2019 Move

[Madyaker]

I can't fathom why someone would go to Glastonbury and spend a large amount of time sat at their tent when there is so much to see and do. Fair enough at other festivals where you can't bring drink everywhere with you but a Glastonbury, nah. I didn't even bring a camping chair this year as I knew that each morning id be up, fill a small bag with booze and water and whatever else and that would be the last id see of my tent for the next 16-18 hours or so.

[Smeble]

Have it on castlemorton common and scare all the old fogies in Malvern again

[Spindles]

I could when I was 16/17 but to be honest if I want to get drunk and stoned with mates I have a front room that is perfectly capable and costs nothing, as well as being an easier stumble to bed or the bog.  Kids (up to the age of 30) who don't have the freedom to take drugs at home because they live with their parents tend to be the people who spend all day sat getting wasted at their tents, in my own experience, when I go to a music festival I'm looking for something more.

1 minute ago, Smeble said:

Have it on castlemorton common and scare all the old fogies in Malvern again

Yes.  Fucking.  Please.

I had mates who were there (it's just down the road from me) but being the responsible new parent I was at the time I missed out along with the Glastonburys of that era.

[ClementsMike]

8 minutes ago, Spindles said:

  I'd love to see a 40,000 capacity festival curated by the GFL team at Long Marsden, local to me, for example and it wouldn't be anything like a replacement for the festival, more of a touring setup like lollapalooza.

I think LM's days are numbered aren't they as its been sold for housing? (I appreciate you may be talking generally, of course)

[Spindles]

I didn't know that, shame.  Although to be fair since Phoenix it's only been that godawful dance fest where fighty people take crap drugs and bulldog bash.  I just have fond memories of my only mid-90s festival there and have spent 20 years hoping to one day spend another weekend there watching bands I like.

[shuttlep]

1 hour ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I guess we are all different, but to me one of the best parts of going to Glastonbury is to sit around the tents with my mates having the craic. Some of my friends live in other parts of the country and Glastonbury is normally the one time where we get to spend time with each other again. Don't get me wrong people do wander off to see bands etc, but it's the fun around the tents that really stands out for me. I have thought that we should just go to a camp site as it would be cheaper, but everyone insists on going to Glastonbury.

exactly the same, my friends and I are from all round the country to get us all together for 5 days in one place for anything other than Glastonbury would be a logistical nightmare, and then planning something for us all to do for all fine days. Clubbing / bands / accommodation with all 20 odd of us in the same place next door to each other, that would cost more than the ticket cost 

[eFestivals]

3 hours ago, clarkete said:

This isn't true of all the folks that I was with in 2000, if that's the year we're talking about.  There are some that you know, who would like to go to only a couple of places and have a good time hooking up with pals and the like, whilst some of our other friends did what some folks do today - worked out in advance what their must see acts were and went to a bunch of different stages and back as the day progressed.

I wasn't trying to say no one did it in 2000, just as I wouldn't say it doesn't happen today.

I'd say that, as an average, there was more band (or DJ) chasing in 2000 than there was when I first went in '86, and i'd say there more of it now than in 2000. For whatever reasons, it's the way it seems to have gone.

Someone mentioned above that it's an expensive way to sit and chat, tho of course the fest was comparatively cheaper in the past (as a proportion of a week's income) than it is now.

 

[eFestivals]

2 hours ago, ClementsMike said:

Just north out of Gloucestershire is Eastnor Castle where Lakefest is held. I've no idea about capacity there though.

it's not massive - The Big Chill used to happen there. I'd guess it's realistic capacity is only around 30k-40k, as a lot of the land is too steep to make use of.

 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

1 hour ago, Madyaker said:

I can't fathom why someone would go to Glastonbury and spend a large amount of time sat at their tent when there is so much to see and do.

I can't answer for everybody but in my case it's because I value my friends company much more than I do an external form of entertainment. Don't get me wrong, I like to see and hear a lot of other stuff too, but my friends win hands down when push comes to shove.

[Mardy]

3 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I can't answer for everybody but in my case it's because I value my friends company much more than I do an external form of entertainment. Don't get me wrong, I like to see and hear a lot of other stuff too, but my friends win hands down when push comes to shove.

Yep, i live abroad, my friends are similarly scattered around the country/world. Glastonbury is a yearly chance for us all to get together. Without that, we'd probably not see each other from one year to the next.

[Avalon_Fields]

I try and get the balance right between time with friends and watching bands. Some years I get it a little wrong. At least once every Glastonbury I will disappear on my own and leg it round a few bands I can't miss. 

Part of the attraction of doing another smaller festival each year is I can do the 'sitting in a tent' with friends bit without feeling I'm missing much.

 

[Mardy]

11 minutes ago, Avalon_Fields said:

I try and get the balance right between time with friends and watching bands. Some years I get it a little wrong. At least once every Glastonbury I will disappear on my own and leg it round a few bands I can't miss. 

Part of the attraction of doing another smaller festival each year is I can do the 'sitting in a tent' with friends bit without feeling I'm missing much.

 

I agree with this. Even with friends, we all go our separate ways when we want to. And i go to eotr with other friends, where it's easier to catch up and not miss stuff.

[eFestivals]

2 hours ago, Madyaker said:

I can't fathom why someone would go to Glastonbury and spend a large amount of time sat at their tent when there is so much to see and do.

Some of what's being said is from the past, when there was less put on for you to see and do.

[Hugh Jass]

33 minutes ago, Mardy said:

I agree with this. Even with friends, we all go our separate ways when we want to. And i go to eotr with other friends, where it's easier to catch up and not miss stuff.

There's no reason why you can't have both. I'm usually in a group of anywhere between 10 and 30 people and everyone usually camps together, hangs out together on Wednesday and Thursday, but people also tend to break off into their own little groups depending on what they want to see or do. My wife and I like to break off from the group and explore on our own for a bit before rejoining with the others. Usually for headliners and massive acts that people want to see there's an agreed meeting point beforehand (usually Cider Bus for Pyramid) so people can come and go from the main group.

Plus trying to navigate around the site in a group of more than four people is a fecking nightmare.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Just now, Hugh Jass said:

Plus trying to navigate around the site in a group of more than four people is a fecking nightmare.

It's absolutely mental isn't it. Rather akin to kitten herding.

[DeanoL]

3 hours ago, Madyaker said:

I can't fathom why someone would go to Glastonbury and spend a large amount of time sat at their tent when there is so much to see and do. Fair enough at other festivals where you can't bring drink everywhere with you but a Glastonbury, nah.

Well I can't imagine why anyone would sit around their tents drinking at other festivals just to avoid paying more for booze in the arena, or having to drink a bit less. I find that as weird a notion as you do people doing it at Glastonbury. Different people have different priorities

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

I wasn't trying to say no one did it in 2000, just as I wouldn't say it doesn't happen today.

I'd say that, as an average, there was more band (or DJ) chasing in 2000 than there was when I first went in '86, and i'd say there more of it now than in 2000. For whatever reasons, it's the way it seems to have gone.

Well there's more on too. As in loads more across all the smaller stages (and far more of it is programmed and announced in advance).

I tend to have a smaller number of bands I'm properly in to, but don't listen to much outside of them in the real world. So most years at the festival I will have 2 or 3 must-sees. But a few years ago I had 9, just through sheer look that half the bands I love were all playing, and I was running around a lot more. 

Everyone has must-see acts, and as long as those acts aren't all Pyramid-sized then there's a much bigger chance of any given one playing these days.

[Quark]

1 hour ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I can't answer for everybody but in my case it's because I value my friends company much more than I do an external form of entertainment. Don't get me wrong, I like to see and hear a lot of other stuff too, but my friends win hands down when push comes to shove.

 

1 hour ago, Mardy said:

Yep, i live abroad, my friends are similarly scattered around the country/world. Glastonbury is a yearly chance for us all to get together. Without that, we'd probably not see each other from one year to the next.

The interesting bit for me is that the guys I go with are people I only know through Glastonbury. The kind of people I would put in the bracket that you chaps are talking about don't go to Glastonbury.  If I'm brutally honest, with the exception of my brother in law, I'd run out of stuff to talk about if we stayed at camp!

But neither am I a band chaser; all told I'm far more likely to stock up on booze and party cigarettes, wander out and see where my feet, my eyes, my ears and my consumables take me!

Which is probably why, of the group that goes, I'm most likely to wander off on my tod; they all know each other outside so have more to talk about.

Edited November 1, 2016 by Quark

[Hugh Jass]

43 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

It's absolutely mental isn't it. Rather akin to kitten herding.

In the wrong hands the walk from the Pyramid to West Holts can take an hour.

[Sawdusty surfer]

4 hours ago, Smeble said:

Have it on castlemorton common and scare all the old fogies in Malvern again

Ace idea. What a weekend that was  

[Madyaker]

52 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

In the wrong hands the walk from the Pyramid to West Holts can take an hour.

Just say neigh.

[timbrass]

3 hours ago, Mardy said:

I agree with this. Even with friends, we all go our separate ways when we want to. And i go to eotr with other friends, where it's easier to catch up and not miss stuff.

I reckon the Mobile Phone has also made a huge difference.  Previously your campsite was a rendezvous point and you congregated there because there was no other easy way of finding your mates.  Now you can meet up anywhere at short notice....

[shoptildrop]

2 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

In the wrong hands the walk from the Pyramid to West Holts can take an hour.

[stuartbert two hats]

 

4 minutes ago, timbrass said:

I reckon the Mobile Phone has also made a huge difference.  Previously your campsite was a rendezvous point and you congregated there because there was no other easy way of finding your mates.  Now you can meet up anywhere at short notice....

Good point. I used to always make my way back to camp after the headliners to regroup, now it's all SMS or WhatsApp(more reliable) to rendezvous somewhere on site. 

[Sawdusty surfer]

4 hours ago, eFestivals said:

 

I'd say that, as an average, there was more band (or DJ) chasing in 2000 than there was when I first went in '86, and i'd say there more of it now than in 2000. For whatever reasons, it's the way it seems to have gone.

 

Agree completely .

Edited November 1, 2016 by Sawdusty Surfer

[waterfalls212434]

As others have said for many its not all about music its a good social thing to catch up with friends, im down in cornwall and friends I go to glastonbury with are well up north so dont often get the chance to meet up, Glastonbury is normally it bar the odd gig somewhere inbetween at some point having said that thats usually the Wednesday/Thursday thing, once the music is on everyone's scattered all over the place and just meets up in the evenings gathering to see the headliners on whatever stage we fancy and then getting out on it.

To be honest for me, if I was choosing a fest soley based on music it wouldnt be glastonbury as my first love music wise is rock and metal.....but if I went somewhere like download etc id be by my lonesome and other then glastonbury also having far more to do away from the music I much prefer a festival where I can have a laugh with a group of mates even if `all` the music isnt always my cup of tea......saying that its good on that aspect as well as ive been exposed to a lot of stuff ive absoutly loved that I would have never have given a second look at if I hadnt seen live at this festival

Edited November 1, 2016 by waterfalls212434