How have the sort of people who attend the festival changed & when?

[bennyhana22]

For me I cut off the outside world when I'm in the fence, no phone, internet, not bothered about whatever news is going on in the real world.

You're as cut off as you make yourself

This, totally. I will not look at the 'net, Twitter, any other 'social media'. I may text to let my wife/kids know I'm ok, and maybe to find people when pitching up. Otherwise, the outside world will be on pause for 5 days. I'll spend time with like-minded folk, uninterested in festival fashion, selfies, just being able to say they were there. A Festival, like life, is what you make it...

Ben

[swede]

Because I like getting smashed with my mates while listening to a broad range of music.

I'm under no illusions that I'm entering a special place on the fringes of society though. I'm not.

Im entering a special place because the vast majority of the people are in a happy place cos they're smashed, it makes striking up random conversations much easier than in everyday life.

Edited May 27, 2015 by swede

[st dan]

Some people will just moan about anything and everything.

If you're moaning about Glastonbury then I feel sorry for you in your normal everyday life. Every day must be a real bummer.

Edited May 27, 2015 by st dan

[al_coholic]

I wonder if the fact that you can bring as much cheap alcohol as you want and not be forced to pay bar prices has made a difference. It certainly allows the younger crowd who maybe haven't got as much cash to get smashed. Compared to V & R&L Glastonbury can be done cheaper.

Also, I think the near blanket coverage by the BBC has changed the demographic, certainly since I first attended in 2004

[eFestivals]

The place was like a ghost town on weds and most of thursday. Friday would get busy in the evening when you got a big after work rush.

bullshit. This website had words along the lines of "Wednesday is becoming ever more popular for arrival" in 1998!

I've gone on Wednesdays for all but one of all the Glasto's in the last 30 years (since '86), and there's always been a sizeable arrival on the Wednesday - tho it has increased a little each year, tho the size of the festival has done too.

Proportionally, until a few years ago when Glastonbury started to advertising the festival as beginning on Wednesdays, I doubt the percentage of the whole audience which arrived on Wednesdays increased at all (and might well have proportionally shrunk).

[eFestivals]

No it never.

Well at least in the 90's it wasn't

A lot of bad shit happened in Glastonbury before the fence.

yes it was.

And then the police arrived.

[Northernsoul45]

having watched a bit of ' festivals, sex & suspicious parents on bbc3 last night...this might prove background material for this thread going forward!

my only previous visit to glastonbury was 2013, so cant comment on the pre fence days, although my mates did venture down from Scotland a couple of times before that went up...general feeling was that it was a bit wild, but with the same kind of excitement/energy/buzz many of them had from going to the big raves (rez/fantazia in the early 90s) , overall, if you had your wits about you (as most of my crowd do, working class , Glasgow/west of Scotland) and know the score , how to interact / handle yourself with people of all kinds, it was very enjoyable....just as long as didn't come back to find your tent got robbed!

Edited May 27, 2015 by Northernsoul45

[SLEEPYMOPS]

I don't care what people wear or how much money they have, i'm at glastonbury to have fun with my mates. Only thing that bothers me is flags blocking my view and chairs at the front

[Homer]

Fence by far the biggest change. Before that the festival was much more exciting - but you were far more likely to be smacked around the head with a baseball bat (as happened to my mate - he was okay though). The end.

[mrpman]

The place has massively changed in the last 15 - 20 years.

The fence meant the festival could continue, and no one should be under the illusion that it is in parts like a completely different festival than it used to be.

When I went pre-fence it did have an element of danger, where you could stumble upon something a bit nasty. But I never felt threatened.

However, my dealing of things that were a bit dodgy in the mid to late 90's is a bit different to now. Would my 40 year old self, house owning, 2 car family man go somewhere I could have been subjected to muggings and theft? Not likely. Take my kids? No chance.

If the place had stayed the same as far as people coming in for free in their thousands and kept that air of anarchy (it really was another world) then it would have kept the same kind of people coming.

The fact it is so sanitised now means everyone is safe to go there, and people like me will take their kids in the future. But it won't be the same festival.

Society has changed, you don't hear about the traveller convoys anymore. Are they still out there? People like me might have been into that at one point, but now we want vaping, comfort and safety. We're all old.

Edit: Terrible mistakes all over. Some remain.

Edited May 27, 2015 by mrpman

[gmb1992]

I wonder if the fact that you can bring as much cheap alcohol as you want and not be forced to pay bar prices has made a difference. It certainly allows the younger crowd who maybe haven't got as much cash to get smashed. Compared to V & R&L Glastonbury can be done cheaper.

Don't think so, can't speak for V but I spent far less money at Reading, you can still take booze to your campsites and it's not as much hassle to go back to your tent during the day

Edited May 27, 2015 by gracemary1992

[Badlands]

- with the latest wave being people taking their parents.

I can assure you that no one was taking their parents back in the 80s. Glastonbury was so left-field back then that it wasn't unusual for people to be sacked from their jobs just for attending (happened to me, and happened to others I know).

As someone who has brought his Dad and Aunty along, thats a fair shout.Though in my Aunties defence, she used to hitch hike to Isle of Wight in the early 70's so can proudly boast of her festival chops!!

[Nuthugger]

Since the recession, people on the poorer end of the spectrum can't afford to do the more expensive things. So they either don't go to Glasto or join the Recycling Team like me lol. There's definitely been in increase in middle class kids since i've been doing Glasto.

This.

[Cuboid]

I don't care what people wear or how much money they have, i'm at glastonbury to have fun with my mates. Only thing that bothers me is flags blocking my view and chairs at the front

This.

[psydersuze]

When the lager brigade came (mid 80s) and we woke up to piles of cans everywhere!!

When the police arrived ...

When you couldnt just turn up and get in!

It changes and evolves with the festival goers it attracts ... Every year I see fresh young faces being turned on and realise the spirit of Glastonbury is still the same as it ever was x

[Cuboid]

One of the key differences is you now have 'experts' of the festival on this site writing plenty of bs between their exams. they've probably been twice but read a lot of books about it.

[mrpman]

One of the key differences is you now have 'experts' of the festival on this site writing plenty of bs between their exams. they've probably been twice but read a lot of books about it.

How's the revision going?

[Cuboid]

How's the revision going?

Ha ha. You can spot them by their absence in this thread as they have nothing to say about the changes. they're too busy mocking (borderline bullying) each other because someone suggested an act for the park stage, not west holts. bores me to tears

[russycarps]

The place has massively changed in the last 15 - 20 years.

The fence meant the festival could continue, and no one should be under the illusion that it is in parts like a completely different festival than it used to be.

When I went pre-fence it did have an element of danger, where you could stumble upon something a bit nasty. But I never felt threatened.

However, my dealing of things that were a bit dodgy in the mid to late 90's is a bit different to now. Would my 40 year old self, house owning, 2 car family man go somewhere I could have been subjected to muggings and theft? Not likely. Take my kids? No chance.

If the place had stayed the same as far as people coming in for free in their thousands and kept that air of anarchy (it really was another world) then it would have kept the same kind of people coming.

The fact it is so sanitised now means everyone is safe to go there, and people like me will take their kids in the future. But it won't be the same festival.

Society has changed, you don't hear about the traveller convoys anymore. Are they still out there? People like me might have been into that at one point, but now we want vaping, comfort and safety. We're all old.

Edit: Terrible mistakes all over. Some remain.

We shouldnt expect the festival to change just because we are old. There are plenty of other things old people can do. It's a shame people expect the festival to change just because they got old.

Kids today are fucked in so many ways in terms of job prospects, housing etc thanks to the actions of the older generation.

And the poor c**ts dont even have glastonbury either, because of old people demanding safety, comfort and vaping.

Hopefully this tory government will put a bit of fire in the bellies of the yoof and they will start taking some things back. It's too late for glastonbury though.

If I was my 18 year old self now, glastonbury would be the last place I'd be wanting to go to

[swede]

I don't care what people wear or how much money they have, i'm at glastonbury to have fun with my mates. Only thing that bothers me is flags blocking my view and chairs at the front

I don't get the whole knocking people for having nice clothes bit, the hunter wellie brigade ect. I pack a few old clothes to last the festival but my wife, who is a woman of a larger persuasion whose weight does fluctuate, buys a new festival wardrobe every year depending on her weight. She also wears hunters as having hip displacement after two complicated pregnancies finds their fit comfier than other willies. She also does her hair and makeup and makes an effort with her outfits every day as if she's sleeping in a tent for best part of a week, wants to look good every day as it helps her feel good, which in turn helps her enjoy the days more.

But to judgemental passers by she's wearing hunters and has made an effort with her outfit so she must be a posh twat.

[PabloCoke]

bullshit. This website had words along the lines of "Wednesday is becoming ever more popular for arrival" in 1998!

I've gone on Wednesdays for all but one of all the Glasto's in the last 30 years (since '86), and there's always been a sizeable arrival on the Wednesday - tho it has increased a little each year, tho the size of the festival has done too.

Proportionally, until a few years ago when Glastonbury started to advertising the festival as beginning on Wednesdays, I doubt the percentage of the whole audience which arrived on Wednesdays increased at all (and might well have proportionally shrunk).

Nah, I respectively disagree, it was not busy on the Wednesday until the naughties.

Still tens of thousands of people but now where near the amounts we get now.

You could see and feel the festival fill around you by Friday it was at full pelt.

But weds was half full at best.

[st dan]

... two complicated pregnancies finds their fit comfier than other willies.

It's bit early in the day for this filth Swede!

Edited May 27, 2015 by st dan

[sheffieldlady]

I think most of my judgement is held back until people do something annoys me. The festival is like everywhere else though, it changes all the time, people change all the time, people's views change all the time and we tend to remember certain elements more. If the changes were as bad as everyone is saying - people who have been going yearly would just stop

I also don't pre-judge unless people are a Mumford & Sons fan... than I pre-judge

[mrpman]

We shouldnt expect the festival to change just because we are old. There are plenty of other things old people can do. It's a shame people expect the festival to change just because they got old.

Kids today are fucked in so many ways in terms of job prospects, housing etc thanks to the actions of the older generation.

And the poor c**ts dont even have glastonbury either, because of old people demanding safety, comfort and vaping.

Hopefully this tory government will put a bit of fire in the bellies of the yoof and they will start taking some things back. It's too late for glastonbury though.

If I was my 18 year old self now, glastonbury would be the last place I'd be wanting to go to

I completely agree with most of that, and especially looking back to my younger self as well.

I just didn't come from the places, either geographically, economically or socially, that a large number of people attending the festival do now.

I would have stuck out like a sore thumb. My mates? Even more.

We just wouldn't have been able to afford it then.

Yeah I agree about the yoof, but the yoof who have something to fight for are marginalised by the main stream media as being in gangs and on Benefits Street. Their voices are not heard.

Glastonbury will never get that spirit back, I wonder where, if anywhere it will show up again?

[pedmills]

I think the ever-quickening rush to buy tickets favours big groups of people who can all try for each other - I think this may be increasing the proportion of students/young people (and thus newbies).

This might explain why the north-west bit of the site (John Peel, Silver Hayes & Pyramid) has been overpacked in recent years.