Festival Help 2012

[Chrisbristol]

Hey all,

Glastonbury 2011 was my first ever fest at the ripe old age of 30. Has to be one of the best things i have ever done. I wish i had done it a decade ago! 200 quid is an absolute steal and i spent about 90 quid whilst there.

I hereby vow to never miss another glasto until i'm A: too old, B: sadly no longer with us.

Obviously next year is a no show, so what i would like to know is what is the next best thing and how does it compare?

Things i loved about glasto include, bringing your own drinks, general atmosphere amongst fellow festival goers, sheer scale of the site, range of ages and of course the food. i am strongly considering isle of wight although i know little about it. any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks all

[Craigston]

Sadly Im pretty sure theres nowhere as good thats anywhere near on the scale of Glasto or have even half the things you liked about it.

Whilst you can have a great time (as I have) at Reading/Leeds or V, IMHO they're a poor second and third place to the G in terms of the larger UK festivals.

There are smaller festivals although I've never really bothered with these as they usually seem poor value in comparison. I mean the big chill for example was only about £20 cheaper than Glasto??!

I would like to consider either of the Isle of Wight or foreign fests for next year but I reckon the journey (especially back) would be a real ballache. For convenience (i live there), im resigned to probably going to Leeds next year with several more gigs than id usually go to in a glasto year thrown in for good measure.

Ho hum- less than 22 months till Glasto 2013

[thesecretingredientiscrime]

Next year, I'm going to pick from Primavera, Bestival, End Of The Road or Midi festival. All looked very good this year, and I'd recommend checking them.

[LondonTom]

Lots of thread around , some have recomened bestival as a smaller alternative buts unlikely you will find everything you like about glasto elsewhere.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I have been to Bestival several times (a few years ago now though) and found it to be a great festival and not too unlike that of Glastonbury in terms of it's atmosphere. It is however not on the same scale as Glasto which is something you said is important. However there's loads of different stuff going on and you'll have no problem wandering around being entertained.You'll not get the selection of food that you get at Glasto anywhere, but there is good food at Bestival so you don't have to eat crappy stuff.You can bring your own drink into the camping areas but not the arena. Not too sure how strict this is because we were able to get drinks past easily enough but they may have clamped down more on this.

[grumpyhack]

I used to rave on about the wonderful variety at Glasto but over the years I've worked out what particular aspects I like and you can find many smaller festivals that reflect your particular taste. One of my discoveries this year was Chagstock in Devon. A tiny festival but music to my taste and superb food to match. There are only so many bands you can see or meals you can eat in a day, so a well-chosen smaller festival can probably give you all you want.

[Al2006]

Green Man Festival in the Brecon Beacons. Beautiful setting, amazing music, best sound quality I've ever heard at a festival or gigs (puts glastonbury to shame). Infact Green Man Festival 2011 definitely rivaled Glastonbury 2011.. still not sure which I preferred. Honestly couldn't recommend it more, Laura Marling privately played for me in a yurt for f**ks sake!

[eFestivals]

shhhh .... there's still some festivals out there where you don't get the full gulag experience that nearly every other festival gives you.

[Al2006]

did you manage to make it to green man this year Neil??

[eFestivals]

did you manage to make it to green man this year Neil??

nope - tho as far as I'm aware that gives you much of the gulag experience.

[Al2006]

Define gulag experience

[eFestivals]

Define gulag experience

not trusted to be a human being.

[Al2006]

You are "not allowed" to take your own booze into the arena.. however I took mine in all weekend and saw someone walking in broad daylight with 3 crates of stella.. they didn't care! I'd say you get treated like a human being. And the "Security" were brilliant amazing happy people.

Edited August 30, 2011 by Al2006

[eFestivals]

You are "not allowed" to take your own booze into the arena.. however I took mine in all weekend and saw someone walking in broad daylight with 3 crates of stella.. they didn't care! I'd say you get treated like a human being. And the "Security" were brilliant amazing happy people.

walking past an individual who isn't following the festival rules doesn't count as non-gulag. The non-gulag experience is where you're treated as an adult from all angles.

There are some, but far too few.

[greenfairy43]

If you're after the 'freedom' you get at Glastonbury, then don't even consider the IoW. You can't even take water into the arena with you, let alone your own booze. And there are "sniffer" dogs at the turnstiles into the arena too.

Nothing could be further than G imho.

[Craigston]

I would love to go to a smaller festival but checking the lineups of the green man and chagstock there are only about 8 acts I'd wanna have seen.

Sadly, it's my view that that's not enough to make it worth my while as there were over 100 I'd want to have seen if it was possible at the G this year for the same money to go to both the smaller fests.

I'll just have to keep scouring the lineups next year for a smaller fest that suits my particular taste for 2012!

Edited August 30, 2011 by Craigston

[Craigston]

If you're after the 'freedom' you get at Glastonbury, then don't even consider the IoW. You can't even take water into the arena with you, let alone your own booze. And there are "sniffer" dogs at the turnstiles into the arena too.

Nothing could be further than G imho.

[eFestivals]

Sorry I meant bestival which is on the isle of Wight rather than the other one which I wouldnt bother with as i have heard quite a few nightmare tales about it

the same things apply there as with the IoW festival.

[Mackem]

shhhh .... there's still some festivals out there where you don't get the full gulag experience that nearly every other festival gives you.

[FunkyDenz]

Obviously next year is a no show, so what i would like to know is what is the next best thing and how does it compare?

Things i loved about glasto include, bringing your own drinks, general atmosphere amongst fellow festival goers, sheer scale of the site, range of ages and of course the food.

[eFestivals]

Never mind Shhhh ... Neil, we want details! So which would you recommend.

I've given details, you've just not realised.

I'm a bit loathed to say it out loud, cos they'll be a stampede. But it's not a fest for those who insist on the biggest bands - they all give you the gulag experience to the greatest extent.

[FunkyDenz]

I've given details, you've just not realised.

[markeee]

Nothing really on the same scale as Glasto, in terms of the sheer size of the site, number of different areas, variety, and just the masses of stuff going on at any one time - along with the fact we can all walk round with backpacks full of alcohol..can't beat that, so nice to have cans in your bag watch a band and just drink a few cans - rather than wasting time queuing! Like say reading, get a pint, watch the band..great pint finished..do I just wait till the end or sacrifice a bit of the band and get another drink? Owing to the fact it's a pain having pints all the time when people knock into you and it spills your pint!

But I did have some good times at Reading when I used to go to be fair! Just can't see myself doing any festival where it's so restricted and there's so little to do in comparison to glasto!

save your money for 2013

[CiderFiend]

I've done quite a few UK festivals in the past 6 years, and none of them match up to Glastonbury. I would quite like to do RockNess, but I am going to book Exit Festival in Serbia in the next few months because it's a bit different. None of this rain stuff that seems to blight Glasto every year, and it's absolutely dirt cheap!

£89 for early bird tickets for Exit 2012, flights are around £100 return and transfer to Novi Sad (where the festival is) is about £15 from Belgrade. That's for the price of a Glasto ticket already. You can get some bloomin' nice rental apartments for about £17 a night as well, camping is apparently not advised due to the high temperatures at the festival.

Anyone been to Exit before?

[lucyginger]

My sister and I are considering Glade and Beautiful Days for next year. We know people who have been to both, and they've given us good reports.

You can get both tickets for just over the cost of a glasto ticket, so not that much more (apart from spending money etc).

We are currently researching options!!