Glastonbury to start Tuesday in 2010?

[adamski]

The simple thing is to look at the economics. Some people are saying that they wouldn't want to pay extra to come on the Tuesday/Wednesday, while some would (simple supply and demand).

If the Eavises set the price at say £20 to come on the Wednesday and that meant only half as many people came on the Wednesday then that's sorted, and extra money for charity.

[posthuman]

exactly, it costs enough as it is

50 quid for a car parking ticket would be ridiculous, i get the train usually, i don't drive , but 50 quid is just completely wrong..and would deter people

as for not bringing booze, that imo would take away from the festival

people love having their own booze, for at the campsite, for when they walk around during the day and for the evening entertainment, stone circle or whatever

if people had to go by public transport, there would be no alcohol once the bars close, it would make everything change, wouldnt have drinks for campsite/stone circle - and one thing that sets glasto apart from others and people like (or at least i do) is the fact you CAN walk round with your own drinks and see bands, unlike other festivals where it's arena style and you have to leave any alcohol at the campsite

[posthuman]

I should also add.... I think Tuesday opening is a great idea BUT they need to sort it out so that people can get the See Tickets coach package and arrive then, as I think the current Thursday arrival with the coach packages acts as a huge disincentive to people to get public transport at the moment.

Also, as other people have pointed out... it wouldn't solve congestion issues on the Monday after the fest.

[glosoli]

If they could open the Shepton Mallet Showground for carparking on the East side of the site and have a 'park and ride' bus into the site it would ease a lot of congestion from the main carparks.

[MIXFEST]

2010 is a no go zone for Alcatraz

[UEF]

So, with the newly announced dates, is Tuesday off the cards? Or could it be an unofficial start, a bit like Wednesday/Thursday used to be?

[denwyn]

Good idea,but would it not affect his licence,i'm sure the locals would be well pissed of it he opened on Tuesday. Must be an absolute nightmare living in the area,with the ammount of traffic.

[ivan]

Good idea,but would it not affect his licence,i'm sure the locals would be well pissed of it he opened on Tuesday. Must be an absolute nightmare living in the area,with the ammount of traffic.

[zero000]

The problem with the green argument is that its simpily much more convenient to travel by Car. Ok there may be f**k loads of traffic, but you can take up so much more stuff and have so much more freedom.

Plus if you leave the site at like 4pmish on Monday, there is virtually no traffic jams!

[ThomThomDrum]

The problem with the green argument is that its simpily much more convenient to travel by Car....... but you can take up so much more stuff and have so much more freedom.

[mikeb]

I went to the Q&A session and a lady explained she and her family travelled down by train - as is the glastonbury spirit - but they had to queue for a long time* to get onto a bus, and she asked Eavis what could be done. He said it was a lot to do with the buses not being able to get through due to the cars (although it seemed clear to me, just a lack of buses) so HE said

"would you like to come down on Tuesday next year then" and we all cheered

I'm thinking open the site on Tuesday for public transport ONLY - it will free the roads for buses and coaches and is an insentive to not drive in cars, rather than a penalty to car drivers by saying they can't come til Thurs etc

*I drove past Castle Cary station around 1pm on Weds and it looked like it was heaving

Edited July 24, 2009 by mikeb

[ivan]

After a nice tootle down from Yorkshire , we past the site at about 6.00 am Weds , have to say

very little traffic about and I would say about 40 vehicles sat waiting to go in

[Langdale Wolf]

I'm going to go against the majority here - NO to a Tuesday start.

It would only be a matter of time before Tuesday becomes the new Wednesday, and traffic chaos would be exactly the same.

We get 5 full days - that's a lot more than most other festivals. You can have too much of a good thing.

I love the place, and I love getting down there early on Wednesday, but there has to be a limit.

Keep it as it is, and look into improving driving conditions etc (i.e. no sodding roadworks before the festival on the A road into Pilton!!).

If the festival starts issuing different types of tickets for different days with different conditions, it's just going to get stupid.

[mikeb]

I'm going to go against the majority here - NO to a Tuesday start.

It would only be a matter of time before Tuesday becomes the new Wednesday, and traffic chaos would be exactly the same.

If the festival starts issuing different types of tickets for different days with different conditions, it's just going to get stupid.

Edited July 24, 2009 by mikeb

[Breeze]

This is more off the cuff chat from the mighty Mr E. Allowing ticket holders in on the Tuesday would require a change to the licence - not insurmountable but might be more hassle than it's worth. Can't remmeber when the current licence runs til - thought it was 2010 in which case they'd need to go through tweaking the licence anyway for 2011??

[ivan]

I also tend to agree with that - Weds is fine just so long as peeps aren't being actively encouraged to come early Weds as they clearly were this year ! Having Weds/Thurs for peeps to arrive with the festival taking place only on Fri/Sat/Sun as it always used to is good but I definitely think that effectively adding an extra day after the festival would be a good thing to try and stagger departures in a similar way.

Its a difficult one and people have different circumstances to deal with.

We have a 200 mile drive , some far further (eh Chazeboy and No Rain Please ), and leaving home Thursday morning and having to deal with the drive down then is not an option.

We left Wakfield at 11.45pm Tuesday and by 10.50 am Weds morning we were sat outside Brothers

Bar waiting for em to open !

[cejx]

Different pricing systems make it a little elitist. Those than can afford the tuesday tickets get the best camping spots etc, and those that can't get the shittier spots! Keep it as is, but train the useless parking wardens to direct traffic (especially on the monday morning) rather than reading Heat magazine... as we saw!

The traffic nightmare this year was not down to the festival, rather the nobhead who signed off roadworks on the A303 at Glasters time and the horrible smash on the M5 leading to ALL vehicles being directed down the A37.

I did a car share this year... I can't get a coach as would have to drive further to the coach stations than to Glastonbury! Only public transport being allowed in on a Tues/Wed in essence penalises those who don't come from the big cities.

[ivan]

Different pricing systems make it a little elitist. Those than can afford the tuesday tickets get the best camping spots etc, and those that can't get the shittier spots! Keep it as is, but train the useless parking wardens to direct traffic (especially on the monday morning) rather than reading Heat magazine... as we saw!

The traffic nightmare this year was not down to the festival, rather the nobhead who signed off roadworks on the A303 at Glasters time and the horrible smash on the M5 leading to ALL vehicles being directed down the A37.

I did a car share this year... I can't get a coach as would have to drive further to the coach stations than to Glastonbury! Only public transport being allowed in on a Tues/Wed in essence penalises those who don't come from the big cities.

[Langdale Wolf]

Different pricing systems make it a little elitist. Those than can afford the tuesday tickets get the best camping spots etc, and those that can't get the shittier spots!

[cejx]

There we rumours going round site on the Weds night that there was already 90,000 people on site , not sure if it was true , but it would cause chaos getting in I guess that day !

[ivan]

Agree... but the other things didn't help. Additionally... don't have things to do on on the Thursday. Keep it like they used to have it... Advertising Maximo Park in a ridiculously small space, only added to people wanting to get down on the wednesday so as not to miss out on any entertainment on the Thurs. The other side, is the tickets are so bloody dear, that folk want their moneys worth!

[cejx]

Yeah but Weds and Thursday are the best days !

[Peaceman]

Breeze has it right about any change to days opening would mean major changes to the licence. As I understand it, each major change costs a lot of money - tens of thousands of pounds. So it's not gonig to happen.

[ivan]

Yep! The state of todays society, where we all have to be entertained 24/7... rather than making our own entertainment! I like Wed and Thurs as there's nowt on (or there didn't used to be)!

[TokiDoki]

perhaps keep it as it is now, and no more tickets above 175k in the future

else next we'll be hearing 'people should only have 1 man tents' 'if you have a 3man tent and there's 1 of you you're bad'

Edited July 24, 2009 by liquuid_fusion