Glastonbury 2008
- Thread starter pagan
- Start date
We were camped up in "Big Ground" up from the Pyramid, and didn't suffer or hear of any robberies around us.
Although Friday daytime I did see some serious police stuff going on, lots of cops by a group of guys at their tents just the other side of a path from us, talking to them and rummaging through their tents. There were some silver Freelanders - police, but "unmarked" apart from stick-on blue lights, turned up, and we then saw one bloke led away in one of these in handcuffs. Whether these were tent-thieves, drug-sellers I don't know.
But by the sudden arrival of a lot of cops, it was more than a low-level bust for possession.
Giles..
Although Friday daytime I did see some serious police stuff going on, lots of cops by a group of guys at their tents just the other side of a path from us, talking to them and rummaging through their tents. There were some silver Freelanders - police, but "unmarked" apart from stick-on blue lights, turned up, and we then saw one bloke led away in one of these in handcuffs. Whether these were tent-thieves, drug-sellers I don't know.
But by the sudden arrival of a lot of cops, it was more than a low-level bust for possession.
Giles..
Maybe it was scrap metal / scrap dealer known to the police for dodgy stuff - buying stolen metal, dealing in and ringing stolen cars, etc.
Someone the local fuzz would like to see out of business.
Giles..
Gerry1time
Did a wee in Dirac's toilet
By the big grin on his face, i got that kind of impression yeah...
All my valuables go in my sleeping bag in the pockets of my clothes with me.
Same here. The rest goes in the lock ups. It amazes me that so many people don't use them. Hey ho.
Odd year for crime, this one. I suspect it's linked to the ticket sales. I'd guess that - in previous superfence years - especially with pre-registration, that the thieves are less likely to get a ticket.
Next year, fingers crossed, it'll be back to it's more usual low crime numbers.
Kanda
Diving wanker
we had quite a few people coming to welfare cos they'd lost everything to thieves
Tanky stole my drugs
mysterygirl
Stealth visit from work
and the more recently-usual rush for tickets, I've already had half a dozen people say to me that they will go next year - people who I wouldn't have thought would be likely to 'do' festivals.
Total number of crimes as a % of numbers of visitors was probably not terrible. It would be nice if the festival was totally crime free but none are I would guess. Shame really but a fact of life I guess, there will always be a few cunts.
Glasto has had far worse years in the past
Glasto has had far worse years in the past
Avon and Somerset Police have posted HorseCam on their website
Most of the OB were on mountain bikes this year. Quite funny watching them pedal like fuck to get up the hills.
Those horses were alright weren't they? in fact, all the police were pretty darn chilled.
Been slowly piecing myself and the memories of Glastonbury 08 back together again. Been good to see some footage to jog the mind.
Some good coverage of the Beardyman set that blew me away on youtube here.. Even allowing for the shite cameraphone sound quality, the wall of noise he produces is fucking incredible. No one man should be able to generate more filthy bass than Magnetic Man and the dubsteb boys, nor make a crowd bounce like that. Beardyman: I salute you and your swift Kaos pad action.
ETA - 10 mins long, most worth watching from about halfway in
Been slowly piecing myself and the memories of Glastonbury 08 back together again. Been good to see some footage to jog the mind.
Some good coverage of the Beardyman set that blew me away on youtube here.. Even allowing for the shite cameraphone sound quality, the wall of noise he produces is fucking incredible. No one man should be able to generate more filthy bass than Magnetic Man and the dubsteb boys, nor make a crowd bounce like that. Beardyman: I salute you and your swift Kaos pad action.
ETA - 10 mins long, most worth watching from about halfway in
Most of the OB were on mountain bikes this year. Quite funny watching them pedal like fuck to get up the hills.
yeah... When they raided those dodgy looking security guys up at flagtopia we were chuckling as they came past. One of the chubby ones was dripping in sweat by the time he made it.
Nice to see them doing it on bikes though, a bit more appropriate for the festival environment.
LilMissHissyFit
Disturbed in a pink bra
The police round cockmills were really enjoying themeselves, dishing out goodies to the kids. I didnt see anyone getting agro from the police all weekend to be honest
newbie
undisambiguated
So, the traffic onsite, what did people think? Traffic (& noise at work protection) was the safety focus this year.
This year there was a new Z Zone restriction for the whole central section of the site from 3pm to 3am, meaning a complete ban except for very few exempt vehicles, most of which were chaperoned. It caused a lot of problems for stage, market, toilet and other crews, because everything had to be done in the morning which isn't terribly practical, and the knockon was a lot of traffic onsite before the deadline. Did anyone notice, did it make it better overall?
This year there was a new Z Zone restriction for the whole central section of the site from 3pm to 3am, meaning a complete ban except for very few exempt vehicles, most of which were chaperoned. It caused a lot of problems for stage, market, toilet and other crews, because everything had to be done in the morning which isn't terribly practical, and the knockon was a lot of traffic onsite before the deadline. Did anyone notice, did it make it better overall?
LilMissHissyFit
Disturbed in a pink bra
Lip balm, handwash and air freshenersBit wierd.
the air fresheners struck me as slightly odd... nothings going to combat the smell of campfires!
The lip balms and handwashes were useful though!
Kanda
Diving wanker
For use in the tent.
LilMissHissyFit
Disturbed in a pink bra
Ive never been before but I was struck by how much traffic there was and how little was effectively chaperoned. We were almost struck by a great big earth mover type vehicle, in the middle of the day going through the central market area, no marshalling
On the outer edges too there were many vehicles travelling at quite a speed and on several occasions small quad bike style cars and landrovers zipping about and I felt it was nothing short of a miracle that we didnt hear of a small child or less able festival goer being seriously hurt
LilMissHissyFit
Disturbed in a pink bra
IM thinking Chocolate teapot??
Sunray
Its sunny somewhere.
Z Zone was nice once past 3pm. Very noticeable lack of traffic. Its meant to be a festival not the M1.
The issue I had was marshals for the cars started at 12pm. Main stage starts earlier than that and there were lots of trucks getting swamped by the kick out of the Pyramid. Scary when I'm the only steward in sight.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Avon and Somerset Police have posted HorseCam on their website
That's ace
Glad to see they have a sense of humour about it all, I've never had a problem with the police at glasto (anyone remember that poor sod that got the landrover stuck in the dragon field one year? His collegues were still taking the piss out of him three days later
), all things considered they're fairly low level and discrete, it's security that seemingly dish out all the agro.
newbie
undisambiguated
I think that's the issue LMHF has highlighted... there are so many vehicle movements before the chaperones start. Traffic control closed Henhouse Lane and exit from Pyramid backstage quite early, but maybe not early enough, and there are some vehicles that just have to move.
it's amazing how quickly people colonised the roadways, setting up camp in the middle of the crossroads at the bottom of the Pyramid arena or alongside Jazz. That made it much more difficult for a blue flashing ambulance on an emergency to get through, than if people had not spread out their rugs and set up their chairs.
newbie
undisambiguated
Ive never been before but I was struck by how much traffic there was and how little was effectively chaperoned. We were almost struck by a great big earth mover type vehicle, in the middle of the day going through the central market area, no marshalling
Last year there was serious traffic throughout the festival all day and some traffic all night. I thought this year was better, but there are always problems when vehicles and people are close together. My own response was to stay away from the main roads during the traffic time (and use them more later), but that's a rather more difficult if you don't know the site and have kids in tow, because the walks are longer.
Obviously vehicles have to get about, but movements are heavily controlled and kept to the bare minimum. By and large there have been few vehicle/people accidents in the past, and I didn't hear of any this year.
This is taken very, very seriously, up to and including drivers being thrown off site for persistent speeding. If you see someone that you think is driving dangerously for the conditions then please get their number and report them to anyone with a radio, but particularly either Festival Safety or security if it's one of theirs. They'll be tracked down and talked to if nothing else. You can also, of course, ask them to slow down, because it's (usually) inadvertent- conditions do look different from behind the wheel. They've all been told that driving is a privilege not a right and that pedestrians have absolute priority, and should have been told not to use their horn to shift people, except in emergency.
Personally I only saw one driver who gave me cause for concern, and he calmed down after his first (ever?- probably) day on site.
e2a I think the worst problems are usually on the tuesday and wednesday with the people who've been there for weeks getting impatient with all the crowds getting in their way, as well as newcomers to the site driving for the first time.
mysterygirl
Stealth visit from work
I saw a few vehicles moving very quickly on Sunday, around family camping. There was nothing inadvertant about it - they were in a hurry, even to the point of wheel spins on the gravel - and although I don't generally notice stuff like that (mostly cos I am generally a child-free zone and completely unobservant) this time I did, so it must have been quite blatant. I was totally taken aback that anybody would even think of driving like that, especially in or around a designated family camping area
No hope of taking numbers etc, I was far too busy keeping out of the way.
