LivOctober

I had a cocktail years ago that was basically just caramel syrup, kraken spiced rum and cola. amazing for how few ingredients it had - this year I'll probably just mix the syrup and rum together and just buy some cans of coke on site. Also seconding the ginger beer idea - fentimans ginger beer plus kraken spiced rum is god tier.

I'm going to predict Florence on one of the Woodsies slots, for no other reason than I'd like to see her!

Tier One: Elton John, Carly Rae Jepsen, Crawlers, Gabrielle Aplin, Maisie Peters, Lil Nas X Rina Sawayama B Tier: Dylan,Rick Astley, Lizzo, Cavetown, Chvrches C Tier: Lovejoy, Flo, Mäneskin Pale Waves, Freya Ridings, Arctic Monkeys, Fred Again.. , Lana Del Ray, Lewis Capaldi, Phoenix, Maggie Rogers, Rudimental Caroline Polachek, Olivia Dean, The Last Dinner Party, Japanese Breakfast, Manic Street Preachers, Lottery Winners, Bolded what I should manage to get to! Better result than last year's horrific clashes but still very painful...

I'm looking forward to seeing Crawlers on left field - they've got a fun rock-indie vibe going on. Saw them at radio one big weekend last year and they were great!

Surprisingly good lineup for me - Rina Sawayama is one of my must-see's of the festival, and there's quite a few other names I recognise.

Really looking forward to going to the festival with my partner - our usual date night activity is a gig, so I'm quite excited to be seeing live music for three days in a row with my favourite person. In terms of artists, obviously Elton is going to be amazing but I'm also quite excited to be seeing new up-and-coming acts like Crawlers and Maisie Peters. Carly Rae Jepsen and Rina Sawayama should be fab too.

I'll most likely aim to see Lizzo, Carly Rae Jepsen, Rina Sawayama, Lil Nas X and obviously Elton. Possibly will consider Chvrches, Maggie Rogers, Måneskin and Lana Del Rey depending on clashes. I think for me this isn't as strong as I would've hoped, especially the headliners. There's been some great acts announced at other festivals (Bleachers, F+TM, Muna to name a few) and I was really hoping to see more of them popping up...

Seems like the overcrowding is mainly an issue on the Thursday and it's fine for the rest of the festival - think the answer to that is to either book smaller, more niche bands for the secret act to ensure people don't turn up because it's a recognisable name, stick some similar sized secret acts on other stages at the same times to spread out the crowd (if that's even possible?) or just do away with secret sets at William's Green entirely. Bastille was far too big of a booking - if it's a band that's been on the Pyramid the festival before, they're probably too big for William's Green.

Just dropping in to add that it's very unlikely Bastille will be at this - they seem to be shunning festivals entirely this year to tour ten years of Bad Blood this summer. Got a ton of UK dates lined up in early July and looks like they're heading over to Europe in August - three Germany dates dropped without much fanfare, so wouldn't be surprised if more followed.

It was Taylor Swift (bought a last minute pit ticket for £90) which honestly was worth it. Absolutely stunning set design, had an amazing view and the whole gig had such a good atmosphere. Managed to smash that last year with a £110 (plus fees) ticket for kpop band Loona. They were fantastic performers, and now that they're mostly likely disbanding this year I'm quite glad I've seen them live.

Me and my friend were camped right at the edge, almost at the bottom of the permissible camping area - got in at 4pm thanks to the disaster that was rail transport and didn't fancy being too picky! Honestly I wouldn't be able to tell you 100% if the noise was San Remo or the food stalls, but it would've kept me up if it wasn't for my earbuds.

I had an absolute nightmare of a clash on the Sunday between Lorde and Orla Gartland - was so very thankful I'd seen Lorde on her own tour that year, because it meant the choice was a little less brutal. I'd honestly really recommend seeing artists that would be unmissable to you on their own tour tbh.

I camped at Webb's Ash last year - my criteria was I wanted to be near the JP tent, no slopes, no flooding and close-ish to Blue Gate. It's a tiny little site that's essentially the flat bit below Micheal's Mead. Bonuses included being an ideal location for nipping back into the tent to grab a jumper or snacks, right next to a lockup and two sets of toilets that are thankfully spaced just far enough away to avoid the smell... It's also a lovely wander through the woods area to JP. Downsides is the constant noise until about 3/4am thanks to the nearby San Remo and food stalls, and the fact that absolutely nobody seems to have a clue where it is...

I think this confirms that we won't be getting Blackpink at Glastonbury - not relevant enough in the UK to headline Glasto, and yet they won't settle for anything below Pyramid after headlining Coachella. I can't spot any other kpop acts on the lineup either, which doesn't bode well for getting any at Glasto. Excited to see Boygenius and Muna - hoping this means there's a chance they could both play Glasto... Boygenius headlining the park stage anyone?

Muna, Vallis Alps, Le Sserafim, Florence + The Machine, Tessa Violet