Worst experience

[LusciousLucy]

Reading some of your tales of woe makes me quite glad that I have merely had to deal with a dodgy tummy and an exploding Scouser in my 17 years of attendance. I've only lost my tent once and that was in 98 but the outcome of that was being adopted by the nice people who looked after me til dawn.

If anything now thinking about it, my worst festy experience ever was last year. I had got a job with a what I thought was a nice food stall. Worked at Download where it very clear from the moment I met the rest of the team it wasnt going to work out between us. The girls who ran it were very stuck up and a couple of them fairly childish and bitchy, I was really miserable the entire time, the only things that got me through were Michala and Leprekorn from Efests who were at the fest and the awesome AC/DC show.

Me and the girls parted ways on the Monday but in my excitement with the initial thought of working all summer, I had refunded my G ticket and so was ticketless. Whilst waiting for the bus back to Derby, I managed to lose my train ticket home. I was way more upset about not going to the G than not having the job anymore at this point. Called Michala, who picked me up from Nottingham and let me stay a night. Went on efests at her house and as luck would have it, there was a ticket going spare with a girl's face that was a near perfect likeness. By 6pm, after all the days upset, I was going to the G again. The day after I got home I also then got an invite to work at T and Camp Bestival with a much nicer girl and also got to go to Guilfest as the Efests reviewer.

So my summer of potential no job ended up as the busiest and best festy year of my life. 13 fests eventually, amazing memories...sadly though still pretty much in a state of unemployment even now. Heyho.

[FluffyFairy]

The only bad experience I've had really apart from feeling detached a few times is 2007 ,after four days of rain I was stood watching the Who on the pyramid stage and it was the heaviest the rain had fell all week and I was thinking get me home,half an hour left of the set I marched back to the tent grabbed me bag and drove back to the north east (home)a 7 hour drive.....drunk high and tired.SHAME.

[Dominic1983]

2007, I decided to neck a pill at camp before heading off to the silent disco or somesuch one night. Ended up walking along the railway track with my housemate (clockworkpurple) as it got extremely crowded and gridlocked. At that moment I started coming up, and we just couldn't move at all, it was so busy. There was a security person beside us shouting through a megaphone to try and disperse the crowds, but people were hardly moving. I began to freak out and have a major panic attack, thinking I was dying, but luckily we managed to get off of the railway track. I was up and down for the next few hours, and since that moment I've stuck with alcohol. Seems the safe option for me!

[Runner]

I felt like that in 2007. The rain really bought on my depression that year so I rarely left my tent. Missed the whole of Saturday day and night because I just wanted to curl up in my sleeping bag on my own and not face the cold, mud and rain. Seems really silly now because Glastonbury is the best place on earth. I told my mates I had the flu.

[MEGABOWL]

Getting so pissed/sunstruck on Friday in 2009 that after weeks obsessing about who to see out of Neil Young/Q-Tip/Doves I saw none of them and scared my better half so much she called the medics (who just laughed, rightly). I then fell asleep head out of the tent but in a puddle of my own sick.

At Glastonbury 2009, I was 32 years old.

What did I learn? Suncream, water and food are good things, being in the festival bubble does not make you invincible.

[Leedspete]

What did I learn? Suncream, water and food are good things, being in the festival bubble does not make you invincible.

[muddyslingbax]

Fixed that for you.

[Spindles]

Gnah...cannot +1 that comment

[DiscoDolly]

1998 and getting way to out of it for my own good and not sleeping at all over the weekend in the hope of overcoming the Somme like conditions. I finally passed out in the tent through sheer exhaustion on sunday night/monday morning but woke up in the early hours to find the tent completely flooded and me lying face down with oozing stinking muddy water not only all over me but in my mouth!.

I immediately threw up but that was only the beginning, within a few hours the crap (literally) and bacteria i had swallowed began their awful attack and i was so ill on my return home i was off work for 2 weeks.It was truly horrendous and painful..and dangerous!

Having a few hours sleep every night is now the norm for me when at Glasto regardless of conditions and getting so completely trashed never happened again either....lesson well and truly learned.

[Andre28sharp]

Moral of the story - stick to illegal drugs!

[Strummer74]

Reading 1997,my first festival.

Woke up in the middle of the night needing to answer a call of nature.

There were people about so i thought it would be best to head to tree area close by.

Had torch showing me the grassy path so with head down off i went.

Path went down slight incline suddenly and what i thought was more grass turned out to be green sludge on top of small river or possibly large pond type thing.

Not sure if you can picture taking your next step thinking it will be solid ground but instead ending up completely under water filled with god knows what but let me tell you,i have never been so scared before or since in my life.

Somehow managed to get out and make my way back.

Spent the week after in bed being violently sick like i have never known.

Lesson learned?...if your going to fall in slurry filled rivers,don't wear a thick wool jumper!

[Spindles]

I'm ashamed to say that I had a similar experience trying to take a shortcut to the toilets from mandala on the Wednesday night last year. We were looking for the path through the trees to the railway track with some random people we met looking for the same, hopped over a fence and thought we would just pop through to the railway (it seemed a good idea at the time). It was only apparent that it was a mistake when I plunged into some sort of water, torches appeared and a very nice, polite chap showed us back out, we had been stumbling blindly through permaculture ahead of their opening and probably caused some damage in the process (was too dark to know).

I kept saying to my daughter I would go back when they'd opened and apologise, but each day I bottled it and hadn't revealed to anyone my shambolic behaviour until now. I still feel a tit thinking about it now (although it was a fun adventure with random strangers up until we realised)

[CitizenErased]

Reading this thread makes me think that perhaps Glasto is not as human being friendly as the aerial shots make it look.

@Strummer74, ouch! did you find out what you caught? Surely though "...if your going to fall in slurry filled rivers, don't!"

[Strummer74]

Yeah i didn't tell my mates either.

The next morning they were asking why my jumper was outside my tent soaking wet.

Only came clean a year later.They are still laughing now.

[Spindles]

I was lucky in that I only went knee deep, randomly my shoes/jeans were dry by the time I was back at the tent even though it was the middle of the night. Ever since I have just imagined that we mangled up some plant based display that had taken loads of effort and they thought we were drunken yobs. They were really nice about it, which sort of makes me more guilty.

[Strummer74]

Reading this thread makes me think that perhaps Glasto is not as human being friendly as the aerial shots make it look.

@Strummer74, ouch! did you find out what you caught? Surely though "...if your going to fall in slurry filled rivers, don't!"

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I was lucky in that I only went knee deep, randomly my shoes/jeans were dry by the time I was back at the tent even though it was the middle of the night. Ever since I have just imagined that we mangled up some plant based display that had taken loads of effort and they thought we were drunken yobs. They were really nice about it, which sort of makes me more guilty.

[rexclark]

Spindles, you are a legend! Hope to see you at the cider bus.

[Spindles]

Thankfully, yes you will.

Just got back from the hospital again, all good though (apart from arterial blood test, hurts a damned sight more than a vein!), was in agony last night and have spent the last 4 hours being poked, prodded and looked at from the inside. Got some luvverly painkillers (and am still enjoying the refreshing taste of oramorph) to tide me over and they reassure me that everything is healing well and shiznit.

Pleased, as I was shitting myself somewhat at about 4 this morning

[youngatheart]

ive learnt two things first wear socks or you will get big and i mean big blisters

and second dont let bunter camp next to you if you value your sanity

[so_wot]

Seems to me the main lesson is: know yourself and your limits, and do what seems right for you and not what the other idiots do/say

[amnesiac-kid]

First festival, Glasto 2009.

Having heard all the stories and then seen them for the first time on the Thursday (already messed up) I was determined not to use the toilets for anything other than a piss for the whole festival and then let rip at a service station on the way back.

Big mistake. By the Saturday night I had intense pain in bowel area, felt like I'd been shot, and had to hobble half a mile to my tent to get tissues and then man up and do what needed to be done in the portaloos. I spent half my time there on the Sunday, luckily we were camped quite near the Other Stage so the trips were short and I didn't miss anything important.

Lesson learned, go to the toilet once a day, get it over with. Last year we were in the family area, cleaned regularly and had actual flushes

I'm strongly considering avoiding the burgers and hotdogs altogether this year, and getting all my meals from this really nice fresh fruit stall (hope it's still around this year). I certainly wont be buying anything that I can't see being cooked in front of me.

Edited June 5, 2011 by amnesiac-kid

[MamaJojo]

2009, took a load of codeine before the fest to 'block' me up and avoid Glasto poo-age. by Friday night stomach was absolute agony, didn't manage to crap until nearly two weeks later and felt like I was on the crapper for a year....never again.

[MamaJojo]

oh, and 2009 again.

Glasvegas (before prodigy)

f**king awful

[Abster]

My worst moment ever, was in 2008 around midnight on the Friday, I was walking from the Other stage field into the dance area. Through the Gate through the fence if you know what I mean, it was busy with people and muddy from the rain earlier that day. I remember looking at one bit and thinking I'm going to break my leg if I go that way so I moved more to the right of the walkway/gate took my time, got through the mud thought yes I'm safe then proceed to finish the text I was writing..... I then remember being in mid fall to the right hearing a snap and being on the floor... This couple helped me up asked if I was ok etc I was like no i've broken my leg, to which they didn't understand as I was standing up!

So they went of I hopped some how through mud to security told them I'd broken my leg, they called the "ambulance" which was actually a land rover with two big huge northern guys in it, I then got taken to the 1st aid place via the backstage route, the staff there where as good as a chocolate tea pot, informed them what happened they took my wellie of foot, my foot was at a funny angle, upon seeing this I burst out crying was ok up to then!

I was then informed it's sprained, told to rest leg keep above my hip and go to the 1st aid place tomo up by the farm where they have an x ray machine, my friends turned up at this point carried me back to tent that night, Next morning we went off to other 1st aid place, informed I have a spiral fracture, was plasted on site given crutches and sent on my merry way!

Rest of sat was spent at my tent sulking/sleeping/crying, Sunday I set up camp at the back of the other stage with chairs blankets and watched the one stage all day, friends where/are fantastic they got me food etc etc going to the toilet was a bitch!

Moral of story don't break your leg!!!!

I'm taking a book this year just incase

Edited June 5, 2011 by Abster