First Timer Mistakes 2014

[Untz]

Does anyone manage to take the right amount of spirits?!

No. I bet no-one takes the right amount of cans either, they probably just run out and they are easily replaced.

[frostypaw]

I saw Portishead over the Arctic monkeys, don't do that

Oh if we're doing those I missed radiohead for the chemical brothers I think in 03, cos I assumed they'd be back soon enough

Still cursing that.

[Wooderson]

All gonna be different this year, you got no faith in me, bruv.

Bringing my partner for her first time, need to be on my best behaviour

Fair play.

[Gnomicide]

All gonna be different this year, you got no faith in me, bruv.

Bringing my partner for her first time, need to be on my best behaviour

Someone should print this off and show it to him when he's bollocksed on Wednesday night.

[AbuHamster]

This year is my 10th. the last 6 have been at the top of the hill of death. I will complete this box to the brim in july

[Mardy]

Someone should print this off and show it to him when he's bollocksed on Wednesday night afternoon.

Fixed that for you, there.

Who am I kidding, eh?

[Wooderson]

Fixed that for you, there.

Who am I kidding, eh?

Which o' you khants is for whiskey? Dave?

[BlackHole2006]

After reading all the stuff about how bad it is to go it alone, I'd like to add my two pennies worth.

I'm really, really looking forward to going to Glastonbury on my own. It means that I can do whatever I want when I want and not have to worry about what other people want to see - other times at the festival have been magical but a couple of times I have had to compromise the bands I wanted to see because my friends wanted me to go see other bands with them. One thing that particularly annoyed me in 2013 was when my friend dragged me to the front of Foals which meant that I got a really crap spot for Nile Rodgers & Chic, Nile Rodgers and Chic were my number one must see for the whole festival.

Also in real life I really enjoy my own company - I spend the majority of my time on my own and I really like it. Don't think of me as this complete loner of a guy though. I do go out and do stuff with my mates every weekend and make the effort to go see them whenever they want me around. The point that I'm trying to make is that I'll have absolutely no quarms about wandering around and not talking to anyone. I'll go to the efests meet on Wednesday and it'll be cool. Otherwise I do see myself just wandering around doing my own thing which is absolutely fine by me.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it kind of depends on the kind of person you are. If you wanna go and have a good time with your friends and constantly need to have conversations then fair enough, maybe going to Glastonbury alone isn't for you. But if your cool with just wandering around and doing your own thing then that's fine too.

I really hope that this post doesn't come across like I think I'm better than everyone else because I know that I'll have a good time on my own, I'm just trying to point out that different people have different preferences on how they enjoy the festival, if that makes sense.

[Purple aki squat]

Don't take too much stuff...

After pitching up tent gather the gear together you wont need that day and put it in the lockups. If you have beer or cider the lockups keep it cooler than it sitting in your tent, just collect what you will need from the lockups each day.

Don't start the day with 4 cans of stella for breakfast, great at the time until afternoon comes and you are a little bit under the weather.

Don't try to see everything on your "plan", if you are in an area and are having a good time just stay put.

Don't drink too much cider if it gives you the shits. I had been about 10 times before I learned this trick, always thought I had ecoli by Saturday morning until I realised it was the cider (okay in moderation).

Allan

Got to disagree with the Stella breakfast. A beer for breakfast shifts the hangover every time. Always works

[Sawdusty surfer]

OK, it wasn't my first time (First was '85..could write a script for a film about that one) but was my second, '86.

My lesson from that year. Don't drop acid and then after half an hour decide with your friends that you were ripped off and so buy more and eat that.

Within seconds of eating the second one the first kicked in big time.

[grumpyhack]

I can luckily say I've got no regrets over 30 years of Glasto going but I do have some suggestions based on reading the regrets of others - not just in this thread but others too.

Don't drink too much. These threads are full of stories about people who got over-pissed and regretted it.

Pace yourself - in respect to both drink and everything else. Remember treat Glasto as a marathon, not a sprint.

Thinking back to my tenting days (I'm now a caravan-tower), spend a bit of time really setting your tent up well by daylight, rather than rushing off and then coming back wobbly in the dark and having to try to re-pitch it.

If you are a first-timer make sure you know where your tent is so you can find your way back in the dark.

Invest in a head-torch. Really useful to pick your way through the guy ropes.

Take a Lenor bottle.

Take a decent airbed and a pillow.

I'm also a believer in taking a camping chair - but I don't put it up at the front. It's just nice for bimbling days to sometimes sit down and watch the world go by.

As for going solo; I've done Glasto solo, in a gang of seven and most numbers in between and enjoyed all of them. It's whatever works for you.

Finally, do come to the EFests meet and say hello. There were several people on here who came close, hovered watching from a distance but didn't have the nerve to actually come up and say hello. Afterwards they admitted they regretted that. EFesters are a good bunch. Come and meet the gang.

[Cieran]

I'm thinking about bringing like a blow up lilo to sleep on instead of a blow up mattress, would this work okay?

[HGavin]

Are there lock ups all over the place, near different tent sites or just one main lock up?

[Tyonks]

Might sound like a weird one but in 2014 I'd tried to re live some of the beautiful moments I had from 2011. But second time round they were not on the same level. Not a regret as such mind, but always best to live in the moment and not the past.

So this year I'll focus on just creating new beautiful moments.

Also if you lose your friends don't spend too much time trying to locate them, I've done this at every festival i've been to and can be surprisingly time consuming and frustrating. No doubt I'll be doing that this year mind, although going with a smaller group so should be easier to manage!

[Tyonks]

Are there lock ups all over the place, near different tent sites or just one main lock up?

I believe there are 5 or 6 lock up across the site mate, although I've never used them personally so not sure exactly.

[frostypaw]

I'm thinking about bringing like a blow up lilo to sleep on instead of a blow up mattress, would this work okay?

No. They're not designed to be strong enough for that use and there are countless people with tales of them going flat or sliding off in the night

Are there lock ups all over the place, near different tent sites or just one main lock up?

Use the map - there are loads

[amfy]

Might sound like a weird one but in 2014 I'd tried to re live some of the beautiful moments I had from 2011. But second time round they were not on the same level. Not a regret as such mind, but always best to live in the moment and not the past.

!

Very good advice.

An example is the first time I fell upon Baggy Monday's, I was blown away by the brilliant selection of songs, and especially the great 'I am the Resurrection' singalong. The second time, I was waiting for that singalong, and when it came, I suppose it was just as good, but it wasn't a surprise, so it wasn't as good.

That isn't by a long way the best example of things that will surprise and delight you at Glastonbury, but it is full of things to surprise and delight you.........but the surprise bit is important.

It is also very good advice to carry on enjoying yourself if you lose your friends - again, maybe because it's surprising - some of your best times can be had when your plans go awry. if you need to arrange a meeting spot, make it somewhere where stuff is happening - so you don't have to just stand by a flagpole by the toilets for half an hour, - make it somewhere you can dance, talk to people, get a drink, and enjoy the wait!

[FuzzyDunlop]

Mistakes...

Camping next to a toilet. Camp close to one, but still a minute walk away.

Getting too fucked on the wednesday and or thursday. Getting a sleep on wednesday is vital. In 2009 it was Saturday morning before I got any sleep. I was then asleep for 12 hours or so, felt like death and was far too hot. Ruined the Saturday night really.

I ended up going straight to bed after franz ferdinand, with a massive headache.

[fitzyp]

Take a Lenor bottle.

WHY?

[salvador wali]

WHY?

Because the neck is wider than other bottles, avoids spillage!!

[Sofa]

Lay off the "Hard Stuff " in crowded areas.A thousand people's face changes in one hit can be a tad hectic believe me .

[Queeg]

Get a good rucksack, good walking boots & socks and quality waterproofs, don't bother with a trolley... if you cant carry all your shit in one trip you're taking too much.

[mungo57]

After reading all the stuff about how bad it is to go it alone, I'd like to add my two pennies worth.

I'm really, really looking forward to going to Glastonbury on my own. It means that I can do whatever I want when I want and not have to worry about what other people want to see - other times at the festival have been magical but a couple of times I have had to compromise the bands I wanted to see because my friends wanted me to go see other bands with them. One thing that particularly annoyed me in 2013 was when my friend dragged me to the front of Foals which meant that I got a really crap spot for Nile Rodgers & Chic, Nile Rodgers and Chic were my number one must see for the whole festival.

Also in real life I really enjoy my own company - I spend the majority of my time on my own and I really like it. Don't think of me as this complete loner of a guy though. I do go out and do stuff with my mates every weekend and make the effort to go see them whenever they want me around. The point that I'm trying to make is that I'll have absolutely no quarms about wandering around and not talking to anyone. I'll go to the efests meet on Wednesday and it'll be cool. Otherwise I do see myself just wandering around doing my own thing which is absolutely fine by me.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it kind of depends on the kind of person you are. If you wanna go and have a good time with your friends and constantly need to have conversations then fair enough, maybe going to Glastonbury alone isn't for you. But if your cool with just wandering around and doing your own thing then that's fine too.

I really hope that this post doesn't come across like I think I'm better than everyone else because I know that I'll have a good time on my own, I'm just trying to point out that different people have different preferences on how they enjoy the festival, if that makes sense.

I was quite near the front for Foals and managed to get a great spot for Nile and Chic - I had to sacrifice the songs after inhaler to guarantee it but it was worth it! Nile and Chic were quality.

[gmb1992]

Only been to Glasto the once and my only "regret" was getting carried away on the Wednesdayand was asleep inmy tent by 9pm.

Then we started the midday rule, so no booze before midday

[RossTC]

Contact lense advice, dont wear monthlys and decide to keep them in from Weds to Sunday AM, when i finally took them out my eyes were in pieces.