78 replies to this topic

[choccy]

Hey all, just needed somewhere to feedback some honest thoughts about the state of Glastonbury. I've been several times over the last decade, and this year was the worst overcrowding I've ever seen. I was nearly crushed on several occasions, and not even at the main stages... on the pathways at the back of the pyramid stage for instance there were so many people trying to get through it came to a standstill, with many people choosing to walk through the crowd of revelers as it was quicker.

The increase in numbers at glasto each year has become so noticeable that it really did spoil the festival for me this year. There was a group of about 20 of us, and that seemed to be the general consensus. I know its a shame to suggest this, seeing as so many people want to go and it would mean depriving a few of the experience, but in my opinion Glastonbury really needs to trim its numbers if its going to be anything like what it was. Its a shame, but at least in terms of numbers I really do think Glastonbury has become too big for its own good.

[Douzeper]

Yeah I think the same,  there are to many on site now.  Muse last year and Paul Simon this year were very bad.  Also we tried to get from Pyramid to the Other Stage at one point and it was impossible so we gave up. Although in saying that the mud at that point made moving around very difficult so that did not help.

[LusciousLucy]

This is the 5th(?) year with this many numbers, nothing dangerous has happened (yet), the site can and does cope if at the enjoyment of some of those on site, one way systems have been implemented for safety purposes. If you can avoid joining in with the Human Sheep™ you will have a better experience eg knowing other ways to places/stages, short cuts, back routes.

If you avoid the main stages you will encounter less crowds. I personally never had a problem with crowd numbers but I only went to the Pyramid once all weekend. I dont deny the crowd numbers arent particularly fun but realistically they are here to stay.

It has been discussed that with the weaker line up this year there were peak crowds for shows like Paul Simon but noone wants to do damage to each other and the crowds self regulate enough to not allow for anything dangerous to occur.

The crowd size is somewhat shocking now but the site can cope. 175,000 is here to stay I should think.

[TheGayTent]

No where near as crowded as it has been in previous years

[Douzeper]

LusciousLucy, on 02 July 2011 - 01:06 PM, said:

175,000 is here to stay I should think.

I would think so, but I hope it doesn't go up!

[Ed209]

I didn't think it was as bad this year as previous years to be honest. The mud doesn't help though as everyone is sticking to the paths, where as non-muddy years people spread out a lot more.

[LusciousLucy]

And Sunday was excessively hot and sunny and so' Castle Chairy' got set up once again causing massive amounts of space to get taken up instead of people standing previously.

[jamseyboy]

I think that the usual bottle necks seemed a little bit worse this year but that was because of the mud causing everyone to go slow and scrunch up onto the dry bits. It would not but me off from going again but I can understand it being annoying if you were looking to get from one place to another in a hurry.....I think I walked less this year than in the past. I think that they need to widen the area near the pyramid that leads to the other stage and move the water and Ollys Haloumi Cone stand further around so that the enormous queues dont add to the movement issues.

[LusciousLucy]

Not having dick families sat collectively on chairs right at the exit to the Pyramid (near Mandela) as Paul Simon finished would help too  

[geebus]

Only packed period I had was coming out of Paul Simon towards Other stage on the Cider bus side.  Since 2002 it's been pretty common for that area to get packed and wasn't any different this year.
In 2000 EVERYWHERE was like this quite often.
In 02 and 04 there was still cases of some pretty packed areas - in 04 my friend's tent got trampled when people coming from Glade-way came through the camp site to avoid the packed paths.

Some of the paths were fairly packed, but if it hadn't been for the mud, with the numbers walking it'd have been a fair bit less busy than last year, at least.

[Beaver89]

I understand it is muddy and sitting down for some people is an issue but the number of f**king chairs this year was ridiculous. Very often wanted to march straight over the top of them as there was no way through. No-one ever seemed to be sat in the bloody things either and when you tried to get past the owners would look at you with disgust. They can all bugger off. If you want to sit to watch either sit on the ground or stay at home and sit on your own ruddy sofa. Hurrumph!!!

[doubledutch]

It was no worse that 2007 and a lot better than last year I thought. The better weather makes people walk more to different stages, and although the mud slows people down, they also move less.

I thought the numbers were fine - there has been no increase since 2007 when the numbers grew with the coach system being laid on.

[AnnaGrant]

Its been so long since my previous visit in 1994, with ticket sales of 80k I think, that it seemed very full to me this year.  Glasto has always felt busy, but I have never before been prevented from going to any area because it is full.  I'm thinking of Park special guests, and the reports of SE corner queues.

I'm sure that the mud didn't help, funnelling people onto the tracks, where normally they would be spread more thinly.

The only time I went to the Pyramid stage was for Paul Simon which was completely rammed and, as others have already noted, infected with chairs, so perhaps that has coloured my view too.

That said, my perception of overcrowding would not stop me from going back in 2 years time, so it can't be that bad!

[verrymerry]

I think it's doubtful number will go down, but I wonder if crew numbers have risen, if you think about the expanding SE areas, all the performers and workers for those must be a lot more than say 5 years ago when Lost Vagueness was still about.

[geebus]

Think it was in 2000 that Rolf played the Avalon stage.  They might not have stopped people getting in, but probably should have - way more packed than anything I've seen before or since and would be considered a H&S night mare these days (then, people just left if they didn't like it.)
I think the park stage is a special case; they've got two bands that would headline anywhere they played, put on on a small stage with the majority of 200k people knowing they're playing there.

As for the SE area - yes, you have to wait a bit to get in, but that's been the case for some time and time to get it hasn't changed massively, I'd say.

[123ginge]

Even though there were the same amount of tickets sold, it definately felt a lot more crowded than 2010, last year I remember going to see Dirty Projectors (2nd to top on the Park Stage, so fairly high up) and there being hardly anyone there, this year there was never a point where you would think that.

Not complaining, just think it's quite strange, maybe it was the fairly crowd dividing headliners that made the other areas busier, but you could say the same about Gorrilaz and Muse last year.

Edited by 123ginge, 02 July 2011 - 02:32 PM.

[jamseyboy]

Beaver89, on 02 July 2011 - 01:49 PM, said:

I understand it is muddy and sitting down for some people is an issue but the number of f**king chairs this year was ridiculous. Very often wanted to march straight over the top of them as there was no way through. No-one ever seemed to be sat in the bloody things either and when you tried to get past the owners would look at you with disgust. They can all bugger off. If you want to sit to watch either sit on the ground or stay at home and sit on your own ruddy sofa. Hurrumph!!!

Now thats funny because we are contemplating bringing a sofa with us next time. Not a portable one but a normal everyday couch. We considered that if we stuck it in the pyramid stage area with a taupaulin over for rainy days we could sit on it for the whole festival....night and day! As we are not technically camping on the pyramid field I cannot see how this would be an issue ........might even bring a coffee table.

[Buglet]

Muddy years always seem to seem more crowded, only certain parts of the site are navigable and there's little opportunity to just sit and watch the crowds go their own way.
I don't think this year was any more crowded than previously, but there were plenty of bottlenecks where you could jostle to your hearts content.
As with most things, I think  the size and 'dangerousness' of a crowd is pretty subjective. I didn't have any moments of worry that I can remember but know that my best mate would have absolutely freaked out at how crowded the site was, he only just manages to keep it together at Latitude where there's about 150,000 less peeps.
As has been said, there are many alternate routes around the site each with different plus points, eg a compromise between distance and popularity.
If anything crowding is only going to get worse as the numbers of staff and performers increase. Really Glastonbury is not a sensible place to go if you suffer from any kind of social anxiety, but for those who don't? Seeya in 2013!

[LondonTom]

There defo seemed to be hairy moments around this year, I can't subscribe to it be ok and self regulating, nothing serious has happened yet, just because it hasn't yet doesn't mean it won't and they be one hell of a price to pay if it did.

For the Pyramid crush, I wonder why they don't use a golden circle style crash barrier? Where they can actually shut off the area to stop people crushing into the front pit.  (Then maybe another one near the sound desk to split the crowd yet again, after that it should thin out enough no to be a problem.

I think some of the cruches when walking away after the stages need to be thought about, but its hard to say how, sure if people didn't act like dicks and try to be first it would be fine but they do. I did think that stages ending different times would help, but I can only see people heading to the stages that haven't finished yet.

Maybe more people were spending less time at their campsites this year due to the mud?, there was defo a few hairy moments I thought.

Edited by LondonTom, 02 July 2011 - 03:16 PM.

[Buglet]

LondonTom, on 02 July 2011 - 03:13 PM, said:

For the Pyramid crush, I wonder why they don't use a golden circle style crash barrier? Where they can actually shut off the area to stop people crushing into the front pit.  (Then maybe another one near the sound desk to split the crowd yet again, after that it should thin out enough no to be a problem.

The barrier that's already inplace does a pretty good job of stopping mental chrushes at the front. I tink that if you put in another barrier by the sound desk this would just become mecca for the armchair brigade and perpetuate the problem.
Can't really justify that, but it seems likely to me.