dogeggs

1999…for no other reason than to have prepared me better for 2000. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing through most of the festival (it was my first tbf), missed a lot and still hold regrets today. If only the teenage me could go back and redo it all over again.

I really enjoyed that. Sat here with a dastardly case of sunburn and your story made a great distraction from it. I’ve never had to go through anything like that. The closest story I have is from the early 2000s. My mate and I, out of simple careless curiosity, wandered into a crew-only area on the way back from the bank ( when it used to be right up the hill behind the pyramid.) It turns out that crew only area happened to be Worthy Farmhouse itself. And despite meandering in with ease, we suddenly found ourselves trapped in the Eavis’s back yard - with some reluctant security at each refusing to let us back out through either gate. At one end the guy didn’t recognize the (genuine) punter wristbands we had on. The jerk at the other end just flat out refused to let us free. Within 10-15 minutes of walking back and forth, trying to explain what we’d done and getting nowhere - I’d just resigned to the fact we could be stuck in this state of Worthy purgatory for the rest of the weekend…as a last resort we agreed we’d knock on the door, get a right rollicking and face our consequence. Fortunately after a while of drunken pacing back and forth around the yard, we noticed the gate we stumbled through no longer had the security guy there..so we dashed back out like the pair of rats we are.

These are maybe not that controversial - but it’s all I’ve got. 1. Tent stages should all be replaced. Make them proper outdoorsy stages so everyone can actually hear properly and get a better view. I’d allow tents to remain in theatre/cabaret and don’t much care either way with Silver Hayes. For all the others, actual stages please. 2. The beer choice in general across the site is pretty atrocious. Feel free to bin off Otter Ale, Tuborg or any of that other muck to allow space on the menu for something dark and malty. To be fair, I’d still be mostly getting drinks at the cider bus….but it’s nice to have a bit of choice.

Completely agree…I keep thinking it’s down to my age, but in all honesty I’ve been like that since I was in my 30s…maybe 20s. I guess it’s just not for me as I just always find myself wanting to get out when I’m down there. I love the artwork, always take a daytime look at it all - then stay clear of the SE queue.

The wife takes outdoor solar fairy lights and wraps them round anything on the tent that’ll hold them, tried out a new/longer set last year at Worthy Pastures and the thing was lit up like Vegas by sunset.

I do like to invent my own stories when I’m people watching. In the case of your friend Timothy I’d say…. a curry-induced full trouser accident followed by something unrepeatable happening at the tent - forcing him to just go home and never speak of it to anyone.

I remember thinking that will be the biggest pyramid crowd I’ve ever seen on the pyramid and probably ever will…only for it to be beaten the following year by Dolly.

All good, my original post was pretty vague so it’s easy to reach that conclusion. If anything the fact she isn’t just a selfish cow is worse - Two lovely people finding out they’re in an impossible situation…at Glastonbury of all places…makes the whole thing sadder to me.

I’ve been solely on the vapes for a few years now, but always revert to rollies just for Glastonbury. Anything less that actual smokes would feel like an unnecessary punishment.

She’s lovely. Just struggled with it massively and was prepared to go home alone, but he would’ve insisted on going with her. I’d be the same (Luckily my wife loves Glastonbury too though). He tried his best to find alternative ways for them to stay that avoided her biggest issues. They lasted til Sunday so they both compromised, but it ended with neither of them really enjoying themselves. Just a horrible place to discover you can’t cope with huge crowds, as you can’t always avoid it that easily. As for drama queens - I camped with a couple in 2005. They were back home by Saturday tea time 😂.

Nah, the decision to stop was his alone I believe. ‘Just give it a break for a year or so, then come back on my own one day’ was what he said at first if I remember, but that was back around 2014/15. Other stuff happened at home for him, they’re happy with a kid now. I think he’s probably just moved on from it all. But if he’s like me - he won’t ever say never. That said, I try not to ask - or bring it up just incase it bums him out or comes across like I’m rubbing his face in it. Likewise I don’t think I’d want to hear that he’s hung his wellies up for good. I think we’re both content thinking ‘one day maybe he’ll be back’.

Had a few that didn’t like it enough to return…but the one that stands out is my best mates wife. Turns out she really didn’t like the crowds or the mud. She hated it all so much that she pretty much ruined the whole weekend for him - saying she’d had enough and was leaving. she’d go back to the tent, he followed - she’d start packing and he’d try to convince her to stay…That was the routine from Friday onwards. He was prepared to leave with her if she went, but loved it there enough that he had to at least try different solutions to get her to hang it out til Sunday. The saddest part for me is my mate, who loves it there as much as I do…but didn’t really know what to do for the best at the time. In hindsight they should’ve just gone - but nothing felt that straightforward at the time. He’d been coming with me every year since 2002 but hasn’t been back since that year with his wife. Every year he texts me on the Monday to ask how it was and that one year he’d like to come back. Heartbreaking.

I’m sure I got one of those near the gate. Always have. Normally there’s a cheery bunch handing them out on the grass after you’ve got through the turnstile. I never ventured into the co-op

I remember the outdoor cinema being up behind the New Bands tent (now John Peel) - where I heard it was customary to get dressed up every year for the annual Sunday night screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Never found out if that was true - maybe it still happens now..I’ve never really got round to finding out.

I don’t know if I would’ve found it transformative. He was just someone I’d wanted to see and am still cross with myself that I threw away the chance - even though it was through awkward circumstances and rum infused poor memory.

Same. Never managed to forgive myself. The chap I was camping with discovered he had ‘relationship issues’ back home - and in all the text panic & commotion we ended up just catching the end of Basement Jaxx on the Other Stage …completely forgetting Bowie was on. Gutted.

Didnt there used to be a hefty pile of (presumably free) firewood logs stashed at the side of the railway track - that everyone used to help themselves to?

This year will be my 17th. I’ve been absurdly lucky with the F5 gauntlet. Getting through 2005 was hard going, but only for the Friday. The storm itself was nuts, the flooded tent was a right nuisance and we had a few early leavers, which I’ve never had before or since. But I’ve always felt like 2016 was the most challenging physically…the 8 hour car queue, the mud bath arrival and the sheer effort it took to get about all weekend when the mud was so sticky. I’d say lasting out either of those years should earn you a badge of honour - even if it you’re not allowed to claim ‘veteran’ status.

Would love to see Goat return. I think chances are very very low, but their set back in (I think) 2015 at The Park really stuck with me.

It’s a pity those places just shut down, rather than just moving to a new secret location. Always assumed that would be the done thing every year or two. It’s high time that places like the piano bar found a new spot as a way of keeping themselves more illusive…nowadays it’s more a case of how many hours are you prepared to queue.

I’ve never been a sleep queuer and haven’t slept overnight in the car for the best part of…20 years…sheesh. But I guess that once people see a sleep queue forming it might be too hard to resist getting amongst it. I’m not even sure if it’s about bagging the perfect camping spot for many - and could probably just be about being part of the whole buzz of getting in. I can’t speak for others though, I just know I’d struggle. Going with Bristol coach tickets in recent years decided all of that nonsense out for us.

We finally got round to trying the little cafe in permaculture last year. Such a happy little place and the food was delicious as well as being very reasonably priced. Getting to eat your scran off an actual plate feels like a decadent bonus too - after a few days from eating out of paper & card containers.

We loved No Bones Jones in 2019. Lovely people and the food was *chefs kiss*

I do love Tangled up in Blue, but my favourite is The Man In Me. The Coen Brothers made it part of my soundtrack to the late 90s, and it never fails to put a smile on my face.

I liked Goose Hall when we did Worthy Pastures last year. Presumed it might’ve be crew-only during the festival - but looking at the 2019 map it just looks like we just never stumbled into it before.