Resigned to the mud

[ggoon]

Missed 2005 and 2007, but the first time we went was 2004, and we almost went home mid afternoon after a colossal downpour on the Sunday.

Sat in front of the pyramid stage, tarpaulin over our heads, still getting drenched, barely anyone around as far as the eye could see while christy o'connor (or some such name - folk singer, Irish) sang something atrocious. Miserable, wet, cold without hope.

We stayed and caught Muse. Our lives changed forever.

We look back and think just how much we loved that festival

[dancingdaisy09]

2005 we had our pic taken by Q, kind of ironic that on the morning of THE storm we were on the front page with a headline along the lines of 'Phew what a scorcher!'

I cannot remember seeing any sun at all in 2007. Although I didn't get there 'til the Friday because of work & had anaphalactic shock to boot on the Sunday. That was an experience. I found out that I was allergic to those baked peanut stalls OR Chilli in that year. God bless Glastonbury.

The sunset during the Scissor sisters last year was amazing.

I cannot remember which year, I just remember lots of rain and the pyramid stage, Supergrass were playing and they just started singing "I know a place where the sun hits the sky..." and the rain stopped and suddenly we all saw the sun and everyone went mental. Bl**dy brilliant.

Anyway, muddy tips, this is turning into a muddy memory thread. Although this is a good thing, reminds people that actually mud ain't all that bad.

[LusciousLucy]

That downpour/storm saved the festival in 2004!

Thanks to that final wettening, the getting way too sticky mud loosened up again to good levels and we were able to dance like loons in the Other Stage field watching Orbital's 'Last Ever' English show instead of being stuck in the mud.

[LusciousLucy]

I was mentally scarred by the mud in 97. I actually nearly jumped out of my skin when I came across one tiny little mud patch at Phoenix 97 a couple of weeks later.

Wasnt planning on going in 98 and had sent all my wet weather gear home from uni the week before the fest but then a couple of us on the uni events team got invited to get smuggled in by the guys who had helped sort our grad ball.

My events manager loaned me her Barbour jacket, we popped to an outdoor clothing shop on the way to the train to Bournemouth, bought wellies and a set of waterproof strides. Shared a teeny Eurohike tent at the fest with my mate, got insanely pissed as two 19 year old students generally do at the fest and had THE most awesome time.

What minimal wet weather gear we had held up, we were never miserable either.

[saratink]

The marigolds idea sounds good but I'm just gona stick with bin bags, don't really wanna add another thing to the massive list when bin bags are multi functional!!

[iamstreety]

At least with mud you haven't got to weave your way through loads of people lying down at the stages. Much easier to get near the front.

Top tip for me is binbags. We use them to take off our wellies and can then leave them near the tent for empties. Other uses include, sitting on them or making them into a poncho.

[abdoujaparov]

97...THE worst...EVER! Never got sunny/warm enough, but never rained properly again from the Wednesday, instead it just lightly drizzled thus creating wet to goo to glue mud...NOT a good combo! I was concreted into my spot from the ankles down for 2 hours in the Other Stage field watching the Chems that year

[nat2006]

Thinking about 2007 (my first glasto), -a clothes tip, I remember wishing that I had brought a pair of tights for each day, as I only brought 3 pairs and the mud just dried straight onto them . Would have been nicer being able to put fresh tights on everyday before embracing the rain and mud.

[wessok]

My girlfriend has especially purchased some Croc's wellies for the obviously muddy festival as she was so fed up with her heavy ones at Bestival (I think they were Musto yachting ones). She says she's seen reviews where people have said they were "gliding over the mud" & forgot they "had wellies on".

Will let you know if they are any good. Anyone recommend them?

[puppetmode]

I think 2007 was far worse than 2005. It just didnt stop!

2005 'only' rained Thursday night/Friday morning and then it was just a mud bath until Sunday when it was rock hard, the sun was out and Brian Wilson was singing surf songs on a wonderful English Summer Sunday

2007 was just miserable and finally just ended as wet as it started.

I remember in 2008 when it rained heavy on Thursday night that we were going to get yet ANOTHER year of rain but it was great after that.

Accuweather changes it forecast daily. 4 days ago it was pants. Now its the odd shower and blistering sun on Sunday. RESULT!

[DeanoL]

2005 was fine for 95% of people. Most of the rain came down overnight and on Friday morning, but then it stopped and didn't rain the rest of the weekend. If you weren't in the 5% of people that had their tents flooded or woke up in a lake then it really wasn't all that bad. Sure, a lot of mud around and some flooding, but it dried up pretty quickly and it was really warm the rest of the weekend.

Of course for those that got flooded out it was a true horror story, but for the vast majority 2007 was a lot worse.

[caroldecker]

2007 was my first year, after that I think I can handle anything. If we have our wellies on we'll be fine!

But sunshine would be nice.

[amfy]

Everyone remembers 2007 as non-stop rain but Lucy is right - Friday evening was gorgeous, as was much of Friday afternoon. I remember dancing to some reggae dubs in Dance Village in the sunshine in the afternoon, then heading over to The Frattellis at The Pyramid where the sun shone and the sound was non-existent, and then standing on the hill for the Arctic Monkees looking across at a beautiful sunset which totally convinced me that the rest of the weekend would be fine.

Then I also have a very clear memory of the sun being out for The Marley Brothers on Sunday afternoon.

However - it did rain most of the weekend and underfoot was a nightmare!