Glastonbury 2023

Performance art/acting/roadie stuff/voluntary bar work the only way people I know got freebie tickets to get involved who aren’t musicians. But it isn’t easy. Everyone is trying.

Correct. I was there and I think I'll be in recovery mode for a while yet, but I'll answer the questions you asked and am happy to answer any more people may have. Not sure I'm able to write a full review though!

I went with with my daughter. We were both first-timers - me 46 and her 19.

We drove from Sligo on Monday evening to get the Dublin-Holyhead ferry at 2am on the Tuesday morning (€191 for the 2 of us and the car, each way). Drove down to London on the Tuesday to stay with a cousin and get one last sleep in a bed. Also had to collect a few supplies for the weekend.

Left London at about 8am on the Wednesday for the drive down to the farm and arrived at around 1pm (could have got there sooner, but we had a couple of stops for food, etc on the way and I took a slightly longer route in order to get onto the west side of the site). We were directed into one of the furthest car parks from the pedestrian gates and had quite a walk to get into the site. We took our rucksacks and loaded our camping gear onto a trolley and decided to get in and camped, and come back for the beers. Not gonna lie, the trek in was a slog. It had rained earlier so the tracks in were a bit muddy, but it was starting to get pretty hot otherwise, and we had to stop once or twice on the way in.

No queues for the ticket checks so we got in really quick, but I just wanted to get camped and rest up for a few minutes before going back for the beers, so we found a spot not too far from the gates. It was a little too close to the compost toilets for my liking (I can actually still get the smell now!), but we were also close to a couple of food stalls and the place was filling up really quickly so we went for it. Probably could have got a better spot if we went further out, but I really couldn't face lugging all the gear much further.

You read people saying how big Glastonbury is, but until you are actually there, you can't really comprehend it. It is **** massive.

The heat was a bit oppressive for me, but that really isn't a complaint, because the things I saw and more importantly, the people I met and chatted to more than made up for that. It really is an amazing place, filled with amazing people that are all just happy to be there and part of the greatest party on earth. It's so much more than the music and what you see on television, while amazing, doesn't do the place justice.

Best part of the weekend for me, was my daughter saying to me on the Sunday, "Daddy, if we don't get tickets for next year, we should volunteer to work it". I agreed.

Got there for my first time last year, at the grand old age of 56, and it was beyond fantastic. I'll never forget the pure elation I experienced from the minute I got the wristband. The people working there, the volunteers, the punters - 'sound' doesn't come close to the level of friendliness. And the site itself ... beautiful and vast. It is definitely one of the best experiences of my life. That elation hasn't gone completely, Glastonbury gave me a wonderful boost after those horrible pandemic times. If I never get to go again I'm OK with that .... but I'll keep trying in the ticket lottery in the autumn and the spring re-sale, just in case.

... and register, if you are even only half thinking about trying for tickets, it's free, simple and doesn't generate spam or anything like that. Register just once and you're good for several years (ten, I think, and it's easy to change your photo if you want). In all the years I dreamed of going, I never bothered to register and get interested pals to register, which was really stupid of me, considering the massive desire to go.

Age doesn't matter. You'll see people of all ages there. Old hippies and small babies.

Try to get in decent physical shape before you go cos it's a fair slog. Maybe a few hikes and whatnot leading up to it.

I recommend it for everyone to try once, but I don't think it's for everyone.

Yeh I've really got them this year. I wasn't too bad last year but this yr is a struggle.

It was such a brilliant festival. I'm slowly diving into my Glasto recordings on the BBC.... Not sure if its a help or hindrance!

Fantastic!! Rick was a hero to those of us watching on TV anyway!

Have been 13 (or maybe 14) times. 4 or 5 times in a campervan, the rest in a tent.

Campervans are expensive and you can be parked miles away. Like a 20 minute walk to the gate to get in. The showers in them are crap. And everyone can hear you having a ****. Also a lot of toilet admin, emptying the little blue waste thing.

My missus said she'd never go to Glasto nevermind stay in a tent but she did one year and never looked back. Tent all the way. Get a decent tent you can stand up in.

You can leave your valuable stuff in the lockups on site for free.

The thing is, you can get really, really lucky, and actually succeed in getting a ticket the one year you decide to go, but every year hundreds of thousands really want to go, they register, they apply for tickets on the day applications open, but they don't get tickets.

It's not a ticket you can just buy, it's a lottery with only a minority succeeding. Am sure there are some ultra expensive packages that include a ticket, but unless you have 10 grand or so to throw around then it's the lottery like the rest of us, where you have roughly (very roughly) a one in 5 chance of getting through to a ticket. My advice is look now at registering (the official Glastonbury website has tons of info) and try for a ticket for 2024 this October/November. If you're lucky in Oct/Nov you will get through and have a ticket secured (with only 50 quid deposit), and you have months then to decide before the balance payment date and resale in spring 2024. If you have a few friends who also want to go, if you all register this year you can work together when the ticket sale/lottery date comes around, you all try and if one person gets through they can secure tickets for the group (you share your registration codes with each other). I was the one person in my group who got through and got tickets for the 3 in my group. I spent a long time researching how to do it - previous Glastonbury threads here on boards were incredibly helpful, but also check out the information on the official website.

If they keep this new system, the above is out the window.

You and your 3 mates (Ive similar numbers) stand little chance against 1 person who gets their entire school/college class to try for them.

Works in a sales floor environment before and could've easily got 50 people trying for me under this new system.

But couldn't they always have done that? Oh wait, under the new system is the deposit payment requirement gone? Sorry for probably stupid question, I've been wondering what is the difference with the new system.

Thank you, I get the point now. Grim.

I hope you're right but I think itll be a lot more than a handful. Resale this year went in 5 minutes.