gooner1990

Sounds like you need to find new festival friends to go with!....isn't there some sort of 'camp solo' thing on here? Even if you're camped with your mate you could meet up with people from here seeing as your one of the more prominent users of this forum.

I think you need to lower your expectations with other festivals, have a look at my sig...I've done plenty of other festivals...commercial and independent, all good, none that I didn't like, just different. Festivals are what you make of them not purely just what's on offer in terms of live acts etc. Some of my best memories from festivals just involve my friends and nothing to do with some world famous artist on the main stage.

I did five readings and one download before I went to Glastonbury in 2004, you'll be fine.

I used to find it funny in the early days of me festivalling (not specific to Glastonbury) people sat there with the mini-guide and a pen circuling acts they needed to see and a POA of making sure getting from one stage to another in good time for each act. I just couldn't personally do that, sure there are a few 'must-see's but the rest of the time I just wander about and look to see who's on as otherwise I just get annoyed at myself for missing too much because of crowds/mud/drunkness etc

We were camped in Kidney Mead....I got VERY drunk at the cider bus on the Thursday night, so drunk to the point that when I went to walk up the side of the (empty) Pyramid field back to our camp, I wobbled to the side, fell in a ditch and eventually had to be pulled out by some kind Oxfam stewards. After much piss taking by my mates, I was put to bed... in my drunk state one of my friends just opened my tent, threw me in and zipped it back up again, I woke up fully clothed on top of my sleeping bag wondering why my leg was vibrating....turned out I was asleep on my phone and it was ringing....I came round and answered it, and was my mother sounding very worried: Mother 'are you ok?' Me: 'yes, well, you've just woken me up and I think I have a hangover' (Its at this point I remember she's in Cyprus on holiday') Mother: 'Well I'm watching Sky news in the hotel bar and they are showing Glastonbury is flooded, I just wanted to check you hadn't been washed away' Me: 'its flooded? I didn't even know it was raining' Mother: 'well I thought you would be exactly the person to know it was raining given you are there' I then stuck my head out of the tent to see it absolutely lashing it down, assured my mother I was fine, took a big gulp of water and went back to sleep for another three hours' 😄

Doesn't know many of the acts?! Is she anti-music or something? I hope you're going with other people as it might be worth her exploring the festival on her own!

I quit smoking at the end of 2017 and was very worried about not smoking at festivals, I actually found it surprisingly easy!

I still want to know why EE provided them with the tickets? Was it on the basis of providing a Vlog for them? And if so were EE happy with the result? There's probably a reason why they haven't been back since....

I think in fairness that was a lot of people who were camped at the bottom of Pennards who not only had their tents ruined, everything inside, clothes, kit, drugs, booze etc was all in a mess/ruined. I think that would push even the hardened festival goer to the limit!

It was like herding stray cats.....having a big group can be good but it also has a lot of draw backs!

We had this in 2010, I think it was about 30 of us that year...everyone in their mid-late 20s loving the festival and it was decided that on the Saturday night after the headliners we would all meet, I was not keen as it was too much hassle but got overruled. Somehow we all managed to meet, but the combination of virtually everyone gurning their chops off on ecstasy, bright lights, one way systems and general fuckedness meant that by the time we got to Arcadia in the S.E corner it was full and we then decided to go to some dnb in a tent nearby. Well that took nearly an hour as everyone was fucked, wanting to go to the toilet at different times, wanting to go to bars at different times, others wandering off, then calling me as they were lost, me telling everyone else to wait whilst i collected them, getting back to find more people had wandered off. Too many people + drink and drugs at a festival is never a good combination. Awful night and never to be repeated!

I think that's almost the same for us, we had 6 go in 2004.....by 2007 it was about 12, then by 2011 it was 35, and then its slowly gone back the other way, was about 20 in 2013, 12 in 2016 then back to the same 3 of us in 2017 and its the same 3 of us (plus one extra) this year! That's not to say we don't have our own life events ourselves we just love festivals. 🙂 As people have got married, or decided they can't hack it anymore, prefer to to holidays instead or have kids etc its just meant its less and less of us. We also have a few that dip in and out but don't feel the need to go each year too. As its also worn on I've started meeting up with other mates that I go to football with so that's been good, although they've all now decided they will only do WV/Tipi/Sticklinch whilst the rest of us are sticking it out in standard camping even though we are now all 40+ .....

When I got the See coach back to Oxford in 2015 our driver was from South Wales and suddenly decided to turn off the M4 for a 'short cut' completely forgetting he was driving a 70 seater coach and not his Ford Focus. Took us nearly an hour to find somewhere suitable to turn round as he 'couldn't quite remember the route' and then get back on the M4....sigh....

We've got a really small core of people going this year and funnily enough with the exception of one person, its the same people who I first did Reading Festival with 23 years ago in 1999.....like you, we've had points of big crowds (35 in 2011 springs to mind) , small crowds, first timers and everything inbetween. I think some people are 'festival people' and others from our home town hear of us lot having a good time or as the years went on see the photos on Facebook, get FOMO and come along the following year without really thinking it through with regards to sanitation and the weather or the big crowds and its a bit 'sink or swim' some have loved it and come back for more, some never to be seen again. I don't mind friends of mine who have come to festivals once then said 'no not for me' but at least give it a go and not just have meltdown on day one and ruin it for everyone else by moaning that they want to go home. People come and go, but that little small core of three us still go each year to something together no matter what else is going on in life and I'm glad we've still got that.

We were meeting up with some friends for the Manic Street Preachers into Pixes double header on the Other Stage in 2014....it was decided to meet at their camp then head over as they were camped close by. Got to their camp and thought one one was there, after a few seconds one of them popped their head out of their tent and said 'alright mate we wont' be a minute or two'. Now, knowing them quite well I thought they must have been racking up some drugs ready for the night out and I thought 'if there's a line going spare I want some' but when I put my head into the tent rather than finding powder all over the place, I found four of them lying on the floor all cuddled up in their sleeping bags like some sort of teenage girls pyjama party and at the other end propped up on a cool box was an iPad and they had been watching Brazil v Chile in the World Cup which had gone to penalties! 😄

See I don't really understand this as towards the end of the weekend isn't the tent starting to smell really badly of their shit from across the weekend, unlike the portaloos that are cleaned regularly? One year at Reading Festival (seems to be a theme doesn't there?) 2004 I think it was, right at the end of the weekend it was about 5am and I was having my last piss before bed...as I got to this massive block of portaloos there were about 5 stewards all stood outside a portaloo looking in with disgust, as I was pissing I could hear 'well i'm not moving him' 'oh my god how much drugs do you have to do to get into that state' as I finished up my leak I thought 'I've got to see what it is they are looking at' So as I left I walked past and one of the stewards said 'take a look at this mate' and opened the door fully...inside there was a big fat bloke, completely bollock naked sat in the toilet asleep with a can of Fosters in his hand and he was slowly sinking down into the toilet with a all the poo, piss, puke, tampons etc all slowly enveloping over his legs and cock. There were also about 20 flies buzzing round him. The image will haunt me to my grave. 😮

My girlfriend says she would love to do Glastonbury if there were about 150,000 less people on site! As it stands, I'm glad its the size it is as she would go mental at my behaviour down there if she came along.

Some people near us at Reading Festival one year had a poo tent.....this was when someone needed a shit they would go into the tent, turn round and take a dump into a carrier bag, tie it up and throw it to the back of the tent. I saw males and females both doing this. Foul.

Agree with that. When I started doing Reading festival in 1999 it was just watch the headliners then back to the campsite for chaos/sitting at randoms campfire/meeting people/generally being silly. Doesn't happen at all now because Silent Discos and late bars are still open so people opt for that now.

I think sometimes people see all the lovely BBC montages and scenic shots of people in the crowd and it all looks great etc especially when the weather is nice, so they get themselves a ticket for the following year without really thinking of the practicalities of the getting in, camping, not washing, if the weather goes bad etc etc and then get shocked at the reality and freak out and either just put up with it and then don't go again or hate it so much that they leave early.

When I first went to Reading in 1999 my brother kept calling me 'grebo' and 'wheres your bar of soap for a wash?' and other such comments. 2013 I walked past The Beat Hotel and he was there stood with his mates sipping on a cocktail and posing for selfies and shouted to me 'you were right, this festival lark isn't so bad is it?!' 🙄

week of 16th may the times and pick up points are out.

note the complete lack of camping chairs, which I don't think became a thing at festivals until around 2003!

Turning up late afternoon on Wednesday and putting your tent up in a 3/4s empty Kidney Mead or Big Ground (lasted until 2008!)