Avalon is dying

[The Nal]

10 minutes ago, Aragorn said:

wasn't it Arabella's area in past years?  Gone downhill since she passed?

 

I think the festival is trying to stop areas of mass gathering like that. Williams Green too. Was unplayable on Thursdy for a few years in a row.

 

Avalon is still great but much smaller now obviously. Maybe the festival just dont want 20,000 people plonked in the same area all day.

[efcfanwirral]

The Feeling was a great way to end the festival, incredible atmosphere. Then we hung out at the Avalon Inn for a bit, some good acoustic covers in there.

 

I never spent much time there before apart from the Inn itself so can't comment on what it was like before! 

[Nobody Interesting]

Avalon was great and always busy this year. The bar had music in too but no idea if live or DJ's.

The screens outside mean more room for people to sit and watch/listen and therefore fit in more people. Don't think it got closed off at all where in the past with less space for people Lulu would certainly have had the gates shut.

[incident]

4 hours ago, Fingerbobs said:

The gates just past Mavericks were solidly shut every time I thought about swinging by from the T&C fields. Was that the case all weekend?

 

Yes - with the repositioning of the stage, those gates would now lead into Avalon Backstage so can't really be opened.

[Avalon_Fields]

31 minutes ago, Nobody Interesting said:

Avalon was great and always busy this year. The bar had music in too but no idea if live or DJ's.
 

A live duo were on early Sunday

[Avalon_Fields]

I do struggle to find many bands to see at the Avalon these days. I saw Lulu and it was fun (but I think she was better when she last played there), Frank Turner, and the Ayoub Sisters.
 

I’m changing my name to West_Holts_Fields.

[Skip997]

Good 

It’s among the most annoying venues on site.

Get rid and replace with camping 

[Cooter]

4 hours ago, The Nal said:

 

I think the festival is trying to stop areas of mass gathering like that. Williams Green too. Was unplayable on Thursdy for a few years in a row.

 

Avalon is still great but much smaller now obviously. Maybe the festival just dont want 20,000 people plonked in the same area all day.

20k people all day lol. Maybe for misplaced ironic humorous stuff for a couple of hours like Brucey, Wurzels and Will Young etc etc but no way all day.

 

Anyway, yea Avalon, hope it doesn't die off for good. It's always been a little place to find some sort of strange calm, right in the centre of the madness for some chillness. The festivals very roots.

 

[The Nal]

2 minutes ago, Cooter said:

20k people all day lol. Maybe for misplaced ironic humorous stuff for a couple of hours like Brucey, Wurzels and Will Young etc etc but no way all day.

 

Anyway, yea Avalon, hope it doesn't die off for good. It's always been a little place to find some sort of strange calm, right in the centre of the madness for some chillness. The festivals very roots.

 

 

Agree yeah but in 17, 19 and 22 people were plonked there all day. Not a blade of grass available. Williams Green too.

 

Defo a conscious effort by Glasto to spread people across the site. 

[Cooter]

Yea, know what you mean as in one of many tiny festivals within a big festival. Not the dynamic they want nowadays, unless it's the many "secret" crew bars scene that are oh so cool and not very impossible to get in to.

 

Times move on.

[MEGABOWL]

5 minutes ago, Cooter said:

Yea, know what you mean as in one of many tiny festivals within a big festival. Not the dynamic they want nowadays, unless it's the many "secret" crew bars scene that are oh so cool and not very impossible to get in to.

 

Times move on.

They’ve made a bit of a pigs ear of Avalon but they definitely still work to the mini festival within a big festival principle, as seen in the revamped Silver Haynes, the new area where BBC Introducing was, the revamped Woodsies etc.

[Fingerbobs]

59 minutes ago, incident said:

 

Yes - with the repositioning of the stage, those gates would now lead into Avalon Backstage so can't really be opened.

I see now - thanks for that. I had just followed my usual route but did notice things looked considerably different there when I visited Avalon.

[uscore]

It's also a shame that the bar there had the same limited ale options as everywhere else on site.  Why can't they have a few different options?

[Purple aki squat]

Sad to hear this.

It used to be a great place to sit down, talk and people watch.

Pennard wine was a great little bar to sit and meet people. Unfortunately they got pulled a few years ago and now it’s just a row of shops and it looks like the main area has now been stripped of any identity.

Times they change and the atmosphere in Avalon seems to have gone completely. 
Ruined the coolest little corner of the site to ease congestion into the SE corner. Awful decision.

[MMMarc1720]

Seen Lulu in the tent and ended up in the bar a few nights. Had Karaoke and stuff going on, had a great time!

[Pinhead]

When the cafe went it kind of became inevitable I suppose. A lot of what was there is now to be found in other areas though like Futures or T&C (the swingboats went there).

[Ryan1984]

Did Avalon have a decent second-hand book shop at one point?

[incident]

Just now, Ryan1984 said:

Did Avalon have a decent second-hand book shop at one point?

 

The Speaking Tree bookshop from Glastonbury Town used to run a stall in the field.

 

Don't think it's been there for at least 10 years though, maybe more.

[-TLR-]

New Model Army and Skindred were both absolutely fantastic - but i guess they would have been so regardless which stage they were on.

 

the Avalon field was a pretty sorry affair this year - everything gone except the stage and the Inn, and the only way to access from the north was that f**king stupid tiny little walkway that snaked around from west holts.

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

I didn't go there this year and I can count on one hand the number of acts I've actually seen there in 16 years but to hear it's seemingly being slowly eroded is sad. It does feel like one of those areas that's part of the furniture at the festival and still really popular, so the whole situation is quite puzzling

[CaledonianGonzo]

Just now, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

I didn't go there this year and I can count on one hand the number of acts I've actually seen there in 16 years

 

We actually went a couple of times for the first time in about a decade.  It's one of the few main music stages close to another one (WH)

[4AssedMonkey]

I spent huge chunks of the festival in Avalon this year as the lineup was the best on site IMO. Yes, the tent is bigger, yes some stalwarts have gone as a result, but honestly the atmosphere was still great and even when busy it never felt overcrowded.
 

Spoke to loads of people between acts and had a great laugh. The acts on in the Inn which interspersed those in the tent were mostly live bands and quite eclectic.

 

Long live Avalon. ❤️

[giantkatestacks]

21 hours ago, incident said:

 

The Speaking Tree bookshop from Glastonbury Town used to run a stall in the field.

 

Don't think it's been there for at least 10 years though, maybe more.

That was when the field changed for me

[Pinhead]

I like it's more eclectic bookings which make it feel a bit like Acoustic - would miss that variety and lament the idea of it eventually being buried by another installation for another DJ's rig.

[Greased-Up Deaf Guy]

Lots of space. Haven't been since 2019. Time for a revamp