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Camplight Going Off Site?


Gnomicide
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I can’t remember if they were there last year but previously the Young Greens had a few festival-endorsed bases in Pennards which were designed to try and encourage community and camping responsibility among the people camped around them. It actually worked really well. I camped with them in 2015 and looked out for them in 2017 but didn’t see anyone. 

I suspect that’s what the festival would be going for rather than giving up a fairly extensive piece of land so a company can come along and make some money out of it. I’ve often thought Camplight sails close to the kind of profit creep that many of us would rather not see, even though their profit uses the festival ethos to make money.

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"In 2017 Camplight were asked to move from Pennard Hill but we fought to keep our location, as Pennard Hill is the best place for Camplight to grow in to a real event changing organization."

If it really was all about the ethos then I'm not sure why being on Pennards was so key.  Maybe if they'd played ball they wouldn't have put someone's nose out of joint.

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4 minutes ago, nikkic said:

Surely that would never happen. Would be a logistical nightmare trying to pre-erect 100k tents. 

 

If GLF decided to do it they would. Logistically it is doable. My children have both worked erecting WV tents for years, it is amazing how fast they go up. GFL are the masters of achieving the impossible and there would be plenty of folk that would be willing to do the job. Paid work before and after the festival with 3 meals a day and the Monday to Monday of the festivaloff with a free ticket and a great place to camp with tent, caravan etc. It is actually one of the more sought after crew jobs.

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I think they were a local group who had contacts with the family and set up Camplight at Glastonbury a few years ago, got a foot in the door with other festivals and the idea and business has grown. It's great that Glastonbury festivals has helped a fledgling business based on sound principles and doesn't seem right to put them outside the perimeter fence now ,but as others have suggested maybe one of the outer camping area as a compromise .

 

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I can't  see the point of this being offsite ... the benefit for people is the location and the fact that the tents are already set up ... just increase the size of worthy view if thats going to be the case and return the field to the rest of the punters .... perhaps they can introduce some kind of green scheme similar to worthy warriors for certain areas , but the idea of having a campsite that is right i n the middle and cleaned up easily is loads better and sets an example to others ... Ive not actually taken a look at it before ... but does the same amount of general camping stuff get abandoned at the end ? or is it totally clean apart from the hired tents ? 

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1 hour ago, crazyfool1 said:

I can't  see the point of this being offsite ...  Ive not actually taken a look at it before ... but does the same amount of general camping stuff get abandoned at the end ? or is it totally clean apart from the hired tents ? 

Can'tsee it working offsite and the rent for fields adjacent to the festival is crazy.

CL area always looks tidier than the rest of the surrounding camping areas. Don't know if that is down to the punters of the CL stewards/crew making sure that they make a good impression.

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The problem with Camplight is that it feeds into the excuse for people to not take their tent home as 'they get donated to charity'. Which is exactly what Camplight do as they say on their website - "We do this by picking abandoned tents up before they end up going to landfill"

It's difficult to get a message out to take your tent home when there's a company on site doing exactly what the lazy gits who leave tents behind say will happen. Like it or not, there IS a company/charity who will recycle your tent if you leave it behind.

I know it's not quite as black and white as that but it's difficult to get a consistent across 'take your tent home' message when people will just point at Camplight and say 'leaving it for charity'.

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1 hour ago, Madyaker said:

So they were asked to move out of pennards, refused, and are now being hucked off site altogether? They should have moved. Loads of space in bushy ground for them.

Yep - I remember at the time they started, it was always a bit of a sore point that they'd been allowed to take and resell some of the most popular public camping space - especially as it wasn't long after Dragon had been closed and Pennards carved up to provide crew camping areas and Tipis.

The argument that they need to be in Pennards because they want to educate and that's where the worst waste is doesn't make sense - surely if that was the case we'd be seeing an impact by now. At just about every other festival they operate at (that I've seen anyway), CampLight are out towards the fringes, no reason Glastonbury should be any different. Let them have some of the space people aren't rushing for.

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On 9/29/2018 at 11:08 AM, Mardy said:

Yeah, I'm with @Gnomicide on this, seems a strange decision, they fit closely into the festivals ethos, I guess the only thing is the fear it could compete with Worthy View, in that's a better location and significantly cheaper.

I doubt it. they're not really anything alike, and WV sells out every year.

If anything, it would be because GFL wanted to expand the Tipi Village, but that's unlikely too as there's a big hedge between it and Pennards IIRC?

they'll probably just leave it as unreserved general camping.

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Apologies but I am a caravan only nincompoop and have not heard of Camplight before...

i have been suggesting (to myself mostly) for some years that the natural progression of WV is to set up a version in one of the existing on-site camping areas... 

If you could get into Camplight why the feck would you want to go to WV.? (Ok, parking and facilities maybe)

how could you get into Camplight btw.?

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Not bothered about this myself personally as I was always unhappy about public camping space being crept into by private camping organisations. Sticking them outside with the rest levels the playing field (as well as freeing up some much needed space in Pennards). Its probably easier to do this now if Eavis has a proper contract in place with the surrounding landowners and so can guarantee them an area to set up in without worrying so much about unexpected cost being sprung upon him.

On 9/30/2018 at 4:02 AM, kalifire said:

I can’t remember if they were there last year but previously the Young Greens had a few festival-endorsed bases in Pennards which were designed to try and encourage community and camping responsibility among the people camped around them. It actually worked really well. I camped with them in 2015 and looked out for them in 2017 but didn’t see anyone. 

Young Greens were there last year - I was camped on the periphery of one of their open circle areas. Not quite so well structured as previous years I think, but there were as many spaces as before.

Although tent abandonment is a real issue for Glastonbury and all festivals that have such camping, turning the site into something resembling a structured refugee camp would ruin it for me. One of the highlights is all the individual areas and tent themes that get created around the campsites. Lobbying camping stores to stop advertising tents as 'festival tents' and implying one time only use would help along with better PR coverage with the message that they don't all get packed up and sent off to charity / relief operations.

 

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Glad to hear this, as someone who camps overnight on the Tuesday to get a good spot on pennards hill it is a bit annoying to see prime spots taken up already.

They should base themselves behind or to the side of the Pyramid stage, always has come across as more laddish and I'd assume there is more wastage there.

'Oh but we must have the best spots in the most popular camping area for the concept to work' :wacko:

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I like the idea of Camp Light.  Over the Glastonbury's i've been to I've used every conceivable type of option from camping on site to 'glamping' to caravan and WV.

Camplight is a great alternative and did really encourage those using it to travel light and leave no waste. (from what i saw in 2017)

I do however accept that it doesn't need to be on Pennards and i'd happily use it if it was set up by the fence. 

That way it can keep most people happy

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2 hours ago, oldmagsy83 said:

'Oh but we must have the best spots in the most popular camping area for the concept to work' :wacko:

Their Facebook seems to indicate they're now willing to be moved elsewhere as long as it's within the site. They may well have f*cked it for themselves after refusing to budge last year, though. That, and their pretty desperate statement begging to stay, is a bit cringe.

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