Improved diversity of attendees

[budvar]

Did anyone else feel the crowd was a little more representative of the ethnic make-up of wider society this year?

 

[Rumblestripe]

Yes, I remarked on this to my brother. Definitely more non-whites in the crowd, also seemed to be a slight preponderance of females?

My only thoughts on this given the random nature of getting a ticket is that it represents more people from those communities wanting to attend which can only be a good thing.

[chestwig]

Yeah this is one that's getting better. With such varied music now it should hopefully improve. Also heard lots of other Eastern European and Australian accents.

i remember when I first went it was almost like the the only black people where people working at the carabean grill. Perhaps it's also historically been more white given that it's such a rural location?

[budvar]

21 hours ago, Rumblestripe said:

My only thoughts on this given the random nature of getting a ticket is that it represents more people from those communities wanting to attend which can only be a good thing.

Agreed. I think the organisers should be congratulated for the efforts they've made to make the festival more appealing to different groups; while there was plenty wrong with Kanye's performance I think booking him was a great move.

[ohvienna]

Yeah, me and my bf were talking about this too. Hope this continues over the coming years! 

[stuartbert two hats]

I noticed a slight difference too. Not like walking around Manchester, let alone somewhere as diverse as London, but a definite improvement on 10 years ago.

[Wherethewildthingsare]

Yes (to a degree). we commented on it.

[budvar]

On 6/29/2016 at 9:06 PM, stuartbert two hats said:

I noticed a slight difference too. Not like walking around Manchester, let alone somewhere as diverse as London, but a definite improvement on 10 years ago.

It's a slow process, but I'm glad it seems to be heading in the right direction.

[shuttlep]

our group was made up of several ozzies, a Yank , a few from Dublin. and the usual crowd, most of the foreign contingent flew in from Abu Dhabi. The american in my group was totally blown away 

[Spindles]

Gets a bit better every year and I'd go so far as to say this was the biggest step forward in diversity I've seen yet.  I'm a midlander so going to Glastonbury normally makes me feel like I'm visiting the whitest place on earth.  Let's keep it up, yet another positive for this year's festival, truly was a vintage year.

[shoptildrop]

On 28/06/2016 at 11:05 PM, budvar said:

Did anyone else feel the crowd was a little more representative of the ethnic make-up of wider society this year?

 

Yes I did actually

[shoptildrop]

On 29/06/2016 at 9:06 PM, stuartbert two hats said:

I noticed a slight difference too. Not like walking around Manchester, let alone somewhere as diverse as London, but a definite improvement on 10 years ago.

fun fact Manchester is actually been stated as the 3rd most diverse city in the world on languages spoken and is ahead of London would you believe it??

Edit got it a bit wrong but not about the languages spoken bit lol

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/200-languages-manchester-revealed-as-most-linguistically-diverse-city-in-western-europe-8760225.html

Edited July 1, 2016 by shoptildrop

[bsolxiv]

Was discussing this at the fest, anybody think of any reasons why GF is 95% white?

[Charm]

7 minutes ago, bsolxiv said:

Was discussing this at the fest, anybody think of any reasons why GF is 95% white?

According to the last census 87.17% of the population recorded as white so it's not really surprising to see that reflected at the festival. 
Charm x

[Spindles]

That's it Charm.  Urban dwellers as many of us are are used to a more diverse mix than the country actually represents.  I once lived in a town where the only non-white family owned the chinese takeaway.

[bsolxiv]

10 minutes ago, Charm said:

According to the last census 87.17% of the population recorded as white so it's not really surprising to see that reflected at the festival. 
Charm x

Fair enough, though my 95% figure was a guess. Still a 5% population and12.83% population is a pretty big difference.

[Spindles]

Yeah and it has always been noticeable, but certainly it is getting better, closer to a representative mix (it should, if anything be MORE diverse as we have so many overseas visitors just for the festival).

[FieldOfAvalon]

Can't say I noticed a difference, I'm afraid, and after talking about this issue at length last year I was somewhat looking out for it.

I overheard a group of girls talking about this on one morning and they said something like "Glastonbury is basically racist" - they were trying to be funny but it made the point.

At one point you could make the argument that musically Glasto never catered for people of diverse backgrounds and I suppose that part has improved. Although black music up at Silver Hayes and world music scattered around is a drop in the ocean relative to the vast offering.

My gut feeling is that Glasto started as a hippy festival, and retains that core identity at heart, and hippy culture (barring excursions into certain strains of world music) was always a White thing.

[Dave_c]

This thread is a bit racist tbh. Black people only like black music right? 

I didn't notice any difference to be honest.

[Jugtanion]

Glastonbury has it's roots in rock / indie music, predominantly played and listened to by white people. Remember the furore around booking Jay Z, Noel Gallagher saying something along the lines of the festival leaving its roots. It takes a while before an event with that identity turns the corner.  Can anyone comment on the diversity of the Womad crowd? I've never been but all the people I know who go are white, middle class and over 50. Whoever it is that goes, at least they pick all of their shit up at the end of the festival and take it home with them!

[AiiShotTheDJ]

I didn't notice improved diversity to be honest.  It was something that we commented on - we live near Manc so are used to a very diverse range of people daily. 

[Alex DeLarge]

Being a Brummie I'm used to seeing large groups of people from all over the World, but I did talk to my girlfriend about the crowd seeming a lot younger and ethnically diverse than they came across on TV. It's cool that the festival is becoming more attractive to different groups of people. 

[Guest]

Was full of Scousers, yet hardly any Mancs for some reason.

Maybe the diversity from a race point of view is actually in line with the general population. With me coming from a pretty diverse area, it just seems a little alien to what I am used to.

What did piss me off a little was the xenophobic attitude of some of the local residents in Glastonbury. We might have broad northern accents, but that does not automatically mean we are going to run off from your chippy without paying or rob you at knife point in the street.

Edited July 1, 2016 by Guest

[Alan_C]

There was more scousers than anyone else there, I am convinced 

[bsolxiv]

12 hours ago, Dave_c said:

This thread is a bit racist tbh. 

How?