Day 77: Friday 24th June 2022

Day 77: Friday 24th June 2022

We didn’t leave the campsite until about 11.30am, as we were trying to rest ready for the night shift. We went to find a family friend working in one of the circus tents before stopping in the Poetry & Words tent to hear some poetry. I would have loved to have seen the Poetry Slam take place on Sunday afternoon, but unfortunately we are working! That is one of the problems- missing out on acts due to being on shift, but I don’t mind really - if we weren’t working here, we wouldn’t be here! 

It always amazes me how big Glastonbury is, and how it has everything there! 

We had been aiming to go to the Shangri-La area but realising the time, we started heading to the Pyramid Stage to see one of the first artists on our list. I got some really tasty paella on the way, and we made it just in time to see Rufus Wainwright starting his first song. His concert was brilliant: a powerful cover of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ dedicated to Ukraine, followed by more of his songs, then a performance of one of the songs from Annie, which had inspired him musically growing up! Finally, he did ‘Going To A Town’ which made me cry, both because of the joy of being at the festival conflicting with some of the footage being shown on the big screens.  

Rufus Wainwright

After his concert finished, we wandered around a little more before splitting up to see different things. I went to see a talk by Chris Packham in the Speaker’s Forum, located in the Green Futures Field. Although it was only a small tent, quite a lot of people came along to see him! He gave a good talk, mainly about ecology and the climate. He mentioned that over the last few years, there were two things he saw on Twitter that really made him stop and think. One was a video made by a young person about the fear she felt for her future, motivating her to take action. It turned out that she was actually present in the tent, and spoke to Chris Packham and the audience about what she was campaigning for. Another impactful moment was when Chris Packham mentioned his worry about living in a country where no cuckoos were longer around. Around our travels, we have heard a cuckoo in so many places. Whilst I was at the Speaker’s Forum, Mum went to watch Mary Coughlan and Brian Kennedy at the Acoustic Tent.

Chris Packham

After getting a burrito at the Park Stage, I headed to meet Mum at the Other Stage to watch IDLES. I was going to watch Arlo Parks at the Park, but it was so busy, and I didn’t know her music, so thought I would follow my uncle’s advice about watching IDLES! They were good and we managed to see most of their set before going to get a good position in the crowd for Sam Fender’s set.

I LOVED seeing Sam Fender!!! It was brilliant, and everyone sang along to all the songs which seemed to really surprise him. He was the artist I had wanted to see most at Glastonbury, and I was so pleased not to be working during his set. The atmosphere of the crowd was great especially. 

Sam Fender

A clip from Sam Fender’s concert 

We started making our way from the crowd before it finished, as he was on until 9.15pm and our night shift began at 9.45pm. I was worried about how long it would take us to get to our gate, as we were on a new gate which was solely a pedestrian gate - Pedestrian Gate C, which lead to the campervan fields. Luckily, it didn’t actually take that long.

I was on a role directing ticket holders with large loads like trolleys, as well as directing those with EPO wristbands (staff). Everyone volunteering on this gate was also really nice and we had music playing through the night which made it more fun. There is such a mix in ages of volunteers, and we had some really interesting chats with different stewards and supervisors on our gate. The busiest period was just after Billie Eilish finished her performance, when everyone was heading back to their campervans. We had to deal with some long queues, but luckily the stewards checking tickets were able to deal with everyone quickly. We had some issues with people having left their tickets behind, and this meant they weren’t able to leave the festival, so the supervisors were quite busy dealing with all of these. However, for the most part, it went smoothly. 

About 2am Mum and I were able to have a break, so wandered around the Theatre field just looking at everything before heading back to our gate.

 It got quieter later, although there was always people coming through the gates, right up until when our shift finished at 6am and the new team arrived. Just before 6am, an amazing rainbow had appeared, which got everyone taking photos of it!

A photo of me whilst on shift, taken at about 5.30am

Feeling very tired at 6am, we headed back towards the campsite ready to sleep for a few hours! So many bands to look forward to during Saturday afternoon and evening though, so we won’t be able to get too much sleep! 

Day 76: Thursday 23rd June 2022

Day 76: Thursday 23rd June 2022

Our first shift working as a steward at Glastonbury for Oxfam! We woke at 4.30am, and managed to leave the campsite by 5.15am having had a quick breakfast. 

It was strange to see the festival so quiet and so early in the day! We felt quite nervous heading there, so it was good to meet some other stewards as we realised we were all walking to the same place. The stewards who had completed an 8 hour night shift were pleased to be relieved at 5.45am! 

Walking to shift

We were given the role of checking vehicles out of the gate, although it got quite confusing for the first couple of hours, as there were some changes made to where the understanding of the festival boundary was! It became clear later, and I took over a different role scanning vehicles into the festival. There were a few more confusing matters, but during quieter periods, it was possible to chat to the other stewards and security guards so nice to get to know others. We had our break towards the end of the shift and finished at 2pm. 

Having been away from the ‘action’ of the festival whilst on shift, it was a shock to see how busy everywhere was! Our shift was located near the Theatre and Circus fields, and as we approached William’s Green, everywhere was completely packed! 

We had lunch and decided to head back to the campsite for a break. I felt a bit overwhelmed due to some of the stresses of the shift, as it was not the easiest one to begin our volunteering with, due to everything changing quite a bit! However, we were lucky with the team we had - everyone was really nice. 

As the dinner at the catering tent looked good and we still had meal vouchers to use up, the rest of the day was spent at the campsite after all. It meant we were able to properly read the programmes and work out how to make the most of the time over the coming days, including the bands on our ‘must-see’ lists. Our next shift is tomorrow night, between 9.45pm- 6am. We will be tired, as there are lots of people we want to see in the afternoon/ evening, so we will have to cope with little sleep over the next two days! 

Day 75: Wednesday 22nd June 2022

Day 75: Wednesday 22nd June 2022

This morning was great! We decided to get up early, and ran across the festival site in order to get to the Glastonbury sign for 8am, as the gates open at 8am. We sat up there for about an hour and watched everyone coming through the gates and rushing with all their luggage to the best camping spots!  It was so strange to see all the empty fields become a sea of tents in a few hours!  

Wednesday morning, about 7.30am, before the gates opened to ticket holders!

Wednesday evening, about 6pm. Taken in the same place, after ticket holders arrived! 

Everyone arriving and rushing to the best camping spots!

The weather was extremely hot, so for the next few hours, we tried to stay in shady areas like the Sacred Space (Stone Circle), where we also found the Glastonbury Dragon! A friend recommended to us Strummerville, somewhere we had not really visited in 2019. This was a great area - a small stage and lots of sofas placed in a circle with a continual fire burning in the middle! Unfortunately, although we looked for the famous apple cake, we never found it! Next time! 

There is a Tipi Village located near to the Sacred Space, which is always interesting to walk around, and we found some great cake from one of the cafes there. We then found somewhere for lunch a bit later. There are over 400 food traders, so lots of good options! 

We queues to buy a portable charger for our phones from the EE tent, as they offer a free swap of the charger for a fully charged one each day, which is very helpful. The festival was extremely busy in certain areas, so we decided to head back to the campsite due to the hot weather. After staying there for about an hour, we got dinner back in William’s Green before heading back to the campsite once more. 

Tomorrow we have our early morning shift, starting at 5.45am. We will get up at 4.30am so we have enough time to get ready, as it will take about 30 minutes to walk there. I am feeling quite nervous, especially as we are on a vehicle and pedestrian gate, so a little unsure about what our roles will be. It is an 8 hour shift too so I hope we don’t get too hungry or tired, although we do get a half an hour break.

There was a firework display as part of the opening ceremony, but we were already back at the campsite so I only managed to spot a bit of it, as we decided to have an early night ready for tomorrow. 

Day 74: Tuesday 21st June 2022

Day 74: Tuesday 21st June 2022

Happy Solstice! Some people got up early to go to the Stone Circle/ the Glastonbury sign to watch the sun come up, but knowing that our sleep will be disrupted for the next week, we decided to try and get as much sleep as we could, so no getting up too early! 

We had breakfast and sat in the Oxfield Marquee chatting to another volunteer for a while this morning which was nice. I think it was a bit daunting yesterday when we arrived, as some people were arriving in groups or already knew others there. However, we have now chatted to a few people including those camping nearby, so it is nice to get to know a few more people. 

I decided to head down to the festival site early to explore, while Mum stayed at the campsite for a while before meeting me later. I really enjoyed just following the different paths and seeing where they took me! It was great to see more of the Green Fields, and also the South East Corner, where there was still a lot of construction being done. They were still painting quite a lot of the Shangri-La area! I also wrote a long list of where all the best vegan options were situated around the site so we know where we’d like to eat each day.

 

The Greenpeace area, before it opened

The Shangri-La area still being painted! 

I met up with Mum at William’s Green for lunch, and then we walked back up to the Glastonbury sign and around the market areas in between some of the stages. There are quite a few traders who open their stalls early for volunteers and staff, so we also had some delicious cake! 

William’s Green

The Park Stage & The Ribbon Tower 

The Glastonbury sign, and the view of the festival! 

We decided to use one of our meal vouchers for the Oxfam catering for dinner to get the Thali option, as from tomorrow onwards we are likely to be in the festival site most of the time, so getting a meal in the Oxfield will be too far away. We managed to get in early, as there were big queues soon after - everyone must have had the same idea! 

Our evening was spent having a last wander back in the festival again, knowing that there will be big crowds from tomorrow. Queues have already been building up for ticket holders, as car parks were open from Tuesday evening onwards, so we are relieved that we haven’t got Wednesday morning shifts as I know how busy it will be and stressful trying to get tickets checked as quickly as possible! 

William’s Green. The top part of this structure revolves, and a bird came and sat on it for a while, being turned round to admire the view of the festival, which was so sweet to watch! 

Arriving at Glastonbury!

Day 73: Monday 20th June 2022

Travelling to Glastonbury Festival!!! We left Bath Chew Valley Campsite at 9.30am, as we were able to arrive at the Oxfam Campsite (Oxfield) from 10am onwards. It took us about an hour to travel there, following the Purple Route as we got closer to the festival site. Both of us were feeling nervous but excited about the coming days! 

It took a little while to be checked in for our motorhome, but we were parked in our spot by 11am. I did wonder beforehand whether Marvin would be too big to take there, but most of the other vans in the Oxfield were at least the same size, and some much bigger, which was a relief to know.

Registration opened at 1.30pm, so before that we decided to get our bearings of the campsite. The Oxfield has its own big marquee with caterers 24hrs a day from Wednesday onwards. There are also lots of toilets and showers - not many showers in the Glastonbury arena other than in the Greenpeace Field, so definitely a luxury for volunteers! 

We queued to register from 1pm. In our registration packs, we received our tabbards, shift times/ more information about the festival, meal vouchers x3 (given a free meal per shift you work, which can be used at any point during the festival), shower tokens x4 and our Oxfam ID. We then received our wristbands, and were able to wander into the festival grounds once wearing our ID lanyards and wristbands. 

The shifts we are working are Thursday 5.45am - 2pm, Friday 9.45pm- 6am and Sunday 1.45pm - 10pm. We were mostly pleased, as most of the bands we wanted to see were Friday/ Saturday during the day. It did mean we would miss Billie Eilish on the Friday headliner spot, which Mum was disappointed about, but I was pleased we would be able to see Paul McCartney headlining on Saturday! 

As we had a briefing at 4pm, our only venture into the festival site was to help someone to a campsite with their luggage before heading back to the Oxfield (which is located just outside of the festival boundary).

Here is a copy of the festival map. Our entrance to the festival each day was to go through Pedestrian Gate B

The briefing covered information about the festival and the various aspects of the stewarding role, including ticket checking. This made me quite nervous - I didn’t want to get it wrong when checking tickets as they send through ‘mystery shoppers’ who check you do the job properly! 

We had our own cooked dinner back in the van, and did have an issue with the gas locker which made us a bit stressed. However, we managed to sort it and then were able to explore the festival site properly, which was great!!!

It was amazing to be on site when the ticket holders hadn’t arrived yet - easier to explore and find everything without the crowds. The main areas we went to were the Glastonbury sign, the areas around the Park stage, and reading a poem about the Solstice in the Stone Circle, as it is the Solstice tomorrow! 

It was especially strange to see lots of construction still being done, and the fields so empty without any tents! 

After walking to the Other and Pyramid stages, we  headed back to the campsite. There are the infamous crew bars with a big bar crawl which everyone seemed enthusiastic about, but we decided against it! Looking forward to another day tomorrow to explore the site before everyone arrives on Wednesday for the festival to actually begin properly! 

Day 69 to 72: Thursday 16th June to Sunday 19th June 2022

Day 69 to 72: Thursday 16th June to Sunday 19th June 2022

The weather is very hot at the moment, so we haven’t done much over the last few days. As we have done a lot of walking and will be working at Glastonbury next week, we have wanted to ensure we are well rested! 

We have wandered to Bath Chew Valley Lake a few times and also met some family members there, which was really lovely to see them and catch up! Other than that, we have been revising the Glastonbury map so we know where everything is located, have listened to a few podcasts and have been doing the ‘chore’ tasks so that we are all ready to go on Monday. 

A big rainbow over the campsite!

I haven’t been able to update the blog until now because the mobile signal hasn’t been strong enough to upload the photos. I won’t be able to update the blog until Monday 27th June at the earliest I imagine, because I’ll be trying to save phone battery as it will be difficult charging it. 

I am feeling excited about Glastonbury, but quite nervous about a few things too, especially the shifts, as I am not quite sure what role we will be given yet. I’m sure it will all be okay! Just fingers crossed its not cleaning the toilets!!!!! 😉

Day 68: Wednesday 15th June 2022

Day 68: Wednesday 15th June 2022

We left Pencelli around 8am. The main stop was back to Abergavenny, in order to get most of our food shopping for Glastonbury Festival, as we are aware we might not be passing another supermarket - the campsite is quite a long way from Bath and so we won’t be visiting any main towns or cities whilst we are there. 

I made us visit Aldi, Waitrose, The Grape Tree and Holland and Barrett before I felt we had enough of the right snacks to see us through our shifts! It gave us a good opportunity to explore more of Abergavenny, it is a really nice town, especially as it is surrounded by hills. 

After spending three hours there, we headed on towards Bath and Bristol. We crossed the Prince of Wales Bridge, and then the journey got a bit trickier!! We had a choice of either driving through the middle of Bristol, or at least 10 roundabouts on the ring road. I opted for driving through Bristol, as I thought it would be easier to navigate! Luckily we did not get lost, and Mum did really well with the driving despite never having wanted to drive through any towns or cities in the van before we began this roadtrip. We were very relieved once we were back on to quieter roads!! 

We arrived safely at the campsite. Again, it is very different to previous campsites, but our pitch has lots of grass around it so a nice place to relax and get organised ready for the festival. Not long to go!!