Glastonbury 2023

In 2007 two pals got in by bribing security (who obviously have lots of extra wristbands) with £50 each. It was pre-arranged via a contact and about eight on their group entered in this way. I wasn’t aware it was an option until they told me and tried to persuade me to travel from London on the Thursday where they’d arrange it for me also. I declined. And I’ve no idea if it continues to happen.

You’d have to assume that security are heavily scrutinised also but if they limit such a scam to a few people they trust and the associates of said people they it could be hard to spot. Definitely not widespread but could several hundred or 1k/2k be getting in this way? Possibly, but as before I’ve no idea in 2023.

Lots of veterans have said last year felt crowded. I think there's been a gradual increase in tickets and staff and volunteers.

I think congestion and crowding doesn't work linearly ie a 10% increase doesn't mean it will be 10% more crowded, but could be 30% more crowded. Same as traffic.

Explain this year's festival then. It included Wednesday the 21st which was the solstice.

If Glasto have their weekends from Wed to Sun and the festival is held the weekend after solstice should the dates not have been 28 June to 1st July.

Its fact. I'd love to know how many get in each year but its significant. Loads of dodgy security guards about. Going rate is 450-500 quid. This year they were being brought in in groups of 10 or so.

Last year was crowded for Paul McCartney and Wet Leg but not for anything else I attended or observed over the weekend. Space at Billie Eilish as I passed on the hill heading to the Mary Chain at the JPT. Plenty of room at Kendrick Lamar and all I attended at the Park, JPT, Acoustic, WH, WG, Glade and elsewhere. The SE corner gets very busy from pretty early and especially so after midnight.

The figures for attendees haven’t greatly increased over the past two decades, from 135k public tickets in 2002 to 142k today. Performer, security and staff are 63k. If there are any recent changes to those figures I’m happy to be corrected. The site is also greatly expanded. The issue is I guess that some areas get busy whilst others are underpopulated and the reports of overcrowding are anecdotal rather than factual.

1999 was worrying, an estimate of close to 300k on site (2000 the same but I wasn’t there) and worrying bottlenecks by the small bridge that used to be between the Pyramid and Other stage. Could easily have gone badly wrong, close to a bad crush when an enormous crowd was moving between Gomez and REM on the Sat night. The site is now pretty secure, the layout and security so much better than 23/24 years ago.

I guess the organisers are more flexible with dates than for their first few decades. You can blame Emily Eavis for any changes, or confusion. 😄

Anyone ever see the footage of the fella hang-gliding into Glastonbury.

The over crowding issues are site wide. Like every food stall with a massive queue. The actual gigs themselves are always fine. Before and after maybe not so much but there isnt any danger at the gigs themselves of a crush.

I'll leave it at this as I'm sure people are getting annoyed coming in expecting to see reviews and just getting a back and forth between us.

1971 doesn't support your stance that Glastonbury is timed to be the weekend after the solstice. Your Sky History link notes "By 1971, the festival was renamed The Glastonbury Fayre and the date was moved to coincide with the summer solstice." From what I can see it ran from Sunday 20th to Thursday 24th June. This is neither a weekend nor after the solstice.

I think the first year that the festival happened after the solstice was on its 7th occurrence in 1984. This event was not repeated until the 12th occurrence in 1990. They took a break in 1991 after the riots the previous year to decide on the future of the festival. I suspect that during this time the decision was reached to hold the festival to include the last Sunday/full weekend in June as that has been the case since.

About the only way I can fit the solstice into a description of when Glastonbury is held is as follows.

The weekend after the summer solstice where June 21st is used as a proxy for the actual solstice date and weekend is defined as including Friday in addition to Saturday and Sunday.

Keep the solistice posts coming guys, fascinating stuff!

😁😁

I think it's more things like queueing for food, toilets, showers etc has increased a lot. Also the SE corner has crowd problems. Particularly last year but this year seems bad also.

I went a few times when I was younger so read forums now after the festival to see what's new. I actually only enjoyed it I think the first time, it seems like something you endure rather than enjoy.

It might be a change in demographic rather than numbers. I think before people were quite happy to explore the site and not too bothered about the acts and headliners.

I'm not sure but consistently veterans have complained of overcrowding. Maybe it's just perception due to age.

Also it seems to be full of scousers.

Apologies for the length.

I’d urge you to give it another try as I don’t think it’s the festival you remember and is actually much better than you believe. I’m one of those veterans you refer to and for me it’s a festival that’s successfully evolved, particularly from the mess it got into in the late 90s.

Of course come edginess is gone but it’s comprehensively safer and crowd crushes are no longer likely. There could have been deaths at the Manics on the main stage in ‘99. The band had to stop three times. New barriers and a golden circle were put in after that. Narrow bridges were knocked to prevent bottlenecks and anti-flooding measures were taken in the late 2000s which thus far seem to be working. It’s a better and far more creative festival than it ever was and there are astonishing things around every last corner of the site.

The SE Corner gets very busy on the Thursday night particularly when everyone seems to head there but it’s not as bad as ten years ago when they had to put up barriers to hold people out, often for 2-3 hours. Moving Arcadia has lured many away as has more stuff on at the Glade, Silver Hayes and Park. They’ve also greatly expanded the SE area and it’s still busy but you can easily get around in a way you couldn’t in 2013/14.

I agree that it can be an endurance test if the weather turns bad and it’s always tiring but there’s a reason why so many of us are willing to trek large distances to both get there and get around the site. It’s simply cos it’s so bloody rewarding. Plenty of bland fare on the two main stages but it really doesn’t matter when you’ve do many other choices.

As per @robinph i also head for the shortest food queues, even if I’m often opting for blander stuff. There’s rarely a queue at the stalls opposite the entry ho the Acoustic Stage and West Holts not crazily busy either. I waited no more than 10-12 mins for any stall last year.

The demographic hasn’t greatly changed either. Lots of younger faces but they’re not the majority, not by a long way. The attendees are across all ages, plenty of them in their sixties and seventies. And there may have been a fair few Scousers and Mancs in the late 90s but far less so these days. It’s very varied and you’re as likely to come across Irish nationals as denizens of any major British city.

In short, it’s peerless and it keeps improving. If the weather is right you’ll have your best weekend of the year.

The Specials story is great. I’d have loved that.

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