When to call it a day?

[Crazyfool01]

horrible things bad backs .... mine will just go at really strange times ... but glastonbury is a killer for it in the past so try to minimise what I carry on it now ... heavy stuff goes in the bike trailer , I dont take a risk now as it months of recover after .... I also tried several chiropractor sessions which im still not sure if they worked or not 

[thewayiam]

The best thing my group do now is turn upto the entrance with just your tent, chair and an essential bag like water early sun cream and a coupleof tinnies. Get the tent up and then take a stroll back and do the rest on trolley is 2 efforts. This would work seamlessly if they didn't put a thing in place last year where you couldn't walk through reentry until about 4pm.

Based on that happening again I would take the same and my bag on a trolley which I do anyway so that if they say that again then at least you've got a change of clothes whatever and some food.

Edited September 6, 2018 by thewayiam

[robertjohnmalkin]

1 hour ago, tjamest said:

Not done End of the Road, but have been to Larmer Tree on the same site a few times and yes a much more compact and easier experience. Only 45 minutes from my house as well.

45 mins?! It's all round to yours next year tj☺

 

[Losing my hair]

On 9/5/2018 at 4:12 PM, tjamest said:

With ticket day fast approaching i find myself in a position of having to decide if my body can cope with Glastonbury next year.

I know that there are many here in there 60's and beyond who still attend, but now i have reached my late 50si have definitely struggled over the last two years. 2016 I can blame on the weather, but by Friday night last year i was knackered.

Don't get me wrong i still enjoyed it and explored many of the quieter areas than ever before, but from someone who has always enjoyed the more lively parts of a crowd when watching a band, sitting on a wall near the Rabbit Hole to watch the Flaming Lips was a very different experience. I rallied a bit on Saturday, but a Dead Kennedys/Toots &The Maytals double header virtually killed off Sunday for me, in fact i sacked off all the headliners and relaxed in a virtually deserted stone circle instead.

I am a couple of stone over weight, but until last year when i had what i thought was a minor skiing injury to my knees i was pretty fit and active. The 'minor injury' has unfortunately become a bit more major over the subsequent 18 months and i was told this week that i needed a full knee replacement, although as i a still pretty mobile they do not want to do it until my condition becomes worse. This means that by the time Glastonbury comes around next year i will probably still be in recovery from receiving my shiny new knee or still waiting for one.

I guess that i'm asking how do others who are not as fit as the once were cope with the beast that is Glastonbury?

 

I did my first Glastonbury in 2017 at 64 and I can't wait for 2019.

I've done 3 camping festivals this year, WOMAD, Green Man, EoTR, and I'm sort of getting the hang of it now.

So instead of saying "I can't go" work out how you can go:

1. Camp in a quieter field. if you're coming by coach then camp in Darble - relatively quiet at night and I never found it a huge trek back.
2. Only bring essentials to keep the weight down, I only take my hip flask, nuts and energy bars. Buy everything else.
3. Alternatively go down the camper van route, something I'm considering for next year.
4. Accept that you can't tear round the site like you used to which might mean missing the odd act, if you're lucky you get a run of 2 or 3 acts on one stage which makes life easier. 
5. Drink moderately, getting pissed when you're older takes so much more out of you than it did in your 20s, 30s, 40s.

If your knees are really not up to Glastonbury, then End of the Road would make a great substitute.

[tjamest]

50 minutes ago, Losing my hair said:

I did my first Glastonbury in 2017 at 64 and I can't wait for 2019.

I've done 3 camping festivals this year, WOMAD, Green Man, EoTR, and I'm sort of getting the hang of it now.

So instead of saying "I can't go" work out how you can go:

1. Camp in a quieter field. if you're coming by coach then camp in Darble - relatively quiet at night and I never found it a huge trek back.
2. Only bring essentials to keep the weight down, I only take my hip flask, nuts and energy bars. Buy everything else.
3. Alternatively go down the camper van route, something I'm considering for next year.
4. Accept that you can't tear round the site like you used to which might mean missing the odd act, if you're lucky you get a run of 2 or 3 acts on one stage which makes life easier. 
5. Drink moderately, getting pissed when you're older takes so much more out of you than it did in your 20s, 30s, 40s.

If your knees are really not up to Glastonbury, then End of the Road would make a great substitute.

Thanks for your suggestions, I think that the knees are probably the main issue as i already do 1,2,4,5. 

I can put 16 down to the mud, and last year to the knees

Yesterday they were giving me a lot of gyp and i couldn't really see how was going to manage, but today they are quite a bit better and basically i now feel that as long as i undertake a pretty big fitness routine, lose some weight and build up the muscles around my knees i should be fine. 

This process has made me realise that as long as i can do it reasonably pain free, then i've definitly got a few more in me

Funily enough lwas going to do EOTR and Womad this year until i decided to gave awhole year off from festivals.

[Pinhead]

Time is the school in which we learn,

Time is the fire in which we burn.

[The Nal]

1 hour ago, thewayiam said:

The best thing my group do now is turn upto the entrance with just your tent, chair and an essential bag like water early sun cream and a coupleof tinnies. Get the tent up and then take a stroll back and do the rest on trolley is 2 efforts. This would work seamlessly if they didn't put a thing in place last year where you couldn't walk through reentry until about 4pm.

Based on that happening again I would take the same and my bag on a trolley which I do anyway so that if they say that again then at least you've got a change of clothes whatever and some food.

This post made my brain sore. I've read it 3 or 4 times and most of it makes no sense to me. 

I think theres a post there, but its like you've written a legible post and then thrown a lot of the words up in the air and reassembled them randomly in some sort of attempt at an avant-garde lyric sheet.

You can't re enter until 4pm so your new plan is to do exactly what you did last year? Does the bag on the trolley have water early sun cream and a couple of tinnies on it?

[tjamest]

I think the trolley was not involved in the first run this year

[thewayiam]

1 hour ago, The Nal said:

This post made my brain sore. I've read it 3 or 4 times and most of it makes no sense to me. 

I think theres a post there, but its like you've written a legible post and then thrown a lot of the words up in the air and reassembled them randomly in some sort of attempt at an avant-garde lyric sheet.

You can't re enter until 4pm so your new plan is to do exactly what you did last year? Does the bag on the trolley have water early sun cream and a couple of tinnies on it?

 

49 minutes ago, tjamest said:

I think the trolley was not involved in the first run this year

That was quite clear. Basically I only tool in what I needed so it's was very simple to walk and get a spot. If it's warm early then sun cream and water as an essential and a couple of tinnies for laughs.

Usually they let you reenter as soon as you enter pretty much as long as you have a wristband etc but it was right after loads of terrorism stuff...searches were heavy and it was no reenter until 4pm but I didn't know that atm so I left my bag in the car. This time however I think I'd take that but left everything else heavy until after as my chair and tent go on my back anyway

I think tbh he's coming across as a bit of an arse in what was a genuine post to possibly help some people in the future, this doesn't surprise me mind.

[Gnomicide]

On 9/5/2018 at 7:21 PM, fatyeti24 said:

A mixture of reasons:  health, effort and campsite culture.

Yeah. Some right noisy bastards camped next to us last time.

13 hours ago, eFestivals said:

one of these

9 hours ago, The Nal said:

Bring as little with you as possible and bring more money and buy as much as possible there. 

This is my thought for next year. Don't get me wrong, I'm a proper tight bastard and love saving money but I think my days of hauling in loads of cans is behind me. A box of wine and buy the rest there I think. If I can get a job by then.

5 hours ago, H.M.V said:

Brings a whole new meaning to the long drop

?

Interesting thread. I didn't go to Glastonbury until I was 43 so never experienced it as a youth. I need to get my feet sorted but can't see me giving it up for a few years yet. 

More time sitting in bars, talking shit (one of my favourite bits from 2017 was sitting in the bar in the Acoustic Field with some of the good folk I've met through this site for an hour or two), realising straining though the mud to see a band you could catch 10 times a year for £20 is a waste of effort, just taking it easier, miss a band and get there early for that act you really want to see.

I'll still make the effort to see as much as possible but I've learned my limitations. I think. I envisage being one of the old farts sitting outside the Acoustic in years to come. Sitting next to @Mardy, calling everyone a c**t. Nowt wrong with that.

[FuzzyDunlop]

When to stop? Whenever you want... people get different things out of festivals. If you stop enjoying it, then stop.

Person A cant be arsed with it at 22

Persin B is still loving it at 62

Do it til you want, not what anyone else thinks

[Quark]

12 hours ago, Gnomicide said:

I'll still make the effort to see as much as possible but I've learned my limitations. I think. I envisage being one of the old farts sitting outside the Acoustic in years to come. Sitting next to @Mardy, calling everyone a c**t. Nowt wrong with that.

 

[Mardy]

13 hours ago, Gnomicide said:

I'll still make the effort to see as much as possible but I've learned my limitations. I think. I envisage being one of the old farts sitting outside the Acoustic in years to come. Sitting next to @Mardy, calling everyone a c**t. Nowt wrong with that.

Long may it continue and I look forward (ticket gods willing) to doing it again next year

[LowerMead]

I had a ticket for 2017 but had to give it a miss as I had a (fortunately very mild) heart attack and had to have a stent fitted at age 44. We've got a young toddler, my wife (a keen festivaller, but who prefers not to go to Glastonbury, too big she says)  had visions of me overdoing it and being found dead in my tent on the Monday. The reality is that I've made some liefestyle and diet adjustments, lost weight, and feeling fitter and healthier than ever so raring to go for 2019 if I can get a ticket!

We have since bought a small Eriba caravan so I want us to go as a family in that, it will be the last year before our son goes to school before we get into all that 'term-time holiday' shenanigans, so am really hoping to get tickets.

We are also keen EOTR-ers (10 x veterans), many people describe it as a 'mini-Glastonbury', I am inclined to agree.  It doesn't have so much of the late night entertainment but I'm not bothered by that these days, I like to just see the bands I want to see then get my head down for midnight and enjoy as much kip as I can! Definitely recommended for anyone who is feeling the whole size of Glastonbury is a bit too much for them.

 

Edited September 17, 2018 by LowerMead

[fred quimby]

Well looks like Mrs Q has called it a day. Friends were going to come in a campervan so looked good for her back but they have now pulled out to go abroad. Shame really but as she says she has seen most of it before, the crowds are mad nowadays so she is unsure if she will enjoy it as much as it has got a bit samey with more hassle.

I will still be there though I hope, if we get work again.

[Pinhead]

When the fun stops, stop.

[fred quimby]

1 hour ago, Pinhead said:

When the fun stops, stop.

Ah, I thought it was

when the fun stops, double drop

Edited September 17, 2018 by fred quimby

[JacquelineS]

I am 65 this year and came all the way from Canada in 2017.  I highly recommend  Tangerine fields. It's a long walk but not uphill. 

Something like one of these or their many variations might be helpful as well. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Folding-Aluminium-Tripod-Cane-Hiking-Chair-Portable-Walking-Stick-With-Seat-/263902965461

Just want to add that I did the Isle of Wight this year and it was amazing. Much easier to get around, smaller, crowds are smaller. The Killers was the only mainstage act that was absolutely crowded,

Edited September 18, 2018 by JacquelineS

[kalifire]

It’s been a slog for me since I moved down under. Glastonbury represents two-three weeks away in which I spend time with family and friends and then fly back (which adds to the pressure on ticket Sunday - everything gets much more expensive if I have to delay flights etc. until April). 

It’s quite gruelling. I’ll turn 41 next week so next year’s festival will be my first in my 40’s. Last year I did feel my physical threshold a bit. It mainly resulted in earlier bedtimes (1-2am) and amazingly I slept like a baby every night, camped in Pennards. 

I found myself less enamoured with the relentless dance music of the SE Corner and happier to be back in the crowd a bit for some of the performances, but I enjoyed it just as much. 

Like one or two others, my plan is to go in 19 and 20, then sit it out for a bit. We’ll be considering starting a family and also want to see different places. I’ll be back for future festivals, but two more then I’ll have a break. 

[stuartbert two hats]

40 minutes ago, kalifire said:

It’s been a slog for me since I moved down under. Glastonbury represents two-three weeks away in which I spend time with family and friends and then fly back (which adds to the pressure on ticket Sunday - everything gets much more expensive if I have to delay flights etc. until April). 

It’s quite gruelling. I’ll turn 41 next week so next year’s festival will be my first in my 40’s. Last year I did feel my physical threshold a bit. It mainly resulted in earlier bedtimes (1-2am) and amazingly I slept like a baby every night, camped in Pennards. 

I found myself less enamoured with the relentless dance music of the SE Corner and happier to be back in the crowd a bit for some of the performances, but I enjoyed it just as much. 

Like one or two others, my plan is to go in 19 and 20, then sit it out for a bit. We’ll be considering starting a family and also want to see different places. I’ll be back for future festivals, but two more then I’ll have a break. 

I've just turned 40 and have already had a few breaks due to starting a family.  The way I'm feeling right now, I'm not inclined to stop for a very, very long time.  Even if I'm in bed by 10 every night.

[Mr.Tease]

50 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

I've just turned 40 and have already had a few breaks due to starting a family.  The way I'm feeling right now, I'm not inclined to stop for a very, very long time.  Even if I'm in bed by 10 every night.

Yeah, I'm 38 and to be honest I don't really feel any different to how I was when I first started going (early 20s)- I feel the same physically, same leftwing politics, find the same things funny that I always have- progress has been negligible! I need a bit more sleep, but that's about it.

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

13 minutes ago, Mr.Tease said:

Yeah, I'm 38 and to be honest I don't really feel any different to how I was when I first started going (early 20s)- I feel the same physically, same leftwing politics, find the same things funny that I always have- progress has been negligible! I need a bit more sleep, but that's about it.

I’m 37 and I’ve yet to notice Glastonbury taking its toll and me struggling anymore than usual. That said in normal life hangovers leave me tired for a few days now and I struggle with the enthusiasm to keep going all night like I used to, but that’s just to do with being older and less enthused by doing the same thing for the thousandth time. Glastonbury is fun and amazing and I never struggle (touches wood) with hangovers or stamina while I’m there.

[amfy]

37 minutes ago, Mr.Tease said:

Yeah, I'm 38 and to be honest I don't really feel any different to how I was when I first started going (early 20s)- I feel the same physically, same leftwing politics, find the same things funny that I always have- progress has been negligible! I need a bit more sleep, but that's about it.

 

22 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

I’m 37 and I’ve yet to notice Glastonbury taking its toll and me struggling anymore than usual. That said in normal life hangovers leave me tired for a few days now and I struggle with the enthusiasm to keep going all night like I used to, but that’s just to do with being older and less enthused by doing the same thing for the thousandth time. Glastonbury is fun and amazing and I never struggle (touches wood) with hangovers or stamina while I’m there.

It’s somewhere in the mid-40s that it starts getting tough I think - & my energy levels have gone right off the edge of a cliff since hitting 50! Still want to do it, but absolutely have to be paced now.

Though how deciding to work it fits in with this I have no clue!

[stuie]

On ‎9‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 8:36 PM, thewayiam said:

 

That was quite clear. Basically I only tool in what I needed so it's was very simple to walk and get a spot. If it's warm early then sun cream and water as an essential and a couple of tinnies for laughs. 

 

 

But what about the no alcohol on re-entry rule?

 

[thewayiam]

1 hour ago, stu_kent said:

 

But what about the no alcohol on re-entry rule?

 

There isn't a rule, you can take alcohol in whenever you want.