This makes me feel sad.

[Tdiz]

competlly aggree but you have to say its partly the eavis fault....why make so much room for the celebs and the wealthy....why not open up some of those areas to normal attendees so the current campsites dont get so crowded? who do they want to cater to exactly? music fans or snobs paying big bucks to be seen....time they made a choice I feel.

Will be the neighbouring farms and land owners running this I would have thought, nothing to do with the Eavis' I guess and he cant dictate to them how they use there own land. Can't blame them for making a bit of profit from the rich and stupid willing to pay for this.

[Brave Sir Robin]

Bound to be somewhere catering for yr Kate Moss/Rooney/Bradley Cooper/all the other celebs you see wandering around.

[gmb1992]

I think people need to chill out.

You can everything these days (including glasto tickets) if you are willing to pay extra

I'm "glamping" this year in an airstream in the pop up hotel, i still had to get tickets with everyone else in October and I'm just having a bit more luxury, I've camped before and i have tosay I'm really looking forward to it

[DeanoL]

a lot of the time tickets are included in these packages so eavis`s very much have to do with it....do you think these people are waiting on sale day like the rest of us? thats one of the major problems I have......its a two tier system, if you have enough money you can gurantee your glasto ticket above everybody else trying to hard to get one. thats just simply wrong.

But it keeps the surrounding land owners happy and lets the festival happen. That's because also why there's no slippery slope- this stuff is limited to the land directly around the site.

The alternative would be finding the money to pay those landowners off directly. So the question becomes which is 'fairer'? Have a few hundred people out of 150,000 pay hugely over the odds for a 'luxury' experience (which gives them nothing once they're through the gate) or stick a fiver on the ticket price for everyone.

[elias]

There isn't a two tier system - it's more like a 5 or 6 tier system.

1. On-site: standard camping

2. On-site: hospitality ticketed areas

3. Worthy View

4. Cheaper glamping: Erect your own tent at Pop-up Motel etc

5. Mid-range glamping: Yurts, bell tents etc

6. Holy Christ that's a fortune glamping: Camp Kerala and the like

I'm sure I've missed a good few out as well.

I don't get the 'if you don't stay on-site you're missing out on a major part of the festival' attitude. I've camped on-site many times and been off-site for the last 2 festivals. We would leave the tent around 11.30 am and return only to sleep. I fail to see what I am missing out on.

By the way, we are probably returning to on-site this year for reasons too numerous to bore you with.

[ClementsMike]

Just an example -

"Anzelle Wasserman, a personal assistant to Nigella Lawson, said she used a family credit card to pay for luxuries, including spending more than £10,000 on VIP tickets for Lawson and Saatchi's children to attend the 2010 Glastonbury music festival, for which general entry tickets went on sale to the public at £185."

From http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/10/nigella-lawson-charles-saatchi-flowers-court

[incident]

a lot of the time tickets are included in these packages so eavis`s very much have to do with it....do you think these people are waiting on sale day like the rest of us? thats one of the major problems I have......its a two tier system, if you have enough money you can gurantee your glasto ticket above everybody else trying to hard to get one. thats just simply wrong. Michael eavis took the lead on cracking down on touts with the glastonbury ticketing photo system......now its time for him to take the lead on keeping festivals open to all on an equal basis............because if we keep going down this road we`ll end up like festivals and concerts in the usa where even the best views of the acts are roped off for those who can afford to pay big money for them.

The problem with all that is that when you factor in staff camping, car parks, access routes, and all the other things outside the fence, the festival in its current form needs a hell of a lot more land than Michael owns. This all has to be contractually negotiated, and in many cases tickets will be just another factor - ie Glastonbury gets the use of Field A B and C in return for Y tickets and £Z. So the landowner can provide say 4 fields to the festival, hold 1 back for the ridiculous people, and make a bit of extra cash that way.

[LEDZEP66]

This really doesn't annoy me. I would rather the people who stay there are camped over there rather than them setting up camp next to me. Imagine how much stuff they would bring with them and I'm sure they would rope off there own little area. The only thing that would annoy me is if people staying in these places start getting privileges inside the gate, sections of the stages cordoned off and no queing in the late night any etc

[toppo]

I've done tangerine fields the last couple years and to be honest felt guilty but the reason I stayed there was that my OH really struggles with crowds and we cope with this by mainly staying of the edges of gigs and performances. Having a bolt hole for her to get to at the end of the day (and during should she need it but so far has coped during the day) is all part of her coping strategy. We are on site from about 11am then return some 14-15 hours later. When you look at it as 5 nights accomodation its not too expensive (to us anyway) And it gives her that little piece of mind and security ( emotional).

But watching that kerala video almost made me vomit at the ludicrous excesses people go to (and I felt guilty for staying at TF)

I spoke to a couple of fellas in 2010 who were friends of tent neighbours who were staying on a friends local farm (on floor in farm house). The farmer was charging big bucks for a glamping packagewere asked the lads on the saturday morning to just pop to tescos with a shopping list as they'd ran out of stuff for breakfast, they were told to just get the cheapest tesco basic stuff but those who had paid a small fortune were told it was all locally produced organic foods they were eating

[5co77ie]

I can't see how those Festibell tents are camping in "luxury"

[5co77ie]

That is probably doing my head in more than anything right now and if the Eavii have any sense they'll knock it on the head allowing this shit soon, before people start to realise that it is a 2 class festival, one for the majority and another for those who can pay the dollar.

From what I hear, I don't think there's much they can do about it, I know Emily is not a particular fan of 'glamping'.

[5co77ie]

I've done tangerine fields the last couple years and to be honest felt guilty but the reason I stayed there was that my OH really struggles with crowds and we cope with this by mainly staying of the edges of gigs and performances. Having a bolt hole for her to get to at the end of the day (and during should she need it but so far has coped during the day) is all part of her coping strategy. We are on site from about 11am then return some 14-15 hours later. When you look at it as 5 nights accomodation its not too expensive (to us anyway) And it gives her that little piece of mind and security ( emotional).

But watching that kerala video almost made me vomit at the ludicrous excesses people go to (and I felt guilty for staying at TF)

I spoke to a couple of fellas in 2010 who were friends of tent neighbours who were staying on a friends local farm (on floor in farm house). The farmer was charging big bucks for a glamping packagewere asked the lads on the saturday morning to just pop to tescos with a shopping list as they'd ran out of stuff for breakfast, they were told to just get the cheapest tesco basic stuff but those who had paid a small fortune were told it was all locally produced organic foods they were eating

I think Camplight is an even better solution than Tangerine Fields, as you camp in Pennards at the heart of the festival, it's a green solution, and they are doing other events as well as Glastonbury.

Edited March 12, 2015 by 5co77ie

[The Nal]

Does it say if you are allowed to physically abuse your bell boy? Just a couple of backhanders and a kick or two would swing it for me.

[Memory Man]

But it keeps the surrounding land owners happy and lets the festival happen. That's because also why there's no slippery slope- this stuff is limited to the land directly around the site.

The alternative would be finding the money to pay those landowners off directly. So the question becomes which is 'fairer'? Have a few hundred people out of 150,000 pay hugely over the odds for a 'luxury' experience (which gives them nothing once they're through the gate) or stick a fiver on the ticket price for everyone.

Nail. Head.

/ Thread

[Icewulf]

We're staying in Worthy View this year, but have never done the "off site" thing before. To be honest we just wanted to give it a go and see what it's like. When you've been to dozens of festivals, why shouldn't you have a go at Glamping one year? I don't buy all this "not the real festival experience" bullshit. If I won the lottery, or was a self made millionaire I'd jump at the chance to experience it. If it's not for you don't do it. Simple.

[LondonTom]

I think what depresses me more, is the aceptance and justification of it on here by "ordinary" punters.

It might help the festival in some regards, and it might just outside the fence but it still feels abit wrong.

[Purple aki squat]

Does it say if you are allowed to physically abuse your bell boy? Just a couple of backhanders and a kick or two would swing it for me.

Where did you school?

[russycarps]

I think Camplight is an even better solution than Tangerine Fields, as you camp in Pennards at the heart of the festival, it's a green solution, and they are doing other events as well as Glastonbury.

yes the camplight site is reasonably priced too. I think one man tents are around £30 arent they? so not really any different from buying your own tent, so this site is open to most people, price wise.

(unless they've massively put the prices up this year, I havent checked).

[Hugh Jass]

I don't really see why it bothers so many people. I'd never do it, but it's not going to affect my Glastonbury experience in any way, shape or form. If that's what some people want to do then good luck to them.

[The Nal]

I don't really see why it bothers so many people. I'd never do it, but it's not going to affect my Glastonbury experience in any way, shape or form. If that's what some people want to do then good luck to them.

Same here. Its the nu-Glasto anyway. Deal with it. Staying in VIP hotels, getting shuttled to and from the site, spending most of the time in that awful backstage bar, trying not to get mud on the new Keds, asking "has anyone seen father?" as you want to buy some heart shaped sun glasses and native American headgear but "that awful man at the stall won't take card", getting fingered by a complete stranger up behind the tree house in the Park.......

Edited March 12, 2015 by The Nal

[whisty]

The top 1% have to have somehwere to spend all the money they stole from the regular campers.

[amfy]

It changes it a bit for me. I used to like the 'all in it together, everyone looks crap by day 2' element of the festival. That was very much part of its charm for me, part of the release from everyday constraints and pressures. Now there does seem to be an ever growing section of the crowd with access to showers, hairdryers, straighteners, and proper mirrors.

Then, those who camp inside start to find the need to try and keep up, with gas powered versions to maintain their 'look' for 5 days.

It's OK, because at 50 I no longer feel that I have to keep up, but I feel a bit sad that young people, who are under more pressure than we ever were to look good anyway, don't get to experience that particular festival freedom in the way that we did.

[JBarbour]

The fields will be alive with the calls for Wilhelmina, Quentin, Jasper, Cassandra to hurry along with the Pimms

[Hugh Jass]

It changes it a bit for me. I used to like the 'all in it together, everyone looks crap by day 2' element of the festival. That was very much part of its charm for me, part of the release from everyday constraints and pressures. Now there does seem to be an ever growing section of the crowd with access to showers, hairdryers, straighteners, and proper mirrors.

I'd say that the percentage of these types who will be there is still too small to be noticable. At worse you may find yourself stood enxt to a group while watching someone, but that's as bad as it'll get. The vast majority will always remain in the "look like death by day 2" boat.

[Ted Dansons Wig]

When you got to worry is when there's a special enclosure at the stages for people with VIP tickets