Increase in scum this year

[smiley33]

The flags were to much, leave them at your tent.

I'm sure this was probably the original intention of the flag.

The I love sausage man? I hope somebody was paying you to carry that around because you must have been given some grief!

Edited June 30, 2009 by smiley33

[EasyUserName]

... I did see something so horrific that I can't even bring myself to speak about it. ...

[hypnotiseme]

I must admit i had one little wee in a hedge as i was absolutely at bursting point and there were massive queues at all the toilets. I am genuinely sorry for this as it jeaprodises not only the future of the festival but also the ecosystem. I would deffinetly not have peed in the hedge if there was a reasonable queue.

I'm Sorry!!!

One thing really fu**ed me off this year was right before the Prodigy were about to play we were getting some food and this c**t (and i don't use that word lightly) said could he borrow my sunglasses, as he was quite drunk and so was i, i let him take them off my head as i thought he was just going to try them on (you know, as you do when your drunk). However, he just got his fag and put them out on one of the lenses and laughed. I grabbed them off him and just walked off but when i saw they were damaged with a burn mark in the middle of the lense i turned around and was going to confront the twat but he had gone. That spoilt my glasto for about 30mins until the Prodigy came on. But still... what a wan*er.

Edited June 30, 2009 by hypnotiseme

[Tom92]

For me it was my first time at the festival, therefore i can't compare it. However i did truely enjoy it and can't wait to try and get a ticket for next year.

The chairs were annoying, but i do not think they should be banned as they are good for just sitting on and relaxing at the tents, and gave a social place to be rather than shouting from tent to tent.

I think chairs should be band from the areas around the stages but not around the actual campsites.

Also gazebos were handy for cooking food under and socializing when it was wet and no one was playing. However they did take up alot of space; we were asked to take ours down, and we did but the space was stillnot used up so i don'y think there is a need to ban them.

The tape issue i found irritating; however with it being my first time i just thought it was normal.

With the washing at taps i would recommend investing £5 in a solar shower from 'the range'. truly worth the money. and if you just wanted to wash your hands just get anti bacterial handwash, which you don't need water for

All in all i thught it was an amazing experience

[nicktrow]

The rubbish issue around the stages was mentioned to Eavis when he did his Q&A session in the speakers corner. He didn't seem to think it was that much of a big deal because it's all cleared up and off to recycling by the following morning anyway.

[chuckley]

Did you try it? It was one of the most fun things I did all weekend, and I did lots of fun things! (If you tried it but didn't enjoy it, fair enough - let the rest of us have our fun though!)

[ministe2003]

Just want to add that these things I've whinged about didn't spoil the festival for us, and I never said it did, however the atmosphere definitely was different to my previous Glastonbury's and it does concern me about where it will lead should it continue to go down this path over the next couple of years.

[mudmonkey]

To me "scum" = thieves and gangs of idiots looking for trouble. And I'm glad to say I saw neither this year. What you describe are mere minor irritants on the best Glasto ever!

Chairs should be at the very back of the fields only - maybe designated areas need introducing, but without many many more stewards it can't be policed.

Flags - yes there are a lot, and many aren't very imaginative, but it does look spectacular. And if you really want to see the stage, there's always a way. Perhaps the answer is a bit more stewarding of the front D at the Pyramid - to ban all chairs & flags from being in there. That would improve a lot of people's view of the stage, and is the one part of the festival which is easy to steward. If less people thought they could get their flag at the very front (and on tv) I think the numbers would reduce soon.

Litter - yes its bad, but there are dedicated litter pickers to deal with it. It looks unsightly, but I don't think its actually a major problem in the longer run, its not like the farm gets left that way all year. At the moment, unless you clog up the standing areas with bins its not going to get better. The solution here is a cup deposit scheme, other festivals work them just fine so I'm sure Glasto can.

But seriously, after such a great weekend, focus on the positives!!

[Edi M]

I have to bite, sorry.

What was it you saw that was so bad?

Edited June 30, 2009 by Edi M

[LostRiot]

2/ I know that not everyone likes chairs but we were far back during Bruce and had chairs there. A girl tried to get through and there were our 4 chairs and a few rows of others. She apologised as she went through before barging through and knocking one of our group totally off her feet! To her credit, she turned round and said she was sorry. I expalined that there were chairs all along that way and she would struggle to get through so her response was 'mwwah!' and a glare at us!

[Dark Star]

I had an excellent festival, travelled solo, ended up with really good neighbours, two of whom had brought a gazebo which was used freely by all in the circle and was not sealing off too much space.

The rubbish did seem a lot worse this year, but it was a largely sunny festival, people are able to get about more and thereby will buy more beer/food and create more.

With regard to the pricing of water, it all depended where you bought it from, the Glastonbury Water Company stalls were excellent value (for a festival) at £1.50 for a 1.5 litre bottle. You could pay £1-£1.50 more for a bottle 1/3 the size at an ice cream van.

It would be good if there was a small shop selling stuff like bacon/eggs/sausages etc for people to cook their own breakfasts on but I guess the traders would be unhappy as might lose out. This is probably also why there is no stall selling cases of beer. The answer is to travel into Glastonbury itself, OK, it was £6 return this year, but still cheaper for buying a case or two than shelling out at the bars. It's what I did and will do again in future.

The major concern I had though was on the Wednesday, granted, the traffic problems were extreme but a little wayside station like Castle Cary just isn't equipped to deal with the number of people who were there on the Wednesday afternoon. At one point the queue was full back onto the platforms which were almost at bursting point. The stewards manning the crowd pens were stuck with a tough job, so many people and having to get them off the platforms, but in the pens where everyone was being held it was cramped to the point people couldn't get out to use the toilets/get water which, after 5 hours in the heat, is not a good thing. Worse though was the stewards supervising the loading of the buses, there were empty buses sat there and between them they didn't seem capable of directing people to get on them in any order.

[oafc0000]

personally when I'm walking through a crowd and see a line of chairs with no one sat in them I just pick one up, toss it on the nearest fire/stamp on it and carry on walking through the crowd laughing to myself.

[LostRiot]

Can I just say that you sound like a right twat

Look around next time you go glasto... you will find 0 to 90 year olds there... Thats what makes it a bit more special than most other festivals.... Not everyone can sit on the "comfy" ground you igorant tosser

*this post doesn’t mean I condone the inappropriate use of chairs*

[llcoolphil]

As with the pissing everywhere there were several times I saw blokes pissing against the outside of the urinals!!!

[ministe2003]

ok apologies for the use of "scum" I just used it to describe selfish louts, I hold no particular definition in my mind

[Cooter]

What's wrong with the floor? Its comfy, always available (or at least it was this year) and you don't have to lug it about, seriously, a few more years and glasto will be full of people sat on chairs watching the bands......just like my grandparents in eastbourne

[spammachine]

personally when I'm walking through a crowd and see a line of chairs with no one sat in them I just pick one up, toss it on the nearest fire/stamp on it and carry on walking through the crowd laughing to myself.

[smiley33]

I had an excellent festival, travelled solo, ended up with really good neighbours, two of whom had brought a gazebo which was used freely by all in the circle and was not sealing off too much space.

It would be good if there was a small shop selling stuff like bacon/eggs/sausages etc for people to cook their own breakfasts on but I guess the traders would be unhappy as might lose out.

[chuckley]

Yeah i tried it, but i really didnt see the point in it...surely its just a dance tent where you are incapable of talking to anyone. I only enjoyed it once i turned the music off.

[alfie1354]

This is the first time i've posted on here after my 8th Glastonbury.

I came on to have a look at the general reaction on here to this year, as I too came a way a little less elated than usual...

I have to say I WAS bothered this year by some of the crowd in attendance, Hoorays and Peaches clones, general chavery (although i think there's always been a bit of this at Glasto) and an abundance of teens on post GCSE benders...

The flags don't bother me, I actually like them and think they're part of the glasto architecture, the chairs thing is a bit over the top these days, but for me tolerable. THE LITTER and PISSING on the other hand is a disgrace. I genuinely can't understand the litter thing, you're simply never THAT far from a bin at Glasto, and if it's full then at least leave your crap in the general AREA of a bin...

I also think that the litter thing is generational, I'm 31 and grew up with Keep Britain tidy and the Wombles, kids under 20 just don't have any education on the subject. Also, while i'm ranting, one thing i can never understand is how people can camp in such shit. We were in Park home and the kids next to us were knee deep in rubbish by Friday morning Bin Bags you morons, Bin bags!

HOWEVER...

Despite all of my ranting, I've come to a conclusion that i'm simply getting older. It's not fair to judge the yoofs, Posh or Chavy, the reality is that if it were full of litter conscious 30+ year olds it just wouldn't be right... A lot of the ideals of us older Glastonians are just not relevant to the younger attendees its a different world and the skins generation have a totally different outlook, the poor f**kers spend a good portion of their time being blamed for all of societies ills at the same time as avoiding being stabbed! I WISH they were more considerate, I WISH they were tidier, I WISH they didn't make so much noise at 4am but there you are, I am old they are young it's their prerogative to get on my tits.

Older louts should, however, know better!

Also, worth remembering my first three Glastos involved jumping over the fence, pissing in bushes, being mashed of my head all night every night and probably really getting on the tits of everyone over 30...

HIGHS

Ray Davis

The Dead Weather

The Boss

Crosby Stills and Nash (long shadows in the sun, "It's been a long time coming" simply beautiful)

Arcadia - Shangri La - Trash City (amazing)

LOWS

Litter

Pissing

Hoorays

Chavs

[Busterrr!]

What amazes me most about this thread is the fact that most are bemoaning that others didn't exhibit common courtesy, showed ignorance and didn't consider the other person.

Yet the shear amount of posts here, calling people c**ts, pricks, scum, twats & twonk defies belief. If I'm reading this right, people can say or do what they like, just so long as they agree with you or do as you do?

Get real people, life and society are diverse things. There are many socio-economic groups that didn't benefit from a nice cosy upbringing and as a result they don't always behave in the way that the average Daily Mail reader would expect.

Yes, some things annoy, but seriously get a grip and a sense of perspective. I hope you little clique of vocal and disatisfied punters signed up to the many campaigns or contributed to the many issues being discussed in and around the green fields.

Perhaps if you looked hard enough, you might have found the Women's Movement against flag proliferation, or perhaps the Red Wedge campaigning against camping chairs, maybe Green Peace could hit the festival crowd with a leaflet drop, asking the naughty men not to wee on your wellies; but I suspect they had bigger fish to fry!

[hoils]

We camped in Park Home Ground and a group next to us were the most vile people you could want next to you at a festival. They littered everything they used including half eaten pot noodles and glass bottles. They pissed in the hedges behind our tents. They came back to the tents at around 4.30am and proceeded to shriek uncontrollably at each other, presumably thinking they were being funny or more likely because they were out of their heads on something far stronger than a bit of weed (we saw them popping what looked like E's). The thing was they never seemed to be away from the tents except from about 2am to 4.30am, any other time we came back they were there.

[markeee]

What amazes me most about this thread is the fact that most are bemoaning that others didn't exhibit common courtesy, showed ignorance and didn't consider the other person.

Yet the shear amount of posts here, calling people c**ts, pricks, scum, twats & twonk defies belief. If I'm reading this right, people can say or do what they like, just so long as they agree with you or do as you do?

Get real people, life and society are diverse things. There are many socio-economic groups that didn't benefit from a nice cosy upbringing and as a result they don't always behave in the way that the average Daily Mail reader would expect.

Yes, some things annoy, but seriously get a grip and a sense of perspective. I hope you little clique of vocal and disatisfied punters signed up to the many campaigns or contributed to the many issues being discussed in and around the green fields.

Perhaps if you looked hard enough, you might have found the Women's Movement against flag proliferation, or perhaps the Red Wedge campaigning against camping chairs, maybe Green Peace could hit the festival crowd with a leaflet drop, asking the naughty men not to wee on your wellies; but I suspect they had bigger fish to fry!

[grumpyhack]

Agree with some points. Pissing in the hedges and littering is totally unacceptable - I won't even drop a fag end. Flags at the front are a pain - maybe there should be a separate area for the flag wavers who want to get on the telly well to the side of the stages.

However at risk of getting shot I'll stick my head above ther parapet on gazebos, taping and chairs.

We had a dozen people in our encampment with our tents tightly packed together with a gazebo as the central point where we were able to eat and chat communally. I think that social side of Glasto is quite important.

We taped down the length of our guyropes to make them stand out more so that we, and others, wouldn't accidentally trip over them. We also taped out a pathway through our encampment so that people could easily find a way through without tripping over guyropes. If you've ever had your tent ripped by someone who tripped over a guyrope you may understand the thinking. It wasn't in any way to be territorial.

Chairs I think are quite legitimate used in the right place - for example high on the hill overlooking the Pyramid or in the field outside the Acoustic tent. I've got a bad back as a result of a collapsed disc and can't stand for that long so a chair is a welcome relief. But I'd never put it up without checking the people behind me and ensuring that I'm not blocking anyone's view or access.

[Sam Crawley]

I'm sorry but the litter is just pure selfish ignorance. It's nothing to do with being young, and there's no reason for it whatsoever. That said, however much we moan here, it won't change things, as the sort of people who drop litter indiscriminately are not the sort of people who would be on here reading this. What can you do to change their behaviour Not sure.. as the "Love the Farm - Leave No Trace" slogan is a pathetic irony when you look around the site. I guess the only suggestions I have are firstly to keep litter to a minimum anyway, i.e. studies have shown that when it gets messy, people are more likely to drop litter. Have a regular jingle encouraging everyone to litter pick. And make damn sure the bins never overflow - really doesn't help...