First timer! Help/ tips/ advice

[ICGenie]

My one tip for newbies - which took me years to get - is; accept that you will miss stuff.  The site is vast.  There are dozens of stages.  You will get clashes.  Don't think about the things you are missing or the other places on site you could be.  Just savour and absorb every moment.

[Pbird81]

5 minutes ago, ICGenie said:

My one tip for newbies - which took me years to get - is; accept that you will miss stuff.  The site is vast.  There are dozens of stages.  You will get clashes.  Don't think about the things you are missing or the other places on site you could be.  Just savour and absorb every moment.

NEVER think about the Glastonbury you've missed..... it'll kill you  

Would second everything mentioned on here....

Suspect it's quite easy to just take the Pyramid as a default - recommend not doing that, go the big triangle if something cool's on, but there's so much else to see elsewhere...

[ThePope]

Wednesday: set your tent up then go walking. Aim for cider bus by Pyramid. Have about 5 of them then go and see Biggles Wartime Band at the Bandstand. 

Then go to the Cornish Arms, have a 

pint of Tribute. 

Stone Circle gets busy in the eve for the fireworks, but you can see these from anywhere. 

 

Wake up Thursday, go to the Park. There's a bar up near the top that does the best Bloody Mary and watermelon. Replenish.

 

Repeat the above and make sure you obey the number 1 rule

 

Always pick a band over DJ. 

[JayP1983]

Some more great tips, thanks guys. 

[Respectfatfrog]

6 hours ago, Spindles said:

I can't speak for anyone else, but I love the excited threads of first timers, not least because they are always full of feel good stuff.

I reckon you'll have a great time.  The thing about Glastonbury is the sheer variety of entertainment on offer means that there is a great time on offer for any taste but you might have to go searching to find the corners that provide the entertainment that suits you.  Honestly the first time is great, but you never have enough time to see as much as you'd like and that keeps you coming back for more.

As someone else said, bring your smile, an open mind and a friendly attitude for the best experience.

I still get jealous of newbies and the amazing time they are just about to have.

enjoy and go for it 

[JayP1983]

Picked out at least four bands I want to see over the weekend and everything else will be a bonus.

 

just need to get myself a new hat and plenty of beer and we're good to go!

[dexydexy]

Also keep checking here in the run up to the festival and if you've got Twitter follow @secretglasto as there are secret / unannounced things going on too. Last year we caught Craig Charles' secret DJ set at strummerville and it was a highlight!

[Heather90]

1 hour ago, ThePope said:

Wednesday: set your tent up then go walking. Aim for cider bus by Pyramid. Have about 5 of them then go and see Biggles Wartime Band at the Bandstand. 

Then go to the Cornish Arms, have a 

pint of Tribute. 

Stone Circle gets busy in the eve for the fireworks, but you can see these from anywhere. 

 

Wake up Thursday, go to the Park. There's a bar up near the top that does the best Bloody Mary and watermelon. Replenish.

 

Repeat the above and make sure you obey the number 1 rule

 

Always pick a band over DJ. 

I'm probably the biggest drinker in my group, maybe as I don't indulge in other substances but 5 Cider bus ciders for what is essentially pre-drinks on day 1. I bought a round of 3 last year and stood up only after we'd had 3 each. Had to make a swift detour to a food stall and find a nice bench to have a sit down on. Bloody lovely stuff but bloody dangerous!

I pity your liver on Sunday! 

[JayP1983]

Not much of a cider drinker to be honest but that sounds good! Need to sample the local delicacies if I'm coming all the way from sunny Scotland !!

[bexj]

1 hour ago, JayP1983 said:

Picked out at least four bands I want to see over the weekend and everything else will be a bonus.

 

just need to get myself a new hat and plenty of beer and we're good to go!

Don't be in a rush to pick your bands from the list announced....There's about another 1300 to come yet! 

I'm excited for you!

[leggy91]

I'm sure it's been mentioned previously, but don't over do the drinking early.. I went for the first time last year, got very excited Friday morning/afternoon, drunk too much Vodka, had a great time watching Run the Jewels but then went straight to bed (fell through my tent) and slept through the Libertines I was gutted. Thankfully I went to Reading to see them afterwards to make up for it but still at the time i was wounded.

[danbailey80]

Pace yourself.

Understand there will be times when it is hard.

Understand there will be times when it's the best place in the world.

Read this and all the areas you can explore. http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/areas/

Bring ear plugs. Proper wax ones.

Don't feel you have to follow your group around. This can cause great stress. Be independent, branch off and meet later.

Drink water. Lots but don't pee in the hedges.

Spend some time in the peaceful areas such as green fields and permiculture.

Make friends.

Go with the flow.....

Love. 

[danbailey80]

Double post.

Edited April 6, 2016 by danbailey80
double post

[JayP1983]

Thanks. I like the moto 'go with the flow'

 

ill not be stressing about getting to a stage every two hours I'll just take my time and chill and soak it all up

[sloseph]

look

after

your

feet

[StevieMcK]

13 hours ago, JayP1983 said:

Think I will love it! I'd say I'm a TITP veteran now but a Glastonbury first timer. Can't wait to take it all in.

 

TITP has unfortunately slowly descended into a poor festival in terms of bands and the crowd are getting worse.

 

what is the crowd at Glastonbury like? Chilled/ friendly etc?

Take any concept you have of a music festival and throw it out the window!  Glastonbury will blow your mind compared to TITP.  In fact, I guarantee you'll never want to go back to TITP after being at Glastonbury.

I go back to work at it each year, but I'd struggle to pay for TITP tickets when I've just been to Glastonbury two weeks previously.

The one piece of advice I'd give you is, pace yourself.  You'll be use to bands finishing at 11pm-12am and then there is really nothing much on at TITP (apart from the "campsite entertainment").  At Glasto things just get going when the last bands finish and you can easily find yourself in the SE Corner at 6am, with the sun fully up, wondering where the last 6 hours went!

Edited April 6, 2016 by StevieMcK

[Mezhyp1]

3 hours ago, ThePope said:

 

Repeat the above and make sure you obey the number 1 rule

 

Always pick a band over DJ. 

You give bad advice 

[JayP1983]

13 minutes ago, StevieMcK said:

Take any concept you have of a music festival and throw it out the window!  Glastonbury will blow your mind compared to TITP.  In fact, I guarantee you'll never want to go back to TITP after being at Glastonbury.

I go back to work at it each year, but I'd struggle to pay for TITP tickets when I've just been to Glastonbury two weeks previously.

The one piece of advice I'd give you is, pace yourself.  You'll be use to bands finishing at 11pm-12am and then there is really nothing much on at TITP (apart from the "campsite entertainment").  At Glasto things just get going when the last bands finish and you can easily find yourself in the SE Corner at 6am, with the sun fully up, wondering where the last 6 hours went!

Great advice. Sounds good. Where's the best place to go at night?

[pie_and_a_pint]

11 minutes ago, JayP1983 said:

Great advice. Sounds good. Where's the best place to go at night?

Personally I go to bed at night now because I'm a. old and b. up at 5am to work, but if I do go out after headliners I love the Bimble Inn in the Park area. 

Most people head for the naughty corner (Shangri-La, Block 9 etc. - look on the south east corner of the map) at night. It's apparently epic.

[JayP1983]

Shangri la, is that the dance music area? What is block 9? Never heard of that

[Stooonami]

7 minutes ago, JayP1983 said:

Shangri la, is that the dance music area? What is block 9? Never heard of that

Shangri-la is very dancey yeah.

Block9 is also a very dancey area. I love both.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2013/jun/29/glastonbury-2013-block-9-in-pictures some great block 9 pics.

[StevieMcK]

22 minutes ago, JayP1983 said:

Great advice. Sounds good. Where's the best place to go at night?

Definitely make a point of going to the SE Corner (Shangri-La, Block-9, The Common, etc) at least once.  The golden rule there is, if you see something that looks strange (like an open door down an alley way), investigate it further.  Who knows where it'll lead!

Arcadia is worth a visit too (its around 5 times bigger of the one they had at TITP a few years ago) and from there you can easily pop up into the Park.

You can make as many plans as you want, but ultimately Glasto will decide what you do and where you end up...  just don't sit by your tent all night!

[stuwilky]

5 minutes ago, JayP1983 said:

Shangri la, is that the dance music area? What is block 9? Never heard of that

There are lots of "late night" areas - many bars/venues open til sunrise and beyond

 

The "naughty corner" is the biggest area in terms of variety (its the bottom right when you look at the map) - its bonkers but it gets very very busy and getting in after headliners can be a bit tricky.  (they have an entry system and you need to go through cabaret and circus fields -I would advise not to bother with the Q, settle and watch something crazy for an hour or so here!) There are loads of different venues down there and lots of variety.

the Park has a load of venues open really late - Arcadia (linked to before) is also in that area

Silver hayes is the old dance village and has a load of stuff too.  They are all spread around a little but dont take too long to get between either.  

You're spoilt for choice after midnight!!

[pie_and_a_pint]

I reckon JayP1983 is sitting at his computer now thinking 'I am not going to get any fucking sleep for 5 days and this is epic!'

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/areas/shangri-la/

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/areas/block9/

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/areas/the-common/

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/areas/the-unfairground/

[noplacelikehome]

Naughty corner is primarily dance music but, if you are not  necessarily a dance music fan, don't let that put you off. 

The venues are amazing just to look at (block 9) and there are all sorts of weird and wonderful things to discover there, there is also music other than dance, one night last year down there after watching Slaves on the Hell Stage, we went into a small bar playing punk followed by a bar in which there was "naked karaoke" going on (which was very, very funny) to lots of mainstream stuff like Oasis, Britney Spears etc., The Rocket Lounge plays different types of music as well, I could go on, but really the best thing for you to do is go and experience it all for yourself - the only thing I would say is get stuck in and get involved don't just be a "tourist" (although I have to say I did draw the line at joining in with the naked karaoke, no-one needed to see me doing that....)