Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be pretty shocked by Glastonbury 'security'?

99 replies

MatildaTheCat · 23/06/2017 09:52

Just had a series of excited whatsapp messages from ds. He's at Glasto for the weekend. Ok, how come? He didn't get tickets this year. Oh,mhe says, really great luck. Hmm, I think and joke 'over the fence?' thinking he's got a work freebie or some such.

No. Apparently if you just rock up 'people' can get you in for £120. But he didn't even need to do that. He literally walked in past all the officials without a ticket. I do not condone this even a tiny bit but it's clearly pretty certain to get in somehow if people will travel from London on the off chance.

So that's exactly how secure it is there. That's made me feel more than a little afraid for the whole event. So was all that checking on Wednesday whilst people got heatstroke in the queues just window dressing?

OP posts:
dailymailarecunts · 23/06/2017 11:50

I used to work quite senior in events and it is easy to get in without paying if you know the right people / places to be.

I had teams of staff and we never had the right number of wristbands for people. Once you know how to exploit this, you can apply it to any festival. Yes, some are harder than others - Glastonbury being up there - but it is by no means impossible like you are all saying.

RoseTico · 23/06/2017 12:04

Human beings aren't infallible. It's hot, there are loads of people milling around, of course a few will slip past security.

He is probably a 'random bloke in crowd' type who doesn't draw any attention. A girl in a bikini top wouldn't be as lucky!

WhereDoAllTheWildThingsGo · 23/06/2017 12:20

Your son in his late 20s "has never lied before"

Grin Grin

Ok.

kmc1111 · 23/06/2017 12:33

3 years ago I and a bunch of other people got waved through without anyone looking at our tickets (and I at least did have a ticket) because some drunk idiots decided to brawl just inside the entrance.

Also known plenty of people who've got in by bribing crews or contractors or locals on the boundary. It's fairly secure for a festival but it's not Fort Knox, there are ways in.

Roundles · 23/06/2017 12:33

You cant even buy a 'second hand ticket' - your ticket has your photo on it - from when you register over a year before hand. There are several gates and checkpioints, and you need your wristband, paper ticket and addition 'pass out' to even leave to return to your car and re enter.

BangkokBlues · 23/06/2017 12:37

You cant even buy a 'second hand ticket' - your ticket has your photo on it

Yeah but you buy a ticket of someone who looks similar ish to you

@dailymailarecunts no one is saying it is impossible to get in without an official ticket - but it is 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% impossible to queue up and walk through the security gate via the turnstile without a ticket.

Mycarsmellsoflavender · 23/06/2017 12:54

I believe you, op. There was one time that the security people at Glasto forgot to take our tickets after entering and putting our wristbands on. So we went back outside and sold them at face value. Admittedly it was a long time ago and security has increased hugely since then, but many of the people are volunteers and it can just take a few seconds of inattention to let someone in.
I can't see how he'd get kicked out once he's in either. They don't go round doing spot checks of festival bands once you're in. Everything including camping is on site so there will be no reason for him to leave and try to re-enter until it's over. Hope he enjoys it.

StandardNameHere · 23/06/2017 13:02

Wow, he's so cool breaking in.
Why do people think they should go to these things for free when others are paying?
Yes, they are overpriced but it is optional!
I can't stand people who think they are entitled to things because they want it.

user1478289914 · 23/06/2017 14:03

You get your wristbands checked every time you go in or out of the campsite and scanned when you come in or out of the arena. I'd love to know how he got around that

BangkokBlues · 23/06/2017 14:08

There was one time that the security people at Glasto forgot to take our tickets after entering and putting our wristbands on. So we went back outside and sold them at face value.

@Mycarsmellsoflavender your experience as you so rightly point out is totally out of date. Why bother commenting if you haven't been anywhere near glasto in modern times?

You can't do this any more because your ticket is scanned and they know they have issued a wrist band to it.

Also, you need your wrist band AND ticket to re-enter. So you wouldn't have been able to get back in.

BangkokBlues · 23/06/2017 14:10

@user1478289914 not at glasto - there is no 'arena' / 'campsite' split it is all one big happy area.

If you exit the festival site (e.g. to go to your car) then you need both your ticket and wrist band, but you do not need them to move from campsite to stage.

ChildishGambino · 23/06/2017 14:11

If this is true I'm going to find my tent...brb...

BangkokBlues · 23/06/2017 14:14

Actuallly I miss-spoke. It isn't bar code scanned, just UV scanned to check its not a fake.

PuppyMonkey · 23/06/2017 14:15

But he'll have no WRISTBAND Shock Grin

Scanned as you go in the arena? Confused

Good luck to him if it's true, I hope he's got some cash with him though, they'll rip him off with the food and drink anyway. Wink

SealSong · 23/06/2017 14:15

It is true, people can get in without paying. Not over the fence, but I know it happens somehow, my daughter's ex boyfriend used to do it, he did it a couple of years ago. It's not easy but it is possible for those who know how.

SealSong · 23/06/2017 14:18

And just to say, I don't agree with it (entering without ticket), mainly because the site is so overcrowded anyway if extra people get in without tickets the overcrowding can get to (in my opinion) dangerous levels.

Groupie123 · 23/06/2017 14:37

It's possible to get in a number of ways. Colleague walked right in wearing a security jacket for the company hired for the job last year (he used to work for them). Nobody batted an eyelid.

Mycarsmellsoflavender · 23/06/2017 20:29

@Mycarsmellsoflavender your experience as you so rightly point out is totally out of date. Why bother commenting if you haven't been anywhere near glasto in modern times?

So sorry, I didn't realise you had to have been to Glasto recently in order to be eligible to comment on this post.Hmmobviously a lot of people on here haven't realised this either as they are talking about 'arenas' which there never have been.

For your reference, we were camping in the family camping part of the campervan area which unlike the rest of the camping was outside the site, and in the old days used to be pretty low security as the sorts of people going to break in don't tend to head for family camping. It is quite conceivable that security might still vary at different gates around the site and the OP's son may have found a more lax one.

Original poster
MatildaTheCat · 23/06/2017 21:12

A quick update for those inclined to disbelieve. He is there and did simply walk in.

Nowhere have I ever said I thought this was a good thing. If you read the title of my post you would see I am very concerned that the security is this lax. Of course lots of people will try to slip in and so on but he literally just walked through.

He is no security risk at all but it worries me very much that this is possible. And no, he didn't 'know' somebody though has been several times before and worked at some high profile events.

OP posts:
Mycarsmellsoflavender · 23/06/2017 21:22

Sorry, bold fail in my last post.

Bangkokblues
Tickets were UV scanned back then too.
I've just checked this year's Glasto map and campervans are still sited outside of the main site. Meaning that everyone in campervans may have to go in and out of security several times a day especially with DCs going back for meals / warm clothing / naps. If someone were to lose their ticket stub on site which is more than likely, do you really think they would refuse to let them back in after they'd been back to their campervans or caravan? What used to happen (over several years) if I remember correctly is that on exit they would issue you with someone else's ticket stub so that you didn't have to carry it around with you all day. Then when you came back in you would give back the ticket stub and show your wristband. Basically, once you're in and have a wristband you can go in and out as many times as you like. You seem to have been suggesting that I was lying as I wouldn't have been allowed back in again.

Haint · 23/06/2017 21:23

But you get your wristband checked as you move between different areas. You'd very quickly be kicked straight back out again

JustDanceAddict · 23/06/2017 21:29

Like others I walked in in the 1990s, but I can't imagine it being like that now. I've been to a normal concert recently and security was really tight.

EngTech · 23/06/2017 21:39

One way to prove it, is ask for a selfie 😀👍

StarCrossdSkys · 23/06/2017 22:13

It's not really stealing to get in without paying.

The number of ticket sales are limited by the council. I do not believe the organisers worry too much about a few extras getting in as well. The current security fence is only there because they were going to get refused permission to hold the festival if numbers weren't kept under control. Nothing to do with protecting revenue. Prior to that there was only a token effort made to keep people out and it was ridiculously easy to get in without a ticket.

IfYouGoDownToTheWoodsToday · 23/06/2017 22:25

"Most crew don't have to show tickets with their picture on re-entry"

That is 100% untrue. Dh has been there the last 5 years with bands. The security in last few years has got so utterly ridiculous and complicated that managers are declining invites for their bands to play there. It's hell on earth trying to negotiate getting in with equipment and moving around the site. It's not fun anymore for the vast majority of the bands and their entourage.

And anyone without a wrist band will be kicked out.