Shangri La

[Englishdragon]

Its the one thing I didnt do last year that I really wanted to. We tried to get down their on the Thursday night but the time it took us to walk from the spirit of 71 stage (which was a really good atmosphere) to Shangri La was ridiculous and we ended up giving up and going back to our tents.

Didnt try the other 2 nights but only because I couldnt be arsed battling against the pyramid crowds.

[Thearg]

We don't go to the SE corner until about 2am and there's no queues to get in but what really pissed me off was the endless zig zaging barriers,its not enough that walking round the rest of the festival takes it out of you but then you have to walk through that thing when there was no queues,they didn't have the sense just to open a barrier.

Rant over.

[Bisque]

I thought Shangri La was crap last year compared to before, I couldn't put my finger on why though!

[frostypaw]

Speaking of Block 9. Does anybody know when and how you get into the walk-way in it? I've seen footage of it and I've never worked out how you gain entry. I was gutted I couldn't find it last time. It's like a bizarre walkthrough with live actors and such. Any ideas?

[Dog Burger]

Did anyone else go and have a tequila in Anus Close?

[Pinhead]

I thought Shangri La was crap last year compared to before, I couldn't put my finger on why though!

[Dog Burger]

I can - it was the way the 'tongue in cheek' exclusivity thing actually became a little bit apparent - the elite and celebrity being shuffled in and shuffled out by their respective security entourages, particularly to Heaven - whilst a queue of hundreds waited for a chance to get in....

Also the alley ways have been done to death a bit now and every venue was like the other with the same sort of bar and drink selection.

Having said this though, still impressed by much of it and enjoyed it anyway.

[roughbloke]

Surely people know about all the secret entrances to Shangri La?

I'm not gunna post them here but there are loads! It's worth having wander about! I found the hidden piano bar last year whilst doing it.

[Dog Burger]

Surely people know about all the secret entrances to Shangri La?

I'm not gunna post them here but there are loads! It's worth having wander about! I found the hidden piano bar last year whilst doing it.

[Pinhead]

"But standing in a queue sobering up doesn't really feel right at Glastonbury, to me, it all starts to feel a bit theme park..."

Yep - have been referring to it like this a bit since last year. Thing is the expectation is now to be entertained rather than contribute to generating the entertainment, although to be fair there is a bit of an interactive streak running through some of the events.

[roughbloke]

It's not so much a matter of getting into Shangri La itself, it's getting into the micro venues - a lot of which were sporting 30-40 minute queues last year.

[Aby]

Speaking of Block 9. Does anybody know when and how you get into the walk-way in it? I've seen footage of it and I've never worked out how you gain entry. I was gutted I couldn't find it last time. It's like a bizarre walkthrough with live actors and such. Any ideas?

[jonny2mad]

I think the problem was some of the venue capacitys heavens was pretty small cant remember what it was off hand but that may have caused ques there,

Anyway The reason you have the ques to get into the area is it just gets to popular at various points of time, part of what I do is wander around monitoring crowds, its a inexact science but sometimes you have to close off the number of people for a while coming into a thing

The problem with people coming in through back ways is this could make this not work if lots of people did it, the que system is basically there for a good reason if you see long ques I'd just wander off for a bit then come back, the area is open all night and it does get gradually more quiet .

Anyway cant say much about best times to get in that hasn't been said, sometimes there was no que at all when the stones were playing the place was empty .

the theme changes in shangri la they keep it for about three years, so it will be heaven and hell this year but there will be changes in the area they have a facebook page where they sometimes give hints or ask for suggestions .

[Dog Burger]

Thing is the expectation is now to be entertained rather than contribute to generating the entertainment,

Edited March 24, 2014 by Dog Burger

[Pinhead]

This is exactly what I've been saying about the shift in demographic at Glastonbury for a few years now. It's legitimate to shuffle round in your expensive waterproofs, queue up, point at the freaks and then get back in the Audi and fuck off back down the A303 complaining it wasn't as good as last year.

[Dog Burger]

[Vieuphoria]

They just pick you out from the queue, my friends were picked last year and it sounded harrowing, particularly if you're in a slightly fragile state!

[JGP]

What time does everything in the SE corner generally close?

[Dog Burger]

What time does everything in the SE corner generally close?

[JGP]

NEVER!

[jonny2mad]

Generally the next morning when people have stopped dancing some venues go a bit to sleep but theres always something going on, we are the late night party bit of the site some of the venues clear people out but that will be the next morning .

I do the night shift there, in the morning we change over all our stewards have a skeleton crew of coverage, normally you go through the covered dance venues and close them down, people wander off maybe find somewhere to have a burger maybe find a fire to sit by

[RobertProsineckisLighter]

I was there on the Friday... apprently. Dont remember queing.

[jonny2mad]

it all depends on the crowds and your timing, we have people wandering about monitoring basically I do that all night and if a area is getting to crowded we limit access for a bit, they also have counters counting the people entering the area. your talking big crowds . I think generally it works pretty well and most people understand why we do it . myself if I saw big ques to get in I'd wander somewhere else then come back the area is open all night so come when a lot of people have gone to bed

[DJL]

Yeah, I get what you're saying. The installation art and imagination behind each individual concept is mightily impressive, but then you get inside and for the most part it's another bar, selling the same drinks at the same prices, playing dubstep.

[guypjfreak]

Surely people know about all the secret entrances to Shangri La?

I'm not gunna post them here but there are loads! It's worth having wander about! I found the hidden piano bar last year whilst doing it.