Best & Worst Glastonbury Area

[BambooShanks]

Best - hmm, Probably the SEC(specifically Block9 and Shangri La).  It's such a departure from the rest of the festival that you feel like you've been transported to an alternate reality yet it's still unmistakably Glastonbury.  Honourable mention goes to The Park

 

Worst - Silver Hayes.  I could probably count on one hand how many acts I've seen in Silver Hayes over the years and apart from The Blues, don't really rate the stages that much.  The area just feels under utilised and lacks that little special something that is present elsewhere in the festival.  Dishonourable mention goes to The Other Stage (if you'd call that an area), it's relatively anonymous and the sound can be temperamental if you're not stood in the right spot. 

[Winslow Leach]

5 minutes ago, Joshuwarr said:

Interesting to see so much dislike for Silver Hayes. As I camp right next door to it I've always had a soft spot as its has often provided a lot of first night entertainment for my friends and I. I think it does suffer from a clear lack of identity with a lot of themes mashed together. However, some of the individual venues have provided great entertainment. Pussy Parlure is always good fun!

Yeah, Silver Hayes is badly thought and laid out but the Gully and Pussy Parlure can be good, as can The Blues at times. Acoustic has nothing going for it, as far as I'm concerned.

The Glade and Green Fields are the MVPs. Bloc 9 loses points for becoming increasingly crowded and harder to get into year on year.

Glasto Latino is the most underrated.

 

[StevieMcK]

Best - It's a toss up between Block 9 / The Common.  I could happily spend every evening wandering around there.

Worst - The Truth Stage in Shangri-la, or more specifically the choke point/traffic jam at the back of it*, as everyone tries to filter past.  I've had a few really uncomfortable moments passing there.  The sort of moments where if you fall, you'd have to fight your way back to your feet before you ended up at the bottom of a pile-up.

*yet if you 20ft closer to the stage and there is usually much more space to walk through.

[DwideShrude14]

Best - Entry gate on Wednesday

Worst - Exit gate on Monday (also Silver Hayes). 

[joeruss]

Forgot about The Common! We stumbled into The Temple in 2017 late on the Sunday and was amazed by it, especially those flames going off..  those steep steps however round the side are an absolute death trap

[Winslow Leach]

I seem to remember the changes they made to the Common last festival making it more accessible to more people, but also taking some of its identity away in the process. Plus, the lack of Copperdollar was a blow.

[Crazyfool01]

6 minutes ago, DwideShrude14 said:

Best - Entry gate on Wednesday

Worst - Exit gate on Monday (also Silver Hayes). 

took the words out  of my ... head  

[mario man]

5 minutes ago, joeruss said:

...  those steep steps however round the side are an absolute death trap

 

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, Winslow Leach said:

I seem to remember the changes they made to the Common last festival making it more accessible to more people, but also taking some of its identity away in the process. Plus, the lack of Copperdollar was a blow.

did I see somewhere about a return from copper dollar ? or was it a dream ? I've tried contacting them but no joy 

[kalifire]

Best - Tie between West Holts and The Glade. Love that area of the site generally.

Worst - I don't ever spend much time in Silver Hayes other than walk through it, so can't really comment. I'm going to out on a limb and say NYC Downlow. Outside it looks fantastic and the entertainment for the queue is always top notch, but I find inside quite dull and uninspired. I appreciate I'm in a minority on that one.

[Spindles]

Best for me, The Glade for the music, the park for the vibe.

Worst by a country mile, Silver Hayes.  I only use it as a cut through to get from my tent to the main areas and honestly I'd rather take the longer walk across the north of the site most of the time.  I've encountered less than friendly folk there on a few occasions, it doesn't feel like Glastonbury to me.

[rubick]

2 minutes ago, kalifire said:

Best - Tie between West Holts and The Glade. Love that area of the site generally.

Worst - I don't ever spend much time in Silver Hayes other than walk through it, so can't really comment. I'm going to out on a limb and say NYC Downlow. Outside it looks fantastic and the entertainment for the queue is always top notch, but I find inside quite dull and uninspired. I appreciate I'm in a minority on that one.

£10 for a can of cider. At least the bloke behind the bar apologised. 

[Pinhead]

Best - probably Avalon

Worst - probably Stone Circle now when I think what fun it used to be up there before the SE Corner sucked the life out if it.

[Hugh Jass]

Best - The bits inside the fence.

Worst - Everything outside it.

[elgatonegrofabricwardrobe]

4 minutes ago, rubick said:

£10 for a can of cider. At least the bloke behind the bar apologised. 

£10 a can?!?! I must've been drunk if I don't remember that. My stick on moustache would have fallen off in disbelief.

[danbailey80]

Best: Glade area, Greenfields (permaculture etc) and top of flag hill. 

Worst: The Other Stage. 

[Hugh Jass]

Silver Hayes definitely seems to attract a moodier element that you don’t tend to find elsewhere at the festival. Plus when it’s muddy it can an absolute bastard to get around.

The Other can be pretty bleak when it’s wind swept and overcast, especially if there’s some landfill indie nobodies on the stage.

Never had much time for the SE Corner, as mentioned elsewhere it’s usually too busy to be able to see and take it all in.

The Park is clearly the best area at the festival.

[ghostdancer1]

Best: The Park, although I would have said Block9 but it gets too crowded, especially NYC Downlow which generally requires queuing 2hrs in advance of an act you want to see.

 

Worst: Other stage. just a big barren wasteland with no character.

[The Nal]

Best Wed/Thurs - Williams Green

Worst Wed/Thurs - Other Stage/Oxlyers (The fuck is wrong with some people?)

Best Fri-Sun - West Holts/Avalon 

Worst Fri-Sun - Other Stage/Oxlyers The fuck is wrong with some people?)

9. Pablo Honey

[Robofish]

Best: as long as who I’m watching can be heard and seen I’m not too fussed which music venue I’m at. The best place for atmosphere during the day is the Theatre and Circus fields. The incredible variety of stuff happening here is wonderful, and is what makes the festival unique for me.

Worst: oh go on then, Silver Hayes. But we do have fun in the Silent Disco. And Pussy Parlure is occasionally good too. 

[Harry49]

Best - As an area The Park, but for big crowd atmosphere at a stage then the John Peel.

Worst - The Other. 

 

 

 

[kh24]

All my favourite areas (Park, Avalon, WH, T&C) have similar things in common - all feel a bit self contained, like a 'festival within a festival' (especially the Park): a mix of venues and bars clustered together, visually a bit more interesting, varied music/acts - areas I can just turn up to if I don't have any other plans, and feel reasonably confident there will be something good to see.  

My least favourite are just a bit....barren by comparison - top of the list being the Other Stage - it's just a buzzkill a lot of the time for me, especially during the day, and I'm not massively into JP either - although it's improved a little with the Woods etc. Weird, because I spent most of Fri-Sun at my first couple of festivals bouncing between JP and Other, and would have unquestioningly said they were my favourite stages (I used to read the NME a lot then, so I most likely sat through a load of absolute dirge from the early noughties ). Silver Hayes is just a bit...bleak, and it feels like it should be more exciting/edgy than it is (it can feel 'edgy' for all the wrong reasons sometimes tbh - the only aggro I've seen, like dangerous shoving in crowds etc. in recent years has been when I'm passing through there).   

I don't think I've ever matched the total mind-blowing 'rush' of first encountering the SE corner (stumbling into Lost Vagueness in 2005, pre one-way system and knowing very little about it, which only added to the surprise element), although I loved the Shangri La alleyways a few years later. Might try and re-acquaint myself with this area this year, if only for a brief visit.

Edited May 7, 2019 by kh24

[Watergirl]

Saw the OP but I actually rate the Acoustic as the best! Just because I have seen so many acts there over the years, the best bar is right beside it, toilets and water close by, all handy. It’s true though that the stage isn’t in the best spot.

Worst - Other.  I go and see the odd acts there but there is no atmosphere.

Also not mad about the Park. Too far from anything else, unless there is a sequence of acts you’d want to see, which never happens for me.

[Display-Name]

Not sure I can really compare all the areas as obviously they're very different. But my friends and I spend a lot of time in the Cabaret during the daytime as a good fun place to sit and relax.

Don't spend much time in Silver Hayes but the lineup this year looks quite appealing so hopefully they change it up a bit and it lives up to expectations.

[bombfrog]

Best - Other stage. I know a lot of people don't like it as an area, but of the three "big" stages I think it has the best sound system and big screens for watching a big act, especially of the more dancey variety (system seems to have plenty of bass). I've had loads of amazing times at the Other Stage with acts like the Chems, Orbital, Fatboy, Chase & Status etc. My first real "glasto moment" was Basement Jaxx there in 2004. I like The Park, but it's the area not the stage which I think is pretty poor. Special mention to the Wood and the new JP location too though.

Worst - Silver Hayes. Especially the Sonic stage. I love electronic music but haven't bothered with it for the last few years. Last time I enjoyed a really good rave up was Annie Mac a few years ago and that was in JP.