phil the shrew

Developed a sore throat on Monday on the way home, and coughing Tuesday, but actually only tested positive on Thursday, when the test went full on two bars as soon as the test liquid hit it - which was a bit unexpected as I was feeling better by that point!

The Children's World Cafe in Bella's Field, next to the Caberet tent do breakfast rolls or fry ups and are pretty good value as well. The money they make helps support the Children's World Charity which is based in Glastonbury. Good place to pop into for food on the way to the South East Corner at night too

Never known any tent to be stolen, but in some of the busy popular camping spots I have seen the occasional tent being "moved" to allow others to set-up their mega tents for their group. As others have said sadly there are tent thefts during the festival - my mates had wallets nicked from inside the tent while they slept a few years ago. While its rare just let be aware about flashing around large amounts of cash or cards, and keep an eye on who might be checking out your tent and gear. Popping valuables, cash and cards in the lock ups over night is the best idea, just to be on the same site

Would it be possible for your son to get the Shuttle bus in instead? I think that they operate a one way system for traffic on the wednesday so getting off site and back in again could be tricky. I used the Glastonbury Shuttle and its very efficient - if your son could get to Glastonbury town I'd recommend that as the best way to get him on site. It goes to Gate A so you could meet him there

Agree with the other two responses that the train shuttle bus option is best. Shuttle bus will be dead quiet at that time, and assuming no train disruption and good train connections your wife could get from Bristol to the festival site in a couple of hours. Gate A where the bus station is isn't too far from John Peel Stage so not too far to walk to meet her I have friends in Wells and have quite often gone off site to stay with them (I'm a fair weather camper!), and initially used the car to go back wards and forwards, but it really was very time consuming and often ended up with very long wlaks to the car. The Shuttle buses are a much better option. The road from Glastonbury to Bristol is normally very quiet after the Wenesday rush to get in, but getting off site, walking a long way back to the car and then driving to Bristol and back will probably take the best part of 3 hours and you also run the risk of having to park even further out when you get back on site In terms of getting out of the site that should also be a breeze during the day on Friday - just remember you will need your ticket and wristband to get out and get issued with a seperate return token to get back in. When you come back in you need both to get back in so don't lose them.

I've always found the buses to be reliable. Normally use the Glastonbury bus service and while the services after the headliners end on Friday, Saturday and Sunday can be a bit busy I've never been turned away, and they run every 30 minutes until 2am. Aside from the Wednesday morning service the buses from the Town are normally quite quiet too. In the past when I've stopped off site and driven in, you can find yourself a long way out in the car parks and face a long walk to the gates. Not used the taxi system so can't really comment on that

I think West Holts has a small amount of band merchandise as well, but probably just on the day the bands are there. The Park has its own stall too selling hoodies, t shirts and bags, but I don'r recall there ever being band merchandise there

Does anyone know if we will be able to use our own reusable pint glasses at the festival this year? I'm pretty sure most of the stalls that sell hot drinks now allow you to use reusable cups with them, but if I recall correctly from 2019 the bars still are only allowed to sell beer, cider etc using their own glasses and wondered if there was any change in this. I've got a fair few reusable plastic pint glasses and just wondered whether to bring them with me - makes sense from the environmental point of view wasn't sure how much use I'd get from them

Allowing people to park up in the main car parks has cut down quite a lot of the Wednesday traffic, but there can still be a lot of congestion if there is a problem on one of the roads or (please no) its really wet and getting cars onto the site is slow and difficult. In past years I've got from Glastonbury town to parked in the West Car Parks in 30 minutes, but one year it took 4 and half hours! Its always a little bit of a lottery If you are really desperate to be on site early then set off as soon as possible, but as a general rule I'd say traffic is easier from late morning onwards

Depending where your parents live the shuttle bus stop at Glastonbury might be worth looking at too, as its a bit easier to access from the West. Bath and Wells Showground is easier for access from the East. First Glastonbury Shuttle leaves the site at 7.30am and would return from Glastonbury town at 8am so would also get you back onsite for 8.30 too. Just one other thing to be aware of is that Sunday is also the day that the local "day tickets" come onto the festival site, and specific buses are laid on for them, so make sure you don't get mixed up with those. Also the ticket entrances will be quite busy with these visitors coming in. When you leave the site you need your ticket and wristband, and you get a re-entry token that is scanned to match it. You will then be able to use this token at the return gate to avoid the wait to get in with the day visitors. But I'm not quite sure on the process for bringing a child in with you who is accessing the site for the first time

Another option might be to get one of the Shuttle buses to Glastonbury town, Wells or Shepton Mallet and booking the taxi pick up from that town. I've never caught a taxi at the festival but I have heard of tales of it being a bit of a free for all at the taxi rank on the sunday night/monday morning, and as Lycra says I think the festival tries to discourage too many taxis coming onto the roads around the site. It might be easier to book one to meet in one of the above towns

Over the last couple of festivals a band called Uncle Funk Disco Inferno have played on the Sensation Seekers stage in Bella's Field after the main headliners finish. Lots of classic disco hits covered. Not sure if they are booked for this year but if so worth catching if they are on

Really hope you enjoy your first Glastonbury - it really is a fantasic place. As others have said being in a camper gives you more options to bring extra stuff than if you are camping. Weather conditions can really change the site and over the course of the 5 days (or occasionally over the space of a day) you can go from lovely grass fields, to knee deep mud and back to hard solid surfaces due to changes in the weather, and it really helps to have different footwear for different conditions. A few warm items of clothing like a woolie hat, fleece or light scarf are good too - even on warm days the nights can get chilly especially if you are exploring the late night/early morning charms of the festival. Leave these in the lock ups in the morning and you can collect them if needed later in the evening I'd just suggest that you are aware in advance that the site is massive and can be a little daunting at first, even if you have been to other large festivals. On the first day (presumably the Wednesday) try and get familiar with a few areas near the gate you go through, to give you some familiar landmarks to find your way around. This year will be my 10th and despite liking the smaller off the beaten track stages I still find areas each year I've not been before. Don't try and fit too much in, let the experiences find you. Be great to hear your thoughts after the festival to see what you found

As FrankieX says the Shuttle bus direct to Temple Meads is probably you best bet. The regular 376 scheduled bus service is pretty decent hourly service that gets to Bristol pretty directly, and you could could catch the Glastonbury Town Shuttle bus, then switch to the 376 during Monday, but it does involve changing buses so is a bit of hassle. One other option might be to register interest in a lift share. I'm sure there will be people heading back home through Bristol on Monday morning who might have space in their car or van for one extra. There is a tent - I think in Williams Green - where you register an interest and the volunteers then match you up with people who have a space. I've never used the service but might be worth looking into

Think you always get an element of regret at missing some acts at Glastonbury, because the line up is so varied you always miss out on some great sets,especially the stage headliners. One of mine is (I think) 2013 when I saw Chic over Portshead. The Chic gig on West Holts was brilliant fun, but obviously they have been to the festival since and hopefully will again but Portishead are less frequent in their festival appearances. If I have a choice to make I generally go for the act on the smaller stage, as the tv coverage is so good you get a second chance to watch the main headliners when you get home