Knobs

[Hugh Jass]

Met up with a mate over the weekend who was also at the festival. He was saying that he was camped in Pennards and his neighbours had two toddlers who spent the weekend screaming (as toddlers do) and annoying everyone around them.

That doesn't seem right to me, surely they should have been in the family field? Shows a lack of consideration for both other festival goers and your own kids surely?

[stuartbert two hats]

59 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Met up with a mate over the weekend who was also at the festival. He was saying that he was camped in Pennards and his neighbours had two toddlers who spent the weekend screaming (as toddlers do) and annoying everyone around them.

That doesn't seem right to me, surely they should have been in the family field? Shows a lack of consideration for both other festival goers and your own kids surely?

I'd be more worried about the kids than the other campers.  They probably just didn't realise there were more appropriate places to camp.

Edited July 11, 2016 by stuartbert two hats

[Jamie D]

I think it's absolutely fine for people to bring kids to Glastonbury but they should be very careful and not take them anywhere stupid, which unfortunately some people seem to do.

On Thursday night at about 9pm we wondered over to Shangri La which was absolutely heaving at the time. Massive crush of people trying to get past in opposite directions at the back of the Hell Stage area. A man with a baby strapped to his chest, couldn't have been more than 8 months old is coming towards me while I'm basically being forced in the opposite direction in the crush. The man obviously wanting to protect his baby then puts his hand out and forcibly pushes me out of the way. Fair enough he wanted to protect his tiny baby but what the fuck was he taking it in to Shangri La? Call me ignorant but I'm not sure there's much in Shangri La to entertain an 8 month year old baby.

One other knob observation of the festival...

Friday night we went to the Common and got in the queue for the Temple. It was moving quite slowly and after about 20 minutes we were still inside the railings but next to the pathway. An 18 year old YOLO jerk off then decides to jump the railing between us and another group. I decided to vent my frustration and pointed out that we'd been waiting 20 minutes, it's really not in the festival spirit, everyone thought he was a selfish dick and asked how he felt about everyone around him think he was a dick. His response was "Don't care. You've got to do what you gotta do". I decided to calm myself down and told him I couldn't be bothered with this rather than escalating it further. But still, the selfish attitude of don't care about anyone else just so long as I'm having fun has not place at Glastonbury.

Anyway, I've now offloaded my only two minor frustrations of this year so thanks for listening. Apart from that, everything was bloody brilliant as usual.

[Steel city camper]

Me and my wife had our 1st wedding anniversary on the saturday and some friends had brought us a helium balloon which we tied to the tent , someone decided to rip it off and also pinch one of our chairs while we where out , cheers knobs!!

[Charm]

58 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

I'd be more worried about the kids than the other campers.  They probably just didn't realise there were more appropriate places to camp.

Definately more upsetting for the kids as Pennards is so loud, no wonder they were screaming, must of been really disturbing with Arcadia and The Glade pumping out music all hours, poor little souls. 
Charm x

[Tranquility of Solitude]

2 hours ago, Charm said:

Definately more upsetting for the kids as Pennards is so loud, no wonder they were screaming, must of been really disturbing with Arcadia and The Glade pumping out music all hours, poor little souls. 
Charm x

 

2 hours ago, Charm said:

  3 hours ago, stuartbert two hats said:

I'd be more worried about the kids than the other campers.  They probably just didn't realise there were more appropriate places to camp.

 

3 hours ago, stuartbert two hats said:

4 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

Met up with a mate over the weekend who was also at the festival. He was saying that he was camped in Pennards and his neighbours had two toddlers who spent the weekend screaming (as toddlers do) and annoying everyone around them.

That doesn't seem right to me, surely they should have been in the family field? Shows a lack of consideration for both other festival goers and your own kids surely?

They probably made the same mistake I did in 2015 - Camplight offer pre-pitched tents for hire, but the only area they have anything is Pennards - however they do advertise it as family friendly on their website, saying this... (I've just cut and pasted it)....

 If you are a FAMILY please use the "Additional Notes " box on the Checkout page to inform us. We will ensure that you are placed near other families.

I did  this, naively requesting a quiet corner of Pennards (yes, I know that now!) alongside other families. Oh how we chuckled as the Arcadia spider fire thing was still pumping out in the early hours. 

 

 

[Charm]

41 minutes ago, Tranquility of Solitude said:

I did  this, naively requesting a quiet corner of Pennards (yes, I know that now!) alongside other families. Oh how we chuckled as the Arcadia spider fire thing was still pumping out in the early hours. 

When you requested a quiet corner they really should of advised you there's no such thing, can't imagine how you felt, hopefully your child is a bit older and wasn't upset by it. 
Charm x

[Pinhead]

I was camped with a few utter knobs in Undleground. Several had no wristbands and were eventually discovered and chucked out. One seemed to make it his mission to be evicted even when security essentially offered him amnesty. Dicks.

[gerardfenton18]

Im all for a the kiids at glasto, dnt think im responsible to do it myself but its nice to see*

 

 

*just dont send them out scavenging for people stuff on the Thursday morning 

[kalifire]

If Glastonbury isn't a place kids can be at, listen to great music, learn cool stuff and have a fantastic time, then it's not the festival I know and love. But their festival space is limited, and if you're a parent who wants to go to the SE Corner in the peak time crush and can't do that without an infant strapped to your chest, then that infant shouldn't be there. If that means you can't come, then you don't go. It's called responsible parenting, not rocket science.

Edited July 12, 2016 by kalifire

[Hugh Jass]

3 hours ago, kalifire said:

If Glastonbury isn't a place kids can be at, listen to great music, learn cool stuff and have a fantastic time, then it's not the festival I know and love. But their festival space is limited, and if you're a parent who wants to go to the SE Corner in the peak time crush and can't do that without an infant strapped to your chest, then that infant shouldn't be there. If that means you can't come, then you don't go. It's called responsible parenting, not rocket science.

This is exactly the point. I don't think many people have issues with children being at GF. But parents need to accept that there are some parts of the festival that you simply shouldn't take the kids into. It's not fair on anyone.

[TuesdayBlues]

I've registered specifically to reply to this topic: there was a distinct lack of knobs this year (I've been three times since 2009) and this was made all the more remarkable by the sheer numbers and mud. We had no run-ins with any idiots really, and the vibe was generally awesome throughout. People were especially patient in the crushes at the south-east corner (for which Glasto really needs to build a couple more areas like Shangri-La or Block9 if the numbers are going to continue to be so massive) which was great overall...

...except for: the security. I found a distinct knobbish element amongst some of the security personnel.

1. A friend of mine was searched aggressively coming out of (not into) the teepee area. Security took his weed off of him and his weed grinder, which he's had for years. This is fucking outrageous: they sell weed grinders on the site FFS. It's particularly annoying since, once in the festival, if you're not staying somewhere like the teepees, you don't have to run an extra search gauntlet.

2. The security at Arcadia were searching people randomly while they were dancing. As in, people minding their own business, not doing anything overtly suspicious, were at risk of some knobhead taking them to one side and going through all their stuff. Also outrageous in my view, and totally vibe-destroying.

3. I was searched myself going back into Block9 after just popping out to use the toilet. I wasn't doing anything suspicious other than smiling and dancing around, but the security guy (a) was convinced I had something because "my eyes were showing it" (what, like everybody else in there?) and (b) made it pretty clear that the weed I voluntarily gave up would not be enough to placate him, as him and his mates were clearly looking for harder drugs for their own parties. He also took my baccy and rizla: again, an outrage since these things are freely sold on site. I did point out that it was Monday morning at 3am and if they wanted my stash they were a bit late for it. The most galling thing is that I went up to the Stone Circle not long afterwards and what did I see? People still wearing their security jackets snorting lines of powder and smoking spliffs with gay abandon.

I don't mind being searched for drugs and what not: I understand the law, and I also realise the risks anybody takes when carrying anything illegal. However, the place for this to happen is on the way into the festival itself, with confiscated drugs being taken off by the police to be disposed of properly. Once inside, I do object strenuously to being searched if I'm not actually doing anything that warrants it. I also object particularly strenuously to the security personnel behaving like corrupt bureaucrats in banana republics, shaking people down for free gear to enjoy themselves, simply by virtue of the fact that, at particular places in the festival, they happen to be manning a security post which gives them an opportunity to act like trolls under a toll-bridge. It's unfair, outrageous, and kills the vibe. Drug use is tacitly accepted at Glasto, particularly in the SE corner, and once people are in the festival, and not doing anything in plain sight, they deserve to be left alone to enjoy the festival in peace.

The organisers therefore need to get a grip on the security people. If they're going to be searching people randomly and without cause, there should, at the very least, be some consistency in how they do it (everyone should be at risk of being searched constantly) and there should be some kind of logging system for confiscated drugs. When I was searched, I very nearly demanded they take me to the police to make sure the weed was logged, but obviously thought better of that. Either way, there needs to be something done to reduce the incentive on them to utterly abuse their power and position: perhaps they should be at risk themselves of being searched by the police for drugs that haven't been logged, or if they are spotted smoking a spliff. And they certainly shouldn't be stealing things like rizlas and weed grinders from punters that they may well have bought minutes previously from a shop at the festival. So, Glasto: please get a grip on your security knobs!

Edited July 12, 2016 by TuesdayBlues

[Quark]

Have an upvote for that @TuesdayBlues.  A well worded, coherent and reasonable assessment.  

Interestingly there was a comment on another thread I believe where the poster had a similar situation to your shakedown in Block 9, and called out the security guard to take him to the police if it was that major; the security guard backed down and left him to it.

 

[DeanoL]

33 minutes ago, TuesdayBlues said:

 Drug use is tacitly accepted at Glasto, particularly in the SE corner, and once people are in the festival, and not doing anything in plain sight, they deserve to be left alone to enjoy the festival in peace.

It's not though - people want to believe it is but it clearly isn't. The security work on instructions from Glastonbury and while they might be a bit over-zealous, Glastonbury set the limits, and that includes confiscating drugs.

You were doing something illegal, you got busted, and all you got was a telling off and the stuff taking off you. You could have been chucked off site or taken to the police. That's hardly outrageous.

I think sometimes those who take drugs at Glastonbury have this false assumption that everyone there is on them. They're really not. They're a minority. I'd wager you're looking at maybe 5-10% doing weed/NOS and less than 5% on anything stronger. You were probably stopped and searched because you looked like you were in that 5%, and they were right, you were. They've done their job well.

Are they a bit corrupt? Probably. But the one way to ensure that they go away is for people stop bringing in stuff for them to confiscate in the first place.

(I'm not anti-drugs, I'd rather see everything legalised, but I don't take them at Glastonbury, there's enough going on and if I need a pick-me-up to keep me going ProPlus does the job - I've also never been searched once, even on entry, in 12 festivals)

[Perks]

@TuesdayBlues dude, that's out of order, they can't take your baccy, no rights whatsoever, that's so wrong .. Shame you didn't get the security number of the prick. He's basically just taking advantage of people. Really bugs me that. If that'd have been me, I'd be livid, would've really killed my mood. I luckily didn't have any dealings with security either way. But some of the things I've read on here are shocking.

[Quark]

10 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

It's not though - people want to believe it is but it clearly isn't. The security work on instructions from Glastonbury and while they might be a bit over-zealous, Glastonbury set the limits, and that includes confiscating drugs.

You were doing something illegal, you got busted, and all you got was a telling off and the stuff taking off you. You could have been chucked off site or taken to the police. That's hardly outrageous.

I think sometimes those who take drugs at Glastonbury have this false assumption that everyone there is on them. They're really not. They're a minority. I'd wager you're looking at maybe 5-10% doing weed/NOS and less than 5% on anything stronger. You were probably stopped and searched because you looked like you were in that 5%, and they were right, you were. They've done their job well.

Are they a bit corrupt? Probably. But the one way to ensure that they go away is for people stop bringing in stuff for them to confiscate in the first place.

(I'm not anti-drugs, I'd rather see everything legalised, but I don't take them at Glastonbury, there's enough going on and if I need a pick-me-up to keep me going ProPlus does the job - I've also never been searched once, even on entry, in 12 festivals)

Interesting response Deano.  I think that the bit he was referring to as outrageous specifically was the confiscation of the grinder, which as he said are freely available to buy on site.  And that's a good point, if the paraphernalia is on sale on site then (a) that is a tacit, if not explicit, acceptance of at least a certain level of use, and (b) what can be the justification for confiscating it?

And yes, if you get caught with something illegal then you can't complain if you get busted.  However when you're getting busted by people who, based on some posters' experiences, are looking for a shakedown and are using the stuff themselves in view of the festival goers they're supposedly policing it does take away some of the legitimacy.

Plus, as Perks said, confiscating baccy and rizla is bullshit whichever way you look at it.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Quark

[fightoffyour]

32 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

It's not though - people want to believe it is but it clearly isn't. The security work on instructions from Glastonbury and while they might be a bit over-zealous, Glastonbury set the limits, and that includes confiscating drugs.

You were doing something illegal, you got busted, and all you got was a telling off and the stuff taking off you. You could have been chucked off site or taken to the police. That's hardly outrageous.

I think sometimes those who take drugs at Glastonbury have this false assumption that everyone there is on them. They're really not. They're a minority. I'd wager you're looking at maybe 5-10% doing weed/NOS and less than 5% on anything stronger. You were probably stopped and searched because you looked like you were in that 5%, and they were right, you were. They've done their job well.

Are they a bit corrupt? Probably. But the one way to ensure that they go away is for people stop bringing in stuff for them to confiscate in the first place.

(I'm not anti-drugs, I'd rather see everything legalised, but I don't take them at Glastonbury, there's enough going on and if I need a pick-me-up to keep me going ProPlus does the job - I've also never been searched once, even on entry, in 12 festivals)

I reckon your numbers are way way out

[Madyaker]

In then SE corner after midnight you reckon only 5 - 10%? I'd say you're way out. It's more like 33% and after 3am when all the people who aren't on drugs have run out of energy and left it's even higher.

[Jamie D]

Of the 3 security guys I spoke to, 100% of them said they didn't want to be there, hated the festival and were only there because it was good money.

If security at least partially enjoyed festivals I reckon they'd be far less of a problem.

[DeanoL]

1 hour ago, Quark said:

Interesting response Deano.  I think that the bit he was referring to as outrageous specifically was the confiscation of the grinder, which as he said are freely available to buy on site.

Had the grinder been used? I'd assumed it did, and it had weed remnants on it. You wouldn't take it through customs...

Security are briefed by the festival. The festival could tell them to ignore all drug use. They don't. They tell them to watch for it and confiscate. Not sure how anyone can read that as "tacit approval". Tacit approval would be if only the police took any interest.

They were being cheeky on the tobacco (would probably claim they mis-identified it) sure. But again they were also being nice letting him go.

49 minutes ago, Madyaker said:

In then SE corner after midnight you reckon only 5 - 10%? I'd say you're way out. It's more like 33% and after 3am when all the people who aren't on drugs have run out of energy and left it's even higher.

I mean those figures site-wide. So yeah, South East corner and Silver Hayes will be higher because of demographics and such. It's only around 10% of the people on site in those areas, even if it feels like loads more.

So look at it from the other direction. Is there anyone at Glastonbury taking Class-As that aren't in the South East corner or Silver Hayes after the bands? They're clubbing drugs, you're not taking them then having an early night after Adele or going to chill in the Green Fields. Shangri-la holds what, maybe 15k, 5k more at Silver Hayes? So around 10% of those on site, not all of them are going to be on something, maybe half?  So yeah 5% of the festival total seems around right.

Around 3% of people took class As in the last year, 9% if you consider any drug, UK-wide. I reckon usage is maybe twice as common at Glastonbury. So it works out there too. Maybe next year a sixth-former could do a survey on it!

(And I wouldn't assume security differentiate between the 'late night' areas and elsewhere - unless they're told "turn a blind eye in the naughty corner" then they won't)

[___S_o_m_a__]

3 hours ago, TuesdayBlues said:

I've registered specifically to reply to this topic: there was a distinct lack of knobs this year (I've been three times since 2009) and this was made all the more remarkable by the sheer numbers and mud. We had no run-ins with any idiots really, and the vibe was generally awesome throughout. People were especially patient in the crushes at the south-east corner (for which Glasto really needs to build a couple more areas like Shangri-La or Block9 if the numbers are going to continue to be so massive) which was great overall...

...except for: the security. I found a distinct knobbish element amongst some of the security personnel.

1. A friend of mine was searched aggressively coming out of (not into) the teepee area. Security took his weed off of him and his weed grinder, which he's had for years. This is fucking outrageous: they sell weed grinders on the site FFS. It's particularly annoying since, once in the festival, if you're not staying somewhere like the teepees, you don't have to run an extra search gauntlet.

2. The security at Arcadia were searching people randomly while they were dancing. As in, people minding their own business, not doing anything overtly suspicious, were at risk of some knobhead taking them to one side and going through all their stuff. Also outrageous in my view, and totally vibe-destroying.

3. I was searched myself going back into Block9 after just popping out to use the toilet. I wasn't doing anything suspicious other than smiling and dancing around, but the security guy (a) was convinced I had something because "my eyes were showing it" (what, like everybody else in there?) and (b) made it pretty clear that the weed I voluntarily gave up would not be enough to placate him, as him and his mates were clearly looking for harder drugs for their own parties. He also took my baccy and rizla: again, an outrage since these things are freely sold on site. I did point out that it was Monday morning at 3am and if they wanted my stash they were a bit late for it. The most galling thing is that I went up to the Stone Circle not long afterwards and what did I see? People still wearing their security jackets snorting lines of powder and smoking spliffs with gay abandon.

I don't mind being searched for drugs and what not: I understand the law, and I also realise the risks anybody takes when carrying anything illegal. However, the place for this to happen is on the way into the festival itself, with confiscated drugs being taken off by the police to be disposed of properly. Once inside, I do object strenuously to being searched if I'm not actually doing anything that warrants it. I also object particularly strenuously to the security personnel behaving like corrupt bureaucrats in banana republics, shaking people down for free gear to enjoy themselves, simply by virtue of the fact that, at particular places in the festival, they happen to be manning a security post which gives them an opportunity to act like trolls under a toll-bridge. It's unfair, outrageous, and kills the vibe. Drug use is tacitly accepted at Glasto, particularly in the SE corner, and once people are in the festival, and not doing anything in plain sight, they deserve to be left alone to enjoy the festival in peace.

The organisers therefore need to get a grip on the security people. If they're going to be searching people randomly and without cause, there should, at the very least, be some consistency in how they do it (everyone should be at risk of being searched constantly) and there should be some kind of logging system for confiscated drugs. When I was searched, I very nearly demanded they take me to the police to make sure the weed was logged, but obviously thought better of that. Either way, there needs to be something done to reduce the incentive on them to utterly abuse their power and position: perhaps they should be at risk themselves of being searched by the police for drugs that haven't been logged, or if they are spotted smoking a spliff. And they certainly shouldn't be stealing things like rizlas and weed grinders from punters that they may well have bought minutes previously from a shop at the festival. So, Glasto: please get a grip on your security knobs!

Why on earth would you allow security to take tobacco and Rizlas off you? If they told you to shit yourself would you do it?

2 hours ago, DeanoL said:

It's not though - people want to believe it is but it clearly isn't. The security work on instructions from Glastonbury and while they might be a bit over-zealous, Glastonbury set the limits, and that includes confiscating drugs.

You were doing something illegal, you got busted, and all you got was a telling off and the stuff taking off you. You could have been chucked off site or taken to the police. That's hardly outrageous.

I think sometimes those who take drugs at Glastonbury have this false assumption that everyone there is on them. They're really not. They're a minority. I'd wager you're looking at maybe 5-10% doing weed/NOS and less than 5% on anything stronger. You were probably stopped and searched because you looked like you were in that 5%, and they were right, you were. They've done their job well.

Are they a bit corrupt? Probably. But the one way to ensure that they go away is for people stop bringing in stuff for them to confiscate in the first place.

(I'm not anti-drugs, I'd rather see everything legalised, but I don't take them at Glastonbury, there's enough going on and if I need a pick-me-up to keep me going ProPlus does the job - I've also never been searched once, even on entry, in 12 festivals)

There's just so much wrong with this I don't even.

[Leggins]

Anyone else think DeanoL's figures sound a little conservative? I don't partake in class A's myself but it certainly feels like I am in a minority when at Glastonbury. Literally everyone around me has those tell tale signs of indulgence shall we say?

Edited July 12, 2016 by Leggins
Also worth noting I don't hang out in either the SE corner or Silverhayes at all.

[Charm]

56 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

Had the grinder been used? I'd assumed it did, and it had weed remnants on it. You wouldn't take it through customs...

Security are briefed by the festival. The festival could tell them to ignore all drug use. They don't. They tell them to watch for it and confiscate. Not sure how anyone can read that as "tacit approval". Tacit approval would be if only the police took any interest.

They were being cheeky on the tobacco (would probably claim they mis-identified it) sure. But again they were also being nice letting him go.

I mean those figures site-wide. So yeah, South East corner and Silver Hayes will be higher because of demographics and such. It's only around 10% of the people on site in those areas, even if it feels like loads more.

So look at it from the other direction. Is there anyone at Glastonbury taking Class-As that aren't in the South East corner or Silver Hayes after the bands? They're clubbing drugs, you're not taking them then having an early night after Adele or going to chill in the Green Fields. Shangri-la holds what, maybe 15k, 5k more at Silver Hayes? So around 10% of those on site, not all of them are going to be on something, maybe half?  So yeah 5% of the festival total seems around right.

Around 3% of people took class As in the last year, 9% if you consider any drug, UK-wide. I reckon usage is maybe twice as common at Glastonbury. So it works out there too. Maybe next year a sixth-former could do a survey on it!

(And I wouldn't assume security differentiate between the 'late night' areas and elsewhere - unless they're told "turn a blind eye in the naughty corner" then they won't)

I have no idea of the percentage of people taking drugs at Glastonbury and neither do you, just because you aren't doing it you can't really speak for the rest of the festival, you mentioned on another thread that you don't speak to strangers so it's kind of pointless to argue a view that you have very little evidence to support. 
Charm x

[muddychick]

17 minutes ago, Leggins said:

Anyone else think DeanoL's figures sound a little conservative? I don't partake in class A's myself but it certainly feels like I am in a minority when at Glastonbury. Literally everyone around me has those tell tale signs of indulgence shall we say?

Yeah I agree. I don't partake at all as I'm epileptic. That said I recognise the signs of drug use and I would say a much higher Glasto percentage enjoyed something other than booze over the festival. 

[DeanoL]

5 minutes ago, Charm said:

I have no idea of the percentage of people taking drugs at Glastonbury and neither do you, just because you aren't doing it you can't really speak for the rest of the festival, you mentioned on another thread that you don't speak to strangers so it's kind of pointless to argue a view that you have very little evidence to support. 
Charm x

My confirmation bias indeed probably goes the other way. It's an interesting question though and as I say, you can start to draw some broad conclusions from the statistics.

Point being they're not allowed at the festival, if they were, security wouldn't be taking them off people. I've no problem with people partaking at all, but always figured if you get busted then fair's fair.