Glastonbury 2011

[sim667]

Am I alone in thinking Glastonbury is too oversubscribed for its own good?

Yes, its killed the magic.

Hippy ethic or no, they are starting to remind me of clubs like the Minstry of Sound in the mid 1990s, able to charge what they like and impose ridiculous 'conditions' on paying customers. With the Superclubs, it was dress code fascism, with Glast it is being expected to buy your ticket in October and going through a ridiculous pre registration.

This is where your wrong, the hippy ethic fucked off long ago, its not a superclub ethic either..... At the end of the day if people are prepared to pay £200, as long as it works out good value for people who want to attend then the festival is doing nothing wrong, infact its raising money for a number of good causes.

As far as im concerned its not good value for me, as I can only attend for little over 2 days, which imho isnt justifiable forking out £200, especially when I'm not that keen on a vast majority of the music (very middle of the road/mainstream).... However for people who like the music, and the extra ents and the sheer size of if, and can go for more than 2 days, its actually very good value for money.

The only thing that would get me paying full price for a ticket is if i could get the time off work (this is not related to the fest obv)..... But the sheer size and amount going on is great, I've been enough times for the novelty of this to wear off now however....

I may well go next year as a lot of my freinds are, I wont be paying full price for a ticket though, I've already said I'll spend up to £80 to get in.

 

[Tort]

Am I alone in thinking Glastonbury is too oversubscribed for its own good?

Hippy ethic or no, they are starting to remind me of clubs like the Minstry of Sound in the mid 1990s, able to charge what they like and impose ridiculous 'conditions' on paying customers. With the Superclubs, it was dress code fascism, with Glast it is being expected to buy your ticket in October and going through a ridiculous pre registration.

We’ve done this to death many times but you’re absolutely right, it is oversubscribed. And that’s because considerably more people than the 137,500 who were able to get tickets think it is worthwhile to commit to spending £200 nearly 9 months in advance of a festival which is yet to confirm a single performer. The system works very well and is to the benefit of all those who still consider Glastonbury to be the best weekend of the year. If tickets didn’t go on sale until after the headliners have been leaked in the new year there would probably be many thousands more wanting tickets only to see one or two bands rather than going for the whole experience. This year we have until April to save up the balance and the registration system means that touting has been almost entirely eliminated. What’s so “ridiculous” about that?

 

[Oswaldtwistle]

We’ve done this to death many times but you’re absolutely right, it is oversubscribed. And that’s because considerably more people than the 137,500 who were able to get tickets think it is worthwhile to commit to spending £200 nearly 9 months in advance of a festival which is yet to confirm a single performer. The system works very well and is to the benefit of all those who still consider Glastonbury to be the best weekend of the year. If tickets didn’t go on sale until after the headliners have been leaked in the new year there would probably be many thousands more wanting tickets only to see one or two bands rather than going for the whole experience. This year we have until April to save up the balance and the registration system means that touting has been almost entirely eliminated. What’s so “ridiculous” about that?

Hmm, I was a bit 'moany' yesterday wasn't I I suppose if people are stupid enough to pay that much money so far in advance with, as you say, not a single perfomer confirmed, then there is very little we can do about it. I do stand by my remark about it not being healthy, though.


Anyway I'm going to Bearded Theory instead, so all is good.

 

[strung out]

it's not stupid really. an awful lot of people don't go for the music particularly, and even those who do are guaranteed to find an awful lot of stuff there they do like, even with no acts confirmed.

i suppose if you only ever go to festivals for the headline performances and then glastonbury doesn't have anything you like then you might be disappointed. i don't think that's a very big issue for most people though.

 

[Tort]

Hmm, I was a bit 'moany' yesterday wasn't I I suppose if people are stupid enough to pay that much money so far in advance with, as you say, not a single perfomer confirmed, then there is very little we can do about it. I do stand by my remark about it not being healthy, though.

Yeah but you're not paying the £200 up front. Only £50 is paid in October and the rest stays in your bank account until April. If you decide then that you don't want to go you simply don't pay the balance and all you lose is a tenner admin charge.

Anyway I'm going to Bearded Theory instead, so all is good.

Excellent choice. See you there!

 

[WBC-WORKER]

My first year was in 1979 and tickets were sold at £5 it jumped to £8 in 1981 and £12 in 1983 and I bet if message boards had been about then there would have be people claiming the ticket price is outrageous or its lost it's edge.

The last time I paid for a ticket was in 1989 at £28 as I joined the WBC so have been a volunteer every year since then although I dont think the tickets are that bad.

I bought a ticket for Roger Waters The Wall Live at The O2 Arena next May at £84 { a ticket that people are now charging £484 for on Viagogo as its Block A1 } so when you compare the two together Glasto is good value.

Sure things have changed - I could walk into a CND Office and walk out with as many tickets as I could possibly ever need { I may be wrong but I think the limit was a dozen tickets } - no queue at all { those were the days }

I also remember the tout years with jokers jumping in front of my car trying to sell tickets and even jokers dressing up as Security supposedly checking tickets in the fields who would then run of with them { never happened to me but I did jump on someone who I spotted grab a car load of tickets and I was out the car and took him down } so the new way may be a hassle but I don't see anyone coming up with a workable better idea.

I feel really sorry for people who are not lucky and I try to encourage them to be a volunteer for the WBC or other volunteer crew agency although just like buying tickets there is no guarantee that they will be accepted as Glastonbury is always oversubscribed and at least with the WBC they prefer experienced volunteers.

 

[Oswaldtwistle]

My first year was in 1979 and tickets were sold at £5 it jumped to £8 in 1981 and £12 in 1983 and I bet if message boards had been about then there would have be people claiming the ticket price is outrageous or its lost it's edge.

The last time I paid for a ticket was in 1989 at £28 as I joined the WBC so have been a volunteer every year since then although I dont think the tickets are that bad.

They have nearly quadroupled in real terms. If you don't believe me, google 'Bank of England inflation calculator', where you will find 28 pounds in 1989 is 52 pounds today.

It's really depressing that you still have to pay months in advance at that price....

 

[paolo]

Festivals are much more expensive to run these days. Police at £55 per officer per hour for example. That alone, the organisers claim, killed Glade festival this year.

H&S compliance, water quality, food inspection, toilet hygeine etc is at a far higher standard than it's ever been, and it costs money. It costs every festival money. Some do it on the cheap, and get a cheap result. Some run arena systems, and get - I assume - better revenue from granting bar concessions. Some plaster their sites with advertising. Some only book low level artists and can offer cheaper tickets. Some build their business model and ticket pricing on modest policing costs, and then collapse when the local constabulary dictates than resource is substantially increased. Some festivals are simply so badly managed, they manage to collapse leaving punters and suppliers out of pocket.

Glastonbury, on the other hand, pays its bills, invests significant amounts back into the site, and bungs several million to charity.

And after all that, on cost vs. duration basis, it isn't significantly more expensive than, say, the also highly regarded Beautiful days. Not when you factor it all-in, e.g. cost of programmes etc.

 

[mysterygirl]

it's not stupid really. an awful lot of people don't go for the music particularly, and even those who do are guaranteed to find an awful lot of stuff there they do like, even with no acts confirmed.

...

Im one who doesn't go for the music particularly, often it's not to my taste - theres usually a few bands I really want to see, the rest is usually a case of Im interested but often wouldn't want to fork out separately. But I meet friends, have a blast with them, and there's loads more to do than just the music. Which is probably why Im not bothered about buying my ticket before any acts are confirmed - on the whole I won't be bothered about seeing them anyway!

This year I've pretty much decided now, I'm taking my youngest nephew with me. Im already scared. This is going to be an experience like no other...

 

[strung out]

i think i saw about 6 acts last year (apart from bands on when i was just passing through) and i had a super time.

 

[WBC-WORKER]

They have nearly quadroupled in real terms. If you don't believe me, google 'Bank of England inflation calculator', where you will find 28 pounds in 1989 is 52 pounds today.

It's really depressing that you still have to pay months in advance at that price....

You cant just look at it in money terms as apart from anything else the site they used in 1979 was tiny compared to 1989 and that was only a fraction of the site compared to this year.

Also the number of acts has drastically increased

Paulo is correct as the infrastructure and overheads are massive.

Glastonbury has kept to the same format - check out Reading and many other festivals who run the arena system where you are restricted what you can carry though the arena gates - at some festivals you are only allowed to carry in a small unopened bottle of water so there is no way people can carry in all their bevy into the arena area.

Reading 2011 tickets are on sale at £180 so you really need to compare the two festivals together and I know which is far better value ' and its not Reading '

 

[Tort]

Reading 2011 tickets are on sale at £180 so you really need to compare the two festivals together and I know which is far better value ' and its not Reading '

Allow me to make that comparison Brian

Glastonbury
Cost = £200 (inc booking fee)
5 Days of entertainment
60 Stages
Entertainment 24 hours a day
No Arena – once you’re in you’re in.
Eat & Drink what you want where you want
Appeals to all ages (Family Friendly)
Tons of entertainment apart from music
Vast choice of food and drink
Free programmes / guides / daily paper
Countryside setting
Large proportion of profits go to charity

Reading
Cost = £187 (inc booking fee)
3 Days of entertainment
6 Stages
Virtually shuts down at 11:30pm
Arena – Security checks each time you enter.
No Food or Drink allowed into the Arena
Mainly appeals to teens & early 20-somethings
Hardly any entertainment apart from music
Restricted choice of food and drink
Expensive programmes
Town centre setting
Profits go to shareholders

 

[William of Walworth]

Vibe not lineup etc. Well far more than just lineup anyway ....

 

[pennimania]

Vibe not lineup etc. Well far more than just lineup anyway ....

After going to Rockness I woke up to what this really means.

Apart from Belladrum (tiny) and BGG (defunct) I haven't been to a festy that compares to Glasto - and I'm just talking about the people - maybe I've been very lucky - but if so that's over 13 years.

At Rockness I was 'happyslapped' the very first time I dared to go there

I just can't imagine that scenario at Glastonbury.

 

[WBC-WORKER]

Allow me to make that comparison Brian

Reading
Cost = £187 (inc booking fee)
3 Days of entertainment
6 Stages
Virtually shuts down at 11:30pm
Arena – Security checks each time you enter.
No Food or Drink allowed into the Arena
Mainly appeals to teens & early 20-somethings
Hardly any entertainment apart from music
Restricted choice of food and drink
Expensive programmes
Town centre setting
Profits go to shareholders

You don't need to convince me I have been a volunteer at Reading for the past twenty one years and I do it as some of my Team cant get the time off work to work at Glastonbury and I would never ask my Team to work at a event I was not willing to work at myself.

If I was not in the WBC there is no way I would go { even if Melvin Benn of Festival Republic who I personally know gave me a free ticket }

Its the most tricky event the WBC works at and it can be a right nightmare for young volunteers.

When I walk about in the camping area I keep asking myself why anyone would be willing to camp there as its such a crush - lucky enough the WBC Campsite is well away from the main site.

Sure some people must like it as it gets bigger every year but to me its not good value for money.

 

[sim667]

Vibe not lineup etc. Well far more than just lineup anyway ....

I wouldnt say glasto has the best vibe of the festival scene by a long way...... Infact I find there's quite a lot of arseholes there often..... people are very pushy trying to see what they want to see, there's very little 'helping each other out' that I find at a lot of othe fests.....

However its nowhere near as bad as reading/download obviously.

 

[strung out]

i definitely think it's got the best vibe of any of the big festivals. some of the smaller ones are absolutely ace though.

 

[sim667]

i definitely think it's got the best vibe of any of the big festivals. some of the smaller ones are absolutely ace though.

Yeah i was just comparing it to all festivals......

I'd be hard pushed to go to the bigger ones these days, they dont promote what i'd call 'a real festival vibe', however for big acts obviously you need to go to big fests, but to be honest im not really into the 'super groups'

 

[William of Walworth]

I wouldnt say glasto has the best vibe of the festival scene by a long way......

Neither would I as it goes ...

Infact I find there's quite a lot of arseholes there often.....

No doubt, and I've met em/been annoyed by em myself -- I'd always claim they're much in the minority though. Most people at Glastonbury are nice and friendly IME and IMO -- in fact, given the sheer fucking size of the whole malarkey, it's amazing (to me, as a massive veteran) how few arseholes there are overall

people are very pushy trying to see what they want to see, there's very little 'helping each other out' that I find at a lot of othe fests.....

Partly agree and partly not. It surely depends where you hang out, and who with ... perhaps my perspective these days is influenced by my being staff not a punter anymore ...

However its nowhere near as bad as reading/download obviously.

I'm with ya!

 

[sim667]

Partly agree and partly not. It surely depends where you hang out, and who with ... perhaps my perspective these days is influenced by my being staff not a punter anymore ...

Im told its noticeably different when you work, I've worked lots of festivals, but not glasto.

 

[pennimania]

Surely it's time this thread was bumped

only 5 months to go!

 

[sim667]

Allow me to make that comparison Brian
Reading
Cost = £187 (inc booking fee)
3 Days of entertainment
6 Stages
Virtually shuts down at 11:30pm
Arena – Security checks each time you enter.
No Food or Drink allowed into the Arena
Mainly appeals to teens & early 20-somethings
Hardly any entertainment apart from music
Restricted choice of food and drink
Expensive programmes
Town centre setting
Profits go to shareholders

You missed "full of 15 year old twats"

 

[pootle]

Im told its noticeably different when you work, I've worked lots of festivals, but not glasto.

It's a totally different experience working - have been going to Glasto as a punter for best part of a decade but worked for the first time last year and even working with a fairly joyless security company, I'd never go back as a punter. The secure camping, the arriving on site before everyone else, the feeling that you're a part of it (even if you are on the outside of the fence in the middle of the night or in the coach car park!) is just ace.

Will volunteer for Oxfam this year though but if I couldn't get in that way, I'd work with SLS again.

 

[Ground Elder]

Just put in an application to Green Futures. If they want us it will be my first Pilton since 1992. Has it changed much?

 

[Boycey]

Not in the slightest

 

[William of Walworth]

Not in the slightest

It'll be quite an eyeopener for you I reckon GE!

 

[William of Walworth]

only 5 months to go!

 

[sim667]

It's a totally different experience working - have been going to Glasto as a punter for best part of a decade but worked for the first time last year and even working with a fairly joyless security company, I'd never go back as a punter. The secure camping, the arriving on site before everyone else, the feeling that you're a part of it (even if you are on the outside of the fence in the middle of the night or in the coach car park!) is just ace.

Will volunteer for Oxfam this year though but if I couldn't get in that way, I'd work with SLS again.

Ive never worked glaston, only been as a punter...... I understand its an entirely different fest if you work, the same as any festival tbh

 

[Ground Elder]

Not in the slightest

Oh good. In that case I'll probably be spending all my spare time up the travellers' field.

 

[Gerry1time]

Ah. Umm...