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WONDERLAND: Glastonbury 2017

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Thursday, June 29, 2017
Hey guys!

It's been like a year, yet again, I am so sorry. But it has been pretty hectic with uni, and also, not a lot has been happening in my mediocre life. However, something very exciting happened last weekend, and it was probably one of the best weekends of my life... Not even exaggerating.

I finally managed to tick something off the bucket list... Glastonbury festival!!! If any of you guys are thinking of going, I urge you to do it because there is no other festival (that I have been to, at least) that is like it!

So to kind of prepare anyone I thought I'd split this post up into sections so you know exactly what to expect before the festival, during, and also after. I am no expert as this was only my first time going, however I have been to several festivals in the past, so I am hoping that experience will come in handy.

BEFORE PURCHASING TICKET(S)

You are required to make an account, and then take a picture, kind of passport style, and upload it to the website. This is a simple process and does not take long to do. I think you can do this whenever, so even though the next Glasto festival won't be until 2019, you can probably sort this step out now! Once this step is done, it can be used for years after. You must do this, as your picture will be used on your ticket, with all your details. At the gates of the festival, when they check your tickets, the volunteers do look at your pictures, and also may ask you what your postcode is etc, to ensure that it is actually you going to the festival.

BUYING THE TICKET(S)

I cannot lie, this was probably one of the stressful things I have ever been through. My boyfriend and I had set up several devices: an iPad, 2 laptops and 2 phones - all to try and nab some tickets. We set the ticket purchase page up on every device around 20 mins before they even went on sale, just to make sure the internet was okay and the website worked on everything, which I recommend doing.

Another thing I highly recommend doing is team up with some mates/family members who also want to go to the festival, as you can purchase up to 6 tickets in one go, and this also increases your chances of getting your hands on a ticket. We teamed up with 2 other friends, who also had several devices set up. Make sure you give them your identification number/post code... All the information that the Glastonbury website tells you to have on hand, as this is the only way you yourself can have a ticket.

During the ticket purchasing process, as so many people are on the website, the system puts everyone into a queue, so you must keep refreshing the page, or wait until the webpage itself refreshes after 20 or so seconds. Now, even though Sam and I had 5 devices, only Sam managed to get through to putting details in to purchase the tickets - but even then it would not let him buy the tickets. This was after about half an hour - an hour, so be prepared to spend a long evening inside. We started to panic because of the fact we could not purchase the tickets, however, one of our friends did manage to get through successfully!! This is why teaming up with friends is pretty crucial to the success of if you get a ticket.

At this time, be prepared to pay a deposit of £50. This money will come straight out of the person who initially bought the ticket(s) account, so if you did team up, be sure to transfer the money to them. You will not have to pay the rest until around April time, which you can make in your own time, but you have around 3 weeks to pay the full amount I believe. And eventually your ticket will arrive at around 3 weeks before the actual festival.

TRAVEL

Sam and I got a coach from our nearest coach station, this did not come in the ticket + coach travel package however, as those tickets sold out almost straight away. We travelled with National Express, and there were absolutely no delays, the customer service is fab, and it is just easy travel. The only problem I can think of is that both coaches to and from the festival were freezing, as the air con was on full blast. But that's it really... Just wrap up warm if you are travelling with them!

Alternatively, our friends travelled via the train, which stopped at Castle Cary, and then got a shuttle bus to and from the festival. This is a very popular option, and I know it was quite stressful, as they had a lot of luggage, and their connecting train was about to leave just as they got off their first train. On the way home from the festival, the queue for the shuttle bus to the train station was hugeeee! I think they said it was a 3 hour wait, so if you are planning to commute to the festival in this way, make sure to pack light, and on the Monday, pack up and start queuing verryyy early... Maybe aim to be at the gate for around 6-7am (crazy I know).

I do recommend getting a coach, because you do not even have to queue, and it is very much a stress free experience, which is ideal... Especially when coming home, and all you want to do is sleep!

ARRIVING

Our coach arrived at the festival (Pedestrian gate A), at 5:10am (20 minutes earlier than we had planned!). You have to drag your stuff through, and basically just sit and wait for like 3 hours, before the gates open at 8am. Once the gates were open it was so plain sailing, there were no queues, we just breezed through the bag checks, had our tickets checked over and ripped, and then straight on to get the festival wrist band. You also are provided with a Glastonbury magazine and lanyard which contains a guide and timetable. To be honest, we did not even use the magazine or guide, as we had the app - which is so ideal. There is a timetable, which you can pick and choose what acts you want to see, and also a map in which you can put the location of where you are/any meeting points, and then share that with your mates so that you can find each-other... SO HANDY!

Anywho, once you get through that, you follow the path, have a map handy (e.g. a reason why the app is so ideal!), and find the campsite that you would like to go to. Thankfully, there are a lot of stewards/volunteers on site to steer you in the right direction. We camped on Hitchin Hill, which was good as it was so close to our gate. Also, it happened to be the hottest day of the year on the day that we arrived, so we wanted to be as close as possible, so that we did not die in the heat haha!

Arriving at the festival early meant that we could pick anywhere on the field to camp, so we camped slightly up the hill, but also near-ish to the path with sort of close proximity to the toilets - so it was easy to get to the tent, and not too far to walk to the loos when you are bursting to pee in the mornings! Also, we were not close enough to the toilets to smell the awful stench, which was ideal. I felt so sorry for the people who decided to camp near them, because on such a hot day with so many people in the campsite... Well, you can only imagine what the smell was like by the end of the day. Pretty grim eh?

THE FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

I cannot tell you word for word what I did at the festival day by day, as the days all seem to have merged into one! But I can give some recommendations, and recall some really good/funny things that did happen to me.

On the first and second day (the Wednesday and Thursday), the big main acts have not actually started, so it is recommended that you just explore the whole festival on these days, as when the acts start, you are not gonna really have much chance... And also, the queues for certain areas *cough* the South-East corner *cough* are pretty big, and slightly terrifying!

We tried to do as much exploring as possible on the Wednesday, but as it was so hot, I genuinely thought I was gonna die haha! Like, it kind of became a joke throughout the rest of the festival, as we'd walk past many different places and be like 'Oh, there's the place that Chelsey died' ... There was a fair few of these spots, as I do not cope well in the blazing heat. If you do experience a sweltering hot day at Glastonbury festival, bring a hat, or buy one. In fact... bring an umbrella, as many people were using them for shade - such a clever idea! There is hardly any shade in the festival, and anything you do find is pretty pointless as it is still so hot, and it is way too hot to just sit in the tent. Obviously keep drinking plenty of water - there are water points at every toilet area you see, and there are also water aid mini huts where they re-fill your water for free dotted about, so keep your eyes peeled for those. Sun cream is also a must-have!!!

It's funny because all I was going to take to the festival were wellies, but then I checked the weather before we went and ended up only taking converses (I was going to take my wellies as well, but it turned out that they were broken). I did buy some wellies on the 3rd/4th day as it did drizzle a teeny bit, but I don't actually think I needed them. But yeah, who'd have thought... A whole festival with no wellies!? Crazy!! Just keep checking the weather forecast before you go, and if you do not take wellies and it does rain, don't panic!! There are loads of camping shops in the festival. I managed to pick up some wellies for £15! Not too shabby!

On the first and second day, also try to watch some smaller bands, because there are lot's of hidden gems! Possibly check the timetable though - we wanted to watch a local band in one of the smaller fields, but it was closed off because of the firework display which they have every year to mark the start of the festival. We were not allowed in because of possible stampedes... Hardly anyone came out, and we missed half of the bands set because of it... What a joke.

This is now where my memory of the different days and stuff gets a bit hazy, so the post may start to be a bit here, there and everywhere. We saw this really funny act called Lekiddo Lord of the Lobsters, who is a singer and is in the theatre and circus area on a small stage. I don't know if he is a joke act, or if he is being serious... The whole time we were there, I felt like I was watching a Britain's Got Talent audition, but needless to say, he put us all in a really good mood, and became a sort of inside joke for the whole festival between myself and my friends. He made us pretend to be lobsters, and kept calling us his beautiful little pinchy pinchy kiss kiss people (I think.. It was hard to make out haha!). But yeah, if you are up for a lol, I definitely recommend seeing him as he goes every year that Glastonbury is on.

I have to say that the best memories are not even really the music, it's at night when you are all really tipsy, all the main stage acts are over, and you are just wandering through the festival grounds. One night, we saw a random passed out guy in the middle of one of the fields where people were selling food/clothes etc, and my boyfriend and friend decided to lie down next to him... Next thing we know is that a whole gospel choir surrounds them in a circle, filming them, and singing Kumbaya to them. Was so surreal and so so funny - I cried with laughter.

Another funny and random moment was that we found a piano in the same field, and started playing on it, pretending that we were headliners and shizz. And the only other really random and funny moment I can think of is that we were walking back to our tents, and one of the food stalls we walked past was selling squid, and they were playing some absolute tunes. This random girl was stood on top of the squid place's table, asking if we would come and dance with her, and I went... my friends followed, and loads of other people joined... And then a crowd formed. It was so funny! And then I fell off of the table which was lols.

My top 3 acts were Major Laser, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheehan (of course... love that guy)! I did not manage to watch the whole of the Foo Fighters set as my friends all wanted to watch Fatboy Slim expecting him to play all of his tunes, but he didn't and was like any other DJ... just remixed loads of music with no lyrics. So if you are thinking that Fatboy Slim is going to be amazing, and theres another act that you really want to see that is on at the same time... DO NOT DO IT... Go and watch the other act, honestly, was the biggest waste of time!

Also, Arcadia... definitely watch the metamorphosis show from a distance if you are planning on watching it. It was actually pretty boring, and we tried to get right near the front... BIG mistake!!! We got bored quite fast, and it was an absolute nightmare to try and navigate the way out without losing each-other. I have never seen so many people. I felt like a sardine in a tin, like there was no way to move efficiently. You were pretty much stuck - it was a pretty awful experience. So yeah, I don't really recommend watching the Arcadia show.

With regards to any TBA acts, if you are curious and you have heard of some good rumours, make your way over to the stage as early as possible. A really good one this year was The Killers, and we really wanted to go, we got to the gate around an hour early, but they would not let us, or anyone else in because it was so so busy! We were so gutted, but that is now something to bare in mind for next time.

In terms of food, there is so so so much choice!! And all the food that they do have there, that I tried, is amazing!! We were camped near this place called Lulu's cafĂ© and they did the most amazing Mac and Cheese - I was hooked, and ended up eating that before I went to sleep every night... It was insane! Their sausage breakfast baps were also lovely. Other places for food were also so nice - so much variety. So if you are camping with a fussy eater, or you are one yourself, do not worry- there will be something there for you! Something to bare in mind though is that all food ranged from around £6-£10... I did spend an awful lot of money on food (worth it though... food = bae).

Drink wise - I did not actually spend much on drink as I bought enough alcohol with me to last the whole festival, so woo go me! Haha! That is actually a good thing to note - the reason why Glastonbury is so different and unique to other festivals in the UK is that you can take your alcohol absolutely anywhere with you! It is not an arena festival!! Like you just walk around and stumble upon a stage... At festivals like Reading and Boardmasters, you can only drink your own drink in the campsite, as all the stages are in one place, and you have to show security your wristband and they check your bags every time you go into the arena. So yeah, you do save money in that respect. At Glastonbury, I did have a smoothie and a milkshake, and they were both delicious!! They were around £3.50 for a small drink - expensive, but you are not having it everyday, and a small is filling enough.

There is a lot to do at this festival, so when there are no acts on that you are interested in, then you can take a trip to the Healing fields and have a nice massage, or go to other areas and take part in arts and crafts, or games... There is just so much to do, you cannot ever be bored!! You will hardly ever be in your tents, so invest in a bumbag for important bits, and a backpack for alcohol/any other beverage haha.

I think that's pretty much all I have to cover!! There are some photo's and videos on my Instagram which is @chelsey_jo, if you are interested in having a little gander! Sorry that this is such a long post, but I really wanted to capture everything to try and help you guys if you are thinking of buying a ticket in the future - which I totally urge you to do! If you do go, I hope you have a magical and wonderful time! And if you also went this year, or any years before, how did you find it?

Cheerio!

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