Glastonbury 2014: not as good as it used to be

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Ticket Sunday date announced! But this year, with an annoying twist!

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/news/glastonbury-2014-tickets-on-sale-in-october

We're very pleased to announce that tickets for Glastonbury 2014 will go on sale at the beginning of October.

STANDARD WEEKEND TICKETS ON SALE SUNDAY, 6TH OCTOBER

Standard weekend tickets will go on sale at 9am BST on Sunday, 6th October. As in previous years, Festival goers will be able to book a ticket by paying a £50 deposit per person, either online at glastonbury.seetickets.com, on 0844 412 4635 from a UK phone or, for international callers, from +44 1159 934 183. The full price of a Glastonbury 2014 ticket is £210 + £5 booking fee. Purchasers will be able to book up to six tickets per transaction.

COACH + TICKET PACKAGES ON SALE THURSDAY, 3RD OCTOBER

In 2013, record numbers of green travellers arrived at Glastonbury by bus and coach. As part of the Festival's continued commitment to green travel, 15,000 coach + ticket packages will, for the first time, be sold in advance of the general sale. These coach + ticket packages will go on sale at 6pm BST on Thursday, 3rd October, via glastonbury.seetickets.com, rewarding green travellers with the chance to be the first to secure their Glastonbury 2014 tickets.

As with the general release of tickets, Festival goers will be able to book up to six coach + ticket packages per transaction. Along with their deposit of £50 per person, those booking coach packages will be required to pay the full coach ticket price for their journey. A list of pick-up locations and prices is available here.

So coach tickets first, then normal tickets. I'd certainly rather make my own way there, because I have pretty much no idea at all where I'll be living in June 2014 so don't particularly want to book a coach ticket.

But on the other hand, if it's a choice between getting a coach ticket and no ticket at all...

Anyone have any idea how this is going to work? How many coach + ticket packages do they usually have available?

[Ignatius_S]

...How many coach + ticket packages do they usually have available?

There will be 15,000 next year, so a slight increase in numbers.

*edit* In the past, you had to travel on the coach in order to get your festival ticket so you might want to check about that.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

And now I realise that figure was in the thing I c&ped.

This might actually work out well, try for coach tickets first with the main sale as the fallback.

[Ignatius_S]

And now I realise that figure was in the thing I c&ped.

This might actually work out well, try for coach tickets first with the main sale as the fallback.

Hee, well I didn't like to say. With the coach, even if you don't know where you'll be living, at least you can book from somewhere that is going to be logisitically doable with little stress.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I imagine Bath will be quite popular.

[CaledonianGonzo]

It is a bit odd.  People will most likely try to set up two registrations then try for coach tickets first, cancelling them if they're lucky when the actual tickets go on sale.

Coach tickets have been a safe bet in the past when the regular tickets sell out, but it would seem this'll only make things more difficult for the people who always travel by coach.

Number of tickets that you can buy has also dropped from 8 to 6.

[Ignatius_S]

...Coach tickets have been a safe bet in the past when the regular tickets sell out, but it would seem this'll only make things more difficult for the people who always travel by coach....

Good point - can't help but feel that the new scheme will have drawbacks...

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I always find a good idea when considering visiting the Glastonbury festival is cleaving your arse asunder with a lathe while being waterboarded with bubble bath.

[CaledonianGonzo]

It certainly never feels like an event that would be improved by the enforced attendance of everyone who hates the very idea of the place.

[Pranet]

I'm working one Sunday morning in October, and that's the day they have decided to sell the tickets. If they'd given more notice I may have been able to get the day off. Brilliantly, I'm also working the evening the coach tickets go on sale.

[thugler]

I notice they've slightly reduced the number of tickets you can buy from 8 to 6 as well to make it as annoying as possible. This coach business is a pain in the arse as well. People travelled from scotland to get coaches going from london so that they could get a ticket last time. If they could just make their cocking website work properly for once I would be happy.

[Rev]

I mean, I know this is the sort of complaint that comes up every year from cranky old fuckers like myself, but when and why did the process become so wanky?  I've been to Glastonbury exactly once, over 10 years ago - REM and the Manics were the main headliners, if that pins it down.  I bought tickets by phoning the main ticket line about two months after they'd gone on sale.

[Johnny Townmouse]

In 1995 I still hadn't received my tickets a couple of weeks before the start of the festival. I phoned them up and eventually got through to Eavis' farm and spoke to his wife, who sent tickets next day recorded delivery. Even then it seemed to be a insane level of personal customer service.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I mean, I know this is the sort of complaint that comes up every year from cranky old fuckers like myself, but when and why did the process become so wanky?  I've been to Glastonbury exactly once, over 10 years ago - REM and the Manics were the main headliners, if that pins it down.  I bought tickets by phoning the main ticket line about two months after they'd gone on sale.

Since the proliferation of that intranet that they have now and the subsequent rise in online touting, demand for big shows has gone through the roof - what's true for anything from The Stone Roses to the Rolling Stones to Take That to Justin Beiber is also true of any event where demand outstrips supply.

They're not going to keep everyone happy due to the insane levels of demand, but they're stepping up to combat touting and unlike a lot of other promoters they don't work with the secondary market (Viagogo, SeatWave, etc).  If people have to jump through a few hoops to accomodate that, then so be it.

It's still a small organisation, though and I think they do a pretty good job.  My experiences when dealing with with them on a personal basis have been stellar.

[Pranet]

Michael Eavis was certainly in the phone book a few years ago, because my brother in law saw the number in there and rang it on the off chance as he wanted to know why you couldn't use a credit card to pay for your ticket, and rather to his surprise Eavis answered the phone.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Looks like Fleetwood Mac are still in the frame to play:

http://www.efestivals.co.uk/news/13/130917a.shtml

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I mean, I know this is the sort of complaint that comes up every year from cranky old fuckers like myself, but when and why did the process become so wanky?  I've been to Glastonbury exactly once, over 10 years ago - REM and the Manics were the main headliners, if that pins it down.  I bought tickets by phoning the main ticket line about two months after they'd gone on sale.

As recently as 2008 there were tickets still available in the week it started.[nb]Because they had a black person playing, against the expressed wishes of Sir Noel Gallagher, I believe.[/nb]

It's only the last few where tickets have gone on sale and been bought in about ten minutes.

But yes, to echo what Calendonian Gonzo said, I appreciate that everyone who goes pays £200 or whatever, which is really refreshing in a world where tickets for everything else get snapped up in thirty seconds by robots and are then on Seatwave ten minutes later for £450 (plus postage).

[CaledonianGonzo]

Because they had a black person playing, against the expressed wishes of Sir Noel Gallagher, I believe.[/nb]

The 2007 festival being a total washout didn't help either.

[Doomy Dwyer]

I'd just like to be the first to say that Glastonbury 2014 was shit next year, even worse than 2015's will have been.

It is/was/will be a) too expensive
                        b) too wet
                        c) too hot
                        d) too full of tooled up scallies on the rob.

It is/was/will be attended seemingly exclusively by a) hoorays
                                                                            b) ra ra's
                                                                            c) hipsters
                                                                            d) dead conservative MP's.

The acts are/were/will be a) safe,tedious MOR dadrock shite.
                                      b) decrepit has been's who should never have been let out of the old people's home.
                                      c) populist, NME approved, flavour of the month chancers with insufficient material to fill the prestigious Sunday night Headline slot on the Pyramid stage.
                                      d) an ill advised tokenistic attempt to head off charges of racism by patronising the black community.

The BBC coverage is/was/will be a) woeful.
                                                b) execrable.
                                                c) disgraceful.
                                                d) surprisingly competent.

Even though I didn't go/wouldn't go if you paid me/have never been, I can safely say that this is/was/will be the worst event ever staged by a mortal man/woman and the absolute nadir or human existence.

And the toilets smell/smelled/will smell of shit. 
                                 
                         

[CaledonianGonzo]

It truly is a music festival for people who don't like music festivals.

[imitationleather]

The tickets go on sale the same day as my (and Gerry Adams') birthday. This is the first time where I'm not fussed about going. I had a ticket for this year but didn't go in the end because of £££ concerns and getting through a Glastonbury without being there was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting so I'm not sure if I'll ever go again now.

I just don't think I'm man enough to camp at a festival for a week sober.

[DukeDeMondo]

Only been once. Joseph of Arimathea, Shark Wilson and The Basement Heaters and Jess Conrad. Also Jake Bugg.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

As I've said many times. Queue up.
That's the fairest way. Have so many ticket outlets scattered around the country, announce when they're on sale, limit then to 2 per person and first come, first served.

Obviously tickets shouldn't be a problem as you should be able to get in for nothing, as is the festival spirit.

[Tiny Poster]

That's not fair for people who have to travel to the outlet, when some people might live in the same street.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Or, indeed, for people with disabilities or ailments  - or jobs - that might prevent them queuing in the street for days at a time.

[Pranet]

Would a lottery system be any better? Then there wouldn't be a mad rush on a Sunday morning?

[CaledonianGonzo]

Maybe - but I'd rather take my chances knowing that there a few minor techniques you can try on the See Tickets page to vaguely increase your chances.

[Pranet]

That's true- I wouldn't have got a ticket last year if it wasn't for a back door someone posted. Perhaps I'm paying for that good luck this year.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I'd probably rather it was a lottery, but they'd definitely be accused of not being fair etc etc.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

Or, indeed, for people with disabilities or ailments  - or jobs - that might prevent them queuing in the street for days at a time.

You'd take a day off. Or get someone else to queue for you. And, sorry to break this to you, but not everyone can buy tickets online while they're at work either. Most people can't.

And it prevents organised gangs of say, 8 people, all trying at once. A common practice so I gather.

You're condemning something that did work, for decades (if not for Glastonbury certainly for most gigs). If it matters enough, you'll queue.

Tiny - It's not perfect. Just better.

I'd probably rather it was a lottery, but they'd definitely be accused of not being fair etc etc.

What's fairer than subjecting everyone to the same process? As Tiny says, some may be geographically disadvantaged but with sufficient notice they'd at least get time to travel to where they need to queue.

We should, literally, all stand together. It's by far the fairest way possible. No gang operations, no people snapping up half-a-dozen tickets, no one buying a ticket as part of an expensive package (if that happens). The people who want it most will get the tickets, at face value.