Glastonbury 2016 - In Retrospect

[stuartbert two hats]

5 hours ago, The Nal said:

Had the kedgeree for the first time this year. No queues due to the mud making it harder for people to walk from the campsites over there. Very not overrated. Really really good.

I suspect the quality varies from batch to batch. The stuff I had early one morning in 2014 was pretty bad. The curry I had in 2008 was bloody amazing.

[eFestivals]

21 hours ago, russycarps said:

That, and the fact you mentioned penguin earlier today completely out of the blue. Which is odd considering he hasnt posted here in over a year. And that you only joined in April.

it's definitely not a year, and while I can't remember the exact date he decided efests was too distracting and asked for his account to be deleted, I'm pretty sure it was somewhen within April, May or June (most likely May).

[budvar]

It didn't get off to the most promising of starts - can't remember worse weather in the run-up to the festival in the 10 others I've been to. Combined with the worst traffic in years (not unrelated) and the fairly nasty shock of the referendum result, I was feeling fairly low on the Friday morning, which was a first.In hindsight my next move was a good one; I hit the booze hard and had a great day and indeed (yest another) great Glasto weekend.

In truth my trips to Worthy Farm have somewhat merged into one; I'd find it impossible to rank them (though 2007 stands out as a toughie).

I can't remember the last time that ME didn't proclaim that year's festival to be the best ever, but I'm fairly sure he didn't this time around, which breaks my heart a little and makes me hope that 2017 is the finest vintage anyone can remember when it rolls around.

[CaledonianGonzo]

5 minutes ago, budvar said:

I can't remember the last time that ME didn't proclaim that year's festival to be the best ever, but I'm fairly sure he didn't this time around, which breaks my heart a little and makes me hope that 2017 is the finest vintage anyone can remember when it rolls around.

I may have remembered this incorrectly, but he hasn't said this for a wee while now.

2013 was the last time, I think.

[stuartbert two hats]

21 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

I may have remembered this incorrectly, but he hasn't said this for a wee while now.

2013 was the last time, I think.

I think he even said it in 2007, but may have mumbled it a bit.

[The Nal]

http://www.itv.com/news/west/2016-03-30/glastonbury-organiser-eavis-three-headliners-for-this-years-festival-are-the-best-ever/

[Greenelk]

For me I'd say -

2003 (first time, can't be beaten), 09, 10, 04, 05, 13, 11, 08, 06, 15, 16, 07

The mud was really hard work this year, but being constantly wet, as we were in 07, was soul destroying.  Saying that, I still walked away from it, and within a couple of hours of having my first shower at home, was "that was brilliant, roll on 08

 

 

[SophieBee]

I've been giving this some thought. 2016 was only my third Glastonbury - my previous years being 2013 and 2015, so I don't have much to compare it to and my bar was set fairly high.

The 12 hour journey getting in was frustrating, especially as we were in a CV and kept hearing reports that CV east was full and we'd be turned away when we arrived. That didn't happen and we were parked up and down on the site by around 9.30pm on Thursday.

The mud was a chore and clearly had an impact on how much I did. We attempted the SE corner on Thursday, but didn't bother again because the mud and the crowds made it much harder work than usual. I certainly didn't get around the site as much as I have done previously, but I saw everything I wanted to see (clashes permitting) and really, REALLY valued all the benches around the site, so while I missed lounging on the grass, I never really felt like I couldn't find a place to sit down if I needed to. One of my top moments from 2016 was having a bit of a rest by Crooner's Corner one afternoon and listening to a chap singing big band tunes - which only included that Beauty School Dropout tune from Grease! So much fun! We ended up staying for his whole set and having a proper sing along.

The line up wasn't the best as a whole, but the acts that I loved, I REALLY loved. I can't stop thinking about the Underworld set at West Holts, and finishing the festival with LCD Soundsystem was perfect. 

When I look back on it - and it may be that it is simply because it's fresher in the mind - I had more moments of pure joy this year than in 2015, despite the weather. I don't think it tops 2013, I was so lucky to have that as my first year, but I'm not going to look back on it and shudder. And I know I can both cope with and enjoy a properly muddy year now.

Sunny 2017 though please!

[Spindles]

38 minutes ago, SophieBee said:

And I know I can both cope with and enjoy a properly muddy year now.

This.  I remember scenes of 97 and 98 on the telly and thinking I'd never be able to cope if I was stuck in that all week, having only done a couple of festivals with a bit of mild weather before (2011 was the worst I'd coped with and that was only an issue the first couple of days really).

People this year seemed to deal admirably with the conditions and while it got a bit of a slog at times (I'm looking at you, Sunday morning, you might well hide your face in shame) I didn't notice spirits dropping round the place and if anything I was buoyed up by the mood of everyone around me.

The idea of going back again, meeting good people and being able to sit on the grass in the sun, drink and smoke in hand...bliss.

[stuartbert two hats]

There wasn't a great deal of rain during festivaling hours this year. It was muddy, but the weather can get a lot lot worse.

[Curlygirl]

Almost had a meltdown after arriving 19 hours after leaving home, but tent was up and kit was dumped. Valuables put in lockup and the party commenced. 2016 was the best year for me yet. Partly due to the line up, mainly to do with the company. For all I missed my regular Glasto buddies (they didn't get tickets) I had an amazing time with the one newbie I took. Not once did she moan. She loved it as much as I did. I saw more this year than any other. She was brilliant. I had so many 'Glastonbury moments', so overwhelming. At one point the cameras caught me with a tissue. We walked 81.49 miles in the mud. We giggled, danced and sang our way through it. We kicked Glastonburys butt!! The mud is just the mud. It's just part of it, tho I felt for those at Bath and Showground. I would love a repeat of this year!! Great thread by the way!! Brings back fantastic memories x

[Bexxxxx]

2016 almost broke me, and I think it is the first time I've seriously considered not returning. To put that into context, I first went in 1993(including the extreme mudfests of 97 and 98) and haven't missed many since.

However this year, the CV fields traffic fiasco put me on a downer before I even got through the gates and meant we missed over a full day of the festival - at one point I wondered if we'd ever make it onto site. Plus we took our two small children so were pushing a buggy - that made fighting through the mud so much harder. The mud, plus buggy, also meant it was much harder for us to spend time in the theatre and cabaret fields which is usually one of my favourite places. We stuck it out til Sunday though, and were rewarded with a fabulous LCD set.

That said, no Glastonbury is without it's extreme highs and extreme lows. And that is one of the reasons I love it so much. And why we will be trying for tickets again this Sunday

[Quark]

1 hour ago, stuartbert two hats said:

There wasn't a great deal of rain during festivaling hours this year. It was muddy, but the weather can get a lot lot worse.

Definitely. The weather while we were there was fairly average I would say

[faymondo]

I could have got off on Sunday afternoon and was near breaking point due to the mud and going mad from Wednesday. If it wasn't for the Stereo MC's lifting me then Earth Wind & Fire saving things I would have had a different outlook. Didn't help that musically I didn't have anything to see Saturday evening/night most probably put me in a "trough" EWF had me in a peak though. 

[Curlygirl]

11 minutes ago, Quark said:

Definitely. The weather while we were there was fairly average I would say

I think the weather was very good. We obviously didn't pray to the weather gods enough but from my recollection, it chucked it down on Friday from Skepta onwards, then drizzled a little bit Sunday. I don't remember much more bad weather. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

It fucking belted down for about  3 or 4 hours on Saturday morning from about 5am till 9am.

We dodged a bullet that it happened during sleepy times.

[stuartbert two hats]

1 minute ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

It fucking belted down for about  3 or 4 hours on Saturday morning from about 5am till 9am.

We dodged a bullet that it happened during sleepy times.

I think that was about 10 minutes after I got I to my sleeping bag. Was really nice listening to it.

[Curlygirl]

5 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

It fucking belted down for about  3 or 4 hours on Saturday morning from about 5am till 9am.

We dodged a bullet that it happened during sleepy times.

I'd just gotten into my tent by then so the weather didn't impact me, therefore it didn't happen in my world. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Nice in the short term sense that you're warm and cosy in your jammies, not so nice when you realise that if the site was bad before this is the donkey punch that'll see you wading your way to the bus on Monday morning.

[Curlygirl]

2 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Nice in the short term sense that you're warm and cosy in your jammies, not so nice when you realise that if the site was bad before this is the donkey punch that'll see you wading your way to the bus on Monday morning.

Actually I was chatting with a policeman at 7am that morning and the wet stuff wasn't falling! But then again the site is that big it's possible it wasn't inclement where It was but I was elsewhere. 

Edited October 7, 2016 by Curlygirl

[stuartbert two hats]

8 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Nice in the short term sense that you're warm and cosy in your jammies, not so nice when you realise that if the site was bad before this is the donkey punch that'll see you wading your way to the bus on Monday morning.

Normally it would have stressed me out to hear the rain, but the way I reckoned it, we had a muddy site before, we were going to have a muddy site afterwards. The rain didn't change that, we weren't going to be sitting on grass again that year anyway.

[stuartbert two hats]

11 minutes ago, Curlygirl said:

Actually I was chatting with a policeman at 7am that morning and the wet stuff wasn't falling! But then again the site is that big it's possible it wasn't inclement where It was but I was elsewhere. 

Yeah, was a fair bit later than 5 when it started chucking it down. I have a photo from just after 5 in The Bimble of me showng off my clean white suit jacket. I still had to spill a pint of Guinness in my pocket and get back to my tent. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

I dunno gus. ........by Friday night a lot of the pathways up by The Park were starting to dry out a wee bit. The rain on the Saturday morning was the killing joke.  Two tents down from us had a river running through it afterwards. 

[Purple aki squat]

42 minutes ago, Curlygirl said:

I think the weather was very good. We obviously didn't pray to the weather gods enough but from my recollection, it chucked it down on Friday from Skepta onwards, then drizzled a little bit Sunday. I don't remember much more bad weather. 

Did it rain on the Friday?

i remember a bit on the Sunday but apart from that nothing during the day. The site got so churned up on the Wednesday it never really recovered.

Honestly couldn't give a shit what the weather does, just want a ticket 

[Ohinever]

35 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

I dunno gus. ........by Friday night a lot of the pathways up by The Park were starting to dry out a wee bit. The rain on the Saturday morning was the killing joke.  Two tents down from us had a river running through it afterwards. 

Yep.  I had just got a seat under cover at The Tiny Tea Hut and was thinking the pathways were looking better and we might be right for the rest of the weekend.  That downpour killed the site for the rest of the weekend.