Crowds (/ Overcrowding?)

[GlastoEls]

42 minutes ago, Spindles said:

2022 was a shitshow.  Friends who've been going for decades were talking about calling it a day on the festival, I skipped 23 because it wasn't the festival I remembered.  Returned last year and the reaction to crowd safety issues was clear, I'm glad to read they are continuing to improve.

Yes. 
 

I know I’m one person, and it’s anecdotal, but I’ve been to enough festivals to feel 2022 was bad, and this year was incredibly better.  

[itsfomas]

Felt this year was much better and I got to see pretty much everything I wanted. Few hot spots that were uncomfortable but nothing that i wasn't prewarned about on the app.

[Magic Toaster]

Had zero issues with crowds this year, except getting out of The Park area at ~3am on Saturday night. The crush coming the other way was pretty intense. No one seemed to be able to follow the instructions of the ushers and stay to the left 

[Mr. B]

Noticeably better this year - well done Glasto team

[glastorome]

It looked a lot more spacious on the TV footage around the main stages. 

 

We're hoping to go in 2027 and bring the two kids who will both be of drinking age by then , they havent been since 2011 when they were 2 and 4.

 

Me and the wife havent been since 2017 as she had some major thyroid issues from 2019-2023, but after having the thyroid removed shes doing much better and thinks she can tackle the beast that is Glasto once more, and the fact that it seemed less busy this year is a potential bonus for 2027 if we get tickets. 

[FrankieX]

The area in front of the barrier at the Other Stage for Skepta felt dangerous and overcrowded. It was very tight to begin with, then mosh pits formed increasing the pressure even more. When the set finished, people coming in to see Charli XCX didn't let people out and that was pressing people against the barriers too. Stewards should have stepped in there, I think, especially considering there were quite a few young teenagers around due to the demographics of the acts.

 

In fairness, the only other issue I experienced was an entrance to the Pyramid field being closed before Chic. Maybe the short notice of Skepta's set, and the crossover between his and Charli's fans didn't help...

Edited June 30, 2025 by FrankieX

[brizgigs]

I echo pretty much everything that's been said - feel it was an absolute logistical masterclass. Festival has clearly listened to feedback, fair play to them. Last went in 2023 and its made me fall back in love with the festival. 

- Reduction in ticket holders, and probably more importantly those spun in, was really apparent. As said, also felt the crowds weren't aggy in the slightest

- Clever and balanced programming across the site really dispersed the crowds, especially late at night. Although I probably avoided most of the massive names, never had any issues getting anywhere I wanted

- Getting in and out was a breeze, took about 10 mins to leave B at 11am this morning

- Crowd control plus extra space at Other worked extremely well at Charli

- The new Shangri-La set up is just wonderful - much needed change up

- Also really enjoyed the rearrangement of Avalon

[mufcok]

I didn't think it was too bad, all things considered. The odd bottle neck and Thursday issues, with only certain area's with acts on.

 

At the end of the day - there's only so much they can do with so many people on site.

 

The biggest problem is ticketless people. It's absolutely rife at the moment. Futile selling less tickets to make up for people jibbing in.

[Crazyfool01]

Bang on this year … well done Glastonbury some clever and sensible use of data with the app and signs telling us when areas were closed mostly in good time . Festival keeps learning in my opinion . Scissor sisters in my opinion was fine didn’t get in the tent but wasn’t anywhere near as packed as the killers a few years back . 

[SouthbanKen]

Last went in 22 and it was significantly more pleasant to get around. 
 

One area where problems persist is the narrow bottleneck between Silver Hayes and The Other, particularly bad on Sat night when FBS & Camelphat were on Lonely Hearts. It was very very busy for over an hour in that area. 
 

In terms of overall numbers it was noticeable how much less busy the food vendors were, maybe I just picked the right times to eat this year, but i remember in 22 there massive queues all the time, not so much this year. 

[kemosabe]

7 minutes ago, SouthbanKen said:

Last went in 22 and it was significantly more pleasant to get around. 
 

One area where problems persist is the narrow bottleneck between Silver Hayes and The Other, particularly bad on Sat night when FBS & Camelphat were on Lonely Hearts. It was very very busy for over an hour in that area. 
 

In terms of overall numbers it was noticeable how much less busy the food vendors were, maybe I just picked the right times to eat this year, but i remember in 22 there massive queues all the time, not so much this year. 

interesting to hear. It was actually the food vendors that pissed me off most last year (and made me realise things had just got too much). Massive queues for literally everything, which never used to be the case. 
 

Did people experience massive issues getting into the SE corner this time? That was a problem last few festivals for me 

[phillyfaddle]

Thought it was generally much better this year. But…the trek through Silver Hayes after Scissor Sisters was mental. No stewards to speak of, groups sitting in the middle of the walkway (seriously 🙄), others going against the flow. Seriously hairy at times, but the crowd was in a good mood, so we made it up to Strummerville ok…eventually!

[Magic Toaster]

13 minutes ago, phillyfaddle said:

Thought it was generally much better this year. But…the trek through Silver Hayes after Scissor Sisters was mental. No stewards to speak of, groups sitting in the middle of the walkway (seriously 🙄), others going against the flow. Seriously hairy at times, but the crowd was in a good mood, so we made it up to Strummerville ok…eventually!

 

I can't think of a more harrowing journey than Woodsies to Strummerville.

[phillyfaddle]

21 minutes ago, Magic Toaster said:

 

I can't think of a more harrowing journey than Woodsies to Strummerville.

Seriously 💯 I lost the will to live halfway up Pennards Hill 😩. But no choice, as was staying at Worthy View. In hindsight I’m quite proud of myself TBH 💪🥾as it’s a fecking long way!!

[Pipine]

I thought it was very busy at times but always calm and well controlled.  Ended up in the massive crowd leaving Charli at other for Arcadia and it flowed pretty well. Arcadia was the busiest I’d seen it at some points over the weekend but we hilariously managed to find our friends in the crowd by absolute chance and stayed for 3 sets. It was busy but comfortable for dancing. 
 

Crowds overall seemed respectful and not pushy.. got into some pretty busy bits but managed to get to quieter areas really quickly.  I think the most tricky bit all weekend was fat boy slim on lonely hearts at which the helpful digital signs held by stewards informed us meant the area was full, so we shuffled on, there were people watching from both sides of the trackway and some parents trying to get their kids out looking a bit stressed but no one was pushing and it was moving, we were out in a couple of mins. 

We didn’t go to the SE corner at night tho.. heard of 2 hour queues on the first night and decided that wasn’t for us, never went back, we stuck to Arcadia, Glade and Silver Hayes.

Looks like they’d really taken on board feedback and put various things into place which really worked. 

[SimonsGlasto]

Felt the app was brilliant for keeping us up to date with crowded or potential crowded areas. The only issues I had were the 2 times I walked through silver hayes on the path it was horrific with people pushing themselves through despite barely being able to move at all. I felt a lot of people in that area had a lot less care for others and crowd control staff seemed to be not interested in that area. For the rest of the festival I’d say it was faultless 

[Dan190984]

Thought everything felt much calmer this year. Fields closed off much earlier. We were in the back of the field for Lorde and there was loads of space when they closed it at a nice comfortable level unlike previous years when stuff doesn’t close until bursting. 
 

normally Sunday feels like hard work with the extras coming in but that didn’t seem the case this year either. 
 

all round I thought crowds were loads better. Also noticeably quieter around the tents to with gaps there all weekend that in prev years would have had little pop ups shoved in them. 

[rock_on]

12 hours ago, MEGABOWL said:

I didn’t see Rod Stewart but that top 3 was superb. Kahan is an Arena act and BST headliner so a very strong sub. Scissor Sisters fifth down would have been a great shout. If they had to be on Saturday swapping them with Ezra Collective might have worked.

 

Scissor Sisters were great in the slot they were given and would lose a lot from having to play in daylight to a bunch of people camping out at the pyramid waiting for Rod Stewart or Olivia Rodrigo to be honest. I think having them in the tent was the better option and also gave them a longer set than they would have had on the pyramid, maybe they could have headlined/subbed the other stage though if there was genuinely a bigger demand for them. There's also the obvious issue that their set wasn't very BBC Two friendly so likely got pushed to a lower stage due to that. 

[philipsteak]

8 hours ago, Tbrady94 said:

 

 

And as a final sidenote, generally (and this might just be a personal experience) I found there was way less pushing and shoving this year and people were generally more respectful in the crowds and affording a bit more space.

 

Yep, we all noticed this. Both when trying to get through or other people going past. Not one dickhead.

 

One of my friends was telling me about a sh*tty experience at Justice last year. It was really packed where they were, unconditionally so, so they decided to get out. 5ft and 5ft2. They were getting so much sh*t for trying to leave and they are both very experienced and can work their way through a crowd with the best of them. But people were trying to push them over or push them back and screaming and shouting at them. Again, two women, about 5ft and 5ft2. They had to decompress when they finally got out, alongside a bunch of other people who had had the same. Literally supporting each other, sharing water.

My best ever experience of this was Pet Shop Boys in 2022 (ironically). Trying to get to my friends about 2 done in through a really dense patch of crowd. People were practically handing me on from one group to the next and were so excited when I made it. And I was a big lad then too

[Pinhead]

Noticeably fewer inconsiderate people this year and a really well behaved and happy crowd all round. Unrelated but did people sense far fewer teen groups this year - more of a Gen Y crowd than Z?

[Watergirl]

27 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

Noticeably fewer inconsiderate people this year and a really well behaved and happy crowd all round. Unrelated but did people sense far fewer teen groups this year - more of a Gen Y crowd than Z?

Agree, although I had to move during Rod Stewart as a group of ten or so appeared in the pit and started talking loudly without paying any attention to what was happening on stage. They stayed for the entire show too. I don't know how people who stayed put could still enjoy the gig....

[irnkrtn]

Logistics were brilliant, both a huge amount of thought and very well managed

BUT also want to give huge props to everyone in attendance too. Unlike previous years, people absolutely understood they might need to be in things early, that pathways might shut and there was way less arguing and shoving. I’m sure the app helped by announcing what would be busy. Stewarding the railway line, esp in run up to Kneecap where it was about to close, and it was noticeable the difference. When people asked the way, and we said, head straight there it might close, people legged it instead of arguing and going off for a pint first. 

[Pinhead]

Still a lot of people that seem to just turn up, cross it off and chalk up the gig without even listening it's true 

[Pinhead]

They cocked up exit Prodigy rear to railway line. Blocked the railway path and forced everyone to detour through the bottom of Pennards literally through people's tents all the way to the bogs further up...?!

[Johndenis]

9 hours ago, rock_on said:

 

Scissor Sisters were great in the slot they were given and would lose a lot from having to play in daylight to a bunch of people camping out at the pyramid waiting for Rod Stewart or Olivia Rodrigo to be honest. I think having them in the tent was the better option and also gave them a longer set than they would have had on the pyramid, maybe they could have headlined/subbed the other stage though if there was genuinely a bigger demand for them. There's also the obvious issue that their set wasn't very BBC Two friendly so likely got pushed to a lower stage due to that. 

Would have thought scissor sisters were very bbc 2? Around 5 songs that *BBC radio 2* must play regularly. However the verdict appears to be that the arena tour didn't sell particularly well so perhaps Glastonbury made a call on their popularity.