Sku

Best: Club Mexicana - Proper vegan Mexican food, just opposite the Left Field. It was unbelievably tasty, large, and great value for money. All direct from the menu of their London restaurant, at the same normal restaurant price. They even embraced their Left Field location with "Tacos not Tories" and "Burrito not Boris" food packaging, a nice extra touch. They cleared the queue quickly, and were having a great time dancing and singing to their radio too. Wonderful. Honourable mention: Vegan Vice - Amazing vegan burgers, wings and loaded fries. Between Left Field and West Holts. The people running the stall were admittedly totally wasted, and openly drinking the whole weekend, so the service was on the slow side. But I kind of loved the good vibe, and found the ticket caller on both visits to be completely hilarious to watch. And the food was worth it. Worst: Some mac and cheese place by the Glade. £8 for a tiny portion. I had the vegan option, but my non vegan friend was equally disappointed with his regular cheese "loaded" one for £10, which was even smaller than mine as they had to leave room for the dismal toppings. Mac and cheese is cheap to make, why make such tiny portions? It was bland and we both regretted choosing it.

Basically, I agree with you. Of course more numbers, leads to more crowded. The number increase was however somewhat modest, but the difference people "felt", more severe than the numbers alone suggest. So I think there are many contributing factors, and they all go some way to explaining the problem. Just trying to add some fresh viewpoints to the debate 🙂

For those who want to see flags banned, I see a simple strategy for you: Go to the festival with some really obnoxious flags advertising scam cryptocurrencies, or asking people to follow your social media page. Maybe even advertising tickets for other events/gigs/festivals. Be creative here. Spread out around the pit, to ensure they all get loads of TV time Everyone now hates flags Flags are banned

Other factors I think contributed to crowd issues: The 3 year wait. Everyone wanted to give it the biggun'. That meant milling around non-stop from midday until dawn for many. It used to be the case that if there was nothing you wanted to see until 5pm, you might stay at camp until 5pm drinking some beers with mates. You might go back to camp early for a quiet one around the fire. No longer. Everyone is up and at it the whole time, non stop. People used to bemoan the normies who spent all day stood at the pyramid stage, and never saw the rest of the festival. Bet you wished they would stay there now though! Awareness of the "other side of Glastonbury" is now greater than ever. Walking up the hill on Wednesday, going to Williams Green on Thursday, checking our the Theatre and Circus fields in the early afternoon during the main days. Before, these were activities enjoyed by Glastonbury veterans, but now in the mainstream consciousness as "must dos". People used to just hang around their tents, or at the Pyramid. The 3 year wait. Everybody wanted to try all the best food, enjoy cold drinks from the bar. To rinse the experience for all it's worth, all the time. This is Glastonbury after all! Throw caution to the wind for a weekend in troubling times. This is the experience economy now, all experience, all the time. Gone is the era of buying a new sofa suite every 3 years to keep up with the joneses, people would rather drop their disposal on expensive "food experiences" at at the festival. Who wants to eat pot noodles, when you can sample (mostly) great food every day? Not to mention the food stalls have had a tough time, and don't have the experienced staff to deal with bigger than ever demand efficiently. Living fast and dying fun. Once upon a time, the idea of going to see TLC, McFly or the Sugababes would have attracted ridicule from many groups of mates. Wouldn't you rather go see some "real" music. Nah, sod "real music", Covid has made people realise life is to short to be pretentious. Follow the fun, who cares if it's cheesy. Everyone is just up for a good time after Covid, and who can blame them? A lack of diverse music taste. Because of Covid, relatively few acts have "blown up" in the past 3 years. And those that have predictably were really crowded. We were all stuck at home, we didn't have chance to discover new music for ourselves. Radio stations, and "recommendations" from streaming apps have made us all like the same things. And those streaming services also bombard us with fun nostalgic music, because they know we like it, which links back to the previous point about the cheesy nostalgia bands. People wanting to do everything. People used to know from experience, if you really wanted to see an act from down front, you would need to turn up during the previous act, whether you liked them or not. But with giant screens, you can now turn up late, stand at the back, and then rush off to the next thing. People wanted to do EVERYTHING this year, and not miss a thing. Again, who can blame them? But it leads to crowding. Honestly, almost all the issues are due to human behaviour. And totally understandable human behaviour for the most part. This topic is called "crowd control", but I don't particularly remember festivals needing to actively "control" crowds. Simply good scheduling, and wide walk ways were enough, and then crowd controlled themselves. But I think some in here seem to be suggesting that Glastonbury should have done something to "control" the situations before they developed. But like what? Closing off fields? Do you really want fields to be closed when they are too busy? People used to just leave naturally if it was too busy for their liking. I don't ever remember festivals enforcing active "control" measures to prevent overcrowding. I actually saw more active "crowd control" this weekend than I've ever seen at any festival in my life (e.g. closing off walkways, and preventing access). This seems to be a response to issues caused by human behavioural changes, which was perhaps difficult to exactly predict in advance. I'm not really sure what the answers are, but I'm sure the entire events industry is paying attention, and will learn the new ways of things. Or perhaps behaviour will just revert to normal again once the industry is back in regular operation again.

The "crust" has been mentioned many times. And it is the key issue in my view. Watching back some of the footage, it's clear how much space there was down the front at many of acts which were considered "dangerously crowded". I think the problem is, that the back has actually become the most popular place to watch from. It's convenient for the bars, the toilet, for food. It allows you to arrive at the last minute. It allows you to rush off to the next thing without getting stuck. You can set up a chair or picnic blanket if so inclined. Again, and again, there were just crazy crushes at the BACK of stages, but not at the front. It used to be the case that you would avoid the front to avoid the crush, but now it's totally reversed. The front is totally sparse, and you are free to move around there. The back is a nightmare. This is the key thing I think here. Crowd density. It's clear from all the BBC footage that crowds are sparse down front. Everyone is turning up at the last minute, and wanting to stand at the back. And then even if you want to get down the front, you cannot get through the wall of people, blankets and chairs. A much smaller number of people causes a field to be full than ever before. I mean, there are many other contributing factors, but it's simple science that lower crowd density makes for a busier feeling festival. This is the key issue here, crowd behaviour has changed.

Sunday weather was perfect. Lovely amount of sunshine, with a cool breeze and the occasional cloud to stop it being too hot. And then the wind dropped for the evening, making it quite pleasant after pulling a jumper on. A bit warmer overnight too.

I don't think there is anything wrong with sitting down on a chair. Especially for those who need to. The problem seems to be more People using chairs and blankets to build intentional walls, and personal bubbles for their groups. Making it impossible for everyone else to move around the crowd. They don't even sit on the chairs, they just use them to build a wall nobody else is allowed through. This causes huge swathes of empty field near the front, since no one can get past them. It's mega crowded behind the chair walls, in some cases this weekend, to a dangerous extent. If people keep doing this, chairs will be banned, except for some lame "chair zone". That would be awful. It would be better if people just stopped using chairs inconsiderately.

OK so firstly, everyone here at the festival is really lovely. I don't think any of the issues are caused by bad or obnoxious behaviour. There is a behavioural difference, but its subtle, and nobody in the thread seems to have mentioned it yet. Firstly, there is actually less pushing than ever before. People are respecting each others personal space, I've never seen so few people pushing through crowds. But this is a problem. The front areas of stages are unexpectedly sparse, as no one pushes forward anymore. Everyone is happy to stay at the back, but actually this is where the crowding is now. This prevents people from accessing the field, as less people are needed to fill it up. This explains all the stories of nice crowds at the front, but crushes towards the back (Wet Leg, Arcadia, etc.) Secondly, in some ways it's a ghost town Glastonbury. I've never seen many areas of the festival so dead. It seems to me there is a larger than ever amount of group think going on. Everyone wants to see the exact same acts. If you avoid the must see acts, you largely find a pleasant and sedate Glastonbury. After a few years of Covid, acts were not touring, and festivals were not on. People stopped discovering music, and as a result, everyone ended up liking the same things while we were all stuck at home. This will correct eventually, but at the moment, we all like the same things. After a few more years of gigs and festivals, people are likely to have more diverse taste again. If you are reading this, I implore you to explore the festival, and go see some acts you have never heard of on Sunday. You're pretty much going to have a private show wherever you go. It's great. Just don't follow the crowd, and you won't find a crowd.

It is possible the people saying that have no idea, I cannot verify, and likely, neither could they. It's kind of hard to tell right? Regardless, all queues lead inside. No movement at Gate B yet as far as we can see.

Near the back of Gate B queue. Lots of people are making their way over here from C, saying its enormous, and commenting they are glad they made the switch. Gate B queue is back to around Oxfam camping.

Stuck in car park queue on purple route for 45m. Not even moving. Not sure what the issue is. This must be backing up fast!

It's just hearsay. Someone said they are staying nearby. Someone said they know a mate working JP who says its them. But that is just hearsay. However, Amyl and the Sniffers, who are their support on the tour are also playing JP that day. And the other thing, is that the same secret set was also being widely discussed in 2020. And the dates line up exactly the same again in 2022, which lends the idea some credit.

The Green Day "logistics" argument is just going round and round in circles. It doesn't prove, or disprove anything. Being in Huddersfield the day before, and Dublin the day after is meaningless in figuring out whether it's them playing or not. Far greater distances are travelled by acts on consecutive tour dates, all around the world, every week. It's really not an issue. There are two travel routes: Tour bus through the night. It's extremely common for the tour bus to set off immediately after a show, and travel during the night. Every touring act is entirely used to this. Helicopter. As mentioned, it's around an hour. Almost none, if any, of the equipment will be shared between the main tour and Glastonbury. Everything will be in place waiting for them. They are one of the most successful bands of the past 30 years, it really isn't a problem, any logistics are very easily arranged. But none of this means that they are playing. All I mean to say is the "logistically impossible" argument is just wrong. And especially since Amyl and the Sniffers, literally on the same tour as them, are playing the same stage, on the same day. There is no logistical challenge here at all.

They are definitely official resale links, safe to click on and purchase. Not a scam. However, it is a bit annoying/spammy to have so many of these threads all over the forum.

Definitely still happens. I would say 4pm - 8pm on Wednesday is prime "The Cheer" time. Just about right for enough people to be all set up, and have consumed their first couple of arrival drinks.

Yep, I thought this. I was so excited when I realised it was the Glastonbury advert, and I was anticipating feeling the hype. But then I received no hype. It's not very exciting, it's more of an advert for iPlayer really. It's just a man laying on his sofa at home watching Glastonbury on his tablet/laptop. Didn't even seem like it had any music, just a voiceover telling you about Glastonbury coverage being available on iPlayer.

They have done this kind of thing before, at least I've seen it done when they used to be at Boomtown. They probably have done it at Glastonbury too. It was always in addition to the main "show". Essentially the spider will slowly come to life over the course of 30 minutes. First a few lights flashing, then a few minutes later the eyes might move, then maybe the arms. Etc etc. The music will start slow and eerie, then gain pace right at the end. It's just a bit of warm up before the first act, nothing overly spectacular. If you're in the area, you could check it out. But probably not worth walking across the site for unless you really love Arcadia.

I think some of the runs have been teasing us with the prospect of full blown heatwave weather. It's a less likely outcome, but it is somewhat teased in some of the runs, where high pressure stays in control. This sets a high bar, and anything short of a heatwave gets a negative reception. But actually the worst runs are still predicting pretty middling weather, which is perfectly acceptable for a lovely festival weekend. We are not seeing any runs predict biblical rain, or a total washout which is what actually has the potential to ruin the weekend. If you set the bar to be "heatwave", you are always likely to be disappointed.

I worked at the festival last year, arriving on Monday, and our campsite was right next to where everybody queues for Gate B. So I sort of got to see how it went down. By around midnight, the queue was already very long. I was actually amazed at the numbers who queue overnight. But by 11am, there was already not much of a queue at all. I think Gate B is very popular with early arrivals, due to the proximity to Cockmill and Big Ground. But a less popular gate for later arrivals. So actually, it all moves quite quickly once gates open, and everybody has a decent chance of getting their desired spot if they got into the queue in good enough time. I think there is quite a big difference in queue position between those arriving at 9pm and those arriving at midnight on Tuesday night. But not much of a difference between arriving at midnight and 7am, as either way you behind the large number of very keen early birds. But still, I think providing you are in the queue by 7am, you would have a decent shot at a spot.

This thread has inducted me to the cult, and I've got the 4.1 fresh and black, pole version. Will be doing a test run this afternoon to check it out. Really struggled with the heat in 2019.

Been using the same £15 "granny trolley" at festivals for almost 10 years now. Wouldn't go without it. Never understood the haters. Anything more heavy duty is too cumbersome and unnecessary. This time next week I'll be stood with said granny trolley in the queue at gate B.

I've been hiding from this thread, but just checked in on the latest GFs run, and thought I'd stop in. Really nice GFS run compared to what we have been seeing. Wednesday and Thursday looking amazing, with cooler temperatures and a chance of some rain over the weekend. But nothing scary. Hopefully the trend continues, with each run showing the high pressure becoming more dominant than the last.

They are actually planning a secret "Hella Mega Tour" stage, the entire show is making a stop at Worthy Farm 😱

The cheaper price for Barclaycard customers is disgraceful. I do however think than the special Barclaycard price, is probably indicative of what we will be paying at Glastonbury, which obviously won't be charging rip off prices just because you have the wrong type of card. £6 for a basic beer/cider, £6.50 for something a bit nicer.

A lot of the UK's independent festivals use The Ticket Sellers for digital ticketing, and I've never known any problems with them. And they are always very helpful when you contact them. They provide the entire solution, the barcode scanners, the pass out system, analytics software so you know how many people are on site at any time, real time admission data, the lot. Of course Glastonbury is a much bigger event to manage, but they are already doing 66k tickets for Boomtown, so they have some experience with larger festivals now.