Numbers on site

[Mellon collie]

I noticed a lot of guest/crew/vip or whatever bands on the go and the all had a plastic clasp rather than metal surely easy enough to pass around.

I also wouldn't be surprised that the traders are asking for additional wristbands in order to sell them on for profit to friends etc.

Can't say i found it overly busy away from the main stages though you could be walking into areas where theres only a handful of people at times just wish people would pay a bit more attention i make the effort to keep an eye out adjust where im going to avoid bumping into someone only for the people in front or something to stop dead and have a conversation in the middle of a main path.

[nominaomi]

In the Q review site manager Phil Miller mentions 'helping keep 200,000 people safe and healthy... you've got ticket holders, all the workers and artists too'

So I guess that's a pretty good figure to work off anywho?

[Zacko]

lol! I know, I'm lame! I tend to panic in crowds! In fact as I was panicking before Prodigy came on, to the point where the people standing hear us actually commented, calmed me down and then made sure I was OK once it started. I survived! Certainly not 16 anymore though!

[paulo999]

200,000 is just a generic figure. It's possibly the most often quoted one, probably because it's less of a mouthful.

There could well have been more scams going on, but you'd need 10,000 of them to see any noticeable effect, and I doubt there was anything like that. And besides, there's people who found it less busy this year (outside of the early days, where it's already confirmed many more were on site than last year).

I think it depended on where you were. As someone else has noted, for the festival's core demographic, the Pyramid was very strong this year, so 'town' being busy would be in line with that.

All in all I'm not convinced there's any story to be uncovered here.

Edited July 8, 2009 by paulo999

[TalkShow Bob]

i saw wrist band swapping at the paines field gate. They all looked pretty similar with shaved heads. One guy came out and met 2 others and asked if they were ready and handed them tickets and wrist bands, then they just walked through the re-entry gate. I guess long sleeves covers the lack of wrist band problem.

I think girls would be able to get away with it more with similar make up and maybe glasses. Most gate stewards arent arsed by the look of you just that the ticket is genuine. So maybe its the way to get onsite. A big risk though if you have a long journey, but worth it at £175

[eFestivals]

I noticed a lot of guest/crew/vip or whatever bands on the go and the all had a plastic clasp rather than metal surely easy enough to pass around.

the plastic clasp is harder to remove. It breaks.

I also wouldn't be surprised that the traders are asking for additional wristbands in order to sell them on for profit to friends etc.

traders are charged for the number of wristbands they get as a part of their stall fee - so there's no advantage to them in getting extras.

[The Nal]

Didnt find it that busy at all this year, probably due to the lack of mud, condensing people onto the paths etc. Nice n casual this year!! Same again next year please.

[Stuzo]

I seem to recall the facts & figures at the press tent this year stating attendance on site as being 139,000 compared to 159,000 last year.

On the last night I rand from Blur to Black Eyed Peas to Prodigy & all 3 arenas looked rammed full!!! The paths & stalls in between each where completely deserted apart from the stall holders.

[cabstar]

That would fit in with what I said about Pyramid, Other & Jazz World stage being main attended events on Sunday night

[ShadyBlueBell]

Posted the same question yesterday and it does just seem to come down to a killer Pyramid line up really.

Oh and a f**kton of people sitting in cheap camping chairs taking up space!

[Neville Street]

On the Sunday night during the headliner slot I went to every stage....

[Laura_Babs]

To be fair The Prodigy WAS very insane, I literally had to kinda stick my head upwards towards the sky just to get some air at points.

Edited July 8, 2009 by Laura_Babs

[Stuzo]

Heroic effort! Which were you most tempted to actually stop at?

We were in Avalon for Seth Lakeman, who was penultimate on there, it was completely full for him, but emptied quickly when he finished. We made easy progress to Pyramid to see balance of Blur set. Pyramid was full, but really spaced out. We entered the field by the loos next to the Cider Bus and got quite far in before realising our friends were back at the urinals half way up the hill. They had stopped there, but in reality could have got a big space much nearer the stage.

Edited July 8, 2009 by Stuzo

[paulo999]

Was most tempted to (and did by design) finish up at the Peatbog Fairies on the Avalon stage. I saw them there in 2005 and thought they put on a fantastic show, so it seemed like the perfect place to finish. I was tempted by Blur but had already spent too much of the day at the Pyramid so needed to get my smaller stage fix.

I'll definitely put a link to the video on here when it's done but that is probably some time off yet (I know nothing about video editing so need to learn first). Part of the reason for doing it was to give as a response to the endless stream of Glasto virgins who post on here after the line-up announcement asking how long it will take them to get from stage x to stage y.

[Neville Street]

look forward to the vid

[Storm_NL]

Didnt find it that busy at all this year, probably due to the lack of mud, condensing people onto the paths etc. Nice n casual this year!! Same again next year please.

[Langdale Wolf]

Pyramid - 95% full (although without chairs you could probably get another 20% in there)

[ciderboy]

Many have said this year felt much busier than previous years despite similar ticket numbers. Anyone seen any official numbers post-festival? I looked up the official council report, but that seems to come out mid-Autumn so we have some time to wait. I wondered whether it was a perception thing as more people were staying around the main stages more of the time this year because of the line-up, or perhaps there's a new security loophole and lots of people got in somehow that shouldn't be there? Any ideas?