Looking at me you probably wouldn't think I'd be much of a festival girl, in fact I wasn't quite sure I'd survive Glastonbury and a few of my friends were just as shocked when I got back in one piece with a smile on my face.I got my ticket for Glasto when I was hit by serious FOMO after all my flat decided to go along. So despite my worries over hygeine, the toilets and crowds I bit the bullet and got myself a ticket. And I had one of the best weekends of my life. So here's some tips and things I learnt while there that will hopefully ease the minds of and guide other pathetic girls like me who don't want to miss out on festival fun.
Don't worry about the toilets
This was one of my main concerns after hearing horror stories about porta loos from my friends who've been to Leeds fest but the Glasto ones were fine. There's absolutely loads of them and they're all either long drops or composts - no dingy dirty porta loos. They were also hosed down every morning and although they did start to smell slightly the nearer you got to Monday I didn't have a bad experience with any of them. Just remember to take loo roll.
Only pack what you can carry
This is a rule my friend Sian instilled in me. No one wants to be that girl begging her friends to carry her things because she overestimated what she could lift. The main weights going to be alcohol and your tent so try and get as light a tent as possible and think about what booze you're taking. Some of my friends had the great idea of taking those Johnsons super concentrated squeezy things as mixer which meant no lugging bottles of juice around. As a side note when it comes to alcohol probably best to avoid cider unless you have a bladder of steel, having to run off to the toilet after every can isn't fun.
3. You will survive on a ridiculously small amount of sleep Yes you'll stay out till 6 in the morning and be up before lunch the next day (not helped if it's really hot and your tent turns into an early morning sauna) but somehow you'll power through. We realised the power of naps - my personal favourite spot was the circus tent - and pro plus. It'll only be Monday or Tuesday that the real struggle begins as all the lack of sleep, hangovers and festival flu finally hits in one horrendous wave. Now's the time to sleep it off.
Work out who you really want to see and don't be afraid to go it alone You won't see everybody you want to, it's sods law that your favourite bands will probably all clash anyway so before you go decide on a few people you definitely are going to see no ifs or buts. There's pretty varied music tastes within my friends and not everyone's into the indie/rock bands I like which meant for people like Catfish and the Bottlemen and Twin Atlantic I went solo which really didn't matter. I could slip easily into the crows and get a good spot and the max time you're ever waiting for someone to come on is 30 minutes, once the music starts you really won't care you're alone.
Just go for it Let yourself go a bit and try new things. I went to see artists I never would listen to normally but the atmosphere is so positive everywhere I had a great time whatever I was listening to. I also completely embraced the whole "festival fashion" thing and donned a flower headband and put glitter on my face at any opportunity. Yes I looked like a walking cliché but who cares?
It's not actually that busy When I envisioned Glastonbury I imagined huge crowds, it being impossible to get near to the front and there being huge queues for everything - but I was pleasantly surprised at how wrong I was. If you turned up just as the previous act was finishing before the one you wanted to see you could easily get to the front of the crowd (unless it's the Pyramid Stage, I have no idea how people got to the front there, we all agreed if you walked all the way round the crowd to the top of the hill you got a better experience anyway). Yes there were sometimes queues for things but they always moved pretty quickly so don't fret about spending half your time waiting for the loo or some food.
The food there is delicious I packed myself enough food for breakfast every morning, lunch I could take in tupperware during the day and snacks for when I got peckish but I always treated myself to a hot meal from one of the various food stalls on an evening, and boy was there a choice. If you take a bit of time to scope out the options you can get some lush food, I possibly had one of the best burgers of my life there (lamb, mint sauce, salad and mango chutney...too good for words). These meals could cost anywhere from £5 upwards depending on what and how much you wanted - a worthy investment.
Plan ahead Try and get an idea of where you want to camp before arriving using the map on the website. We knew we wanted to be near the stages but also not too far a walk away from all the nightlife (no one wants a long walk home in the morning) so aimed for the Pennard Hill Ground. Despite arriving pretty early this was already full when we got there, luckily we had a plan b, Park Home Ground and actually this turned out to be a pretty great spot. If you're planning on getting an early night it might not be for you being located just next to Arcadia, but since this shut at around 2ish and we normally stayed out much later than this it was no problem. Close to the Other Stage and located right near the main path to the evening areas this had the best of both worlds. So there are my basic tips on surviving and preparing for Glasto (I can't vouch for what any other festival is like!) I have amazing memories from the weekend and can't think of a moment I wasn't having a great time, I've definitely caught the festival bug and can't wait to get back to another next year.
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