Ways to improve the conditions?

[razorruck]

There is always a buzz when seeing the Pyramid on Wednesday, after being awake from 5am and mobilising. We were very lucky getting down there, leaving at 5:30am on Wednesday and only taking an hour or so. Avoiding the A roads at all costs and going through the Mendips, coming out in Pilton and being only a dozen cars away from Orange West 37.

Good things:

- Muse. Adele. Explosions in the Sky. Quite liked the new layout of the Peel stage and the Woods. Earth Wind & Fire (Was torn between them, Lauper and Coldplay but couldn't not-see them really). Lying in relatively nice weather in what were a few bits of remaining grass further at the top of the Pyramid stage on Saturday afternoon for Wolf Alice. The Japanese jazz band at the West Holtz were quite crackers.  Food wise it wasn't stupidly expensive, and we were receiving generous portions.

Stuff I was thinking about:

Everyone putting on a brave face and still smiling on the Sunday was great to see. Weather wise I think it was probably on a par with most of '11,'07 & '04, and tbh had a feeling this would be a muddy, trudgey affair as we were certainly due one given the last few years had been mostly lush!

Can the walkways be widened? Perhaps double the width? Of course the site had been utterly pissed on leading up to the weekend,  Given I could push my tent pegs in with my little finger I guess that ground saturation had already reached its max.

Does anyone here go with their camper van? What's it like up there? I guess over the years the older I get (32 now) the more I like the creature comforts.

 

[rpfranks]

Defo needs more tracks. The pathway around Other and into Silver Hayes was crazy this weekend. And the mud unbearable at times especially in moving crowds. Also think the car parks need to have tracks mostly throughout. Or those ground covers like they use on the grass at gigs at football stadia.

They should also have more straw on hand than what they used...I know Michael said they were using all they could get hold of in the south but it was tricky lifting feet up at the stages. Made even worse when people are pushing past you or trying to get through

[Redwinevino]

The only answer is one no one will like.

Less people :/

[hfuhruhurr]

Don't use empty pallets as walkways - they turned into traps pretty quickly.

Banning the Land Rovers blocking up paths with a few stewards in them - they can walk like the rest of us.

Make the urinals bigger - with no one peeing on the land then they need to accommodate more people.

Can't have a moan list, so need to say how fab the tractor peeps were in the CV fields - really friendly, really helpful. And for the OP - CV fields are: quiet, spacious, lots of clean loos, early access - and you get to pitch a tent or two under your "awning". The walk isn't bad either - and you can mitigate carrying stuff by using the lock-ups.

[OneLittleFish]

If people stuck to one side of each walkway it'd make movement much easier. Also if people didn't stand slap bang in the middle of them for a chat.

[Mezhyp1]

I heard there was less tracks and grating than they'd like because a lot of it was still stuck at download? I don't know the truth in it but heard some security talking about it

[stuartbert two hats]

32 minutes ago, Redwinevino said:

The only answer is one no one will like.

Less people :/

Of course they won't like it. Should be 'fewer people'

[JanieM28]

4 minutes ago, Mezhyp1 said:

I heard there was less tracks and grating than they'd like because a lot of it was still stuck at download? I don't know the truth in it but heard some security talking about it

This is true. I heard it from a supervisor who's been doing Glasto for about 30 years and knows these things. The tracks were stranded at Download, and the bark chippings were also in short supply for similar reasons.

Also the decision to put back the campervan arrivals to 6pm but not the car park arrivals, was a decision by the police - not Glasto.

[cdm22]

34 minutes ago, Redwinevino said:

The only answer is one no one will like.

Less people :/

I think many people would like that, I know I would. They shouldn't have increased it by 25000 more like they did a few years ago imo.

[st dan]

I think they should ban the rain

[Wooderson]

Open the fucker on Tuesday.

[Redwinevino]

48 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Of course they won't like it. Should be 'fewer people'

46 minutes ago, cdm22 said:

I think many people would like that, I know I would. They shouldn't have increased it by 25000 more like they did a few years ago imo.

It just might be a hard sell with how hard tickets already are to get

 

 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

I think over time they need to (if it's viable, being a working farm I don't know?) increase the amount of paths made of stones/hardcore. These are easy to walk on regardless of mud. They are found around the main areas, such as the path leading from gate c pretty much to the pyramid, but not everywhere. The metal track is all very well but I'd imagine the cost would be quite a lot to increase there use all over and for every year it isn't a mud fest it would be an unnecessary cost.

it would take a long time but if they could gradually increase the infrastructure of these paths around the site it would make a big difference.

[Nobody Interesting]

I think they need to change absolutely nothing.

The weather has been amazingly ridiculous and to leap and change heaps because of it is stupid and pointless.

No amount of extra walkways will solve the problems of mud and congestion - just ask the people who keep making the M25 bigger!

It was a series of weather events that made the problem nothing more nothing less and it will probably never happen again. Opening the site a day earlier will make no difference either as we will all simply turn up a day earlier.

It ain't broke so lets not try and fix it.

[fur_q]

1 minute ago, Nobody Interesting said:

I think they need to change absolutely nothing.

The weather has been amazingly ridiculous and to leap and change heaps because of it is stupid and pointless.

No amount of extra walkways will solve the problems of mud and congestion - just ask the people who keep making the M25 bigger!

It was a series of weather events that made the problem nothing more nothing less and it will probably never happen again. Opening the site a day earlier will make no difference either as we will all simply turn up a day earlier.

It ain't broke so lets not try and fix it.

 

7 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

I think over time they need to (if it's viable, being a working farm I don't know?) increase the amount of paths made of stones/hardcore. These are easy to walk on regardless of mud. They are found around the main areas, such as the path leading from gate c pretty much to the pyramid, but not everywhere. The metal track is all very well but I'd imagine the cost would be quite a lot to increase there use all over and for every year it isn't a mud fest it would be an unnecessary cost.

it would take a long time but if they could gradually increase the infrastructure of these paths around the site it would make a big difference.

The hardcore paths are all mainly on land owned by the Eavis' where the metal trackways run tends to be on land that belongs to neighbors. The problem is they could double or even triple the width of all the paths and there would still be congestion when tens of thousands of people are heading in a similar direction. 

[giantkatestacks]

I would increase the coach ticket allocation again but at the same time lay on charity trolleys at Gate A to help people with their stuff to encourage people to come by coach/train.

I would also increase Worthy View still further so there isnt such pressure on getting there early all at the same time.

I would also like some late night stewarding away from the SE corner to jolly people along but also help out after the headliners, this worked really well at the Olympics. Even some messaging to remind people as they charge off to the SE corner that there are vulnerable people in the crowd as well so everyone needs to chill and go slowly.

[majormajormajor]

I think it should be held in July or August. Also believe it should be a full week-long event and that it should finish on the Saturday night/Sunday morning. Perhaps have the scheduled music over four days instead of three.

[Spindles]

38 minutes ago, Wooderson said:

Open the fucker on Tuesday.

This.

Sell 2 types of tickets, one that is valid from midday Tuesday, one that is valid from midday Thursday.  Reduce the numbers from 177,500 to 150,000, make about half of those tickets Tuesday entry and charge people an extra £15-25 for the early doors access with a slight reduction on the cost of the shorter festival ticket.  Soak up lost ticket revenue from lower numbers by increasing revenues from Worthy view.

With the conditions this year tents were further back from the paths, so walkways were already wider round most of the festival and I felt that camping was more even across the place rather than everyone trying to ram into popular grounds.  If that trend continues it'll be happy days.

[RickW]

2 hours ago, Redwinevino said:

The only answer is one no one will like.

Less people :/

I agree, having not attended the festival for nearly 20 years it came as a shock to see how it had grown and the sheer numbers of people in attendance, I don't agree with opening it earlier it will just put a bigger strain on the roads around the area and will off side the locals further, as would making the event a week long, although the festival greatly benefits the area people need to carry on with life as normally as possible.

[found home in 2009]

11 minutes ago, giantkatestacks said:

I would increase the coach ticket allocation again but at the same time lay on charity trolleys at Gate A to help people with their stuff to encourage people to come by coach/train.

I would also increase Worthy View still further so there isnt such pressure on getting there early all at the same time.

I would also like some late night stewarding away from the SE corner to jolly people along but also help out after the headliners, this worked really well at the Olympics. Even some messaging to remind people as they charge off to the SE corner that there are vulnerable people in the crowd as well so everyone needs to chill and go slowly.

Making people take expensive coaches just excludes people from far away.

 

Three of us came from Glasgow by car, it was just over £40 each between petrol money and car park ticket. To get the bus we would each have had to paid over a £100 (can't remember exact price or check website now, but I'm certain it was 3 figures as I was absolutely stunned at how expensive it was when I considered getting the coach).

[TheNewUnion]

Given how pleasant Bath and West Showground was, perhaps sell off-site camper van tickets for there. Electric hook up, toilets, showers, regular bus, easy out on Monday. I think it'd sell well. Also, fewer people. 

Edited June 28, 2016 by TheNewUnion

[fur_q]

 they started opening the car parks and campervan fields as a response to traffic issues on the Wednesday back in 2009 and all this did was mean the masses turned up earlier so pushing the opening even further forward will not solve traffic problems, IMO. 

[found home in 2009]

Making the pathways wider would make it so much less frustrating in a wet year. Understand it would probably cost a lot and not be a benefit in dry years so they may not do it. From the sound of it, this year they struggled to get set up, so it may not have been practical even if they wanted to.

Something needs to be done about the south east corner though. It feels like when you move between areas there everyone is funnelled through quite a tight space and the ground didn't seem to have any chippings there. 

I saw about 10 people get stuck in front of me when I was trying to get back to block 9 from the common. Knew it was a disaster waiting to happen and wanted to turn back, but there was so many people behind me I was forced to try and go through it. Ended up both my wellies stuck and was forced forward by a surge of people, leaving me standing in ankle deep mud in my socks.
 

[The Nal]

The best way to improve the festival is for people to grow a pair. 

[grumpyhack]

Part of the problem was an attempt at a solution.  CV Field ticket holders were told at the last minute not to arrive before 6pm on Tuesday because the ground was so wet. That caused the huge traffic congestion as traffic that would have been spread over a day was all concentrated into a smaller time slot. 

The concentrated arrivals also put pressure on the towing teams, who were having to haul in a lot of campervans and, especially, motorhomes which tend to be front wheel drive with rubbish traction.

I appreciate that's only a small part of the problem and many others have commented on more tracking, woodchip etc.  But I think the old staggered arrival times of CV Fields opening at midday, or even earlier, on Tuesday would have lessened the pressure and the road congestion, which then had a knock on effect throughout the festival.

What's remarkable was the goodwill that festival-goers continued to have towards Glastonbury.  Most just shrugged, exchanged tales of how long it had taken to get there, and made the best of it.  I met one group who'd travelled from Northumbria.  "How long did it take you?" I asked.  "Oh," I said, mishearing.  "The same as us from South Wales, thirteen hours."

"No," they corrected me.  "Thirty hours." 

Yet despite their epic journey they were still smiling and having a good time.  At any other festival there would have been a lot more complaining.