Any advice for Glastonbury newcomers?

[glasto360]

I'm biased, but there's also this: https://www.glastocast.co.uk/glastocast-series-one/ to complement GlastoEarth and all the great help you will get here.

[Suprefan]

On 11/7/2022 at 2:07 AM, eddie_corrigan said:

don't forget to ride the monorail.

It goes all the way to North Haverbrook!

Edited November 8, 2022 by Suprefan

[hfuhruhurr]

Key difference to Reading/Download - you're camping inside the arena - so you can take all your booze/food with you. Makes a huge difference.

It'll be way older than Reading and about the same as Download in terms of age groups. Personally, I find the Download crowd friendlier than Glastonbury - but only just. You will be having a laugh with total strangers.

Drownload v. wet Glastonburied - about the same.

Camping - unless you're unlucky, it's way quieter than Reading and about the same as Download.

The site is effing huge - use Weds/Thurs to enjoy it since you'll be band chasing the other days. My favourite days are Weds/Thurs.

Missed out on tix this year, so hand them over you newbie!!!

[pdiddylive]

We got tickets for the very first time after trying for over 10 years so all of this us really useful - thank you! 🎉

[stuie]

2 minutes ago, pdiddylive said:

We got tickets for the very first time after trying for over 10 years so all of this us really useful - thank you! 🎉

Congratulations! That’s a long run of bad luck but I think it will make it more special for you when you get there! 

[pdiddylive]

3 minutes ago, stuie said:

Congratulations! That’s a long run of bad luck but I think it will make it more special for you when you get there! 

Thank you! Honestly couldn’t believe it on Sunday…I thought the website was a myth haha! But we’re really excited and can’t wait to see what’s in store next year on the farm! 🥳

[aj6658]

My first time last year, my take 

• Be prepared to how big the whole site is. Its massive and getting to one stage or another is a trek and even worse at the end of sets so 
  • Buy hiking/ walking shoes. They were a life saver 
  • Plan and Commit to who you wanna see. I wish I planned a bit better and had better place for some of my gigs 
• Dont bother with the swappable chargers. It's annoying to get there if you need it and the queues are usually massive. It's a waste of time. Invest in a good power bank and limit your phone use.
• Wine cartons (like old school milk cartons). They were doing this at stalls were you can buy cartons of wine. Expensive at the festival but easily do this at home with wine or premixed spirits 
• Always carry a packet of tissues with you. You never know when you need to hit the loo

[Skip997]

1. Eat well

2. Keep hydrated

3. Get some sleep

 

[gigpusher]

My only advice is make sure you at least see most of the festival. Ty and aim to go to as many stages other than Pyramid as possible. Make sure to see something in Theatre and Circus fields. Whenever you don't have something to do head to Theatre and Circus fields. 

It's ok to plan but also plan to be flexible. If something seems crazy busy have a plan b or c or d or e. 

If something or someone is annoying you move. It's a big place there's room for everyone. 

[Havors]

Cancel and put the tickets back in for resale. You won't like it..... 👀😐😜🤣

[Acid Loafers]

Every chance you get. Just take it all in. Enjoy every second of it. 

Don't stress, be friendly, jump & sing along to every song you know. 

Nothing can prepare you for your first. 

[Bike_Like_A_Mum]

Just get there as early as possible!! I find it crazy when people only start arriving on Thursday night, or even Friday morning! There's so much else to see and do on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday night was randomly the highlight of my festival this year. 

Surprise set from the beatbox collective in the rumshack which went OFF, then it turned out to be a really good night to visit NYC Downlow and ended up making some epic friends in there 🥰

So yeh, be prepared to queue overnight on Tues to get in there early as possible so you can really take your time exploring and appreciating it all 😊

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Bike_Like_A_Mum

[grumpyhack]

Spend time properly setting up your tent and encampment so that everything is secure before you set off to explore.  You don't want to come back in the dark to be refixing your guyropes or securing your tent.

Make sure you can find it in the dark so triangulate its position against things that don't move like lighting pylons and toilet blocks.  No point thinking 'It's next to the big blue tent' because when you return there will be hundred of big blue tents.

Ideally camp at the side of the fest where you are most likely to be at the end of the night, so you don't have too long a walk home when you are tired and emotional.

[BBC7BBCHEAVEN]

13 hours ago, clarkete said:

Ignore the grown up advice and get really f*cked on the first day/night. 

I don't know if it's good advice but I did it plenty of times in the past and did have good fun. 

Now that we have a baby I've had to ditch our annual tradition of twice drunk Thursday

Essentially getting up and going straight to brothers bar. Dancing and drinking cider until we're wrecked. Back to the tents for a disco nap in the afternoon, then round two for the late night fun. 

Thursday at Glastonbury is the best

[G1T]

All I can share after 25 years of going is that your first time will be like every one else's, and if you keep going your experience may well change over time. At least that's what I take from reading this thread, and how similar everyone's first time experiences seem to have been, even mine.

When you first go, you think it's all about seeing bands. That's understandable, it's the impression the media coverage gives you. So you spend your time chasing between stages based on the most prominent bands in the programme. I used to go to things like Reading, V Fest and Phoenix, where that was all there was to do, and I get why people still see Glastonbury in the same way. At some point in your first year though, you may wander into the Greenfields, or Theatre and Circus, and have a moment of thinking "Wait, this is pretty good too..". If you go back the next year, you may worry less about the bands, and explore the festival more, only seeing the bands you most care about. Keep going back, and the balance shifts even more.

On a personal note, after five years of going to Glastonbury, I saw very few bands and spent most of the time wandering and generally partying with randoms around the site. After 10 years of going I got myself a volunteer role on site. 25 years later I'm still volunteering, seeing relatively few bands each year, and having an incredibly amazing time.

People who go to Glastonbury for the first time go to *see* the festival. People who go for a while realise it's so much more fun to go and *be* the festival. That's the difference IMHO.

That said, go see all the bands you can in your first year. It's what you want to do, it's what everyone does, and it'll help you realise in later years why you don't want to do that again.

TL:DR -  Go and spend time in Theatre and Circus.

[Skip997]

27 minutes ago, G1T said:

 

People who go to Glastonbury for the first time go to *see* the festival. People who go for a while realise it's so much more fun to go and *be* the festival. That's the difference IMHO.

 

 

Beautifully put and so true.

Some people never get past stage one.

[dmedxb]

4 hours ago, Skip997 said:

Beautifully put and so true.

Some people never get past stage one.

And that is totally, totally ok. The beauty of the place is the incredibly varied range of experiences you can have. 
 

Those fields are a sandbox to create whatever week you want to have! 

[moogster]

Do what you feel like, not what you feel you should be doing.

 

Maybe read through this:

So first timers what did you think of that? - Chat - Festival Forums (efestivals.co.uk)

Edited November 9, 2022 by moogster

[phillyfaddle]

9 hours ago, G1T said:

People who go to Glastonbury for the first time go to *see* the festival. People who go for a while realise it's so much more fun to go and *be* the festival. That's the difference IMHO.

TL:DR -  Go and spend time in Theatre and Circus.

This ☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️

[drumski]

study as much as you can before the entrance exam

[Alvoram]

'22 was our first glasto. And if there's one bit of advice here that I would recommend you follow, it's not to pack your schedule.

So many people have said it already in here, and so many people said it to us. We didn't listen, of course, all those amazing acts to see. And sure, we got to see them all, due to meticulous route planning, and very strict scheduling, but that takes away some of the fun and we felt like we missed out on so much of the 'none band' stuff. This year we'll each be picking 1 or 2 must see's max per day, and just going with the flow the rest of the time. 

And forget the Thursday secret set, just forget it, it's not worth it. This year we were adamant we wanted to see Bastille, and thanks to the warnings of experienced folk, we did get to see them, from a very good spot. But the advice we were given in order to get that spot was to get there early, very early (which proved sound advice) and that meant we had to give up most of what could have been an incredible exploration day. Forget it, see them another time, that Thursday is way too valuable to give it up to just one act who you could probably see at an arena near you some time in the next year or two anyway. 

Finally, the 'glastonbury is huge' part. Do not underestimate this. If you're not already an experienced hiker, get some long (all day) hikes in before the fest. We didn't really pay much attention to this advice, but thankfully, despite my appearance, I'm quite fit and we walk a hell of a lot anyway. We live on the edge of a country park identical in size (and weirdly shape) to Glastonbury, and walk our dogs on it. And my other hobby is rollercoasters, which means up to 14 hours walking up to 30km around theme parks regularly. Had we not already got this behind us, we would have been well and truly f***ed. Even with this solid footing, by the end of Saturday night, back aches were starting to kick in. This year I'm taking no chances, and will add on Glasto specific training to our normal routine in the run up (and hopefully lose some weight for the old back too!) 

You'll hear these 2 main pieces of advice a lot, as you already have within this thread, take it from a 22 virgin, that's for VERY good reason!

[razorruck]

- Decent pair of gortex/ other water proof walking boots not wellies, even in the mud. Trainers are fine in the dry.

- Shove everything in 1 x large back pack/ rucksack. Any more and you're taking too much stuff.

- Stay hydrated.

- Don't camp near the bogs.

- Newbies may go with a plan to see a hundred things. Good luck lol.

[moogster]

About planning: yes it goes straight to the bin after an hour but it is part of the build up to spend a few anxious hours tweaking a clashfinder. For a newcomer this may be the opportunity as well to get a feel for what the site looks like, where the stages are, to see beyond the main stages etc.

So do plan. Then forget about it.

[Justcalledtosay]

21 minutes ago, moogster said:

About planning: yes it goes straight to the bin after an hour but it is part of the build up to spend a few anxious hours tweaking a clashfinder. For a newcomer this may be the opportunity as well to get a feel for what the site looks like, where the stages are, to see beyond the main stages etc.

So do plan. Then forget about it.

I agree with this. Meticulously plan your clashfinder...it's part of the fun....then just keep it in your back pocket. It's there if you need it.

[Alvoram]

33 minutes ago, moogster said:

So do plan. Then forget about it.

🤣 How do you guys achieve that? I know if I make a plan it will genuinely drive me crazy not even trying to stick to it! 🙈😂

Seriously though, I'd find that so triggering. What is wrong with me? 😥

Edited November 9, 2022 by Alvoram