Drugs, money, drugs, clothes, cheap tent, drugs, cheap sleepy bag, drugs and nothing that you’ll be bothered about if it gets trashed, stolen, soaked in mud or sacrificed to a Pagan God.

I’m told it’s changed a lot since I last went in 2000 – there’s an even bigger bloody wall for a start (which may or may not be a reason why I’ve not been back since), but it always used to be a madhouse 250k-300k people the last year I went they reckon 2/3 times as many tickets that were sold.

Oh and try to remember where you left the car, all fields look the same after a few days.

I went in 90 with a lump of squidgy the clothes I had on and a pair of adidas samba. God did it rain. In hind sight the samba were a bad choice.

Best time I had there I packed the same (well almost) as donks, if your doing it right you don’t need your own tent. Don’t take beer, it will be horrible after the first few hours – wine bags and/or vodka.

Nothing helpful here but wet wipes

I don’t remember much from the one time I went to Glastonbury other than watching Rolf Harris just as a Silver Surfer was kicking in, and missing all but Gravity Grave from the Verve’s set because half way through Jameraqui (or the Stereo MCs – whoever it was I didn’t really care) it seemed like a good idea to return my jumper to my tent so I didn’t ****ing loose it. Oh and the motor bike from the Orb echoing round and round and round.

Moral of the story: don’t take anything can’t let go of.

To be fair it’s all reasonably priced in there so a few £££ some spirits mixed with a mixer in a *plastic* bottle and you’ll be great. Buy a ready-inflated air bed in there and have ear plugs/eye mask and all will be champion.

I think I slept better than at home last year. Gutted that I had a ticket but had to give it up due to other commitments this year.

Ohh, and if you think you need wet wipes at a festival then you probably won’t enjoy the festival experience with or without your wet wipes.

Houns = mumlord wtf

a sherpa, stuff carrying your own stuff around

A trade pitch. Drive to where you camp, space, clean toilets, your own tap, extra security. Bonus was fairly lax shifts and in view of the main stage.

your ticket to sell, then go to a proper festie 😉

Stick any valuables inside your sleeping bag, and sleep with your feet to the door at night.

Bin liners were a life saver when my old fishing bivvy gave up any hope of waterproofing after 24 hours of solid, sideways rain 😀

Camp near the fence, less through traffic and further from horrendous toilets – a flag is also a good call for location purposes.

Been a long time since I went so perhaps things are different these days – enjoy!

to all the people who haven’t been since 2000 – it’s a lot less grimey these days. Haven’t seen people openly selling smack for years now, tent thefts also much less common.

My glasto pointers:

if you’re over 25, bring a pillow instead of just folding up a hoodie

if you’re over 35, bring whisky instead of lager, otherwise you spend 50% of your time walking to and from the bogs for a wazz

don’t bring any food except for snacks

people have mentioned painkillers and berocca – these are good, also Dioralyte isn’t a bad shout even if you don’t have the trots

DON’T TRY AND SEE EVERYTHING. It’s just stressful. Choose 2 or 3 things per day and then let the winds take you wherever they may. It’s a good hour’s walk from one end of the festival site to the other.

That chuffing great fence has transformed the festival for the better. The facilities now more or less match the number of people attending which has improved things no end, and despite some of the dire warnings on this thread there’s very little crime. The tout-free general admission ticketing is also a big bonus. I understand the newer cleaner more polished Glastonbury won’t be to everyone’s taste but there’s no other festival in the UK on anything like the same scale and if you’re at all interested in music it’s worth going at least once.

Second doris5000 – if you’re going to take booze in with you spirits (decanted into plastic bottles) and 3L boxes of red wine. some breakfast food is good as it can be some time after you get up that you find good food. Flapjack/cereal bars and individual fruit juice cartons are easiest.

Regretting not going this year now – after 7 in a row a fallow year seemed a good idea but there’s a load I’d love to see. . I’d have gone for LCD Soundsystem alone.

There are still a good number of thefts and when it’s happened to anyone I know it has always been their first year. Wednesday and Thursday nights are the worst. Nearly always thief unzips tent – if you wake up they just claim they thought it was their own tent. If you don’t they grab shorts/Trousers taken off with wallet and phone left in pockets from entrance of tent (THIS IS A STUPID THING TO DO) or have a quick feel under your pillow (Putting you valuables there isn’t that clever either).

Glastonbury lost property is amazing – Scott got his wallet back less than 12 hours after he lost it (with cards, minus cash). Chris got his car keys back a about a week after the festival. (He did have to spend the Friday taking the train to London and back to get his spare set though)

And forget your iPhone/Samsung smartphone nonsense. If it doesn’t get nicked, or you lose it, the battery will die in 5 minutes anyway. You’ll need your phone when you’re lost at 3 in the morning and you’ve got ‘The Fear’.

So unless you want to stand in line, like a complete bell end, trying to charge a dead iPhone next to the ****ing ‘Glamping’ tee-pees, along with a mass of Hoxton trustafarian cockwombles, then what you’ll be needing is one of these

That, and a shitload of weapons grade MDMA and job well and truly jobbed 😀

So unless you want to stand in line, like a complete bell end, trying to charge a dead iPhone next to the ****ing ‘Glamping’ tee-pees, along with a mass of Hoxton trustafarian cockwombles, then what you’ll be needing is one of these

Or, turn every ‘smart’ bit off, and keep it in your pocket. Mine comfortably does 4 days if I only use it like I would a Nokia brick (i.e. don’t use it).

Ohh, and if you think you need wet wipes at a festival then you probably won’t enjoy the festival experience with or without your wet wipes.

Dysentery on day 3 of Reading was not fun mid way through Radiohead. My kidneys hurt so bad I had to lie down on the hill at the back (which actually in hindsight with the lasers etc was actually a brilliant spot).

Wet wipes (anti-bacterial ones, not the cheap ones), and as much alcohol gel/spray as you can get.

despite some of the dire warnings on this thread there’s very little crime.

As a friend of mine once said, “I don’t care what statistics say, it will be me. There may well be “very little” crime, but “very little” is still “some.” Absolutely no reason not to be careful just in case, it’s not like it’s a massive hardship not to leave your wallet and phone lying around where any munchkin can grab it.

We are going for the first time without children since 1993 🙂

Nowadays it is so safe and tame. It is so middle class it is untrue. Put it this way, we are booked here for Thursday night. But you know what? I don’t care, I’m middle aged now and any repeat of the madness of festivals gone by is not going to happen without serious mental issues. In any case, there is still something special about Glastonbury, despite what the naysayers say,

My take list is long as I will be in a campervan with comfy bed, power, and as much (cold) beer and whisky as I can get away with.

You need to take:

Trolley/wheelbarrow to get to your tent spot

Walking boots unless it’s knee deep

Good humor

Dysentery on day 3 of Reading was not fun mid way through Radiohead.

This may be contentious but, consider going veggie for the weekend. It’s a lot harder to get the galloping bogtrots from an undercooked veggieburger than it is from some scabby chicken. Also, there’s generally a lot of choice these days, you’re not stuck living off chips for three days any more.

I’ve been festival-going on and off since 1990, and veggie for almost as long (1991 I think), and I’ve not once had food poisoning at a festival.

Walking boots unless it’s knee deep

Got to say, we were comparatively lucky with the weather when we went and dodged some of the horrors of previous years. But I was so very very glad that I was in my comfy Bergies for the duration rather than some poxy £2.99 wellies.

So, is there a cut-off age for Glasto, or do people of all ages go there?

Cougar – Moderator
Walking boots unless it’s knee deep
Got to say, we were comparatively lucky with the weather when we went and dodged some of the horrors of previous years. But I was so very very glad that I was in my comfy Bergies for the duration rather than some poxy £2.99 wellies.

Aye I’d always go walking boots and waterproof socks, consider the amount of treking you do at these places, wellies would be horrendous imo..

The afore boots and waterproof socks were great first year i went, 1998, which was utterly horrendous weather wise. That and an orange survival bag saved my sanity I think! 😆 The whole place was honking! it was a 5 day jaunt aswell, turned up on the wednesday, back on the monday! 😆

Luckily next year I went in 99 it was the opposite, scorchio!

But I was so very very glad that I was in my comfy Bergies for the duration rather than some poxy £2.99 wellies

Yep, it’s well worth taking good boots. You’ll be on your feet a lot, especially if it’s a bit damp. My feet really started aching round about sundown last year in the previously comfy but rather broken-down Moabs I’d rashly chosen. It’ll be the Altbergs this year. Wellies aren’t really necessary unless you’re careless, I’ve never been in mud higher than the uppers of my boots.

So, is there a cut-off age for Glasto, or do people of all ages go there?

Of course they do, pretty much like any festival, regardless of the type of music.
There are people going to Glastonbury who’ve got married, had kids, the kids have grown up, got married themselves, had kids, and the whole lot continue to go to the festival.
Same at the IoW Festival, there were teenagers there, at the same time as people older than me, and I’m sixty two this year; I’ll be doing Green Man this year, pretty good lineup and lovely surroundings.
I’ll be watching Lush for the third time this year, took several years to see them three times back in the nineties!

http://sabotagetimes.com/life/confessions-of-a-glastonbury-coke-dealer

And forget your iPhone/Samsung smartphone nonsense. If it doesn’t get nicked, or you lose it, the battery will die in 5 minutes anyway. You’ll need your phone when you’re lost at 3 in the morning and you’ve got ‘The Fear’.

So unless you want to stand in line, like a complete bell end, trying to charge a dead iPhone next to the ****ing ‘Glamping’ tee-pees, along with a mass of Hoxton trustafarian cockwombles, then what you’ll be needing is one of these
Funny, I managed three days at the IoW Festival last year, with both my iPhone and my LUMIX TZ72, took shitloads of photos, and never had to use one of those charging booth places.
Perhaps the battery in a 6+ lasts a teensy bit longer than five minutes…
But then, I don’t get the point of spending a not inconsiderable amount of money on a ticket and travel, then spend the whole time off my tits on booze and chemicals, I could do that at home and be a lot more comfortable too.

Going back to the op’s original question, someone mentioned rain ponchos, great idea, just get a couple of proper mil-spec ones, not the flimsy plastic ones. If it been raining, and the ground’s wet, then a poncho makes a good groundsheet as well, good ones have eyelets for tethering, using as a bivi etc.
These are about as cheap as you’ll find: https://www.goarmy.co.uk/review/product/list/id/2670/