The Future of Glastonbury

[gooner1990]

I’ve not stayed in them but my understanding from friends that do stay in either WV or Sticklinch is that it isn’t glamping it’s pre-erected tents with nothing inside.

The benefits are no long trek from car to camp, a shower if you want it and some food stalls.  The latter two are also available inside the fence to those like me who camp in standard camping (albeit not on our doorstep) 

[Crazyfool01]

Pre erected still prices some out however you look at it ..... absolutely no chance of me being able to afford any of those options , however basic it might be 

[gooner1990]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

Pre erected still prices some out however you look at it ..... absolutely no chance of me being able to afford any of those options , however basic it might be 

I think if they were to add more of it on then the prices would need to come down - also none of them are black out which for me is a massive plus of having a F&B tent.

tbh I would be more inclined to call it convenience camping rather than glamping! 

[DJL]

3 hours ago, Suprefan said:

You mean like Coachella? Be in the now with sprinkles of the past? If only. Michael's influence will always be there. As we've said so many times theyre running out of the mum and dad lawn chair artist headliners so thatll take care of itself. Its just a matter of how the Eavii go forward with having to book all 3 headliners being under the age of 35 year in and year out. You can only do Coldplay or Foo Fighters so many other times too. The thing is at this time with the system in place its always going to lean older with the crowd anyway.its a legacy festival in terms of passing down the tradition of being taken as a kid for years with your parents til youre old enough and then you go on your own. 2 generations of that have passed now.  Dont know how you remove that aspect of it even with the music side being waaaay younger if the old folk will just hang out in other places of the fest cause they can enjoy themselves one way or a other

Re young headliners this is from last year but this year's was clearly an increase - Average age of a Glastonbury headliner is still well into their 40s after Paul McCartney gets prime slot - Wales Online. I think the festival needs to book who it can when available (would have been crazy to turn down Blur, Neil Young or Spingsteen in 2009) but generally try and skew younger. I'm 44, I'd be happy with one pyramid headliner from or before 'my era' and I'll either see an exciting young act on the other nights if they appeal to me or go to one of many other stages if not. 

[ProperTea]

49 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Glamping is increasing year on year, I couldn't believe how many tents in rows (like a POW camp) I saw as I drove from Glastonbury to Red gate on the Saturday prior to the event.

General camping areas seem to have slightly decreased this year and some crew camping has been moved further from their place of work (e.g. Glade core crew) to accomodate larger arenas.

It's a slippery slope which will change the demographic, it's arguably already too white and middle class, and I've previuosly sugested lead to an arena event. Areas such as the Green Fields and T&C will be in danger, maybe even the likes of Greenpeace, after all why bother donating millions to charity.

We're still safe while Michael's alive, but he's no "spring chicken" and I'm not sure Emily can keep things the same.

Worthy View and Sticklinch already house 20,000 between them now I believe - so roughly 10% of the festival.

There's capacity in the areas around both to expand them further. I could see a festival in the future where 25% are housed in Worthy View and Sticklinch.

That would free up a couple of fields for some additional venues and give them a way of increasing revenue while subsidising the cost of a general ticket. Without the income from WV and Sticklinch I'm guessing we'd be looking at £500 a ticket at the moment.

Emily said the cost of a ticket should have gone up £100 this year - they can squeeze WV and Sticklinch for that now.

Edited June 29, 2023 by ProperTea

[ProperTea]

1 hour ago, mungo57 said:

Still, you increase the glamping side and decrease the general side - this will mean that X proportion of people that buy tickets will HAVE to glamp

You can camp on site if you want to even if you have a Worthy View or Sticklinch pitch. There's nothing stopping you carrying a tent on site. But obviously people tend not to so they can safely assume it gives them more room to play with in the campsites. 

[clarkete]

51 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

It's a slippery slope which will change the demographic, it's arguably already too white and middle class, 

I already know that you and I often spend the festival in different places, but there seemed to be a bit more diversity in many of the places I went to. 

[gooner1990]

5 minutes ago, ProperTea said:

You can camp on site if you want to even if you have a Worthy View or Sticklinch pitch. There's nothing stopping you carrying a tent on site. But obviously people tend not to so they can safely assume it gives them more room to play with in the campsites. 

One year there was a tent next to us (camped nr Pyramid) that people who were staying in a campervan used as a storage tent as they couldn’t be bothered to take camping chairs and blankets back to their van with them at the end of the night. 

[ProperTea]

1 minute ago, gooner1990 said:

One year there was a tent next to us (camped nr Pyramid) that people who were staying in a campervan used as a storage tent as they couldn’t be bothered to take camping chairs and blankets back to their van with them at the end of the night. 

Bloody hell! 🤣

[ProperTea]

3 minutes ago, clarkete said:

I already know that you and I often spend the festival in different places, but there seemed to be a bit more diversity in many of the places I went to. 

I would second this - I've been going since 2007 and this year was the youngest and most diverse crowd I had ever seen. Fantastic. 

[clarkete]

For Sticklinch I'd be surprised if the margins are high as suggested - as accommodation itself is decent, the toilets and showers (last year at least) were great and there were quite a few staff for security, reception etc. 

If I compare the published price for a 2 person Bellepad, G23 said £475 for 5 nights, Bestival says Standard BellePad for 2 £568.

Let me know if either price is wrong. 

[king of carrot flowers (2)]

1 hour ago, Skip997 said:

We're still safe while Michael's alive, but he's no "spring chicken" and I'm not sure Emily can keep things the same.

100% this..can or wants to?

[efcfanwirral]

40 minutes ago, giantkatestacks said:

I actually think prepitched options have the potential to increase racial diversity rather than lessen it. One of my friends main issues is that camping is totally unfamiliar and hideous sounding to them.

Our friends stayed in Sticklinch this year, and otherwise wouldn't have come. They had a small tent but flushing toilets and showers, so they were happy. Each to their own, I'd hate to be off site.

Almost everyone I know would "only go if they were glamping". They'll never actually go but it's interesting to hear 

Edited June 29, 2023 by efcfanwirral

[Tr234]

1 hour ago, Skip997 said:

Glamping is increasing year on year, I couldn't believe how many tents in rows (like a POW camp) I saw as I drove from Glastonbury to Red gate on the Saturday prior to the event.

General camping areas seem to have slightly decreased this year and some crew camping has been moved further from their place of work (e.g. Glade core crew) to accomodate larger arenas.

It's a slippery slope which will change the demographic, it's arguably already too white and middle class, and I've previuosly sugested lead to an arena event. Areas such as the Green Fields and T&C will be in danger, maybe even the likes of Greenpeace, after all why bother donating millions to charity.

We're still safe while Michael's alive, but he's no "spring chicken" and I'm not sure Emily can keep things the same.

Michael has spoke about having pre-erected tents across the whole site which the festival reuse year on year:

https://www.efestivals.co.uk/news/13/130207e.shtml

"I would actually like to see, in about 10-15 years time, a situation where every single tent is provided by us, and we can make sure that we can keep them, and store them for the following year."

Edited June 29, 2023 by Tr234

[Neil]

58 minutes ago, stuie said:

ll more glamping outside the fence

not sure there's anywhere that could happen, at least not within walking distance of the festival.

[efcfanwirral]

10 minutes ago, Tr234 said:

Michael has spoke about having pre-erected tents across the whole site which the festival reuse year on year:

https://www.efestivals.co.uk/news/13/130207e.shtml

"I would actually like to see, in about 10-15 years time, a situation where every single tent is provided by us, and we can make sure that we can keep them, and store them for the following year."

Personally I love our tent, its spacious, has air beams, a semi- blackout bedroom and is highly waterproof. 

Anything they provide in bulk could be poor quality and may not stand up to a wet year. Imagine everyone's tent leaking!!! Not worth the risk.

I'm guessing that interview was related to their issues of people leaving them, hopefully out of date now! 

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by efcfanwirral

[Neil]

1 minute ago, efcfanwirral said:

I'm guessing that interview was related to their issues of people leaving them, hopefully out of date now! 

it was, and good to see that the problem* of left behind tents has now mostly gone away. 🙂 

(*a problem mostly caused by the festival, who seemed to suggest the festival would find a good use for any tents left behind.)

[GrumpyRaver]

41 minutes ago, ProperTea said:

I would second this - I've been going since 2007 and this year was the youngest and most diverse crowd I had ever seen. Fantastic. 

And I’ve been going since 2000, and spent a lot of this festival noticing exactly how white and middle class it was…

[clarkete]

6 minutes ago, GrumpyRaver said:

 

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by clarkete

[clarkete]

25 minutes ago, GrumpyRaver said:

And I’ve been going since 2000, and spent a lot of this festival noticing exactly how white and middle class it was…

I've been going fifteen more years than you and I'm confident there are less white faces than there were then. 

Edited June 29, 2023 by clarkete

[Suprefan]

41 minutes ago, king of carrot flowers (2) said:

100% this..can or wants to?

Michael gonna chase the white whales while he still can. Still the godfather in this case.

 

the thing is they treat it as if the festival needs to sell tickets instead of really doing whatever they want cause they sold it out in half an hour. Force the audiences' hand and take more risks. If people dont like it they can see something else obviously. You wont be able to make the punters more accepting of a forward thinking vision if you dont take some chances and plant more seeds for them to be fine with it.  Hell, on Sunday night the coverage for the acts not named Elton John had to try really hard not to show thin crowds. Why are they feeling sort of embarrassed by that. They booked a headliner that got 90% of the festival in one spot. 

Edited June 29, 2023 by Suprefan

[GrumpyRaver]

2 minutes ago, clarkete said:

I've been going fifteen more years than you and I'm confident there are less white faces then there were then. 

Sure. I wasn’t saying there wasn’t. But it doesn’t negate my point.

[GrumpyRaver]

On 4/19/2023 at 4:14 PM, The Nal said:

Thats a given this year after the last few festivals. Its going to be a f**king mess.

LOL

[Boomtowner]

20 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

One year there was a tent next to us (camped nr Pyramid) that people who were staying in a campervan used as a storage tent as they couldn’t be bothered to take camping chairs and blankets back to their van with them at the end of the night. 

I remember my first few Glastonbury's seeing the same group of lads with huge tents full of beer, camped at the back of the Pyramid field. We're talking slab and slabs of beer, filling a complete tent. When I saw them in 2008 and 2009, we were some of the first tents up at the Pyramid, and they were already set up with their tent full of beer.

In the years later, when we were the only one of our group to have a campervan, I used to get a campervan ticket, so I could take all of the tents in for our group. I just used the van for cold beers. Those were my favourite camping options, I miss West Campervan. Camped in South  Park, 10 minutes from the van, 5 minutes from the Park. Now my group think they're too old to camp. I really miss waking up and opening the tent and viewing the magic around me. No way of getting them out of the campervan field now.

[gfa]

23 hours ago, ProperTea said:

Worthy View and Sticklinch already house 20,000 between them now I believe - so roughly 10% of the festival.

There's capacity in the areas around both to expand them further. I could see a festival in the future where 25% are housed in Worthy View and Sticklinch.

That would free up a couple of fields for some additional venues and give them a way of increasing revenue while subsidising the cost of a general ticket. Without the income from WV and Sticklinch I'm guessing we'd be looking at £500 a ticket at the moment.

Emily said the cost of a ticket should have gone up £100 this year - they can squeeze WV and Sticklinch for that now.

If they want more room for venues they can just expand the fence and push some general admission campsites further out no?

there's spare fields at the moment basically used for nothing e.g. down the hill from stone circle

22 hours ago, Tr234 said:

Michael has spoke about having pre-erected tents across the whole site which the festival reuse year on year:

https://www.efestivals.co.uk/news/13/130207e.shtml

"I would actually like to see, in about 10-15 years time, a situation where every single tent is provided by us, and we can make sure that we can keep them, and store them for the following year."

would be insanely white londoner if this happened (i am the problem)

glamping ain't cheap, will not be doing it for many years i think