of the parking fee is to discourage car use, for the benefit of the environment both through reduced pollution as well as better traffic flow in the area. There were 26,000 cars parked in the car parks in 2002.
Getting your car into Glastonbury can be a pain, with long queues and long waits - people have been known to queue for 8 hours or so on Thursday night (and to leave on Monday). Please be patient.
Make sure that you don't leave any valuables on display inside your car - and open you glove box so any potential thief can see it's empty.
Sleeping in the car parks is prohibited by the licence (either in cars or camping), and won't be permitted by the security patrols.
Click here for a map of the area.
Note the Festival isn't at Glastonbury at all! It's in Pilton, which is nearer Shepton Mallet than Glastonbury.
Directions:
From the north: exit at Junction 23 on the M5, then take the A39 to Glastonbury.
From the south or east: take the A303 (M3), A371, A37 or A361 (M4).
Then follow the signs, traffic, or noise! There are 2 entrances (Red & Blue) for cars into the Festival, choosing the quickest entrance is a bit of a lottery, but current anecdotes say Blue is better, particularly for getting away on the Monday.
Check out Radio Avalon (87.7FM) - the Festival's own radio station - for the latest updates on the day.
All car parks are outside the security fence and separate from the camping areas. Don't rip yourself off by parking in any unofficial car parks that may exist in the area - they're further away (and you'll have to carry all your stuff!), and are no safer. The police believe that it is mainly a criminal element that use these car parks, so your vehicle is likely to be more at risk. There is also the possibility that any unofficial car parks will be shut down by the council.
If you park on the verges, your car will be towed away, and it will cost a fortune to retrieve it - don't ruin your Festival!
Wednesday - if you arrive before 5pm(ish) you should be able to drive straight in with virtually no queuing. As the evening progresses queues build up.
Thursday - this the the main day when people arrive, and queues are at their worst. As a general rule, the earlier you arrive, the smaller the queues. People arrive late into the night, and the queues can still be growing at 2am Friday morning.
Friday - if you arrive between 6am (when the Thursday night queues have finally disappeared) and 8am you should be able to drive straight in. Queues build up later.
Saturday/Sunday - access should not be a problem these days - very few people will be coming in. Sunday may be a little more awkward as people leaving are given priority with the traffic flows.
Leaving
Leaving on Sunday night should be fairly easy, as the majority of people stay until Monday. Many people load their stuff into their car during Sunday, ready to leave after the last band, and so there is an amount of queuing around that time.
If you manage to wake early enough on Monday, leaving before 9am is not too much of a problem. After that time, queues build up, and eight hours queuing in the western (Red Gate) car parks is not unheard of. Be patient.
WARNING: it's very possible there will be a heavy police presence (complete with sniffer dogs) at service stations on motorways (particularly the M5 in Gloucestershire) heading towards the Festival, searching any car they fancy. This can cause conciderable delay and inconvenience - save yourself this hassle by getting your fuel and other needs before you leave home.
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