What do you get from Glastonbury?

[simian_mobile_mushrooms]

dry spittle on your cheeks and sleeping bag from gurning during the wee hours

[Simpo]

14 minutes ago, bexj said:

The massive difference beywen glastonbury and other UK festivals is once you're in, you're in. No barriers,  no fences, no checks, nothing, no arena, no restrictions. 

I cant speak for sziget but ive been to Kendal calling a few times, Glastonbury has such a wide range of entertainment compared to Kendal, the line up poster already announced is about a 1% of what actually happens.  

Glastonbury means everything to me,  it has shaped my life.  I couldn't say that about Kendal.  But at the end of the day if your mate's not bothered you shouldn't let that stop you from having fun. Her problem, not yours 

 

Aye, aye, it's true! I just have this conviction that my soul sister and Glastonbury are meant to be together! A recurring dream of what these five days in June could be.

Maybe I'm just too into the romanticism of Glastonbury Festival.

And for the rest of ya, very good, very good. *raises pint*

[dentalplan]

If GFL could compile these into a Trainspotting aping "Choose Glastonbury" poster, I'd cop.

[K2SO]

Laid.

 

Hopefully.

[sedra]

I think it is less commercial than some other festivals, and is a rare " all in one" festival. It is not just a festival but an experience so the first line up poster is not an indication of how great your festival can be! It is indeed a festival of mini festivals and your friend should at least try it once - if it's not for them well at least they have made that judgement based on their own experience. But they may find themselves hooked like the rest of us! 

[Divein]

2 hours ago, simian_mobile_mushrooms said:

The first few years I went I used to get sleep paralysis for a couple of nights after - it was bloody horrible - couldn't open my eyes even though I was awake

The 1st nights sleep when you get home is probably one  of the worst  experiences of your life.

one year I dreamt I'd fell asleep in the middle of silver Hayes and I got caught in the middle of  a mass stampede 

Edited April 2, 2017 by Divein

[grumpyhack]

A chance to take my sensible head off for a week and just chill.

[SallyFaulknerStantonWarrio]

It's the best place to get tartiflette 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, nikkic said:

A total failure of the digestive system.

laughing aside, this is something that is a real possibility for me at present. Hopefully I will make it through. Not allowed any imodium though this year.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, K2SO said:

Laid.

 

Hopefully.

Are James on again this year?

[clarkete]

I'm not sure what too commercial means in this context.  Is that having large popular acts?  Surely that's places that have stages sponsored by beer companies, arenas and the like?

When the beer tents are run by the WBC and when hundreds of thousands is donated to good causes, whilst still having green fields and the like, it just sounds like a throw away comment from a bellend in the grauniad comments.  

1.  I've been going for over thirty years, because it's a cracking week and (within reason) you can do or enjoy what you want.  There are bands that others here rave about the set that I've walked away from and found something entirely unexpected just passing through a field, in the circus or whatever. 

2.  Anyone who makes their judgement based on the poster when there are a hundred different things on at any one time doesn't deserve to go 

3.  Let's be honest, her odds in the resale are bloody slim anyway 

Edited April 2, 2017 by clarkete

[LondonTom]

Trench Foot

 A whole load mud clung to everything you bring on site.

Alcoholism

 

 

 

But apart from that, some of the best friendships you will ever make, a sense of belonging and all round good vibes. Its hard to describe to anyone who hasn't been and even some who have been who don't get it.

[Joshuwarr]

If the line up is a big deal just explain that this is barely a fraction of the full artists playing.

[MrZigster]

4 hours ago, BlackHole2006 said:

You get so wasted that you piss yourself infront of strangers standing next to a bin without even realising that they are watching and laughing at you. 

Or on stage at The Park if you are Mark E Smith from The Fall.

[Wilfko]

Genuinely being too scared to answer the front door when the Postman Rings the doorbell on the Monday/Tuesday you're home.

[toppo]

Glastonbury is many things to many people. For me it resets my equilibrium. The shackles of everyday life are left somewhere on the M5 on the drive down. 

My OH first came with me in '13 and 2 weeks before she said to me she wasn't going as people said it's muddy, toilets aren't the best, too crowded mostly from people who haven't been. OK I wasn't supportive as I said fine don't go, believe people who have only seen it on TV but reverse psychology worked and within 5 minutes of being there feeling the love of everyone around she asked when next year's tickets go on sale. This year will be her 5th.

This year my 7th is a massive one for me, having a hand fasting on the Wednesday and I have been incredibly lucky in being accepted as a volunteer for FMS. This is a festival that just keeps giving.

[Huckleberry Finn]

That white stuff.

[defrio29]

If she's really into music where the lineup is such a big deal for her, assure her that at any given time, there's always going to be 1 act that she's going to be able to enjoy somewhere in the festival. There's always something for everyone. If not the music, there's always so many other things to do - look for small tents with acts that nobody ever heard before playing, see the sunset from the hill, go to the stone circle and stay there and just take it all in until the sunrise, or there's always the late night corner, the circus, I heard this year they are adding an outdoor cinema, it's not really a music festival, it's much much more than that.

Yeah, the music's great and all that, but at times, I feel like, the true 'essence' of Glastonbury, is not really the music, but the people.To be able to be around a bunch of people, from different backgrounds, all with the same mindset - there to have fun, and enjoy what it means to live, is what Glastonbury all about.  It's the only festival where, it's really OK if you're not there to see any of the music acts.

And back to the music, I feel like, Glastonbury have this unique charm where, the most unexpected acts could be the highlight of this weekend. Like Lionel and Dolly's set for example in previous years. They are far from being the most critically acclaimed musician in the world. But, the mass drunkenness, the "memes", thousands of people singing along to tunes your mother's favourite tune post-ironically, makes it such a great experience that I feel can only happen in Glastonbury.

(I feel like this year, I think Katy Perry could actually be one of those act. As a headliner, people would probably be far away from it. But as a non headliner, it might just, just be great. I could totally imagine seeing people in shark costumes, flags about "feeling like a plastic bag", and the singalong is bound to be massive)

Let her know that it's going to be a while until the next one, and there's never a guarantee she will ever make it (tickets, work demands and so on.

Final words you should tell her is letting her know about the presence of this board. So many people 'get' so much from Glastonbury, that they spend the next 360 days until the next Glastonbury browsing a message board talking about the festival 

[ogriff]

A big stupid grin on my face!

 

And now that I have two small kids at home, a good nights sleep (relatively speaking)

[Sack truck]

Memories that you can't remember 

[Trout Mask Replica]

Restless Legs

 

[baggienick68]

You either get it or you don't. For me its the most important part of my year by miles. So far away from my everyday life. Mixing with lovely people all having a great time. At different times I've been with Mrs bn68, son, daughter, friends and solo. But if she is worried about toilets and mud and line-up etc then I would not try to persuade her to come. You will have a better time not worrying whether she is enjoying herself.

[Keithy]

12 hours ago, Simpo said:

Tonight my friend has dropped the bombshell that she might not try to get a ticket in the resale, and i feel slightly heartbroken.

I already have some of my closest friends coming, but I'm incredibly passionate about the festival and really want this Glastonbury to be The One that all my festival friends come to.

She loves festivals, having come to Kendal Calling with me and been to Sziget, but has never been to Glastonbury. She has been put off by the lineup and by interviewing veterans of Glastonbury saying it's fine "too commercial". 

I'm going to do my best to convince her, but I'd love for people to try as best they can to explain why Glastonbury is still so special, and for it compares favourably with the lines of, for example, End Of The Road, which is now her preference.

Not just the same things that people list when they say why Glastonbury is good, but what experiences you have had, and what makes it important to you.

I think it'll make a heartwarming discussion point as well.

Ask her what she means by 'too commercial'. My non Glasto friends say the same but can never answer what they mean by it. 

I think what they mean is 'too popular' because it's not commercial by a long shot. 

[MetaKate]

This is only my second year going and I will literally try to go every year possible for the rest of my life. It's a transportation to a different world. The atmosphere is (mostly) amazing and you will make friends and find friendly faces no matter who you chose to talk to. I'm not the type of person who will talk to strangers but this is a different world where social norms no longer matter.There's amazing acts in 100s of locations all day...sometimes the best ones are the ones you stumble upon by accident....and then the nightlife begins. Show her a video of arcadia... shangri la where you can dance until the crack of dawn and still be able to find another party. I fell down the rabbit hole and I constantly think about it so I don't forget it (cause I was a bit fucked up) but the experience was surreal. I somehow managed to wake up every day at a decent time and go hard all over again. On Tuesday I felt like I had died and come back to life but I'll take better care this year. 

I agree with the others.... it's down to her. I'm not sure what the mud experience would have been like last year if I didn't want to go so badly and just "kinda" wanted to go maybe. I'm generally quite unfit and am considering going running in wellies with weights on my ankles to prepare/improve my experience

Tell her it will be the best time of her life if she's open to it.

 

Edit: also I feel like I experienced 1% of the festival and that isn't enough. Must. keep. going. 

Edited April 3, 2017 by MetaKate

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

 

W*nkers Ricketts.

Edited April 3, 2017 by Yoghurt on a Stick