incident

Haven't noticed anyone really saying that, but it'd be a crazy point to try and make anyway. He's spoken glowingly about how much he loved doing Bestival a few years back.

Don't think that's controversial at all. I think it's Elton and it won't even be close. Macca has done it before and I think a lot of people continue to underestimate how much of a selling point the "final tour" thing is (even if it's lasting forever and may not actually be the end). I mean, just between the 2021 and 2022 shows (so ignoring the stuff held pre-pandemic) Elton must already have sold well over half a million tickets in England and I can't see Macca getting close to those numbers at this point.

Rolling Stones did two shows in 2013. I can't remember how/when the second show was announced though. It might have even been announced at the same time.

I stuck it out throughout, and gradually moved forward throughout the set as others gave up and left. The volume only reached workable levels once (approximately speaking) I reached the front of the sound desk - however even at that point I felt that the vocals were way too low in the mix so it still wasn't great. Overall a very disappointing evening.

The company handling bar staff recruitment changed this year, from one of the smaller independents to HAP who are a much bigger event recruitment agency with presumably a more varied pool of people to offer work to. That change was originally intended for last year so it wasn't a pandemic response.

I've assumed that the questionnaire and selection process is more of a marketing thing in terms of furthering their mythos (as was the countdown, and the gradual reveal) rather than a serious attempt to get the "right" people. Really doubt that anyone will be rejected regardless of what they put on the form.

In broad terms that would apply to just about every festival - between the various on site traders between most of the common dietary restrictions - vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, lactose intolerant, nut allergies, etc should all be covered though sometimes not always every specific combination of those. If you need something more unusual than that I'd be less confident of finding it on site. Regarding taking food in - you should be able to take food into the campsites (no glass allowed, so decant any jars/bottles into plastic containers), and IOW will have a co-op on site with a range of basic items at normalish prices. Not sure about restrictions taking stuff into the Arena, my guess is that snack type items would be fine but there may be restrictions around liquid. In the worst case scenario, the site is very close to Newport with shuttle buses available so it should be possible use a shop/cafe/pub/restaurant there.

They shouldn't be. If he sells the tickets (and he will, though maybe not instantly), then that makes him a good booking for them.

Not sure about BST, but back when Hard Rock Calling used Hyde Park, they used to rub the same weekend as Glastonbury and sometimes shared headliners.

Sure, but saying "look at the programme" makes even less sense given that it was likely printed over a week ago..

It shouldn't be a killer blow by any stretch. Aside from anything else, they're owned by Live Nation, who have deep pockets and have just had a nearly full slate of sold out UK festivals. But you'd think that while festivals have been unable to get insurance against the pandemic or new restrictions, they should have still been able to get "regular" cancellation insurance which would usually cover inclement weather.

So, some more details in the efests news article - https://www.efestivals.co.uk/news/21/210831b.shtml Not sure I'm sold enough to sign up straight away, but heard a lot of good things about the original incarnation so am really tempted.

Pretty sure that the mentions of the NHS app are for PCR test results: If you cannot access your NHS Covid Pass for whatever reason, or if you do not receive a vaccination status letter in time, you will need to provide evidence of a negative NHS Lateral Flow Test, by reporting the result here and presenting your NHS email or text notification at the entry gates.

Yes, with the minor caveat that at other festivals so far although they've all said "within the past 48 hours" on their web sites, at the gates that's generally been interpreted as "same day or the day before" for the sake of simplicity, so I'd suggest doing another one Tomorrow or Thursday.

I definitely do doubt that the handful of anecdotal reports that there was loads of positive tests left lying around. While I can certainly believe that there are people (and amongst the R+L audience, probably a fair few) who'd knowingly ignore being positive and go about their weekend regardless - if they're of that mindset, then why would they bother taking the test in the first place? They could just get the ID number and simply register it as negative on the NHS web site without faffing around sticking things up their nose or down their throat. I'd believe it a lot more if the claims were of discarded unused tests.

Probably August- there were some pretty strong rumours it was moving even before COVID became a thing.

That's a really important point - and especially so when talking about Glastonbury where due to being in the South West and close to the solstice, the sunset is going to be later than for most other festivals in the country. Also doesn't help that a while back the changeover times were extended, and the curfew moved earlier, so the sub-headliners on the Pyramid now finish on average about an hour earlier than they would have 15+ years ago.

I'm pretty sure that the fans made up that title, and it took the festival itself about 25 years to actually adopt it. They always made a point of calling it the "Sunday Tea-Time Slot" until very recently.

Exactly. For all the times R+L have claimed it (and honestly, I can't remember many others doing it), more often than not it's simply an attempt to try to claim that the lineup is stronger than it really is - it usually means they couldn't find an act strong enough to sell enough tickets on their own.

Yeah, probably best not to plan for a specific camping field - aim to arrive / park at the Western side of the site, go through whichever of Gate A / D is closest to the car, and then when you're through the gate there should be a Campsite Crew base nearby - they'll be able to advise you on the current situation.

I'd point out that those differences you mention can be pretty major - aside from the very different demographics, something that's relatively unusual at Boardmasters is that they're not confined to their site in the way most festivals are - they have organised parties/clubbing in regular venues in the town, and a second festival location with a lot of the non-music stuff (surfing competitions etc) - all with packed shuttle buses going between them.

I can't remember the exact words, and I can't be arsed to look up the exact quote, but I thought it was more along the lines of they needed to rethink how they did it rather than stop entirely. So that could mean routing the tours in such a way that cuts down on air travel, not have those single use plastic wristbands, play groups of shows in a single place, etc.

To be fair, the Pyramid, Other, and JP are all booked centrally with I believe Nick leading the charge so it could well be the same people involved. It's not like she was on say West Holts which does have it's own booker.

If it's a lovely day, I certainly will. That's the advantage of living 45 minutes away, can decide on the day whether to head down Wednesday evening or Thursday lunchtime.

The short answer is, lots of people. Not sure what stages you'd be targeting, but it's worth knowing that once you get beyond the biggest stages, pretty much every area or stage books it's own acts and operates independently of Glastonbury Festivals Limited. So have a think about where you'd fit, and then many of those areas have their own social media pages, so can try asking for a contact via that route.