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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not see the appeal of Glastonbury

156 replies

MacarenaFerreiro · 23/06/2017 08:01

Just saw something on telly about Glastonbury and don't see the appeal AT ALL.

Sleeping in a tent with thousands of other people in close proximity, no showers, portaloos, up to your knees in mud if it rains, noise, crowds, miles of walking to get around the place (which apparently is the size of a small town), they charge you hundreds of pounds to get in in the first place, loads of crusty hippies and new age shite.

Not an age thing - never appealed when I was in my teens either.

OP posts:
TheNaze73 · 23/06/2017 08:05

Each to their own. I did it a few times in my teens, 20's & 30's & loved it.

GhostsToMonsoon · 23/06/2017 08:06

I've never been and never want to (although I did once think about it at university).

Mostly because I don't like crowds, let alone smelly Portaloos. Not a huge music devotee.

The green aspect (eg is Oxfam there) would appeal to me.

Original poster
MacarenaFerreiro · 23/06/2017 08:07

I volunteer for Oxfam and there was an opportunity to go to Glastonbury and loads of other festivals for free if you'd commit to a few shifts over the weekend (think it was 12 hours spread over 4 days or something). Still a big no from me.

OP posts:
TheWitchAndTrevor · 23/06/2017 08:08

I don't see the appeal of lots of things.

Everyone is different, that's life.

x2boys · 23/06/2017 08:24

meh i went to a few festivals when i was a student 20 odd yrs ago i loved them i couldnt be bothered now but whatever floats your boat.

BangkokBlues · 23/06/2017 08:28

Isn't it good that lots of people like lots of different things! Otherwise the world would be boring. ~no one is forcing tyou to go, and if you don't have the imagination to see what it is that people might like (the music, the freedom, the atmosphere etc) then so be it.

BTW there are showers and you can pay fore more orderly camping in pre erected tents.

MrsTrentReznor · 23/06/2017 08:28

It pisses me off how trendy festivals have become.
Rather than spending my hard earned cash on a girls holiday when I was younger I'd go to festivals.
Then they became the thing to do and got taken over by the hunter welly brigade.
Prices went up, festivals changed. A group of my friends used to go to Glastonbury every year, they 're lucky if one of them can get a ticket now. Sad

HumphreyCobblers · 23/06/2017 08:30

I went to Glastonbury every year it was on in the nineties and early 00s. I just loved it. When I stopped going I was sad every time it was on.

Now I wish I was the kind of person who still wanted to go. I am too old and too staid.

McTufty · 23/06/2017 08:31

Can't think of anything worse personally!

I don't think OP was criticising people who do like it, just stating her opinion. I certainly am not throwing shade at people who go, I respect them and wish I was the kind of person who would enjoy it but I see the people dancing in the mud and just think nah!

TBH when I was at V and someone lobbed a glass of piss over their head and it went all over me it kind of put me off all festivals.

CaoNiMartacus · 23/06/2017 08:31

I would rather saw my own arm off at the elbow with a blunt fish-knife than go to a music festival, but I'm sure it's fun for the folk who like that sort of thing!

Original poster
MacarenaFerreiro · 23/06/2017 08:34

BTW there are showers and you can pay fore more orderly camping in pre erected tents.

Yeah, but it's still a tent....

OP posts:
BlackAppleCore · 23/06/2017 08:34

It doesn't appeal to me either however unfortunately I'm stuck here right now. I only come for DH but I'm hating it more and more as the years go on. It's all about showing off and attention seeking. The weather is a constant rollercoaster of extremeness, can't get a shower for days, the bogs are an absolute disgrace and you can't get anywhere near the bands you want to see anyway.

The only thing I enjoy about it is the different food staffs but they're fucking pricey so I'm going to return home skint and 5 stone heavier! Thank fuck it's not on next year.

Gooseygoosey12345 · 23/06/2017 08:35

I like camping, I love music and I don't mind getting dirty but I still have no desire to go to a festival. Just doesn't appeal to me for some reason

Sparklingbrook · 23/06/2017 08:35

In the pictures everyone looks like they are having a great time. I wouldn't want to go but it's probably aimed at more easy going people than me.

As a teen I might have been up for it but I hate crowds and like my home comforts now. Plus the music doesn't appeal.

Original poster
MacarenaFerreiro · 23/06/2017 08:36

Can't DH find like-minded friends to go with, BlackApple?

Tell me to bog off and not be so nosy, but roughly what does a weekend ar Glastonbury cost, when you factor in entrance tickets, food, camping fees? I genuinely have no idea.

OP posts:
Augustbabyyeah · 23/06/2017 08:38

I've been three times and it was amazing. That's it really!

Mothervulva · 23/06/2017 08:38

I went when I was 20 and loved it. We all swore to go every year forever. However, being a teacher out paid to getting the time off and now I don't think I could handle it.

Perhaps Latitude in a fancy tent.

user1495884620 · 23/06/2017 08:40

I don't particularly like the whole festival experience, but I do like live music and, yes it does cost an awful lot of money, but the value that you get out of it, in terms of the sheer number of bands you see for the price, it is very good value for money. And the big advantage of camping over staying off-site is that it saves you being stuck in traffic for hours when you arrive and leave. So, in my opinion, the crap bits are worth putting up with and I suspect a lot of people may feel the same rather than actually enjoying mud and portaloos.

MercuryMadness · 23/06/2017 08:40

It is a case of each to their own, of course, but there is something about people who go to Glastonbury who act like everyone else either does want to go (and can't) or should want to go. They assume they are doing something we all admire and are envious of. People who go rowing or do wild swimming or learn Icelandic just get on with it.

QueenOfTheSardines · 23/06/2017 08:41

You don't have to go? It's fine Smile no-ons going to insist you like it or anything.

By the way for those who would still like to go but too old
Part of the change that MrsTrent talks about is of course true. I think it's not so much the trendy thing (although that is in there) but that the people who went when they were young, many carried on going and as their wages and expectations changed so did the festivals to accomodate them.

These days if you spend £££ you can go to festivals with pre erected tents, decent bogs, super-child friendly and have a sort of sanitised festival experience.

And to be honest I am one of the people who this fits. What I wanted when young is different now. I no longer want to spend my time off my tits on acid wandering around with some random bloke I've picked up , losing my tent, covered in filth, and all the rest of it Grin Although obviously it was fun at the time, my tastes nowadays lean towards as decent a nights sleep as possible and reasonable toilets.

Anyway point is anyone who is hankering - these things are full of middle aged people, they are FOR middle aged people, young people can't afford them in the main and honestly I think they look a bit boring. Also, day passes for the not wanting to sleep in a tent. Also, there are 1-day music festivals now for presumably same reason - have a good time and in bed by 1 Grin

What the young people do I have no idea - I hope they have somewhere to go that is a bit more suitable (ie bonkers).

Oysterbabe · 23/06/2017 08:42

I loved festivals from age 18-25. I'm definitely too old for it now, I feel rough after 3 drinks and bed by midnight.

BlackAppleCore · 23/06/2017 08:43

I wish he did Macarena, I even said to him yesterday "if I said I wasn't coming one year, could you come with someone else?" And he said no, he'd be gutted and devestated but wouldn't want to be here without me. It's annoying because I feel so much pressure to come every fucking year.

The cost is ridiculous. It's something like £250 per ticket, £50 to park the bleeding car, costs us about £100 in petrol to get there and back and we spend about £250/£300 whilst there. So you're talking altogether around £700. I could go on holiday for a week for that.

acquiescence · 23/06/2017 08:45

I have been twice in my teens and twenties. It was the most amazing experience. It felt like a sort of magical separate world, I haven't experienced anything like it at any other festival. The atmosphere is infectious and it seemed that everyone was happy and carefree. I loved it and would love to go again one day, although the size does intimidate me a little and it would be a very different experience with children.

BlackAppleCore · 23/06/2017 08:46

Oh mercury my DH is just like that! Insists that everyone does want to go and are jealous that they can't. I tell him that no, some people arnt into it but he shoots me down with "of course they are!! They'd love to be here but for whatever reason haven't been able to come so they put a front on!"

Err ok 🤔🙄

Rumtopf · 23/06/2017 08:46

It costs us about a grand all in as we pay extra to take our campervan (with our own hot shower, loo and facilities to cook).
We haven't gone this year as we've already been to one festival - Bearded Theory, which is one of the best I've ever been to, and then were going to Beautiful Days down in Devon later on in the year.

Why do we like them? The music, the atmosphere, the checking out of the real world for a few days and really having a break. When the weather is good, you're sitting watching a favourite band with a pint of cider, surrounded by like minded people, it's just lovely.

Personally I love all the hippy dippy, crusty stuff. There are so many different people there to people watch and talk to, it's fun!