Sunset on Wednesday
Now all that’s left is the rubbish and a few stages to come down; we can reflect on the mud and the sunshine.
I honestly think this year was one of the best ever. The atmosphere was amazing and for a change the line-up was good too! We had the mud, of course, but actually we hardly got rained on as it was mostly at night. The days were hot and sunny and I was putting my umbrella up for shade!
It was a good mix of people this year – plenty of the younger people Michael is always keen to get in; lots of families and older people too; and an even spread of new people and experienced veterans. The system of having the tickets for sale for most of the year was definitely a success as it meant that all the Glastonbury fans were able to buy a ticket and also the younger ones had chance to save for one. I think next year though, we all need to get ready early, as after such a succesful festival this year, I’m predicting the tickets will sell out fast again.
The ticket selling scare last year meant that they had to pull their finger out with the line-up this year. I think Glastonbury Festivals had got a bit complacent, thinking that it didn’t matter who they put on the stages, as they would always sell out anyway. It’s true – you don’t go to Glastonbury for the bands necessarily, but it is nice when there are people you actually want to see. It’s been a long time since there were clashes of bands I want to watch, but this year there were a few – especially on the Sunday night. So in a way, I’m glad that they only just sold all the tickets last year as it’s got them to put better people on the stages! I just hope it lasts.
It was well reported that Wednesday saw a record number of people arriving, and it was a huge difference. On Thursday everyone was at the Green Fields and it was too crowded. I’m glad that most of the attractions were open those first two days, but we could have also done with some more music, just to ease the crowds elsewhere on site. I’m sure they could have less acts on during the rest of the weekend on the smaller stages like the Blazing Saddle stage and the Queen’s head and spread them out a bit. I watched Dead Like Harry for half an hour on Friday. Surely they could have
The view from above the tipi field
played for an hour on Thursday?
One of the other things I love about Glastonbury festival is the shopping and that changed this year. I don’t know if the festival have hiked up the pitch fees, or whether it’s the recession biting, but a lot of the regular stalls were missing. Even the garlic bread place and the big Thai food place, both normally in the centre of the market areas, weren’t there this year. The kids panicked when we couldn’t see Pilton Pasta, but luckily found it round the other side. Clothes shopping wasn’t so prolific for me this year as I only found a few nice clothes that were affordable. I bought a couple of pairs of trousers and vests that were £5 each and that was it. I didn’t even buy the kids much this year either. They had a tutu each as we found somewhere that had cool ones, 2 for £15. Jude had a purple petal skirt from the fabulous Susu Mama for £5. I’m glad they were still there, but Fairy Love seem to put there prices up so much each year, unfortunately they are out of the range I’m willing to spend. When everyone else is selling tutus for £10 or less, I’m surprised they can get away with theirs being £20.
The theatre and circus fields were just as fabulous as ever and the nice weather meant we could see all the mad acts wondering around. Annoyingly, we still managed to be there for Space Cowboy whose ego is bigger than the Big Top. I’ve done reviews of how rubbish he is twice before, so I won’t bother again. The night time fire show was underwhelming this year. Ususally I love it, but not this time. It was still spectactular in terms of special effects, but that’s all it was. I’m less interested in seeing loads of fire canons, and prefer watching people doing fire poi and other flaming twirling things which I’ve seen in the past and look amazing. And what was the point of the girl in the thong waving her arms around? The giant mechanical elephant and dragon at the end were very impressive though.
Anyway; like I said at the beginning, overall this was definitely up there with the best of Glastonburies! I had a great time and so did everyone I know who went. Trend of the year: face painting. I just can’t believe we’ve got to wait so long now till the next one.