Seeing as very few posters in this thread seem to have been to Glasto recently, I think I need to chime in. I’ve been to 8 of the last 9 Glastonburys, and enjoyed each one immensely. The TV coverage is mainly about the Pyramid Stage and the Other Stage, which is a only a fraction of the site.
Personally, I prefer the night life to the day time, and often spend a fair bit of the day catching up on my sleep. The after-hours stuff is never covered on the TV, but it’s the most amazing night life I’ve ever been to. There are areas like Shangri-La, The Unfair Ground, Block 9, Arcadia, Field of Avalon, The Rabbit Hole, Silver Holts (aka Dance village), Latino Village and several other places where you can stay up all night, dancing the night away. Each one is different, but interesting in its own way. Most areas consist of lots of little bars or clubs centred around a theme.
Shangri-La is usually my favourite, because it completely changes every couple of years, and has some really surreal stuff set up. This year, the theme was Heaven/Hell, with Hell set up like a large corporation. Many of the clubs were called things like “Personnel”, or “The IT Department”. Some of them are very surreal (eg Personnel was set up with an office, complete with people working behind desks. I was asked if I had an appointment, and ended up dancing in the stationary cupboard)
However, the best thing about the whole place is the people. They come from all walks of life and all ages, and everyone is in a happy mood. You can pretty much sit down anywhere, and start chatting to the person next to you, and they will be open and friendly. I don’t know anywhere else where you get that kind of atmosphere, and it’s really refreshing. Some of the best nights I’ve had a Glastonbury have been when I have lost all my friends, and ended up with a bunch of complete strangers. I would consider going completely by myself.
Most people I know who criticize Glasto do so from the comfort of their armchairs. Everyone I know who has been has been back again, despite it being a huge hassle actually getting there.
