Sleep deprivation

[spikytom]

I always notice plenty of bravado in the run up to the festival along the lines of ‘sleep is for losers!’ or ‘I’m gonna stay awake for 5 days straight!’ so I was wondering, has anyone, or does anyone know of anyone who has ever actually gone without sleep for the whole thing? Or at least from the Friday onwards? I’m sure there must be some mentalists who have tried for the full 5/6 days, but I’m sure most would crash by about Friday and spend the rest of the weekend in a bad way/ sleeping it off.

My personal record was at Global Gathering in 2006 – about 65 hours… some dodgy herbal stuff saw that I didn’t get a wink all festival, never again! At Glasto I can exist quite happily on 2-3 hours kip a day and just catch up when back at home, although overindulgence on the Saturday night for the last 2 years coupled with Sunday morning sunshine has meant ive skipped Saturday night sleep completely… always a bit grumpy on the Sunday!

[Okky]

Sleep deprivation to me is like a kind of high, I love mixing it with other sorts.

[BlackHole2006]

Even though I enjoy the occasional hike- Nothing prepares me for trotting around Glasto with hiking boots on and leaping about to bands all day. Whatever time I crawl back into my tent I usually am zonkoed so it takes me about half an hour for me to get to sleep. Whoever is on the blazing saddles stage at that time usually sends me off to sleep nice and easy. The most I've ever stayed up however is for 3 days and nights straight on a french trip, only managed to get 1 hours sleep the night before we left. Somehow I don't think I can manage that at Glasto but I will by all means try.

[Styliko]

I've only ever managed 72 hours but it hasn't been enjoyable nor was I able to function properly.

This year I am bringing sleeping tablets to help me sleep as it is a nightmare trying to sleep in the heat. As long as I get at least 4 hours I should be fine.

[ukslim]

Sod that for a game of soldiers. If I've not had my sleep, I'm in no mood to have fun.

3-4am, when my eyes can't stay open, I toddle back to camp, put the eye mask on and the earplugs in, and sleep until my bladder or my hunger wake me up.

[Chazeboy]

Sod that for a game of soldiers. If I've not had my sleep, I'm in no mood to have fun.

3-4am, when my eyes can't stay open, I toddle back to camp, put the eye mask on and the earplugs in, and sleep until my bladder or my hunger wake me up.

[The Nal]

Not many people do it, despite what they say.

Personally, Im fond of a 6-7pm kip to recharge and that keeps me going till 7amish. (Its VERY quiet at that time). Done that the last few years now and works a charm. You'll never get 7-8 hours straight kip at Glasto so I find small kips are the way forward.

The more I go to Glasto, the later I wake up and the later I go to bed. Night time is where its at.

But I do need my kip. Eyemasks and earplugs are a beautiful thing. Particularly with so many f**king vuvuzelas around last year.

Edited May 11, 2011 by The Nal

[cejx]

last year cos of the heat I was getting about 3-4 hours a night - and was right miserable with it. 2007, I was getting the full 8 hours as it was too grim to leave the tent!

[geebus]

last year cos of the heat I was getting about 3-4 hours a night - and was right miserable with it. 2007, I was getting the full 8 hours as it was too grim to leave the tent!

[fresh]

My attitude towards festivals and holidays has changed I used to go full bore but recently I've noticed the trick with my body is not to change my routines to much I seem to recover alot better if I sleep well, re-hydrate and eat decent it sounds sh*t but I enjoy my days more

[spikytom]

I'm embarrased to admit that last year due to not getting any sleep the night before, i was tucked up in my tent by about 11:30pm on the wednesday! the bastard early morning sunshine made sure i was up by about 6 or 7 every morning though.

Cloudy mornings this year please!

[lucyginger]

I slept for at least 5 hours a night last year! I was going to bed about 5-6am, and waking up at about 10am. no one could understand how I managed to sleep in the heat, me included!

I have some of my best sleeps at Glastonbury, in 2009 I slept for 8 hours solid one night, the first time I'd done that in years.

[Chazeboy]

I'm fine in the sleeping in the heat. I'm asleep I don't feel it. BUT as soon as I come out of sleep for a nano second my dry tent floor is transformed into a sweat filled swimming pool. And I can't get back to sleep. That's why hitchin was good tended to stay quiet till 9 ish anyway. So 4-6 hrs sleep

[LusciousLucy]

As there is just so much to see and do, apart from a fairly decent sleep on Wednesday into Thursday, its then on with the usual 3 hours a morning for me, 5 at a push into the Friday. 6-9am, 10am if there isnt a set or a workshop to be getting to and all is well. And then bugger all on Sunday into Monday. Saturday is usually the most painful day with fighting tiredness and you can be forgiven a snooze in the sun around 4. Just make sure you have mates around that can and will wake you.

Fighting sleep and knowing you have to push through so that you can see and experience as much as possible is all part of the endurance test that is the G. Whilst I respect people that do need their shut eye, when the event is only 120 hours long, why lose 30-50+ of it to sleeping??? Keep it down to an unhealthy 0-15 and you will have MUCH better time. You can sleep at home

[You Stay Classy...]

From waking up in time for Rolf on the Friday morning till around 4am on the sunday I had about an hour a half through Willie Nelson curled up in the middle of the crowd, an hour at the back of Reef on Saturday and another hour in the build up to the football on Sunday, up again at half 5 to get the first coach to the train station.

[Ed209]

I find it really difficult to sleep at glasto due to narcs, noise, heat etc, so 15 hours over the 5 nights and I reckon I've done well. Last year I think I got about 12, was pretty ruined but hey, that's life. A cheeky bit of shut eye late afternoon, even if its only a half hour doze can recharge the batteries enough to push on through to the wee hours.

Someone, somewhere, must have done the fest without sleep though, legends.

[jris]

after 5 days without sleep you turn into a bat!!

[gooner1990]

last year I was working at a pub, and we had a last minute function booking which I had to work on the Tuesday (night before we went to Glastonbury) got home at 11pm...and as I was getting picked up at 4am i decided to stay up, after getting down to the site, doing a bit of Mandy and roaming round the site i had been awake for 42 hours...got 5 hrs sleep that night, 6 hours on Thursday, then 3 hours a night after that...i slept for around 20 hours in total.

In 2009 a mate of mine did 3 drops of acid and was up for 2 days...he eventually went to bed 5pm sat afternoon and didn't rise till 11am Sunday...18 hours later!

[hashcity]

Reaching 24 hours is hard enough for most people: at that point the urge to sleep is really quite overwhelming: particularly when you consider all the physical exertion you'll be putting in. You can get a second wind (generally coffee induced), but after 24 hours your energy levels are low and 'enjoying' anything is a struggle. When I used to work in a bar I did a few shifts back/back and they were really no fun. Really, ANY sleep is better than no sleep. Even if it is only 2 hours, it will help.

When you consider that between 6am-8am, really nowt much is going on, on site, there's not much point staying up really. When you consider that it will come back to haunt you later in the day, typically when you are trying to enjoy the headliners and are too exhausted to dance.

Although with a bag full of Es there's no reason the whole festy couldn't be done

[rexclark]

The used to survive on about 2-3 hours sleep per night but now I need at least four or five. Not too bad, go to bed about 6am and get up again about 10am and get back on it then normally have a nap later on.

[4AssedMonkey]

From about 1990 to 2007 I was a very keen mountain biker and almost every year I'd do 1 or 2 "24 hour" race events (Think Le Mans with mountain bikes and a 10 mile loop as the track). The exertion coupled with going pretty much 48 hours straight without sleep is a real challenge. It's not just the tiredness, it derails your biorhythms so you don't feel tired, you just feel a bit out of phase - as if you're seeing reality through a TV screen. As such, certain chemicals can assist as you feel that way anyway so don't notice.

I'm pretty good at avoiding sleep generally and will go 36 - 48 hours without and it's not usually too much of a problem. HOWEVER I can't do it at Glasto as after too much exertion + alcohol + fresh air/sunshine etc. my system rebels and the homing device kicks in. I often get to a point where the immortal sentence " Bladdered, knackered, going." is uttered and then I bounce off and somehow wake up in the tent.

Beer, don't do it kids.

[ktej]

I tend to stay up as late as possible and get up around 10ish I think I average about 3-4 hours a night, with maybe a nap come Saturday afternoon. You can always sleep when you got get home afterall.

[BlackHole2006]

Beer, don't do it kids.

[TwistedReligion]

I'll sleep when I'm dead!!!

(probably as a result of collapsing from physical exhaustion after the whole 5 days, but hey!)

No, seriously anyone saying they have gone the entire 120 hours is a liar!

Sleep Deprivation in the right doses gives you an amazing and quite indescribable view on the world!

[Luke The Lersh]

I done 72 hours at Global Gathering last year and I haven't been the same since, I struggle to stay up 24 hours now, after so much I need to sleep.