First time at Glastonbury in 09

[Ashaz42]

Yeah, as the title says, I've only ever done Reading Festival before and I decided to go for Glastonbury this year, as Reading's gotten pretty rubbish compared to previous years. The only problem is, I know f'ck all about Glasto, only what I've seen online.

So, basically, I wanna know what's up with it, what's good, what's bad. How's it different to Reading? Better? Worse? What to expect? Your recommendations for the festival. Anything you can tell me about it would be appreciated.

Cheers

[Runner]

Yeah, as the title says, I've only ever done Reading Festival before and I decided to go for Glastonbury this year, as Reading's gotten pretty rubbish compared to previous years. The only problem is, I know f'ck all about Glasto, only what I've seen online.

So, basically, I wanna know what's up with it, what's good, what's bad. How's it different to Reading? Better? Worse? What to expect? Your recommendations for the festival. Anything you can tell me about it would be appreciated.

Cheers

[Messy]

My first time too! My biggest worry is, er, when am I meant to sleep? So much to do by the sound of it.

[rustyuk]

My first time and im going on my own, Yes very risky i know but i adds more to the whole adventure for me!, Good 6 hour train journey on my own and then roughing it on the tuesday night!, Then make my way into the site early in the morning!.

Cant wait!

[Storm_NL]

Reading and Glastonbury?

The Chalk and Cheese of the festival world.

Don't expect it to be anything like Reading.

Bring suitable footwear. You'll probably walk 60 miles or so over the weekend....

[Al the CAT]

Sleep? Wozzat?

Fortunately, Glastonbury is whatever you want it to be - I'd only worked Leeds before, and was completely overwhelmed at the size, the range of areas available, the friendlyness of the people, the quality and choice of the food, the provision for kids, blah blah blah... read the threads, it's all there

If you want the headliners, figure out your route between Pyramid stage and Other stage (via toilets and Cider bus), if you want a chill out head for the hills, if you want Bodger and Badger licking jam off each other head for the medical tent because you've obviously been smoking something

And if it all gets too much, find a space (there's enough of it), have ten minutes to yourself to recharge, then go back at it with a vengeance, and before you know it you'll be pestering the forums wanting to know how long before next years tickets go on sale.

Have fun, feel free to ask for help, and enjoy the build up, the rest of us will be

[derfman]

you guys are in for a treat, its like ntohing else,

ull walk away thinking "my life is gonna change forever"

and then after a day or the real world again, u go back to normal, but its those 5-6 days where you are someone better than yourself, and all u wanna do is get on with people, and thats all people wanna do with u

regardless of race, colour, creed

sexuallity, gender,

it sounds so hippy and free love when u explain it to people, but its not scarey hippy, its a hippy lifestyle u can take or leave

[youcancallmeal]

I think everyone else that's posted here so far has summed it up really well and very eloquently. All I can say in addition to that is that I've been to the last six Glastos and it's been the highlight of my year each time. It's amazing. I'm not knocking Reading/Leeds (I've been to both and enjoyed them) but they are incomparable to the atmosphere at Glastonbury. So many magical things happen that at times the music almost becomes inconsequential and that's the key difference.

I always like to bring at least one newcomer with me each year to see their wonderment on the first day as nothing can fully prepare you for it. Do get yourselves down to the circus and cabaret fields: they're great and each year I spend more and more time there. Oh, and take a walk to the top of the hill behind The Park area and look down at the site because the view is fantastic: a top addition to the festival last year. I could go on but I'll spare you!

Have fun!

[Ashaz42]

Awesome, cheers for the replies guys, can't wait for it. Sounds better than Reading to me, but I'll wait till June to decide.

[youcancallmeal]

Firstly arrive with a free happy attitude. Glastonbury has the best vibe (a bit like a small village where everyone greets everyone else) so join in, smile and say hello!

You're not kicked out of the main arena every night, which reduces the risk of everything 'kicking off' around the campsites; you generally just find people chilling & talking around open campfires well into the early hours with the odd set of bongo drums and guitar.

Once you're in, with tent, you're in. You can drink your own booze wherever you want (just make sure you throw your cans in a bin, not on the floor 'love the farm, leave no trace' etc...), and you can pop to your tent whenever you want.

And there's something to see pretty much all night long. Trash city and Shangri la are normally the places to head to once the big stages have packed up, or you could just head up to the Stone Circle and chill and wait for the sun to rise.

I don't know what else to say really, it's just a really great place. So much to see and do. Hard to recommend stuff as I don't know what you're into. And you tend have the best experiences when you just 'find' stuff whilst walking around.

Try and get there Wednesday or early Thursday. The site is huge, so it makes sense to get there early so you can have a wander and get your bearings.

[Ashaz42]

Hello Runner, I've just noticed where you live. I was brought up in Farnborough and used to play for Frimley Cricket Club. Happy days: I still have a lot of friends in the area. Gawd bless the Blackwater Valleyites.

[youcancallmeal]

Can I join this club, I'm pretty close to there and also in the Blackwater Valley. Crowthorne?

[Joshuwarr]

Its the best festival ever and always will be (I don't care if you all want to disagree) I love Reading and will go for years to come but Glastonbury has the "wow" factor. It has the best alcohol, food, music and atmosphere. You can camp pretty much anywhere, sometimes right next to stages! For example, I was very close to the leftfield stage and could hear the Levellers from my tent! Just do as much as possible and don't even bother trying to keep to any sort of timetable, just go with the flow

[Abbathehorse]

Somebody asked a similar question a year or so ago. I have copied my reply below:

"I've always been a massive fan of Reading festival, so was equally as sceptical before going to Glastonbury for the first time, but was SOOOOO glad I did.

I love the fact that at Reading you can get to see at least some of the sets of all the bands you want to see (usually anyway). If you expect to do this at Glastonbury, think again! The first thing you will notice about the festival is that it is absolutely HUGE. You can spend an entire 5 days wandering round the site and still not see half of it, and that is the beauty of Glastonbury. If there are a couple of acts you definitely wish to see over the weekend, then that's all good, you go and see them, but there is absolutely no point making iteneries or schedules of things to do or acts to see, as it just won't happen. I have seen some amazing bands at Glastonbury, but the real good stuff is the stuff you stumble accross, the strange acts, the bands you would never normally see, the firebreathing dragon at 4am, the 10 foot tall spider people (might have been the mushrooms), the stuff that will really make your weekend.

The other big difference you will notice is the difference in the atmosphere. I was used to the rough and tumble dog eat dog mentality of the Carling Weekend, and had no interest whatsoever in what I called the 'hippified peace and love attitude' of Glastonbury (not meaning to offend anyone, this is how I thought at the time). But when I got there it was a matter of hours before I was photographed hugging the huge peace sign by the stone circle, wandering round the green fields in awe, doing the 'shackle shuffle' to Sieze the Day, and relaxing with a spliff to Biggles Wartime Band!

Don't get me wrong, the entire festival is not like that, but whatever you want you will get. Similarly forget any preconception you might have about the people that go to the festival. You get your full blown hippies, you get vegans, vegitarians and carnivours, you get eccentric people that you would never normally meet anywhere else (some of them you might not want to), you get teenagers, you get adults, you get families, you get pensioners, there are contry folk, there are townies, there are metal heads, there are ravers, even the chavs get represented, everybody is different, but you will find a sense of community that I have never found at any other festival and doubt I ever will.

No matter what you are in to, or what sort of person you are, there will be something for you at Glastonbury, and you will be welcomed with open arms.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying it is better than any other festival, as only you can decide that, but it is certainly different and something you will have to experience if you get the chance."

[VCK]

Well I've been going to Leeds for the past three years but will be trying Glasto this year. The knobs at Leeds this year put me off which is a shame because Metallica, RATM and the Manics made the weekend almost perfect.

But yeah, I hear Glasto's a lot more laid back than Leeds and there's a lot less of this "YEAH LET'S STEAL SOME RANDOMERS TENT (NOT THAT WE'D DO THIS IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD BECAUSE WE'RE PUSSIES) AND THROW IT ON A FIRE AND RAVE AROUND THE FIRE BECAUSE WE'RE COOL!!!!!!1111" bollocks.

[Rufus Gwertigan]

Well I've been going to Leeds for the past three years but will be trying Glasto this year. The knobs at Leeds this year put me off which is a shame because Metallica, RATM and the Manics made the weekend almost perfect.

But yeah, I hear Glasto's a lot more laid back than Leeds and there's a lot less of this "YEAH LET'S STEAL SOME RANDOMERS TENT (NOT THAT WE'D DO THIS IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD BECAUSE WE'RE PUSSIES) AND THROW IT ON A FIRE AND RAVE AROUND THE FIRE BECAUSE WE'RE COOL!!!!!!1111" bollocks.

[glastofreak]

Reading and Leeds are money making music festivals and if that is what you like then great. Reading and Leeds are exelent if you like the bands that are on, if you have a clash then you chose one band see them and, if they are a bit off go to the other band. This is the major draw back of Glastonbury everything is miles apart from everthing else, and it look great but at some point you might just be feeling '' I cannot be arsed to to trapes over to that stage half a county away'' Saying all this I love Glastonbury and would not pay to go to Leeds (I will be working next year). Hopefully you will be coming next year (come early) and look round as much as you can you will see where the money gets spent. And a map below so you can see how big the place is. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask, there should be plenty of photos of the place if you look around.

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/uplo...e-08-may(1).jpg

[scudetto_boy]

Glasto's really shit, don't go!!!!!!

[VCK]

Don't worry about tent fires at Glastonbury, the rain puts them out before they've started

[glastofreak]

Glastonbury festival is in a valley with tightly packed tents on either slope the soil if mainly clay. A small fortune has been spent on dranage but that many poeple and for so long it can all come to nothing.

[Rufus Gwertigan]

That's the one thing that worries me about Glasto. The mud at Leeds was bad enough and Leeds is miniscule compared to Glasto.

Mind you, Bramham Park is a hilly site. Don't know about Pilton Farm but I suppose if it's predominantly flat then it won't be as much effort. The hill leading upto the arena at Leeds was torture.

[slimjo]

Chill and enjoy.

And don't try to do too much, if you do you will end up running around like a blue arsed fly and not enjoying it.

[Hota]

Im in the same boat as you, only been to one festival and that was Reading this year

Glasto needs to be amazing to even get close to reading

[Runner]

Im in the same boat as you, only been to one festival and that was Reading this year

Glasto needs to be amazing to even get close to reading

[Runner]

Hello Runner, I've just noticed where you live. I was brought up in Farnborough and used to play for Frimley Cricket Club. Happy days: I still have a lot of friends in the area. Gawd bless the Blackwater Valleyites.