Your most controversial Glastonbury opinions

[irnkrtn]

My most controversial take is its better to go to bed early, fall asleep to the blissful sound of late night festival, and get up for sunrise at the Stone Circle. Much much better than fighting sleep, freezing your tits off having your ear chewed off by a random new friend high on a lot of things other than life and trudging back to your tent to then wake up an hour later cause its too warm to sleep. 

I held this opinion also at 18, I just lacked the confidence to live my truth 😄

[blutarsky]

58 minutes ago, irnkrtn said:

My most controversial take is its better to go to bed early, fall asleep to the blissful sound of late night festival, and get up for sunrise at the Stone Circle. Much much better than fighting sleep, freezing your tits off having your ear chewed off by a random new friend high on a lot of things other than life and trudging back to your tent to then wake up an hour later cause its too warm to sleep. 

I held this opinion also at 18, I just lacked the confidence to live my truth 😄

Nonsense. It’s much better to be high on a lot of things other than life and chewing the ear off a new friend through to sunrise than it is to get a good night’s kip. 

[kemosabe]

1 hour ago, irnkrtn said:

My most controversial take is its better to go to bed early, fall asleep to the blissful sound of late night festival, and get up for sunrise at the Stone Circle. Much much better than fighting sleep, freezing your tits off having your ear chewed off by a random new friend high on a lot of things other than life and trudging back to your tent to then wake up an hour later cause its too warm to sleep. 

I held this opinion also at 18, I just lacked the confidence to live my truth 😄

If you're up for sunrise that's what 6/7am? What are you doing until music starts up again?

Surely waking up a few hours later then sunrise would give you more energy and you'd still have time for breakfast, walk around etc. Before the music starts at 11am, midday or whenever it is. 

Edited April 16, 2022 by kemosabe

[found home in 2009]

23 hours ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Actually, here's a controversial opinion, Chris Martin was only ever annoying when he was knocking about with Gwyneth Paltrow. He was sound before that and is sound now. 

I don't like his musical output but his cameo on modern family was great. He clearly has a sense of humour, knows how to design a stage show & loves Glastonbury. Not a bad sort

[irnkrtn]

21 hours ago, kemosabe said:

If you're up for sunrise that's what 6/7am? What are you doing until music starts up again?

Surely waking up a few hours later then sunrise would give you more energy and you'd still have time for breakfast, walk around etc. Before the music starts at 11am, midday or whenever it is. 

I told you it was controversial 😄

I love wandering round the site at 7am. It's so quiet, but theres still pockets of something going on. You can see almost everyone is taking a couple of hours sleep before watching the site wake up again. It's definitely worth trying at least once! 

[alframsey]

On 4/14/2022 at 8:32 PM, Homer said:

Can you elaborate a bit please? What specifically was worse about the festivals you didn't go to?

I did go to those festivals I the 90s before the fence went up. Maybe it is my child memory but it was more chaotic (not necessarily a bad thing) and multiple times I remember being scared as a kid. I specifically remember when Page and Plant finished one of the years there was a surge of people leaving and it got very very tight and scary, my uncle had to put me and my cousin into and Ice Cream van because he was panicking. I don’t remember ever experiencing that sort of thing since the fence went up? We are splitting hairs here as I still had an unbelievably time as a child at the festival. I do though think it is better now than then, I’m willing to accept that could just be as a result of me being a 32 year old man now and and adult at the festival.

[irnkrtn]

22 hours ago, blutarsky said:

Nonsense. It’s much better to be high on a lot of things other than life and chewing the ear off a new friend through to sunrise than it is to get a good night’s kip. 

I take this as conceded freezing your tits off is unenjoyable 😄. I mean, the way i've written it, bring on 4am in 10 weeks time I say!!

[alframsey]

3 minutes ago, irnkrtn said:

I told you it was controversial 😄

I love wandering round the site at 7am. It's so quiet, but theres still pockets of something going on. You can see almost everyone is taking a couple of hours sleep before watching the site wake up again. It's definitely worth trying at least once! 

I’m always up until dawn and after too. Some of the best times I’ve had at the festival have been those times of the day, like you say I enjoy walking round when it’s quiet and seeing those people still milling around, it’s so peaceful at those times in contrast to how it is in the day and night.

[blutarsky]

4 minutes ago, irnkrtn said:

I take this as conceded freezing your tits off is unenjoyable 😄. I mean, the way i've written it, bring on 4am in 10 weeks time I say!!

If you’re high as a kite you don’t feel the cold. See you at 4am 😂 

[Bucketsquad]

13 minutes ago, blutarsky said:

If you’re high as a kite you don’t feel the cold. See you at 4am 😂 

That's a good point 😂

[clarkete]

3 hours ago, alframsey said:

I did go to those festivals I the 90s before the fence went up. Maybe it is my child memory but it was more chaotic (not necessarily a bad thing) and multiple times I remember being scared as a kid. I specifically remember when Page and Plant finished one of the years there was a surge of people leaving and it got very very tight and scary, my uncle had to put me and my cousin into and Ice Cream van because he was panicking. I don’t remember ever experiencing that sort of thing since the fence went up? We are splitting hairs here as I still had an unbelievably time as a child at the festival. I do though think it is better now than then, I’m willing to accept that could just be as a result of me being a 32 year old man now and and adult at the festival.

I agree.  Sometimes folks refer to crowds these days, but I more distinctly remember some from before the fence which felt more dangerous, there were all sorts of other perils as well as it was literally more lawless in many ways.

[squirrelarmy]

1 minute ago, clarkete said:

I agree.  Sometimes folks refer to crowds these days, but I more distinctly remember some from before the fence which felt more dangerous, there were all sorts of other perils as well as it was literally more lawless in many ways.

The fence didn’t go up to force everyone to buy tickets in order to make money. It was a necessity to control the numbers and have some system of tracking who was coming in or the festival wouldn’t get its license to go ahead. 

[plaskins]

The older I get the less sleep I need at the festival 😁

[stuartbert two hats]

23 minutes ago, plaskins said:

The older I get the less sleep I need at the festival 😁

I'm the opposite. Or, to be more precise, the older I get, the harder I find to nap or sleep in, so getting a good night's sleep becomes more important to me, as it's much more possible for me to be completely broken beyond repair that day if I don't get enough sleep.

[Punksnotdead]

58 minutes ago, clarkete said:

I agree.  Sometimes folks refer to crowds these days, but I more distinctly remember some from before the fence which felt more dangerous, there were all sorts of other perils as well as it was literally more lawless in many ways.

I really loved it pre-super fence. 57 year old me probably prefers the more sanitised, safer festival. But 35 year old me definitely loved the dangerous, lawless anarchy of 2000 & earlier more.

[clarkete]

2 minutes ago, Punksnotdead said:

I really loved it pre-super fence. 57 year old me probably prefers the more sanitised, safer festival. But 35 year old me definitely loved the dangerous, lawless anarchy of 2000 & earlier more.

Oh I certainly enjoyed it, but as @squirrelarmy said, there was no doubt it couldn't carry on in that form.

[rivalschools.price]

5 minutes ago, clarkete said:

Oh I certainly enjoyed it, but as @squirrelarmy said, there was no doubt it couldn't carry on in that form.

Especially now that literally a million people are trying to go, haha.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

Glastonbury should take more of a lead in promoting its ethos. More stuff like getting Corbyn on stage obviously but also promoting vegan food options around the main stages. I wish they’d stop giving out free cow’s milk as well even though I know that’s one of the ‘Glastonbury things’. 

It’s way past time that the after hours stuff should have moved beyond dance music. Cineramgeddon was a positive step in that respect but they can definitely be doing more - not least because it’ll spread the crowds out. 

Have less acts on the Pyramid, with bigger gaps between them, to encourage movement around the site. It really only needs to be the acts who are too big to go on smaller stages who should be playing the Pyramid, everyone who can safely play elsewhere should do. Kacey Musgraves this year for example, you can’t seriously tell me she wouldn’t be better suited to a smaller but much more interested crowd on the Park without people talking through it. 

Finally from a disabled attendee’s POV, there should be another disability camp site in another part of the site. I know logistics blah blah blah but why does everyone ‘normal’ get a choice of where to base themselves yet disabled people are forced to be near John Peel and the Pyramid? I’m sure they could sacrifice one of the many ‘regular’ campsites near Gate D even if it meant some able-bodied people had to go in Lime Kiln or wherever. 

Anyway that’s all I have which says a lot about how perfect a place it is.

Edited April 18, 2022 by Rose-Colored Boy

[rivalschools.price]

2 hours ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

Glastonbury should take more of a lead in promoting its ethos. More stuff like getting Corbyn on stage obviously but also promoting vegan food options around the main stages. I wish they’d stop giving out free cow’s milk as well even though I know that’s one of the ‘Glastonbury things’. 

It’s way past time that the after hours stuff should have moved beyond dance music. Cineramgeddon was a positive step in that respect but they can definitely be doing more - not least because it’ll spread the crowds out. 

Have less acts on the Pyramid, with bigger gaps between them, to encourage movement around the site. It really only needs to be the acts who are too big to go on smaller stages who should be playing the Pyramid, everyone who can safely play elsewhere should do. Kacey Musgraves this year for example, you can’t seriously tell me she wouldn’t be better suited to a smaller but much more interested crowd on the Park without people talking through it. 

Finally from a disabled attendee’s POV, there should be another disability camp site in another part of the site. I know logistics blah blah blah but why does everyone ‘normal’ get a choice of where to base themselves yet disabled people are forced to be near John Peel and the Pyramid? I’m sure they could sacrifice one of the many ‘regular’ campsites near Gate D even if it meant some able-bodied people had to go in Lime Kiln or wherever. 

Anyway that’s all I have which says a lot about how perfect a place it is.

Yeah, I’ve always been confused as to why they presume that, after a day of various genres and styles, they presume that everyone only wants to hear dance music once it gets late.

On the subject of the milk, I’m an almond milk man myself but we’ve got to remember that it is actually a dairy farm.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

27 minutes ago, rivalschools.price said:

Yeah, I’ve always been confused as to why they presume that, after a day of various genres and styles, they presume that everyone only wants to hear dance music once it gets late.

On the subject of the milk, I’m an almond milk man myself but we’ve got to remember that it is actually a dairy farm.

Yeah I get their reasons, I just think they could be taking more of a lead on promoting vegan foods and brands

Anyway apparently they don’t actually give it out free anymore which shows how much attention I’ve been paying 

[Ryan1984]

11 hours ago, irnkrtn said:

I told you it was controversial 😄

I love wandering round the site at 7am. It's so quiet, but theres still pockets of something going on. You can see almost everyone is taking a couple of hours sleep before watching the site wake up again. It's definitely worth trying at least once! 

I’m with you but I’m also teetotal so that may play a part. Getting to the toilets and wash basin early is a win and seeing the recycling crew start their shift on the Pyramid field is a sight to behold!

[jimmillen]

8 hours ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

It’s way past time that the after hours stuff should have moved beyond dance music. Cineramgeddon was a positive step in that respect but they can definitely be doing more - not least because it’ll spread the crowds out. 

There are some alternatives to dance late into the early hours… Small World Stage, Strummerville, etc. 

It would be great to see some stronger non-dance options though, I totally agree. I love it myself but don’t necessarily want to rave it up every night!

Tricky for the festival to programme though. In general - and this is totally stereotyping - people staying up partying through the night are more about the hedonism and abandon than about artistic appreciation 😉 

So if you’re just out for a wild night, some flavour of dance will probably serve as an acceptable soundtrack. Other genres - or a totally different experience like Cineramageddon - are much more niche. 

Not at all to say the festival couldn’t & shouldn't experiment with late night alternatives, I’d love to see it. But it would be something of a risk compared to the proven appeal of dance. 

[Smeble]

8 hours ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

Glastonbury should take more of a lead in promoting its ethos. More stuff like getting Corbyn on stage obviously but also promoting vegan food options around the main stages. I wish they’d stop giving out free cow’s milk as well even though I know that’s one of the ‘Glastonbury things’. 

It’s way past time that the after hours stuff should have moved beyond dance music. Cineramgeddon was a positive step in that respect but they can definitely be doing more - not least because it’ll spread the crowds out. 

Have less acts on the Pyramid, with bigger gaps between them, to encourage movement around the site. It really only needs to be the acts who are too big to go on smaller stages who should be playing the Pyramid, everyone who can safely play elsewhere should do. Kacey Musgraves this year for example, you can’t seriously tell me she wouldn’t be better suited to a smaller but much more interested crowd on the Park without people talking through it. 

Finally from a disabled attendee’s POV, there should be another disability camp site in another part of the site. I know logistics blah blah blah but why does everyone ‘normal’ get a choice of where to base themselves yet disabled people are forced to be near John Peel and the Pyramid? I’m sure they could sacrifice one of the many ‘regular’ campsites near Gate D even if it meant some able-bodied people had to go in Lime Kiln or wherever. 

Anyway that’s all I have which says a lot about how perfect a place it is.

No self respecting vegan should be anywhere near a festival on a dairy farm, having worked in the dairy industry in my past if one thing was going to make me go vegan it would be the practices involved in the dairy industry, it’s pretty unsavoury.

i agree there needs to be more non dance based after hours stuff.

if people want to camp out at the pyramid stage then that’s up to them, why should their festival be affected just because you think they are doing it wrong?

as for disabled camping, is there enough requirement for another camping spot? The organisers will know the numbers but if the festival sections off another prime spot and only 20 people use it then hat’s a bad use of space, especially if everyone else is crammed in somewhere else. Everyone gets a choice of where they camp, able bodied or not, but the festival provides a special area to make life easier for disabled people, nobody is forcing you to camp there.

[FrancisH]

9 hours ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

 

Have less acts on the Pyramid, with bigger gaps between them, to encourage movement around the site. It really only needs to be the acts who are too big to go on smaller stages who should be playing the Pyramid, everyone who can safely play elsewhere should do. Kacey Musgraves this year for example, you can’t seriously tell me she wouldn’t be better suited to a smaller but much more interested crowd on the Park without people talking through it. 

IIRC Emily said something years ago about giving artists, and in particular female artists who have historically been massively underrepresented at festivals, the biggest stage, audience and platform possible to make that step up in their career and go on to play bigger stages elsewhere.

I suppose the disadvantage with encouraging the pyramid crowd to disperse  out around site is that it holds so many people during the festival it makes crowds  elsewhere at other stages and areas much more manageable in size.

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

I think if people want to camp out all day at the Pyramid then let them, saves them clogging up other areas.