If the festival had to move locations would you still go?

[eFestivals]

I suppose he could buy them out.  Wouldn't be the first time.

yep, but they've got to be willing to sell, and as the land is something more than just a normal farm, they could get a premium price.

[jeffie]

Just noticed that Glastoworker mentioned the WBC contract is out for signing and lasts until 2022.

[Spindles]

Neil, do you reckon that people have bought land adjoining the festival specifically for the purpose of profiting from it?

[dingbat2]

Moving it somewhere else would just make it like any other music festival to me, just bigger, probably better organised and less commercial. Its unlikely that that would be enough to make me keep going. It would stop me automatically going each year, I would have to see what the line-up was before I but a ticket which I, along with 138000 other punters, I don’t do now

 

A lot of what makes Glastonbury what it is is the fact that it is a dairy farm, and its location. I know that we are mostly obsessives on here, but just see how much excitement there is on here when photos or maps suddenly appear, the excitement when one of the stages changes slightly or when a new structure appears. Even the mud makes Glasto what it is! As does jut getting there, the excitement I feel when I drive past Stonehenge and then past Castle Carey train station, then see my first glimpse of the site still gives me goose bumps just thinking about it

 

Also if you were to create a new festival site from scratch then I suspect Worthy Farm would be the last place you would suggest, being in a bowl, over multiple owners land, with many separate fields near small villages with fairly poor roads. Again this makes the festival special, its history, its culture, its quirkiness, the down to earth nature of its organisers and the crew and its warming familiarity to people who have been there before. It feels like coming back hone each year. I cant see that being transferred to a new site wherever it is - that has to be built up over many, many years if it can be done at all

[eFestivals]

Neil, do you reckon that people have bought land adjoining the festival specifically for the purpose of profiting from it?

there's at least one adjacent landowner who's bought the land specifically because of the festival next door - the guy who operates (or did, when it first started) either (I forget which) FlyGlastonbury or Camp Kerala.

 

I've no idea if he's one of those causing Michael issues tho.

 

I do know one of the other landowners has caused issues this year, as word of it has come my way (I'm not going to go into details just in case it causes further issues).

[Spindles]

Yeah, that was what I was wondering about really, some of the premium experience operators and as to whether it might be something that could be targeted for profit by the kind of companies that think of nothing else and therefore have a knock on experience for both the festival and also the considered value of other people's land that is connected.

[Hugh Jass]

Didn't actually answer the question when I posted earlier - I'd probably go once just to see what it was like, then spend all weekend moaning about how it's not as good as it was.

[giantkatestacks]

I would be in favour of a scaling down as well instead of moving. Though there is an argument that if it is all about charity then more money could be made for charity by taking the brand and doing different things with it bleugh.

 

The company I work for is set up so that when the owner dies a trust takes over and it cant be sold for profit or change the way it operates now with all the profit going into certain areas and not to shareholders etc. I'm sure thats what they would have to do - have an estate plan.

[jeffie]

Didn't actually answer the question when I posted earlier - I'd probably go once just to see what it was like, then spend all weekend moaning about how it's not as good as it was.

 

Good to see some traditions would persist even at a new site lol.

[Cooter]

If it came to it, I rather they scaled it down rather than moved it. I think it's become a victim of its own success lately, with the massive headliners and the ever increasing ticket numbers. I think when it comes the time, they should shrink the site, halve the number of tickets, book smaller acts and concentrate more on the eclectic cabaret stuff

 

 

Yep agree with that, just downsize a tad.

[Spindles]

I don't think it is all about charity either, I think that is an extremely happy byproduct which is an inevitable conclusion based on how things are done.  I think what it is all about is letting people come together and have fun living a little differently for a few days in the hope that they will mostly go away changed a little for the better.  But that might just be me 2 joints into my day having come off my last night shift before the festival being a bit daydreamy.

[koj]

It's a clever time to release a story like this, there must be a huge amount goes on behind the scenes.

 

Make the most of it while it lasts - it won't go on for ever in this form.

 

I've been involved with other events and when land issues cause their passing it all happens so quickly - you are left feeling like you should have appreciated the event more whilst you still could.

[eFestivals]

I don't think it is all about charity either, I think that is an extremely happy byproduct which is an inevitable conclusion based on how things are done.  I think what it is all about is letting people come together and have fun living a little differently for a few days in the hope that they will mostly go away changed a little for the better.  But that might just be me 2 joints into my day having come off my last night shift before the festival being a bit daydreamy.

 

no, the charity bit has been an integral purpose of it, since the festival started 'properly' in 1979. That year it was International Year Of The Child, and the charity was Bella Churchill's 'Children's World'.

[Pinhead]

Shocking news! Though perhaps not quite so shocking when I think about it properly....

 

Would I go to the festival if relocated? Never.

 

I can't even see how Matterley Bowl would ever be able to accommodate it anyway - Glasto is several orders of magnitude bigger than the Punch Bowl - at the very least Farmer Bruce would have the same issue as Michael as there is no way he owns enough land around Gander Down. Hampshire CC only just put up with Boomtown there as it is - can't see them being particularly desperate to grant another site license for another huge festival...

 

This is all about one farm(er) anyway isn't it, the same one who has given Oxfam crew camping a bit of a ride too over the last few years. Can't the festival just arrange for more land over in the West and move the perimeter? As has been said, no doubt this is intended to be a shot across the bow to a certain extent, but it certainly makes me feel today like there is a certain inevitability that local politics will eventually consume the festival.

[Pinhead]

Legacy-wise, assuming all family members get an equal share of the land and business, I would think that there would need to be unanimous agreement from all parties that the festival continues.

 

Given all the investment in offices, site infrastructure and securing the site license for, what, up until 2020 isn't it(?), I would also think that it will continue from a family perspective up until that time.

[eFestivals]

I can't even see how Matterley Bowl would ever be able to accommodate it anyway

there's more than just the bowl, there's the whole of 'the Matterly estate'.

Boomtown have already been using much more than just the bowl for a number of years.

[blackg1000]

If they moved it to Central Scotland I would be a happy man!

[eFestivals]

Legacy-wise, assuming all family members get an equal share of the land and business, I would think that there would need to be unanimous agreement from all parties that the festival continues.

 

that's a BIG assumption. 

Everyone's circumstances and perceived wants/needs are different, and there's no guarantee that anyone would be happy to take just a portion of what they might think they could get another way.

[Pinhead]

there's more than just the bowl, there's the whole of 'the Matterly estate'.

Boomtown have already been using much more than just the bowl for a number of years.

 

I haven't been to Boomtown I confess, though I do remember something of the the bowl and the surrounding Estate when I last visited way, way back in the early '90's. Still don't reckon that the estate even approaches Glasto size - if a relocation happened, there would be an inevitable scaling back I would think.

[Pinhead]

that's a BIG assumption. 

Everyone's circumstances and perceived wants/needs are different, and there's no guarantee that anyone would be happy to take just a portion of what they might think they could get another way.

 

Yes it is - I suppose my hope is that these particular family members would all be amicable and not greedy. Maybe that's an impossible dream though when there's wealth at stake however...

[The Badger Bites Back]

If it moved it would cease to be 'Glastonbury Festival' end of..... It might be run by some of the same people and resemble Glastonbury, but it would be a completely different festival. Would I go? Maybe, would have to see what they come up with. Do I want it to stay where it is? Yes most definitely, it is a very special place with years and years of history. A new festival will take years to even come close, but as times have changed it just won't ever reach the same heights... 

[DeanoL]

yep, but they've got to be willing to sell, and as the land is something more than just a normal farm, they could get a premium price.

 

I guess the downside of being a non-profit is they don't have the capital on hand to buy the land up when it goes on sale.

 

While I'd be sad to see it move, I also find the idea quite exciting. Yes, you know the current site like the back of your hand, but remember the first time you went when everything was new and you never knew what was around the corner? You get that again.

Edited June 19, 2015 by DeanoL

[Ohinever]

No, no and thrice no. What we have now is a holy trinity. Us, the Eavii and the farm. Keep it that way.

Edited June 19, 2015 by mooro

[eFestivals]

I haven't been to Boomtown I confess, though I do remember something of the the bowl and the surrounding Estate when I last visited way, way back in the early '90's. Still don't reckon that the estate even approaches Glasto size - if a relocation happened, there would be an inevitable scaling back I would think.

 

I've no idea how big the estate is, but Boomtown is now 45,000 people and I know there's space for many more.

 

Admittedly, it's not all exactly the ideal space because of the inclines at some point.

[Cheesey]

If I were in ME's position I would just tell the farmer in question to do one. If some things have to be shifted around inside the festival and/or the capacity reduced by 10,000, so be it.