First Glastonbury in 10 years - what's new?!

[prestonmanc]

I was lucky enough to snag a ticket in the resale on Sunday, and am now in obsessive planning mode and all round over excitement for my first Glastonbury in 10 years (hooray!).

 

It will be my 11th Glastonbury all told, so I feel like I know the set up pretty well, but after a decade away (young kids, ticket sale failures), there's probably quite a bit that's changed that might be worth knowing.  So, what should I know?

 

I assume that everywhere on site takes contactless payment, so less need to arrive with loads of cash??

Much as I'd love to be off grid for 5 days, I'll need to be reachable for parents doing childcare - are there still the odd charge points on site?

Anything else worth knowing?

 

Cheers!

[danssol]

the Glade stage has moved a bit and is less gladey. Sadly there was a diseased tree that needed felling. William's green has gone and has been replaced by Carhenge. Carhenge has a lot of love.

Edited April 23 by danssol

[Ayrshire Chris]

There are charging facilities but queues can be long. We’ve got a couple of power banks that keeps the phones charged. Might be worth investing in them. You might notice that the festival is busier than you remember. I think that but it might just be an age thing! 

[Paul ™]

I went in 2022 and that was the first time since 2011, lots more people and the Thursday was unpleasant in certain areas.

 

Mostly same layout, few stage changes, the official map should be out soon.

[prestonmanc]

Yeah, I saw from the 2023 map that some things had moved a bit.  I thought it was a massive change when the Welsh Oggie stall wasn't there, so it's going to feel very different this time round 😂

[cb4747]

How exciting! That's going to be a great return to the farm for you. 
I feel it's busier in comparison to 10 years ago. New places like Woodsies and Glastonbury on Sea, so many new things from 10 years ago! Have an amazing time. I recommend an Anker power bank. 

[Memory Man]

You cant go to a festival without a power bank! Invest in a decent one

 

if you have any must see acts just get there plenty of time before and you will get a good spot.

 

people complain about being locked out of certain acts or being right at the back but arrived 5/10 mins before they came on 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Ben7amin_]

IICON is pretty staggering to behold

[northernangel]

The business is the biggest change I'm that time. I was staggered they have doubles the staff/crew etc for the sake of 3k people.

[Memory Man]

1 minute ago, Ben7amin_ said:

IICON is pretty staggering to behold

If the OP doesnt know what it looks like already (unlikely) i would make a point of not spoiling the surprise by looking!

 

each to their own but i would not waste any time going to car henge or glastonbury on sea. They are both rubbish. GOS is fine for entertaining kids for a bit but otherwise, meh. Or rather, not what i am looking for in a festival

 

queing for the ribbon tower is pointless since the capacity increases, you will be there forever.

[LSTx]

If you're into your dance, the new levels stage at silver hayes is certainly worth checking out. 😃

[The Orgazoid]

Glastonbury on sea is new, Silver hayes has improved a lot and the Levels is great. Williams green has gone and replaced with a load of cars, the other stage has a second set of speakers and has had several, bigger stages since. Not a huge aount has really changed in the SE corner, Genosys is hopefully back after going moldy, london underground has gone, IICON is new and great, but things like NYC downlow and Unfairground still remain. There is an onsite co-op (no booze) the greenpeace area has developed as has a great rave tree stage. The beat hotel is now san remo (basically the same) it seems a lot busier and more crowded.

[Ben7amin_]

5 minutes ago, Memory Man said:

If the OP doesnt know what it looks like already (unlikely) i would make a point of not spoiling the surprise by looking!

 

each to their own but i would not waste any time going to car henge or glastonbury on sea. They are both rubbish. GOS is fine for entertaining kids for a bit but otherwise, meh. Or rather, not what i am looking for in a festival

 

queing for the ribbon tower is pointless since the capacity increases, you will be there forever.

Yeah I thought about adding an image but didnt.  When you walk into the field of Avalon and you can just see it poking over the tree line.... superb sight

Edited April 23 by Ben7amin_

[MJP]

As far as we know, Carhenge was a one-off.

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, MJP said:

As far as we know, Carhenge was a one-off.

Erm nope its definitely back 

[Jarski75]

18 minutes ago, prestonmanc said:

Yeah, I saw from the 2023 map that some things had moved a bit.  I thought it was a massive change when the Welsh Oggie stall wasn't there, so it's going to feel very different this time round 😂

You also can't get a Pauline Fowler Growler anymore if that was your sort of thing

[MJP]

6 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

Erm nope its definitely back 

 

I took the quote on the front of the Free Press too literally.

 

"I'm only getting to the end of this build by promising I'll never do one again. That usually only lasts until the end of the party, though."

 

Incidentally, Joe Rush was having a lovely dance in an empty Carhenge on the Sunday night as we headed back to our tent.

[gooner1990]

As much as I've consistently gone for 20 years, a fair few of my friends have come on and off and some that came last year who hadn't been for 7-8 years all said about it feeling a lot busier on site. 

[Little Andy]

49 minutes ago, prestonmanc said:

I was lucky enough to snag a ticket in the resale on Sunday, and am now in obsessive planning mode and all round over excitement for my first Glastonbury in 10 years (hooray!).

 

It will be my 11th Glastonbury all told, so I feel like I know the set up pretty well, but after a decade away (young kids, ticket sale failures), there's probably quite a bit that's changed that might be worth knowing.  So, what should I know?

 

I assume that everywhere on site takes contactless payment, so less need to arrive with loads of cash??

Much as I'd love to be off grid for 5 days, I'll need to be reachable for parents doing childcare - are there still the odd charge points on site?

Anything else worth knowing?

 

Cheers!

Some smaller places prefer cash - or possibly are they still cash-only? Not 100% sure. I'd bring some,

[prestonmanc]

8 minutes ago, Jarski75 said:

You also can't get a Pauline Fowler Growler anymore if that was your sort of thing

*requests immediate refund* 😆😆😆

[fred quimby]

So are we leaving Naked Sunday as a surprise then

[Gnomicide]

Glastonbury-on-Sea is a great way to while away an hour, I honestly don't know why people have such a downer on it. It's something very different from a lot of tge festival an well worth a visit. There's also a lovely little stage just over the track from it,  a good place to spend some of Thursday, away from the madness.

[prestonmanc]

Thanks for these responses all - really useful!

[Long Drop]

2 minutes ago, Little Andy said:

Some smaller places prefer cash - or possibly are they still cash-only? Not 100% sure. I'd bring some,

The queues for the cash machines used to be huge, you can now walk straight up to them. Bring some cash as a backup.

[Crazyfool01]

Much improved toilets . Can’t quite remember when the onsite portaloos dissapeared might have been a fair bit earlier but the facilities are much better looked after in my opinion these days