Glasto this year, anyone know what to do to get tickets and AIBU for taking 5.5 and baby along?

[MyDarlingClementine]

Never been, really really really want to go this year, anyone been - with kids in tow...I have never been, and the thought of the loo's scare me, but are tickets easy to get, is it a lottery, etc..

Glasto sold 127000 tickets in 1 hour 47 minutes, quickest ever sale. We have tickets but it was a complete stress ache getting them. 11 of us in different locations on multiple laptops and computors. There is a re sale on 21 st April with an estimated 10000 tickets being available max. Your chances are very very slim, compounded by all the people who will now desperately be trying or get tickets when not bothered before because of the stones. I reckon resales will go in under 10 minutes.

If you do get tickets, you want to aim at the family camping which has far less drunk people than the regular sites.
However in 2010 we were in the queue at 6 am on the Wed, bagged a spot and the field was full by 11. Absolutely ridiculous but I think the further out fields are less packed.
I really think your main obstacle is going to be getting hold of a ticket.

Or taking the 5 year old out of school.

There is confusion over whether I can or cant register now to get one.
I have emailed them.

Wow, yes it sounds like a major task squiby, I am not sure how I would tackle that as don't have access to mutliple comps at multiple sites....
I guess if we can register its just one of those things.

I wonder though what kind of computers do get through?

Gosh Feenie,

It didn't even cross my mind about the taking her out of school, I think it would be such an amazing event and experience....

Make sure you put that on your holiday request form, won't you - not sure the head will be on your, er....wavelength, though.

No I don't think she would be on my wave length, I wouldn't expect her to be though really.
Privately I think it could be a different matter, our head looks like she was a bit hippy ish in her youth.

Leave the kids! We went to a festival last year....left toddler....came back refreshed, had proper sleeps but still good nights and great times with chums. Actuallyyy....came back pregnant!

This year, well be doi g the same :) minus preggy bit.

But you need to commit to going before the acts are even announced (something I've never understood, but I assume that they aren't trying to attract people with my musical taste anyway), so if you are hoping to see someone specific it will come down to luck of the draw as to whether there will be someone you want to see by the time they have actually booked the acts.

Yes thats what I dont understand, I saw rolling stones playing, thought - yes i will go this year, then had my hopes torpedoded...by tales of registering five years ago, passports, and goodness knows what else.

what was I thinking of.

Yes Fergus would think about leaving DC if had anywhere to leave them and baby couldnt leave me yet.

the thought of my DD all snuggled up in some sort of buggy thing, with sheepskins and cosy blankets under a starry sky listining to the stones...

how could i let her miss out on that"!

Stones have been nailed on for pretty much 2 years though? If you get tic in oct, you pay £50 then, then either pay rest in April, or get £40 back if you decide not to go. Worth the gamble really?

It's such a cliche, but glastonbury is about so much more than bands, people will always buy tickets without knowing. Plus you always generally have a rough idea of who's headlining / will be there.

Good luck in the resale, have you registered yet? No type of computer / location in uk gives you better luck in t day, this year was sheer frustrating pot luck!

Watch it on TV. BBC has excellent coverage. No worrying about loos, weather, drunks falling onto your tent...

I'm going this year for the first time since 2004. I went every year from 93 - 2004 apart from the rainy ones.
I'm leaving 5 year old DS at home with DH. I have taken him to smaller festivals ( beautiful days, farmer Phil's) and its been fun but often I've missed bands or things I wanted to do because of his needs coming first. Glastonbury is such a huge site and I'd feel I was missing our on things if I took him along. I'd also worry about how awful it would be if it did turn into a mudbath.
DH isn't massively keen on festivals so this suits all of us.

We've got tickets, but they'll be going in the resale. It's too much like hard work, especially if the weather's bad. Actually, it's tough if it's hot too! There is loads for kids to do, and we've had a great time when we've been with our kids (14, 5 and nearly 3 now) but this year we just can't face it. We're going to Camp Bestival instead.

I've been to Glastonbury several times, from back in the 80's when it was a very different festival indeed up to the last time in 2010.

Some points to think about re Glasto and kids

• There are family camping fields - definitely camp there rather than general camping which can be noisy late into the night
• Wherever you are camping it is a LONG WAY from the car parking fields with all you stuff so you need some means to transport it - and give that some research as if it's muddy it's a nightmare. I use a sturdy sack barrow like www.bristol-storage.co.uk/store/general-folding-sack-trucks
• If it is muddy it can be a nightmare to keep dry and stop the mud getting everywhere inside the tent. For that reason have a tent with a decent sized porch, and of course take wellies.
• If it pours with rain or is extremely hot and sunny there is not much shelter, so take hats / good raingear etc. It's also hard to find somewhere to sit down if its muddy but the best place to head in those conditions is up in the Green Fields where it is more spread out and peaceful. It's lovely up there anyway and a haven for children.
• Think about whether to take a buggy or not (if your children are of buggy age). Can be fantastically useful for them to sleep or chill out in, but hard to manage over deeply muddy ground.
• Take a tarp for sitting on, a collapsible water container (cos the taps are never near) and consider ear protectors for the littlies if you're wanting to see loud bands.
• Glastonbury is a HUGE MASSIVE site - it takes hours to walk from one end to the other. A lot of time at Glasto is spent walking from A to B
• Many food stalls do not open early so take some simple things for breakfast
• There is a large kids field with marquees and fantastic activities going on. Your kids will love this but you may find it had to escape the kids field!!
• Lots of families do go to Glasto year after year and love it. You have to be prepared to have a different kind of festy if you have small children with you than if you did not.
• It's overwhelming for kids at times and they can get overstimulated and just need some down time. Be prepared to chill at your tent at times when really you would rather be elsewhere. I have seen some very idiot parents at Glasto pissed up and quite unaware that their kids are having a hideous time because they are tired/sunburnt/etc and the parents are in festy mode and just haven't noticed . Most people are lovely though.
• The camping fields get VERY CROWDED and can be at capacity by the Thursday before the festival starts, so if you can get there on the weds then aim to do that. You will be glad that you did.

So, that is all the nitty gritty although there's probably stuff I've forgotten.

I won't be going to Glasto again. It's too big and commercialised for me now, but I'm glad I've gone and it is an experience.

There's more info out there on t'internet re Glasto for children / festies with children if you google it.

Enjoy!

Indie Tracks for me this year.

Lots of amateurish but enthusiastic indie pop played by fey boys and girls with floppy fringes NHS specs and hooped t-shirts. Plus there's free rides on a steam railway all weekend.

What's not to love?

I think it depends on your kids, what they are like with big crowds and lots of noise. Just because people have taken kids does not mean its right for your kids. I personally wouldnt take mine along, they wouldnt enjoy it and I would get stressed. Also, I would be concerned about thee impact of the noise levels on their ears even with protection. It would be impossible for them to wear thema for 24 hrs. Are you breast feeding? That would save on sterilising bottles but you still have to think about food prep for à weaning baby. To me, it sounds like too much hard work but its your choice. Could you leave them with family for weekend?

Would you go by yourself and leave the kids with DH? He can do something fun another time.

You've got a better chance of getting one return than four and of seeing what you want to see. I bet if you got a ticket you'd find a friend or friend of a friend who was going.

I'm taking my 6yo DD but not the younger one. DD1's been to several festivals since she was 3 months old, but it's all been in preparation for this. I now know she loves camping, doesn't mind being confined to the tent if it rains, likes watching live music but mainly just loves running around fields....I think she's ready for her first Glasto!
Have you taken yours camping before?

I've got a friend who had the same idea re going to Glastonbury with children "life moment seeing x band......" Etc etc etc. the key remarks she made after coming back after disastrous trip with 2 eight year olds:

1. Your children won't get the music. They just won't and your seminal life moment will be spoiled with trips to the loo and whining.

1. You queue for ages at food stalls to get food you think the children will like and they won't.

1. Even in the children's area/field, there are still drunk people falling over/into tents.

Being a seasoned camper/festival goer helps. If you're not, it's quite hellish as there are always important things that you forget/don't know you have to take. With the greatest of respect, given that you don't know when the tickets go on sale, I'm presuming that you're not a frequenter of festivals etc.

If you must go, I suggest hiring a camper van. Although my friend did this and her twins still didn't enjoy it - they hated the loos etc.

Lots of people take children to Glastonbury - and it is increasingly tilted towards those with plenty of spare cash for camper vans/barbecue sets/ wine fridges/artisan bread.

You will have a great time though. Just be aware:

It will be noisy at night wherever you camp

It will be freezing at night

You need some sort if baby carrier/thre where to get around as the site is so enormous you get exhausted walking and children will not manage it.

The weather might be awful

It is best enjoyed aged 21 with plenty of recreational drugs

But you will enjoy it [grin[

Firstly its already sold out so its unlikely you would be able to go this year.

Kids do go and they have a good kids field and there are lots of things for kids to see and do, theatre, the green fields areas etc. But if you are going for the music, yoaren't going to take a five year old into a huge surging crowd, its late its dark they are tired and squashed and could be trampled. You and dh could take it in turns to see bands but bear in mine it is massive and can take over an hour towalk from one bit to another.

I think you either go for the ambience and know youre going to be in kids area a lot or go without kids for the music.

I think if you really wanted to go you would have checked into tickets before now, people get themselves sorted well in advance for festivals.

Although you can easily see headliners on the main stage without getting squashed - there's a sort of hill behind where people used to light fires and watch the big screens