How to increase the size of the festival

[Rumblestripe]

Stood atop the hill near the Crow's Nest, I looked over the site and thought how fecking enormous it has become and that it is pretty much bumping against the maximum size that it can be. Geographically and logistically, it's maxed out.

Would it work to twin the festival with a location in the North of England? Or even Scotland?

Like Reading and Leeds you could share the Headliners and probably most of the undercard. Obviously it wouldn't have the full experience (at least at first). You can share headliners but things like Arcadia and SE corner cannot be in two places at the same time.

Just thinking out loud really.

[stuartbert two hats]

Send in the heavy mob to the Bath showground owners and make them an 'offer they can't refuse' to sell all their land, including the farmland adjacent to Worthy.

[Quark]

Why does it need to get bigger?  Genuine question.

Seems to be the feeling about everything in life, whether it's this, a career, a tv show, a band, whatever.  Doesn't matter how good it is and how much people enjoy it for what it is, it must get bigger and better and bigger and better until it becomes saturated, miserable and shite.

Leave it as is.  if anything, shrink it a wee bit.  I'll take the risk of not getting a ticket.

[Yokel Again]

Please no bigger!! Awful idea!

[Nobody Interesting]

If it got bigger it might take half the day to walk from one stage to another!

Leave it alone.

No bigger please.

[Rumblestripe]

I think you are missing the point? I'm not saying make Glastonbury bigger but allow more people to attend by creating a mirror site in the North. Perhaps even shrink the current site slightly.

As an aside, I was talking to my wife during the festival (has no interest in attending) and the weather up North was almost universally good, east of the Penines in particular has far lower rainfall levels than somerset.

As I say just something that we were discussing between mud plugging.

[Swine_Glasto2014]

It cant get bigger, smaller if anything.

The site is at bursting point and any proposal to expand would be a foot in the door of licence refusal imo.

 

[rpfranks]

The only thing I can think of is to mirror Coachella; to make the Pilton site smaller, and mirror the entire line up over two weekends in two different places.

Over the two sites you'd see more people attending overall and the Pilton site would be made smaller which would be win-win. It's far too big.

[Quark]

2 minutes ago, Rumblestripe said:

I think you are missing the point? I'm not saying make Glastonbury bigger but allow more people to attend by creating a mirror site in the North. Perhaps even shrink the current site slightly.

No I think I see where you're heading, but my point still stands.  By creating a mirror site elsewhere it takes away from what the festival is by diluting it and spreading it.  I think there are enough festivals, and more coming every year, without duplicating an existing one and plonking it somewhere else, and expecting to recreate the same feel and experience.  

[glastonbagel]

Just leave it be.

[Rumblestripe]

2 minutes ago, glastonbagel said:

Just leave it be.

Everything changes, baby that's a fact.

Say you created a "Mirror" Festival 2016 with Adele on Sunday, Muse on Saturday and Coldplay on Friday somewhere near York (random choice) and the tickets were £50 cheaper than G. A lot of people attend for the headliners, I reckon quite a few would choose to do "York" rather than Glastonbury. Knock 50k off the ticket sale for G and sell 100k for York, more people getting to attend and less crowding at Worthy.

[glastonbagel]

1 minute ago, Rumblestripe said:

Everything changes, baby that's a fact.

Say you created a "Mirror" Festival 2016 with Adele on Sunday, Muse on Saturday and Coldplay on Friday somewhere near York (random choice) and the tickets were £50 cheaper than G. A lot of people attend for the headliners, I reckon quite a few would choose to do "York" rather than Glastonbury. Knock 50k off the ticket sale for G and sell 100k for York, more people getting to attend and less crowding at Worthy.

Was that a subtle Springsteen reference? 

I get what you're saying, but I think it'd still have a totally different vibe to Glastonbury as it is now. However you cut it, it would effectively be a knock off version of Glastonbury in <insert location here>

[Finding leto14]

As I'm sure as has been described many times on this forum it wouldn't have the magic of Glastonbury itself. Also Glastonbury has about every food caterer in the country at that point so there wouldn't be any up north haha

[djdavejohnson]

7 minutes ago, Rumblestripe said:

Everything changes, baby that's a fact.

Say you created a "Mirror" Festival 2016 with Adele on Sunday, Muse on Saturday and Coldplay on Friday somewhere near York (random choice) and the tickets were £50 cheaper than G. A lot of people attend for the headliners, I reckon quite a few would choose to do "York" rather than Glastonbury. Knock 50k off the ticket sale for G and sell 100k for York, more people getting to attend and less crowding at Worthy.

It would be twice the cost though - you'd have to have a similar sized site at the other location to even begin to think about it being worthwhile financially surely? Even if you reduced Glasto's size a lot of the costs wouldn't go down in the same proportion...

 

Keep it as is

[Rumblestripe]

4 minutes ago, glastonbagel said:

Was that a subtle Springsteen reference?

Not very subtle was it!

4 minutes ago, Finding leto14 said:

Glastonbury has about every food caterer in the country

No, they don't there are plenty of others who you never see "darn sarf".

2 minutes ago, djdavejohnson said:

It would be twice the cost though

Would it? Obviously it would cost more to book Adele et al twice rather than just the once, but would it be twice as much? It'd be interesting to work some figures up.

[incident]

9 minutes ago, Rumblestripe said:

Everything changes, baby that's a fact.

Say you created a "Mirror" Festival 2016 with Adele on Sunday, Muse on Saturday and Coldplay on Friday somewhere near York (random choice) and the tickets were £50 cheaper than G. A lot of people attend for the headliners, I reckon quite a few would choose to do "York" rather than Glastonbury. Knock 50k off the ticket sale for G and sell 100k for York, more people getting to attend and less crowding at Worthy.

Except you probably wouldn't have Adele, Muse, and Coldplay.

Glastonbury gets the quality of headliners it does at a discount - a very significant discount - because it's a one off gig with hugely impressive tv coverage that results in album sales at an event with a worldwide reputation.

Getting those same calibre of artists to do a second show with no tv coverage, limited extra album sales, basically none of the benefits of Glastonbury.. They'd want a lot more money - as in, something approaching their normal commercial fees.

[elbongo]

Move the Pyramid and Other stage to Longleat. Leave the rest alone...

[djdavejohnson]

4 minutes ago, Rumblestripe said:

Would it? Obviously it would cost more to book Adele et al twice rather than just the once, but would it be twice as much? It'd be interesting to work some figures up.

Not twice as much exactly I was just using a ball park figure - @incident explains better in his post what I was thinking...

3 minutes ago, incident said:

Except you probably wouldn't have Adele, Muse, and Coldplay.

Glastonbury gets the quality of headliners it does at a discount - a very significant discount - because it's a one off gig with hugely impressive tv coverage that results in album sales at an event with a worldwide reputation.

Getting those same calibre of artists to do a second show with no tv coverage, limited extra album sales, basically none of the benefits of Glastonbury.. They'd want a lot more money - as in, something approaching their normal commercial fees.

 

[Avalon_Fields]

A mirror festival would be too high a financial risk for the festival, or it would be forced to work with another promoter to make it viable thus diluting the uniqueness. It's too easy to presume there will always be a huge demand for tickets, but many of the larger festivals that used to sell out very quickly just a few years ago now struggle to do so. There is no certainty this couldn't happen to Glastonbury, so expansion may jeopardise the entire festival. 

[djdavejohnson]

2 minutes ago, Avalon_Fields said:

A mirror festival would be too high a financial risk for the festival, or it would be forced to work with another promoter to make it viable thus diluting the uniqueness. It's too easy to presume there will always be a huge demand for tickets, but many of the larger festivals that used to sell out very quickly just a few years ago now struggle to do so. There is no certainty this couldn't happen to Glastonbury, so expansion may jeopardise the entire festival. 

And to follow on from this point - does Glastonbury even want to expand? Does it need to expand? All things considered for me the answer is a straightforward 'No' to both questions.

[Rumblestripe]

One of the things coming to the festival is a distinct lack of BIG headliners. How many times can you put on Muse and Coldplay? Recently we've had The Who and The Rolling Stones, even looking across the pond who do you go for? Beyonce?

So perhaps we are downsizing the headliner anyway?

Looking at active bands who have achieved the kind of profile needed to headline G, there aint many up and coming who look likely to be able to headline. Music isn't the fulcrum of popular culture it was back in the day.

The festival WILL change, it already has changed tremendously. It's no  good saying leave it alone, it does not exist in a vacuum.

[DeanoL]

21 minutes ago, Rumblestripe said:

Everything changes, baby that's a fact.

Say you created a "Mirror" Festival 2016 with Adele on Sunday, Muse on Saturday and Coldplay on Friday somewhere near York (random choice) and the tickets were £50 cheaper than G. A lot of people attend for the headliners, I reckon quite a few would choose to do "York" rather than Glastonbury. Knock 50k off the ticket sale for G and sell 100k for York, more people getting to attend and less crowding at Worthy.

That's not a bad idea actually. Run three BST-style gigs off site using acts already on the Glastonbury bill.

6 minutes ago, incident said:

Except you probably wouldn't have Adele, Muse, and Coldplay.

Glastonbury gets the quality of headliners it does at a discount - a very significant discount - because it's a one off gig with hugely impressive tv coverage that results in album sales at an event with a worldwide reputation.

Getting those same calibre of artists to do a second show with no tv coverage, limited extra album sales, basically none of the benefits of Glastonbury.. They'd want a lot more money - as in, something approaching their normal commercial fees.

And you could afford those normal commercial fees with the sort of event you'd be running.

I think people underestimate how popular a "Pyramid field" festival would be. £70 a day for tickets. Yeah, you could go to Glastonbury for not much more than 3x that, but then you'd have to buy a tent, and travel miles away, there's always loads of mud, no hotels to stay in over night...

[djdavejohnson]

9 minutes ago, Rumblestripe said:

One of the things coming to the festival is a distinct lack of BIG headliners. How many times can you put on Muse and Coldplay? Recently we've had The Who and The Rolling Stones, even looking across the pond who do you go for? Beyonce?

So perhaps we are downsizing the headliner anyway?

Looking at active bands who have achieved the kind of profile needed to headline G, there aint many up and coming who look likely to be able to headline. Music isn't the fulcrum of popular culture it was back in the day.

The festival WILL change, it already has changed tremendously. It's no  good saying leave it alone, it does not exist in a vacuum.

As much as this year's headliners may be considered bland bookings, surely it cannot be argued that they are not BIG headliners. Adele - biggest female in the world right now. Coldplay, probably the biggest band in the world right now. Muse a big and successful band.

You're right IMO when you say that there doesn't appear at the moment to be very many acts of the same calibre that could headline in the future, and I agree that the festival is starting to refocus it's concentration in improving all the areas of the festival. I think this is why over the last couple of years the smaller areas have been having their own announcements etc. so that these parts can be showcased.

I don't think we are ever really going to have these 'huge' names any more, or at least not as many - iPod generation these days.

Edited June 30, 2016 by djdavejohnson

[myers]

any festival not on that site just wouldn't be the same imo , the idea off a mirror festival just would not appeal to me , it would be just another festival....in another area ,happening on the same weekend,. the appeal to me is that place, the 

history of the festival, the view of the tor, the familiar areas,muddy lane,the pyramid ,the glasto sign up the hill, the stone circle, williams green, the food stalls in the same spot every  year, familiar  faces, the camping fields , bars like the avalon inn, etc..

i do agree that some areas are massively over crowded.... south east corner in particular ..dangerous at times!!...maybe if they added another late night area with a similar theme ,similar stages, etc on the opposite side off the festival?? that could ease the amount off people in the one area ?  i think it would be just as popular and could make both areas much more enjoyable for everyone ?  

[Cooter]

On ‎30‎/‎06‎/‎2016 at 4:07 PM, elbongo said:

Move the Pyramid and Other stage to Longleat. Leave the rest alone...

 

Er, move the SE corner to Longleat and leave the rest alone.