SE corner changes

[Jamie D]

Article in NME talking about Block 9 potentially touring cities as well as other festivals...

http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/94979

I wonder if this is to keep Block 9 going if there are going to be big changes to SE corner next year?

However much I love Block 9, Shangri La etc I can't help but think something needs to change. With the Shangri La 'story line' now at an end and many talks of frustration around overcrowding and dangerous crushes I can't help but think big changes are coming in 2017... what's next?

[Drfoxxx]

Total revamp hopefully. Shangri-la died a death a few years ago!

[CaledonianGonzo]

The shrug of indifference that sometimes greets the huge amount of work that goes into Shangri La every year never ceases to befoozle me.

[Jamie D]

2 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

The shrug of indifference that sometimes greets the huge amount of work that goes into Shangri La every year never ceases to befoozle me.

It's that huge amount of work that makes me very curious of what might replace it. Something without as much work and effort as the current set up will be noticeably poorer. Something with more work and effort seems impossible. Either way, it would be a shame to see all that amazing work replaced with something else.

[djdavejohnson]

I wouldn't want to see the areas change per se - conceptually they're brilliant and that's a reflection of the hard work put in by the various dedicated teams.

Something does need to be done with regards to people management though. It's been said a thousand times but it's just far too busy for most to get the best out of it.

Edited July 13, 2016 by djdavejohnson

[CaledonianGonzo]

3 minutes ago, Jamie D said:

It's that huge amount of work that makes me very curious of what might replace it. Something without as much work and effort as the current set up will be noticeably poorer. Something with more work and effort seems impossible. Either way, it would be a shame to see all that amazing work replaced with something else.

As with any other part of the site I assume they have a budget to stick to and so have to make ends meet.  Heaven and Hell must have cost a packet to construct, so you can't blame them for wanting to get a bit of extra mileage out of it and not start from scratch again every year.  In fact, they probably have no choice.

It does sound like something 'new' might be there next year, though.

[CaledonianGonzo]

5 minutes ago, djdavejohnson said:

Something does need to be done with regards to people management though. It's been said a thousand times but it's just far too busy for most to get the best out of it.

For me it's never been as bad as it was in 2010 before they set up the entry management systems.  Since then I've not really had any problems, though I'm obviously not omniscient in that regard.

[djdavejohnson]

15 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

For me it's never been as bad as it was in 2010 before they set up the entry management systems.  Since then I've not really had any problems, though I'm obviously not omniscient in that regard.

I've only been going since 2013 so don't have any experience of pre-entry management SE Corner, and haven't actually had any issues relating to crowds there before this year, but at times you literally couldn't move, at one point for at least half an hour. A lot of the venues were impossible to get to whilst this was happening.

Thing is, I would have thought the introduction of the entry management system would have reduced this, however at some points this year it felt like there was no overall management at all. If there isn't already, crowd management staff need to be posted at points where the areas can be seen and relaying crowd numbers back to the entrance staff. If they are already doing this, then I think some additional staff training is required! 

In my eyes the muddy conditions shouldn't be an excuse either, if anything it was slowing people down and thus should have been easier to monitor traffic.

[Cornelius_Fudge]

I've been a few times now and there is always a mad dash for the SE corner, which is why they moved Arcadia away from it a few years back. I've noticed it's always a lot worse in the years that it's been muddy. When it was dry, there's always a lot more space to walk and sit etc. 

It'd be nice to have more stuff going on around Silver Hayes to draw people there too or perhaps add a new area on the opposite side in the west. 

At times Glastonbury seems a bit tilted towards the SE area - most of the cool, late night stuff is just going on there. 

[djdavejohnson]

3 minutes ago, Cornelius_Fudge said:

It'd be nice to have more stuff going on around Silver Hayes to draw people there too or perhaps add a new area on the opposite side in the west. 

I think most stages are open to around 3am aren't they? I'm thinking maybe it's a licensing issue at that part of the site preventing the stages closing any later?

5 minutes ago, Cornelius_Fudge said:

At times Glastonbury seems a bit tilted towards the SE area - most of the cool, late night stuff is just going on there. 

The thing is there is a lot of cool, late night stuff going on elsewhere, for me though those places just don't seem to get as much coverage as SE corner. 

[Cornelius_Fudge]

59 minutes ago, djdavejohnson said:

I think most stages are open to around 3am aren't they? I'm thinking maybe it's a licensing issue at that part of the site preventing the stages closing any later?

The thing is there is a lot of cool, late night stuff going on elsewhere, for me though those places just don't seem to get as much coverage as SE corner. 

I suppose I mean the artistry of the buildings and the themes that they have, whereas Silver Hayes, whenever I went, were just a few tents and outdoor dance venues. If they created a little bit of a "world" there too, then I think it would help draw people there. 

There might be an issue with the licencing for the bigger tents, but I've been in Block 9/SE Corner until 6 or 7 am before. Would this be a problem for other areas of the site too?

The Park is pretty helpful, but after a certain time the only place to really dance or have fun is the silent Disco. Unless they've changed that too in the last couple of years. 

[DeanoL]

2 minutes ago, djdavejohnson said:

I think most stages are open to around 3am aren't they? I'm thinking maybe it's a licensing issue at that part of the site preventing the stages closing any later?

The thing is there is a lot of cool, late night stuff going on elsewhere, for me though those places just don't seem to get as much coverage as SE corner. 

Yeah Silver Hayes is mostly until 3. One option is having fewer acts on the big stages and finishing them at 11, so the other stages seem to stay open relatively later...

[Jamie D]

1 minute ago, Cornelius_Fudge said:

The Park is pretty helpful, but after a certain time the only place to really dance or have fun is the silent Disco. Unless they've changed that too in the last couple of years. 

The Park also has the Rabbit Hole which I think stays open until 4.

[fatyeti24]

1 minute ago, Cornelius_Fudge said:

I suppose I mean the artistry of the buildings and the themes that they have, whereas Silver Hayes, whenever I went, were just a few tents and outdoor dance venues. If they created a little bit of a "world" there too, then I think it would help draw people there. 

There might be an issue with the licencing for the bigger tents, but I've been in Block 9/SE Corner until 6 or 7 am before. Would this be a problem for other areas of the site too?

The Park is pretty helpful, but after a certain time the only place to really dance or have fun is the silent Disco. Unless they've changed that too in the last couple of years. 

it is a licensing thing, which is why all that late night stuff is crammed in one corner.  there were a few options in the Park - i left there at 6am a couple of mornings.  the Bimble and is it Tree House cafe or something?  Crow's Nest too i believe. i don't do silent discos, cos it reminds me too much of when i lived in a flat and wanted to listen to loud music. 

[Cornelius_Fudge]

1 hour ago, DeanoL said:

Yeah Silver Hayes is mostly until 3. One option is having fewer acts on the big stages and finishing them at 11, so the other stages seem to stay open relatively later...

Yeah they could definitely taper the finish times so they all finished at different times. West Holts by 11:15, Other Stage 11:30, Pyramid 11:45. The smaller stages by 11. 

That way West Holts people could head straight in, followed by the Other and Pyramid. 

15 minutes doesn't sound a lot but when there's space to walk you can easily get from Dairy Ground in the west to the West Holts area.

[NoBallGames]

4 minutes ago, Cornelius_Fudge said:

Yeah they could definitely taper the finish times so they all finished at different times. West Holts by 11:15, Other Stage 11:30, Pyramid 11:45. The smaller stages by 11. 

That way West Holts people could head straight in, followed by the Other and Pyramid. 

15 minutes doesn't sound a lot but when there's space to walk you can easily get from Dairy Ground in the west to the West Holts area.

Yeah or just let some other stages go late. I know some fests I've been to purposely do that to allow the stagger better. Throw a big electronic artist on Other Stage until 2am keeps a huge party going at one part of the festival. 

 

Although I know they have noise ordinances that probably prevent this.  Skrillex raging the Other from 11-2am would suck up a ton of people though.

Edited July 13, 2016 by NoBallGames

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

Amazed this hasn't happened sooner, really. One of the things that originally blew my mind about Glastonbury was the crazy amount of effort that goes into something that is there for only one weekend of the year (not withstanding things like Arcadia that exist elsewhere already) 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

2 minutes ago, NoBallGames said:

Yeah or just let some other stages go late. I know some fests I've been to purposely do that to allow the stagger better. Throw a big electronic artist on Other Stage until 2am keeps a huge party going at one part of the festival. 

 

Although I know they have noise ordinances that probably prevent this.  Skrillex raging the Other from 11-2am would suck up a ton of people though.

I think this is a great idea, assuming no licence issues perhaps the reason is that something like that may just cause an issue here anyway? I know to an extent they deliberately have clashes throughout the stages to try and manage the crowds, if there was just one main stage open with a big act on would this cause an issue here? Although hard to imagine it being any worse than the SE corner.

[djdavejohnson]

15 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

Yeah Silver Hayes is mostly until 3. One option is having fewer acts on the big stages and finishing them at 11, so the other stages seem to stay open relatively later...

Good idea although for me there's something about seeing the majority of a headliner in the dark!

[djdavejohnson]

7 minutes ago, NoBallGames said:

Yeah or just let some other stages go late. I know some fests I've been to purposely do that to allow the stagger better. Throw a big electronic artist on Other Stage until 2am keeps a huge party going at one part of the festival. 

 

Although I know they have noise ordinances that probably prevent this.  Skrillex raging the Other from 11-2am would suck up a ton of people though.

Probably too risky - a huge number of people could potentially turn up when there's nothing happening on the other main stages.

[Sawdusty surfer]

Shangrila is going to have a complete revamp next year. It will be all new and fresh. It has always been either very good or superb but for regulars has become maybe slightly stale.

Be interesting to see what they come up with for next year. Knowing them, it should be something quite special.

[djdavejohnson]

15 minutes ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

Shangrila is going to have a complete revamp next year. It will be all new and fresh. It has always been either very good or superb but for regulars has become maybe slightly stale.

Be interesting to see what they come up with for next year. Knowing them, it should be something quite special.

Interesting... can't wait to see what they do!

[Ommadawn]

1 hour ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

It is all about licencing. Eavis pays the handful of residents that live near the se corner a shit load of money to not complain about the noise. No way could he guarantee that with the amount of residents elsewhere

Really?

[DeanoL]

17 minutes ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

Yes. This is quite common knowledge i thought. It's mentioned on here quite a bit.  I haven't just plucked it out of thin air. There are hardly any dwellings over that side which is wit anything post two o clock that may be heard outside the fence is over there. 

The licence also stipulates the time the main stages have to finish i think - in answer to those suggesting staggering finish times to later on.

All true. You could still stagger the times by finishing them sooner though. Although they already do to an extent.

Still if you had main stages finishing at 11 instead, then you've got Silver Hayes and others running until 3am, it's kinda worth it go there for a 'night out' - in a way it isn't when the main stages finish at 12.30.

[Sawdusty surfer]

19 minutes ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

Yes. This is quite common knowledge i thought. It's mentioned on here quite a bit.  I haven't just plucked it out of thin air. There are hardly any dwellings over that side which is wit anything post two o clock that may be heard outside the fence is over there. 

 

SLM is quite correct. I've often heard of one particular family that live in the noise affected area that leave their home in the hands of GFL security and decamp to the Caribbean every June , free holiday . Result!