Crowd control issues

[Zoo Music Girl]

4 minutes ago, hfuhruhurr said:

Vaseline or mazolla - coat liberally and slide through 

 

4 minutes ago, Neville Street said:

It’s jam first!!!!

I want to upvote both of these 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

20 minutes ago, MrBarry465 said:

I said on one of the threads the other day that over 200k people is too many and someone said "the more the merrier". Which is obviously total nonsense....

There has to be a limit or it'll become totally unworkable. Seems like this year it's verged on multiple closures and jams, both are dangerous. More the merrier is a flippant way of saying "I've got no idea about the safe organisation of a large scale event"

[ghostdancer1]

57 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Sorry to hear these stories. Definitely a bit off-putting but I hope everyone stays safe and has a good time regardless.

I've been in bad bottleneck crushes at Glastonbury a couple of times but it's pretty rare. Amount I'm hearing about from last couple of days does sound unusual. I do remember 2019 feeling overall very busy, though, more so than usual. If they've added capacity since then, makes sense it will feel worse. But once somewhere adds capacity they don't often take it back down, do they?

I went to Primavera for the first time this year and everyone was saying very similar things re crowding. As I hadn't been before it was hard for me to judge it but the issue there.seemed to be they added more people but didn't really think through where everyone would go. There was a huge area of the festival 20 minutes walk away from the main stages that was usually pretty empty as everyone congregated in the main area. Sounds like similar issues with booking big bands on small stages and not giving much thought to how to spread the crowd effectively? On top of more people.

I do find it a bit mad that festivals are being careless with this stuff in general, especially since AstroWorld 😒 

I think this is exactly right. Was at PS too and a lot of the crowd issues were down to bad scheduling and not spreading the crowd out enough. Sounds like similar issues at Glastonbury.

Sugababes, TLC etc, novelty acts with minimal competition are always going to draw enormous crowds.

Like Shaggy a few years ago.

Sugababes had no-one on the 3 biggest stages at the same time, and I doubt there's much crossover with TJAMC/Khruangbin fanbases.

TLC didn't really have much competition either, Supergrass/Sigrid/last half of Wolf Alice.

You can't put on acts like that and not expect enormous crowds, Glastonbury should have strong counter-programming to avoid that.

Thursdays at WG, Stonebridge and a few other spots are the same issue really, not enough on elsewhere to spread crowds, but at least people are still in exploring mode that day.

As mentioned earlier, Calvin Harris tonight at Arcadia, an hour after the main stages finish, will be an absolute mess.

 

[Rose-Colored Boy]

1 minute ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

There has to be a limit or it'll become totally unworkable. Seems like this year it's verged on multiple closures and jams, both are dangerous. More the merrier is a flippant way of saying "I've got no idea about the safe organisation of a large scale event"

 Not honestly sure how it passed the risk assessments. Someone somewhere must have convinced themselves that the extra numbers would somehow spread themselves out equally between the stages rather than all flooding to the already-overcrowded areas like Arcadia etc. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

1 minute ago, ghostdancer1 said:

I think this is exactly right. Was at PS too and a lot of the crowd issues were down to bad scheduling and not spreading the crowd out enough. Sounds like similar issues at Glastonbury.

Sugababes, TLC etc, novelty acts with minimal competition are always going to draw enormous crowds.

Like Shaggy a few years ago.

Sugababes had no-one on the 3 biggest stages at the same time, and I doubt there's much crossover with TJAMC/Khruangbin fanbases.

TLC didn't really have much competition either, Supergrass/Sigrid/last half of Wolf Alice.

You can't put on acts like that and not expect enormous crowds, Glastonbury should have strong counter-programming to avoid that.

Thursdays at WG, Stonebridge and a few other spots are the same issue really, not enough on elsewhere to spread crowds, but at least people are still in exploring mode that day.

As mentioned earlier, Calvin Harris tonight at Arcadia, an hour after the main stages finish, will be an absolute mess.

 

Yeah completely agree. I don't know why Glastonbury didn't foresee that TLC issue a mile away. 

Thursdays have been crazy for a few years but that is a lack of stuff being on so makes sense. Surely when the music starts it should be easier to spread crowds.

[Zoo Music Girl]

2 minutes ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

 Not honestly sure how it passed the risk assessments. Someone somewhere must have convinced themselves that the extra numbers would somehow spread themselves out equally between the stages rather than all flooding to the already-overcrowded areas like Arcadia etc. 

Yeah this is exactly what happened at Primavera. They increased capacity and expected people to go to an area no one went to!

[Rose-Colored Boy]

1 minute ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Yeah this is exactly what happened at Primavera. They increased capacity and expected people to go to an area no one went to!

Dear oh dear!! 

[BobWillis2]

Can’t work out how it’s busier than 2017 and the EPO wristbands. There would have been far more people on site that year. 
 

[st dan]

Just thinking back, are Fridays usually the worst for overcrowding? Is this anything to do with the bigger and more established acts having Sat/Sun dates booked in their touring schedules before they are approached by Glastonbury?And the bookers obviously want them there, so it’s the Friday or nothing. 

Edited June 25, 2022 by st dan

[Drinky]

7 minutes ago, ghostdancer1 said:

 

TLC didn't really have much competition either, Supergrass/Sigrid/last half of Wolf Alice.

 

 

And Sigrid was packed out, so… was Supergrass empty?

[Rose-Colored Boy]

5 minutes ago, st dan said:

Just thinking back, are Fridays usually the worst for overcrowding? Is this anything to do with the bigger and more established acts having Sat/Sun dates booked in their touring schedules before they are approached by Glastonbury?And the bookers obviously want them there, so it’s the Friday or nothing. 

Sundays are normally the worst because they throw in a load of locals on top. Diana Ross up against no major competition whatsoever will be hell on earth. 

Edited June 25, 2022 by Rose-Colored Boy

[FrancisH]

Has been amazing but tough this year, definitely oversold and have heard a lot of people talking about how they know mates who managed to get in without tickets.

Even if you chat to people around site at night or talk to a few traders they have all said they've never seen anything like it.

Toilets are a shocker to get to as well, almost always a crush.

Also a bit sick of the exclusivity bullshit with special wristbands for access. Feels a bit like a class system within a festival.

[Toilet Duck]

4 minutes ago, Drinky said:

And Sigrid was packed out, so… was Supergrass empty?

No, pretty big crowd for Supergrass too. Not as big as the Libs, or even First Aid Kit before them, but it was full back to the first line of flags all the way around and beyond that in a straight line from the stage. Sound is a gazillion (I believe that is the scientific term) times better further back now.

[Mr Boo]

4 minutes ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

Sundays are normally the worst because they throw in a load of locals on top. Diana Ross up against no major clashes whatsoever will be hell on earth. 

There will also be a massive crowd for the Pet Shop Boys on the Other Stage

[Radiochicken]

 

For balance, 8th Glasto and doesn’t feel any different to me at all. Popular acts will always be busy, plan your time accordingly.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

3 minutes ago, Mr Boo said:

There will also be a massive crowd for the Pet Shop Boys on the Other Stage

At least there are clashes with them though. Shouldn’t get too out of hand unless Kendrick becomes a disaster. 

[benali]

37 minutes ago, hfuhruhurr said:

Crowd crust is a thing.

That will be much more prevalent come Sunday afternoon when everyone has given up trying to queue for a shower.

[jannybruck]

Rufus getting a couple of thousand people – at a push – as one of the first acts on the Pyramid after two years of no Glastonbury felt like a bit of a red flag yesterday in terms of how the scheduling might play out.

Edited June 25, 2022 by jannybruck

[Reckoner]

What are the crowds in the SE corner like? Has the balance maybe shifted too much towards the other areas? I know haven’t managed to make it where as often I’d have been a couple times by now. 

[Messy]

19 minutes ago, BobWillis2 said:

Can’t work out how it’s busier than 2017 and the EPO wristbands. There would have been far more people on site that year. 
 

I don't know what it was like in 2017, but for what it's worth I have it on good authority that plenty of ticketless are finding a way in this year.

[verrymerry]

7 minutes ago, Radiochicken said:

 

For balance, 8th Glasto and doesn’t feel any different to me at all. Popular acts will always be busy, plan your time accordingly.

Reassuring to hear this, I'm not there now but have alw found myself stuck in a crush or two each year

[DirtyLurker]

From what I remember there are quite often issues around Arcadia/Park on a Fri night then by Sat they implement a one way system, 2016 I was squashed in the mud up against a fencing trying to exit.  

I've been keeping to less crowded areas as my knee is fucked & couldn't deal with squashed up crowds, only made it to 2 full sets from our clashfinder but it's cool, just absolutely winging it and seeing things we wouldn't normally see - Beatbox Collective on Sensation Seekers, amazing - yes it's busy but only if everyone wants to see the same acts/sets.

 

[she bangs the drums]

13 minutes ago, Toilet Duck said:

No, pretty big crowd for Supergrass too. Not as big as the Libs, or even First Aid Kit before them, but it was full back to the first line of flags all the way around and beyond that in a straight line from the stage. Sound is a gazillion (I believe that is the scientific term) times better further back now.

Supergrass had a decent enough crowd, Blossoms was a bit bigger, though think it is busy everywhere 

[DJL]

Off the top of my head I’ve heard people complaining about similar over-crowding at Bearded and Primavera.

Could it be a combination of extra ticket sales to address rising costs, people sneaking in as desperate after years off and we are not as used to being in crowds as we used to?

[danbailey80]

2 hours ago, Db79 said:

Also agree that some clearly big crowds have been put on small stages. Pyramid line up is pretty weak this year, it has the biggest field and best access so having acts like Wet Leg, TLC and Sugababes on there would probably have sorted some of the bottleneck issues.

This. Some of the shite on the Pyramid daytime playing to a half empty field. Just put the biggest acts around there. TLC at the Avalon is utterly moronic. It's not funny or wakey putting on a big pop act on such a small stage. What are trying to achieve?