Getting to the farm, and why Wednesday matters.

0:00Miguel Hello and welcome to GlastoCast, the unofficial Glastonbury Festival podcast. On this episode, we're going to talk about arrivals, different ways to get to Glastonbury, what happens when you get there, and we're also going to discuss what you can do on your first day. I'm here with Jessi.

0:30Jessi Hello!

0:31Miguel And it's a bit of a different one actually, right, Jessi?

0:34Jessi Yeah, it's just me and Miguel today. We are missing Rob, which is very sad. Bit of a different atmosphere in here, but he's here in spirit. Um, we knew he was going to be missing today's recording, so we got him to record his little segments about arrivals, um, last time. So you'll still be hearing his voice, but I mean, not having him here is gonna definitely, uh, add to the dynamic.

0:55Miguel So, um, yeah, we got— we have some big welly boots to fill.

0:58Jessi Yeah, I'm hoping we're up to the job, Miguel. Just me and you. I think we can do it.

1:02Miguel I hope so too.

1:03Jessi So in our What to Pack episode, uh, we already touched on our differences in arrivals. Uh, you've got me and Rob who go by car, and Miguel who is our resident light packer who comes by coach. Um, but there are loads of different ways to get to Glastonbury. Um, some people even fly in from other countries. We've got cycling to Glastonbury, you've got getting the train to Castle Cary and then the free shuttle bus. Um, there's loads of ways to do it, so we are going to cover what we know about the ways that we have got there ourselves. Um, but we've also very specially in this episode got our first recordings from listeners.

1:40Miguel Oh yeah.

1:41Jessi So yeah, very excitingly, we've had 2 amazing people send us a little clip for ways that we have not experienced yet. So we'll get to them, but we've got a cyclist who's been cycling for the last sort of 4 Glastonburys they've gone to. Uh, and then we also have an amazing friend of ours who flies over from the States every year just for Glastonbury. How amazing is that? So let's kick this off. I think, Miguel, you should go first because you come by coach, which is definitely the greenest and most Glastonbury way to get there. So let's hear from you. How has it— how has it been going by coach? What your experience is?

2:28Miguel Yeah, so I've been to Glastonbury 6 times. This year is going to be my 7th. On my first Glastonbury, I actually went by car. A friend of mine was driving, but we were newbies and we really didn't have the sense of urgency to get there. So even though we went by car, I got there quite late in the afternoon on Wednesday. And after experiencing my first Glastonbury, getting the bug, as you like to say.

2:50Jessi Yep.

2:51Miguel When I came back on my second year, I went with a coach. And I thought it was much better. But since then, I actually did 3 different types of coaches.

3:00Jessi Okay. I thought there was just one, but—

3:03Miguel Well, I mean, in the sense I went once with the coach package. I bought my ticket on the early sale.

3:09Joel Yeah.

3:10Miguel The year I volunteered, actually, we had a special coach for the staff and I got there on Tuesday. So I got inside the festival when it was still closed for the general public.

3:19Jessi Jealous.

3:19Miguel Yeah. Which was amazing. After I pitched my tent, I could walk around the whole site and it was empty. And we actually had a staff party in the Stone Circle. And I could see the sunrise and the sea of tents getting erected in front of me. And I also, I think it's my favourite choice is actually to buy the Glastonbury ticket and then go and sort out my coach by myself.

3:40Jessi Okay.

3:41Miguel Because I think it gives you more freedom to choose the times.

3:44Jessi No, I've got to say, when I've helped friends try and get coach packages, it's very stressful because obviously the stress of getting the ticket and then you finally get through.

3:52Miguel You're faced with that question like departure time, departure town. Some people say you should try to go to who don't choose London. Some people take Bristol, Brighton. I think there's a Brighton coach.

4:05Jessi Yeah, I mean, once I was like, I'm so desperate to go, I will go from Glasgow if I have to. I'll get the train to Glasgow just to get the coach. But yeah, that's the thing is that it's very stressful, you know, booking the coach at the same time and then you might, you know, have to get a Thursday coach. I think that would be my nightmare is having to come on the Thursday now that I know how amazing it is.

4:21Miguel That's usually, I try the coach sale every year because it's the extra, it's an extra chance. But I decide beforehand like how much I'm willing to sacrifice. So Wednesday gets sold out first, and then, and then you're looking at that Thursday button. Do I, do I— if I go, maybe I'll have my tickets today, but what if I leave it for Sunday and then I can get tickets on Sunday? Oh my God, what should I do? So yeah, the coach, the coach package in a way is more stressful than the, the general.

4:47Jessi Oh yeah, the coach package is very stressful. I've only ever tried for friends because my, my game plan is I won't try for coach package in the October sale, in the main sale. I'll always just— I'll try for friends if they're willing to do that. Um, I'll just try on the Sunday for the main kind of separate ticket sale. But if I didn't get it then, then come April, I don't care. I will be like Thursday, late night.

5:12Miguel A resale every week goes.

5:13Jessi Exactly, exactly. Anytime, then, you know, I, I don't care what time I'm getting there as long as I'm getting there by the time April comes around.

5:20Miguel So yeah, so I've done car and coach, and then I mentioned this on the packing episode as well. Of course I prefer going by coach, but maybe because my experience of going by car was also my first one. So that's maybe that's why it felt like it was a bit more tough than it actually is. But I do think the coach is better because it's greener. It starts from there. And also because none of you, no one in your group has to drive, right? Everyone can just sit down and someone who knows the way is going to take you there. And I feel it's more relaxing. But how it works, I take the coach from Victoria Station in London. But how they are doing in the last years is they have like a single queue.

5:57Jessi Uh-huh.

5:58Miguel So what it means is if you bought the 6:00 AM coach and you plan to get there like 10 to 6, that's not a good plan because they're going to have a single queue and they're just filling up buses and departing. So actually, even if you have like a 6:00 AM bus, I would say get there at least an hour. If you really want to depart the time you bought the ticket, get there at least an hour before the actual departing time.

6:21Jessi I think it's probably just to make things easier at Victoria. I think without that, if you try and allocate buses—

6:27Miguel It's probably the best system.

6:28Jessi There's no other So what's the atmosphere like on the coach? I think that's one thing I must lose in the car. We have a convoy and, you know, that's all well and good, but there's only 3 of you in each car. I'm sure when you go on the coach, the party atmosphere must start when you leave London, right?

6:43Miguel Oh, you know what? I had different experiences. I mean, of course it depends who gets inside the coach with you. I did mention that I usually don't drink on the coach. If my first year when we went by car, we weren't really focused and with a sense of urgency to get there. These days I'm on a mission. Yeah, and also because I can barely sleep the night before. So I'm actually quite tired. I just go inside the coach, sit down, be quiet a little bit. But sometimes you have groups who are already full-on partying.

7:15Jessi Yeah.

7:15Miguel I had that before. But myself and usually people who go with me, it's more like really just relaxing, have a nap even. Because when the coach stops and the doors open, you just go, go, go, go. You have to run and be focused to get the campsite we want. Yeah, I'm on a mission when I'm on the coach.

7:37Jessi Right. Yeah, okay, that definitely makes sense.

7:39Miguel I leave my first drink to when my tent is erected, open my chair, open my whiskey.

7:46Jessi Sit down, crack open the cider.

7:47Miguel Not crack open because it's a whiskey, just—

7:48Jessi Oh yeah, of course.

7:50Miguel Get my reusable bottle of whiskey full of whiskey.

7:54Jessi Yeah, of course. Pour yourself a little whiskey.

7:55Miguel Have a little bit. And I think every time I do that, I just go, ah.

7:59Jessi Yeah.

8:00Miguel Because now everything's done. My tent is It's up, I organize my stuff inside, and there's nothing else. It's just enjoyment until the departing day on Monday, which then the challenge starts again.

8:13Jessi Yeah.

8:13Miguel But I like to do— to have this feeling that that's it, now it's just 5 days of pure enjoyment.

8:18Jessi Yeah.

8:18Miguel So that's why I think I have this ritual where I kind of don't— yeah, wait until I'm there and all the challenges are overcome.

8:25Jessi Yeah, it definitely makes sense.

8:27Miguel Yeah, now I can have a drink, and now there you go, guys. Let's get it started.

8:31Jessi Time to go. And what about when you get to Glastonbury? What happens at the other end of the coach ride?

8:36Miguel Well, definitely that's another advantage of going by coach is that it drops you at Gate A, which is really quite close to the action.

8:43Jessi So Gate A, that is where? Like for somebody who's never been before, where would you say that's nearby?

8:48Miguel Well, it's kind of northwest in the map and it's sort of close to the John Peel area and it also takes down to the Silver Hayes.

8:55Jessi Okay, okay, cool. That makes sense.

8:57Miguel I do, I do camp near the Park Stage though, so it's still a bit of a walk. But, but yeah, but I think it's a— it leaves you closer to the festival, especially because you need to bring everything. You don't have the advantage of doing multiple trips to your car.

9:12Jessi Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. The, the thing with, um, coming by car is that the car parks are vast, they are huge. Um, and even us arriving at— well, I always try and predict it where, you know, where they're going to fill up from and whereabouts.

9:26Miguel Oh yeah, there's that.

9:27Jessi Yeah, honestly, over years I'm trying to collect the metrics for it. Um, even when we arrive at sort of 3, 4 in the morning, it, it It still is a really long walk just to get to the gate. So I think the fact that you guys get dropped at the gate is such— oh, I'm very jealous.

9:41Miguel This just brought me memories from my first time, why I remember going by car being so much worse. Because yeah, of course, because of that, you don't know how far you're gonna park as well. So you can have potentially, you can have a really extra long walk added to getting to the gate.

9:55Jessi Okay, very aware of that. So we know Rob has a real arrivals ritual that starts a few days before the festival. Let's hear all about that.

10:05Rob Hey guys, sorry I can't be with you for this episode. I know we're talking about arrivals and you guys both arrive different days to me. Uh, getting to Glastonbury is, is, is really, really important for me because it's kind of the setup. It's the start. It's the first step. And it's something that over the years I've kind of created this very much routine that I like to do. So, I always get my car packed and ready to go the night before, make sure everything fits. I don't want any worries. You know, I get the car fuelled up, everything working, and it's all packed. Double-check before it goes in, and then just make sure that it's all good to go. And then on a Tuesday, I like to make kind of the whole day my Glastonbury day. So, I set off nice and early. I never do the drive in one go. One place I always love to stop is Glastonbury Tor. It's not something I used to, like, back in the day I did, but, you know, from my love of Glastonbury and talking about Glastonbury, you learn a lot about the area as a whole, and taking that trip up to the tor and You know, realizing its importance and how it all fits in, it's been something that has now become something I really love to do. So, you know, it's all part of getting excited. So I go up and I sit there, and from up on the tor, you can kind of see the whole site over in the distance, and it's kind of like, Glastonbury, I'm coming for you. So yeah, it's fantastic.

11:18Miguel Then of course you go by car. Are you the one driving?

11:35Jessi I am the one driving.

11:37Miguel Is it stressful then?

11:38Jessi It is very stressful, but like I mentioned in the packing episode, I don't know, I think Glastonbury means so much to me that putting my getting there in the hands of someone else, I think I'm just that much of a control freak about it. Um, I don't know, I— my friends will attest to the fact that I am very militant about the Our Arrivals process. Um, there are upwards of 30 of us that at least attempt to camp together, and so far over the past kind of 6 years that there's been that many of us, we've managed it every time. I, I'm not gonna say completely down to me, but mainly down to me. So yeah, I organize essentially. Um, firstly, I, I asked my friends who can't come down by car, either there aren't enough cars available, so they have to come down by coach or by train, or they have work and they're arriving a little bit later, something like that. So I normally ask my friends, because I'm very nice, would you like me to take your tent for you? So that's stage 1 of the arrangements.

12:35Miguel Yeah, that's very good.

12:36Jessi Stage 2 is then arranging the convoy of usually around kind of 5, 6 cars sort of traveling down from London, picking a couple of cars up on the way past. Some people come from Bristol and sort of loop round to join us. Some people come from Southampton and, and hook up from the south. So we have a petrol station that we meet at every time. And then straight on down we go, normally arriving on site altogether at approximately— well, I aim for 3. It's normally after our stop-off and various things in the morning.

13:04Miguel 3 in the morning?

13:04Jessi In the morning, 3 in the morning. Yeah, yeah. We normally get there for around 4, or at least we did in 2017.

13:09Miguel And have you done the overnight queue party?

13:12Jessi Um, not quite. Not on the same level as Rob, who does it every year and, you know, parks the night before. But there was one year that we did arrive there. I think it was the first year that the car parks were open, um, overnight. It used to be you only arrive there in the morning, and I've done it one time, and it was, I mean, it was good fun, but we thought we'd park our car, have a nice sleep in the car, and then get up and go in the queue, but obviously there was too much excitement even in the car park, there was too much going on, neither of us could sleep, so yeah, it was, it's good fun, it was tiring, and it did mean that on the Wednesday I had to have a sleep, so that's why I've adjusted it. I like to use Wednesday and explore Wednesday, so I've kind of adjusted it slightly so that we arrive very early hours of the morning, but we don't arrive the night before and try and sleep.

13:57Miguel Neither of us are experts of the queuing party, but Rob, well, he knows a lot about it.

14:02Rob And then I'll always aim to get to the car park for when it opens. Surprisingly, there's a lot of people already kind of ready to go, bearing in mind officially the gates open Wednesday morning. Tuesday nights, it's still very busy. So get your place in the car park. Yeah, it's probably closer than those that arrive later on, but then when it comes to leaving, it's furthest away from the gate. So it's kind of swings and roundabouts on that one. But yeah, I get myself parked up and get myself over into the queue. Very much a— it's become a party. It's something I really look forward to and you can make the most of it. I go with a few drinks, a nice warm coat and something to keep me dry because one year it did rain all night. So just bear in mind that if it does rain, You could get yourself quite uncomfortable. I noticed a few people started unpacking tents and all sorts of things to try and keep dry. So definitely be planned and ready for that if you are going to go on the Tuesday night. But as the kind of the sun comes up on that Wednesday morning, everybody starts to kind of wake up, get ready, get themselves moving. Throughout the night, it's actually quite spread out and calm. As soon as the sun starts coming up and the idea of getting inside, the queue starts edging forward as anticipation of getting in rises. And And, you know, I'm as much a part of that as well. You just want to kind of get going. First thing on my mind at that point, having, you know, been there all night, is to get the tent set up. That's really the key. And I always camp in the same place, which I might put in my blog. I'm not going to tell you now. That's my— maybe one of my little secrets I'll keep. But we always go to the same place and get that set up really quickly. Well, as quickly as I can, because, you know, I definitely need a sleep. I know Miguel likes to have a little sit-down and enjoy his first drink. I've already had mine by that point. So yeah, that's, that's kind of where the first day, that really long first day, ends with me when I just have that kind of Wednesday morning nap and I'm probably out for a couple of hours from there.

16:06Jessi Our arrivals process is when we get to the car park is a little bit different to yours because we have the luxury of being able to come back out to the car. So what we usually do is I normally take just the tent and Depending on how I'm feeling, sometimes I take my big, uh, my main rucksack as well, especially if the person that I'm sharing my tent with is with me, because then we can share the— yeah, the weight of the tent. If it's just me carrying it, I'll usually just take my own.

16:39Miguel You don't use any trolleys or anything?

16:40Jessi I don't use any trolleys. I know it's something I've thought about for, for many years, um, but just never really got around to investing in. I've seen so many skeletons of trolleys.

16:48Miguel Exactly. I, I, I don't use one as well, not just because I go by coach. I don't think I would bring one I don't know.

16:55Jessi I think if I was going to get one, I was going to really invest in one of the ones with the big tyres and, and really go for it. Then it would probably save me a lot of hassle, but I've just put it off and put it off. And I'm used to my carrying my stuff now. I feel like my destiny is being a pack horse. It's fine. I can carry it.

17:12Miguel Well, we don't use trolleys, but Rob does. Let's see what he has to say.

17:16Rob Then when I wake up, I need to start really thinking about getting stuff, the extra bit set up. As you know, we talked about before, I like to get my quilt and everything and make everything all nice. So I actually do take quite a lot of stuff with me. Now logistically, that can be quite difficult. So I, like many, use a trolley. There's various different types of trolleys out there. And what you'll find undoubtedly is you'll see the different trolley graveyards, you know, things people have overloaded and it's tipped. Plastic wheels falling off and all sorts of different things. So when you are looking online, and you'll find that there's lots of different kinds of trolleys, pick one that's going to be kind of substantial in the wheels department. One tip I can give you that I've found through trial and error of binning many different trolleys is, is if you are going to use one, firstly, be respectful with it. You know, don't go crashing into everybody. Everybody's there to share those walkways. So you're by no means entitled to just crash through, but get one with, um, Inflatable tires if you can. The plastic, you know, the plastic wheels with no give in them, they're the ones that snap and cause you a lot of problems. Another thing I've seen with trolleys is cling film, shrink wrap, or package tape. People, for stability, wrap loads and loads and loads of package tape around it, or cling film, which, you know, has its benefits, but, you know, just bear in mind it's not great, you know, bringing all that stuff to throw away. But also, Just like any festival, there's, you know, you are potentially going to have to have your bags checked. So personally, I use bungee cords, easy on, easy off. And really, the better that you can pack it, the more sensible and realistic you are with how much you put on the trolley, the easier it's going to be getting from A to B. I think, you know, we're all aware that the journey from car to tent can be quite a, you know, tumultuous one at times, or very troublesome. Especially in bad weather. So really consider what you're taking. There's no need to do it all in one go, none at all, especially with things like, you know, alcohol. If you are taking crates of beer, you don't need 4 crates of beer from day 1. Leave it in your car and it will really make that journey a lot easier on that, especially for the first time, really. If you get your essentials, so your tent and your sleeping stuff and a bit of food, and, uh, you'll be, you'll be laughing.

19:31Jessi Yeah, so, uh, we normally, as I said, get to site about 4 in the morning, um, put my big backpack on and take my tent and however many any other tents that I'm helping set up for people. What's happened, um, most years, uh, until 2017 is that we then find our place in the queue, put our stuff down, sort of lie against our bags, and then like you, Miguel, we use this opportunity to have a little nap. I sometimes open a cider. I call it to help me sleep after I'm really wired up.

19:58Miguel If it works for you.

19:59Jessi Yeah, but, um, a lot of the time we, uh, just kind of put our bags down, lay against them, try and get some rest before the 8 AM gates open. However, in 2017, our plans were disrupted somewhat. Uh, I'm sure a few of you are well aware, but a couple of months before the festival happened, before Glastonbury happened, it was the Manchester Arena bombing. Um, and therefore the security was, you know, quite rightly very much stepped up for, um, for Glastonbury 2017. And therefore the process that they put in place was that they separated wristbanding and security. So the security tent was very, very, very far back, and then they would process people through the security tent and then queue them up again before wristbanding. I think it's a really good system, um, and I know why they did it, and I think they did it for all the right reasons. The only downside for us, uh, is that obviously we'd been awake since midnight and we were expecting to have our little 4 AM nap for a few hours. But because security was separate, they'd actually started processing people through security, um, in the early hours of the morning. So it just meant that instead of being able to lie down in one spot and not move for a few hours, it meant that we were still shuffling forward to process through the security tent. So as always with Glastonbury, you can come with as good a plan as you like and, uh, you'll get there.

21:12Miguel And so it's the only case where the queue moving faster wasn't really good.

21:16Jessi No, yeah, exactly.

21:17Miguel It wasn't good.

21:18Jessi Yeah, we were expecting to kind of put our stuff down and go, right, this is where we're sat for 3 hours until the, um, gates open. Um, but yeah, so we'll see what happens this year. I'm sure that system in general, I think, worked very well because it meant that once we were through the security tent, the actual wristbanding part was very smooth, very quick, um, and it went Went as smoothly as it possibly could.

21:38Miguel Yeah, because I never did the overnight queuing. My 2 first festivals, I actually got there too late, like mid-afternoon on a Wednesday. The first one because I went by car, didn't have much choice, and also didn't know much about Glastonbury. And the second one was because I got the coach package, which, as we discussed, you are faced with choices. I just picked whatever I could and I got the ticket. So hey, I have to be happy with this now.

21:59Jessi Yes, yeah, you were there. That's all good.

22:00Miguel But then for my 3rd festival, I said, no, now I need to start going early. I need to camp more closer to the action because I was camping maybe bit far away, but I still haven't done that. I found that if I leave London at 6 in the morning and get there before 10, that works for me. And by the moment I'm there, the queue is just flowing. You don't really stop. You go through security and you get your wristband and you just go to your campsite. So it's been working for me for the last 4 years and it's going to be my plan for this year as well.

22:28Jessi I'm a bit worried that new people listening to this are going to get really anxious about arriving with our— like, we're a bit over the top, aren't we?

22:37Juliet I think once you've been—

22:37Jessi What can I use?

22:38Miguel What can I use for them?

22:39Jessi Exactly. Once you've been once, you'll realize just, you know, how exciting it is. And I think we each have different ways of kind of mitigating that. I like— for me, the only reason mine is stressful is because I am the organizer of the group.

22:51Rob Yeah.

22:52Jessi And there's so many of us. And yeah, I think that's the only kind of stress for me. If I was just me on my own, I'd be fine. But Miguel comes by coach, Rob and me come by car. car, uh, but we realized there are many ways to come to Glastonbury and we haven't experienced all of them. So we invited you guys, our awesome listeners, to get in contact. The 2 we were looking for is if you come by bike or if you come from overseas. So first we have an amazing clip from @JulietK on Twitter. So thank you very much, Juliet. She has come to Glastonbury every year since 2011 using the Bike to Glasto system. So let's hear from her.

23:33Juliet So my My friends and me, we've been cycling to Glastonbury since 2011, which is when the bag drop started operating. So that means you can leave your bags at one of various drop-off points within 25 miles or so of the site, so that includes Bristol and Bath and some smaller places, and then you cycle in and pick them up when you get there at the bike lockup. Kind of swap them for your bike, effectively. We actually live in London, so we get the train to Bristol a day or two in advance and drop our bags there, though in fact in 2016 there was a London bag drop, so it made it a bit easier.

24:10Jessi Yeah.

24:11Juliet The first year, 2011, we left Bristol before 6 o'clock in the morning on Wednesday morning, and it rained all the way there, and we still decided we preferred it to the train. In 2013, we had a 15-month-old baby in tow, my kid Leon, so that time we cycled to Wells instead the day before and then cycled the 8 miles from Wells on Wednesday morning, which was rather more comfortable. It was a very slow journey that year because Leon got bored and wanted feeding about every 30 minutes, and we sang an awful lot of verses of Michael Eavis Had a Farm. to try and keep him happy. The best bit about cycling is probably leaving on Monday. Instead of queuing for the shuttle bus and queuing for the train, or we tried about 10 years ago doing the whole thing at 3 in the morning, which is awful, you hand over your bags and cycle off for a lovely day's ride in the nice countryside back to Bristol. So it meant that instead of the Monday being a kind of epic trudge home, it's another part of a nice holiday, and it makes for a much nicer decompression experience. The first time we cycled it, we had a route which involved a really big hill and lots of quite busy roads, but we've now discovered a better way, which is to go along the Strawberry Line bike path back to Yatton, which is lovely fields and meadows and woodlands along an old railway line, and there's a really nice pub on the way as well which serves chips and doesn't mind grubby Glastonbury people. The last time we cycled was 2016. Unfortunately, we haven't got tickets for 2017, and we haven't got them for this year either, and you may recall it was quite wet that year, so So for taking Leon, I just upgraded from a bike with a bike seat to a tandem with a child seat, and we arrived a little bit damp and got our photos taken by the Guardians. That was quite exciting. We haven't ever camped in the Cyclist Field. It's at the wrong side of the site for us, we prefer Pennards, but it always sounds from what people say on the Facebook group to be a really lovely place to camp, and I have walked past it on Monday morning and noticed how clean it is compared to quite a lot of the rest of the site. So cyclists are obviously nice, considerate people. Yeah, I wish that the festival would do even more to encourage more people to cycle. It's a really nice way to get there and it's obviously really environmentally friendly. And yeah, next time we get tickets, no question we'll be cycling again.

26:21Jessi And we also have Joel, aka @hobbitfrompa. He comes to Glastonbury every year from the US of A, which is just incredible. He flies over For every Glastonbury, what commitment! So let's hear from him.

26:36Joel Hi, I am Hobbit from PA. Some people know me as Joel. I'm originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but currently live in Phoenix, Arizona. I've been attending Glastonbury for the last 10 years. Booking tickets for me has been an interesting process. For the last 10 years, I've only ever gotten a waiting page and have never actually been able to get through myself. So thankfully I belong to a group that helps each other out called Twisto, and we just try and get each other tickets. It is most definitely not easier for me to get them from over here, so thankfully my friends have gotten it for me from over there. With all my travel experience, That I've done. Packing is a pretty easy thing for me. I usually don't even pack until maybe 3 or 4 days before I'm ready to fly off across the pond. I know what I'm gonna take, and I keep everything for the festival actually in a cabinet. Anything that's strictly just for the festival, like headlamps, any kind of camping, smaller camping gear, I have brought a tent on a trip there from here, but thankfully after, I guess, about a year or 2, I started leaving my tent with a friend over there. So my process in getting to the Fest has varied from year to year. Typically I leave from Phoenix and usually end up flying from Phoenix to LAX, Los Angeles, and then fly from there to London. And hopefully I'm lucky when I am actually flying in that I don't get delayed somewhere, which seems to be a typical thing for me. And I've met up with different friends and stayed with them before the fest and then drove in with them, and we would stay in the parking lot overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, and then enter the Fest, set up camp, and then my favorite thing to do once everything's set up is just kind of go for a wander. Leaving the Fest, again, I leave with whoever I came in with to the Fest, and sometimes I hang around and I'll maybe travel the country a bit or head over to Ireland, and other times I've literally left the festival, stayed overnight in an airport, whether it's Bristol or in London, and then head back the next day back to the States. Some advice that I would give is don't be afraid if you're walking to, to an act and you hear something As you're walking by, don't be afraid to stop and just listen and take everything in. One of my favorite places to see acts the last 4 or 5 years has been the Bandstand. Tiny little area, but just absolutely love it. Good vibe and some acts that I probably would not have caught anywhere else. So I, I highly suggest just go in with an expectation of having fun, and whatever happens, happens. Cheers.

30:10Miguel I think maybe just to cover all the bases, there's also the option that you can go by train to Castle Cary and get the shuttle bus. You've done that once. How was that for you?

30:22Jessi Yeah, that was my very first kind of Glastonbury. That was 2008. So I took the first train from near my parents' house near Southampton My mum dropped me there at kind of 4:35 in the morning, and I think the train was at quarter past 5, something like that. So really early still.

30:38Miguel Yeah.

30:38Jessi Um, the first train they were putting on. And yeah, you arrive at Castle Cary and then you get popped into a queue, uh, and then they have the free shuttle bus running, and it's a very good system. The one thing I will say is obviously this was 10+ years ago, and I did find a bit, uh, irritating at the time is that obviously I'd arrived by kind of 6:30, and at the time they didn't start the shuttle runs until 10 AM.

31:02Miguel Okay.

31:02Jessi So I was waiting in a queue there for a really long time, very close to the festival but not close enough to walk kind of thing. So I, I'm— I have friends who arrive by train every year and they've all said this is not the case anymore. They run the shuttles very early. Um, but it's a really organized system. They have loads of people at the train station. The queue is very well managed. They have water bottles, or at least they did when I went. Um, they have toilets. So I think that is, uh, if you're not quite— if you want to go a little bit faster and not arrive by coach, and then that's a good, a good way to get there as well. It's very well managed. We keep mentioning that me and Miguel are trying our hardest to get there as early as possible on the Wednesday. I know a lot of people go, oh well, you know, the music doesn't start till Friday, why would you care about getting there so early? So let me ask you, Miguel, what is it about the Wednesday that goes, right, I need to be there as early as possible?

31:47Miguel Well, I think it's really important, especially if it's your first Glastonbury, to get there on Wednesday. I think Wednesday is the, the day you're gonna use really to explore the site, to get acquainted, to just start settling down into the festival and really start understanding. Because as much as we can talk about how big Glastonbury is, it's only when you get there that you start realizing and like, oh, I see it now. So I think getting there on Wednesday, and then of course then you're gonna have Thursday for the same reason, is just to get acquainted to the festival, to understand the Glastonbury difference. And even though the festival is not working full force, there's already a lot to do, and we're gonna talk about this in a bit.

32:23Joel Yeah, definitely.

32:24Miguel But I'm gonna stress this, if it's your first time going to Glastonbury, go there on Wednesday and as early as you can.

32:30Jessi I agree, I completely agree. People talk about Glastonbury, and we talked about in our Glastonbury Magic first episode, people talk about all the little things that make it so different from every other festival, uh, and how we said the lineup doesn't matter and all these kind of things. The Wednesday and Thursday is when you use that time to explore the little things, because obviously Friday, Saturday, Sunday comes around, there might be loads of bands you want to see or your friends want to see. So it's good to utilize those first 2 days to kind of almost tick things off the list, you know.

32:57Miguel So I can see someone who's been to Glastonbury first time and you arrive on Friday really not having the best of the times because everyone is already so integrated with it, let's say, and you arrive there and then you just— it's so big and you don't have time because now it's happening full on. And maybe you have friends who've been there since Wednesday, they already know everything and they're just going, and you, and you might feel overwhelmed. I, I would compare to like, imagine if you're working until late And then when you finish work, you go to your friend's barbecue who's been going on since the morning, and everyone is already in that kind of mood, and you're never gonna pick up the mood.

33:32Jessi Yeah, arriving late to the party and, you know, you're, you're trying to catch up. Exactly.

33:36Miguel You're gonna feel like going home, maybe. Yeah, I'm not enjoying this.

33:39Jessi Exactly.

33:40Miguel No, go, go early to the barbecues and go early to Glastonbury.

33:43Jessi And another reason not to arrive on Friday, especially if there's, uh, kind of more than one of If you want to camp together, by the time Friday comes, there are not many spaces available. So if there's kind of 3 or 4 tents of your friends arriving on the Friday, you will find it very difficult to camp together. And even if you do, you'll be on the very, very, very outskirts of the festival. So if there's a few of you wanting to camp together, I would say definitely arrive on the Wednesday.

34:08Miguel Well, so maybe— so whatever is your choice, you're gonna get there. When you get there, you're gonna join a queue to get with thousands of other people. But the queue always moves at a nice pace most of the time. And after you reach the security checks, you get to the wristband station. Is that how they call it? Wristband station?

34:25Jessi Wristband station? Yeah, I'd say so.

34:27Miguel But you're finally going to get your amazing wristband that you're going to wear till the end of the summer, probably, some of us.

34:33Juliet Yeah, yeah, yeah.

34:33Jessi Well, I mean, anyone who knows me knows that for the summer months I wear upwards of sort of 15 to 18 wristbands.

34:41Miguel It's kind of my thing. It's cool, it's cool. It's part to kind of when you're walking around town and in some You see someone else with a wristband, you just look at each other acknowledging, yeah.

34:50Joel Yeah, yeah.

34:50Miguel I see you.

34:51Jessi You're there, man.

34:51Joel I see you.

34:53Miguel Anyway, but I think it's important to note that you should always bring ID because when they're gonna give you your wristband, they're gonna check your likeness.

35:01Rob Yeah.

35:02Miguel And also very important to say, you're gonna keep your ticket with you. You should keep your ticket and you should carry it with you throughout the festival because you're gonna need it if you wanna go back, go out, if you're gonna go to the nearest town to buy something, or you need your ticket and your wristband to go back in. into the festival.

35:17Jessi Yeah, I've made that mistake before. Um, so they— every entry and exit, they will check not only your ticket, they will check your wristband to make sure it's still on and nice and tight and can't come off. So for people like me who go by car, you want to make sure that anytime you're nipping back to the car, you've got your ticket, you've got your, um, wristband securely on. And also, I mean, one time I've done this, you've got your car keys. Once I got all the way out to the car to get stuff and I'd forgotten my car keys.

35:42Miguel That was horrible.

35:43Juliet Painful.

35:43Jessi But yeah, anyway, uh, Miguel's point keep hold of your ticket once you've gone through. Don't just throw it in a bag and think, I don't need that again. You will need it to have it checked. And yeah, they will check your ID as well to make sure that you are the person on that ticket.

35:55Miguel And of course, get your programme when you enter because they're going to be handing out the programme.

35:59Jessi Yeah, I love that about Glastonbury is you get a free programme, free lanyard.

36:02Miguel Which is a magazine and a lanyard with a small version of the set times.

36:07Jessi Yeah, it's really good. And so that's what, I mean, I think most people do this, is that you get the lanyard, you put it around your neck, and they— I tuck my ticket into my lanyard. I don't know if you do that.

36:15Miguel That's what I do as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

36:16Jessi So I know I don't lose it. I'm like, it's in the lanyard, I know where it is.

36:19Miguel I don't know if it's the safest option.

36:20Jessi No, maybe not.

36:22Miguel It just feels right. It feels right.

36:23Jessi Yeah, it feels right. I mean, maybe put it in your wallet or somewhere safe, or the property lockups that we mentioned before. But yeah, I mean, that's what I do. I think a lot of people do. I've seen that a lot, is that you tuck your ticket into your little, um, lanyard-y thing.

36:34Miguel Okay, so you went past security, you got your wristband, you went through the gates.

36:40Jessi Woo, you're in! That's always the moment that I go through. I don't know about you, honestly. Like, it's more— well, I, I, I definitely go woo when I've got my tent up and I'm all settled, but I think just that after being in the queue for a while and, oh, the stress of getting there, just that, ah, I'm here, is such a good moment.

36:56Miguel Do you, do you cry?

36:57Jessi Um, oh no, I think the, the time I cry is when I come over the, um, kind of top of the, the road and you start seeing the lights right in front of you.

37:06Miguel I That's when the—

37:07Jessi Once I've been in the queue for a couple of hours, I'm sort of like, I'm more, must get the tent up, must get settled down. But yeah.

37:14Miguel For me as well, when the buzz is entering and you finally have a proper view, I feel the strong emotions coming.

37:21Jessi Yeah, I know.

37:22Miguel But there was one year I actually proper, almost proper cry, I would say.

37:26Juliet Did you?

37:27Jessi Did you just burst out in tears?

37:28Miguel Not burst out, but I actually had some tears falling on my face, which was 2014, which is the year I thought I wouldn't be able to go because I couldn't get the ticket. But then I applied, I volunteered, and then like, this sense like, I'm here, I cannot believe it. And then I couldn't hold it. I had like— and it was just, I was by myself, right? I didn't have any— at that moment didn't have friends with me. I made a lot of friends later, but I was just on the window on the bus like, oh my God. Miguel, let it go. Let it go, Miguel.

37:57Jessi I have a funny feeling I'm going to cry this year, I think, because it's obviously been a year off and like I've become so invested in Glastonbury. Now we've started this, you know what I mean? It's made me think about it a lot more in the off-season, let's say. So I think I'm gonna— when we— when I arrive there this time, there's definitely gonna be a few tears shed. I'm just thinking, there are people who are listening to this who've never been who are like, these guys are crazy.

38:17Juliet Yes.

38:18Jessi Once you've been, you'll understand. We'll just keep saying that.

38:21Miguel I hope so.

38:22Jessi I hope so, honestly. Okay, so you're in, your tent is up, you're relaxed at least a little bit.

38:44Miguel Uh, finally relaxed.

38:46Jessi I've cracked open my first cider and Miguel has had his first whiskey.

38:50Miguel I unscrew my reusable bottle full of whiskey.

38:53Jessi Yeah, so we're having a good time.

38:54Miguel It's—

38:55Jessi I mean, it's 10 AM in the morning. The fact that you are on the whiskey is impressive, Miguel. Um, but okay, so we're in, it's Wednesday.

39:00Miguel It's just my beverage of choice.

39:02Jessi Don't judge. So we're in, it's Wednesday. What do you do? How do you spend your Wednesday?

39:07Miguel What do I do is I usually have to wait for my friends, for them to get ready. It happens from my last 4 Glastonburys, every year I have someone new coming with me and they maybe are not as focused or they don't have their rituals yet. So as soon as they get ready, what we do, we go exploring. I go to take a look at all the places I've been missing for so long and I pretty much do a tour guide at Glastonbury for them. My aim is that they would get this understanding of the map, really. They would be able to find themselves. So that means that when we split, we can find each other more easily. And also it means that I can let them go and do my own thing.

39:47Jessi Yeah, of course.

39:48Miguel Knowing that they, they're not gonna lose somebody. So I, I pretty much do a tour. This is, this is where this happens. Make sure you're gonna be here sometimes. Here's the circus, here's the theatre arena. So it's really a proper walking tour guide.

40:01Jessi Walking tour guide, I like that. I mean, I have to do the same thing when, when there are friends who've never been there before. They Obviously clearly see how big the site is, but to walk it is another thing, just to get that idea of, right, okay, this is next to this, you know, there's a cut-through from here to here. That really helps. So I like to show them the wonder.

40:17Miguel And I think it's— yeah, you, you wonder and you wander as well with everything.

40:21Jessi Yeah, wander with an O and wonder with an N.

40:24Rob Yes.

40:25Miguel And I, and I think it's quite funny, especially in the early hours in the, in the morning and beginning of afternoon Wednesday when everyone is doing that, and it's just this feeling that you're just people walking around and you can, you know, There's thousands of people who've been there before and thousands who are new to this. And it's quite funny, everyone is still kind of sober yet. So it's just people, it feels like a lot of zombies or anything, just walking, looking around, getting amazed. But when the nighttime comes, things change a bit.

40:52Jessi Yeah, definitely. Well, more zombies, but in a different way. Yes, yes, yes.

40:56Juliet Drunk zombies.

40:57Jessi Drunk zombies. I think our Wednesday tradition has always been, well, for many years has been go to the Brothers Bar in West Holts, which used to be the Jazz World, and just kind of sit there and really enjoy the sun and enjoy the afternoon. Um, I don't really know where this tradition came from, but I really enjoy it now. Yeah. I think our gang just likes to— obviously there's a— for me, it's normally late afternoon because, as you say, I'm waiting for friends to arrive. I'm doing other trips to the car because there's stuff I've not brought in. So there's a lot of morning time organization.

41:27Miguel Yeah.

41:27Jessi But once everybody's in, tents are all up, we do a bit of a walking tour, uh, but it normally ends kind of mid-afternoon— well, late afternoon, so 4 or 5 PM at the Brothers Bar. And then we spend a few hours there just hopefully lying on the grass in the sun.

41:41Joel Excellent.

41:41Jessi Um, and yeah, just, just, it's really nice. I think it's a really good— I think a lot of people have this tradition from what I've heard.

41:48Miguel Yeah, well, you can do bar crawling, right?

41:50Juliet Yeah, bar crawling.

41:50Miguel Bars and stalls, they start opening gradually, so you, you definitely have a lot of choice already.

41:55Jessi It's just a nice place to go, and I think it's because I guess it's conveniently near Big Ground, but it's kind of become our tradition, so we do that. Um, then it's normally back to the tent for a quick refresher, I guess, or now people have realized quite how Usually there's friends who've never been before, they're like, oh, okay, so I need these shoes and I need to put an extra pair of socks on and stuff now.

42:16Miguel Okay, okay, I see it.

42:18Jessi Oh yeah, exactly. So we've done like that little quick mini walking tour, stop at the Brothers Bar, go back to the tent for a quick pit stop, and then it's right off for the evening. So every year I think I've said to myself, right, Wednesday night I need to, you know, not go so crazy like you've done in previous years, Jess. Like, you need to make sure that Wednesday you get enough sleep and prepare yourself, but that never happens because I'm always too excited.

42:41Miguel I never make that promise.

42:43Jessi You never make that promise? No, I think it's one of those, like, I don't know, I always think maybe this year is the year that I'll, uh, be a little bit calmer, but it never happens.

42:52Miguel Funny thing, I remember having some Wednesdays which were the ones I went all out.

42:56Jessi Yeah, yeah, because you arrive, you've had loads of sleep, you're really excited, you've not been there for a year or sometimes 2 years in this case. So what, what we did, uh, in 2017 actually was probably my best Wednesday that I've had. But despite the fact it was boiling hot, the daytime was very difficult for me as a redhead. It was sort of, what, 32° I think on the Wednesday in 2017? So I struggled a bit in the daytime, but I didn't let it get me down. And then in the evening I really went for it, and we went and did the, uh, opening ceremony at the Stone Circle.

43:27Miguel Sure.

43:27Jessi So all the fireworks, and it was beautiful.

43:30Miguel And then we went to the Southeast Corner and had a great Even though you have many options around the site, the opening ceremony I think is really nice. And then because I'm showing, usually showing people who are there for the first time, I end up going to the opening ceremony up the Stone Circle and you have the burning of the phoenix.

43:46Jessi Yeah, of course.

43:47Miguel Then you have fireworks and I don't know, I think, I think it puts you in the mood really. It might be the moment when someone who's there for the first time is gonna start maybe feeling the Glastonbury magic, right?

43:57Jessi I was literally about to say that. I think it's just that beautiful moment of, ah, this is more than just a festival. just some bands playing in a field. Like, that's when you, you go to the opening ceremony and you look around and you, you just feel that, oh, there's a, there's a— Exactly. There's a feeling here, like I'm part of something.

44:14Miguel And if you made— if you got there early and made good use of your Wednesday, when the fireworks goes and you have this feeling, now you say, okay, let's go.

44:22Jessi I'm in.

44:23Miguel Let's go now. Where do we go next? I don't want to stop.

44:26Jessi And loads of, loads of the bars— this is something, I mean, not the Brothers Bar that I just mentioned because that's like an open-air bar, but there are big bars in most fields that have their own— they're almost like mini stages, aren't they? They have bands playing.

44:37Joel Yeah.

44:38Jessi So, you know, things like the Bread and Roses, um, the one in Williams Green. Yeah, Stonebridge Bar. Oh, Stonebridge Bar is a really good one. Big fan of that.

44:46Joel Yeah.

44:47Jessi So I think that, you know, there's loads to do on the Wednesday.

44:49Miguel I like the Bread and Roses.

44:51Jessi Yeah, the Bread and Roses is really good, isn't it? What's the other one? The, um— oh, I can't think. The, the Chameleon. Chameleon. Chameleon. But it's got like a— well, it's got a chameleon on the front. Calm Chameleon. I don't know if they play that song or not. Um, and they do like a silent There is the big silent disco that happens at, um, Silver Hayes. But I think we've been— we've done The Chameleon a few times and like really enjoyed it. It was really good fun.

45:12Miguel Jessi, do you know what Rob does after waking up from his nap on Wednesday?

45:16Jessi I do not, but let's see what he has to say.

45:18Rob Okay, so once I've woken up on— from my, my, uh, nap on a Wednesday, I'm good to go again.

45:25Jessi Do you know what?

45:26Rob I'd like to say I have a routine, uh, but in honesty, I, I don't. Quite often I'm just excited to go and kind of re-see everything that I know is there. You know, there are things that I'm already excited to see. So even though I know they're there, I just like to go and make sure they're there. You know, I like to go and kind of gauge my bearings. I've been to Glastonbury many times, but I still— usually by kind of Saturday, you've pretty much figured it out and you know where everything is. But, you know, I'm a bit rusty after what would be 12 months, but, you know, 24 months, 2 years now. I'm going to make sure that I know exactly where the certain stalls are, where the certain toilets are. Which pathways lead where, you know, whether things have moved that I've missed in some of the announcements and checked on the map. So I just like to kind of get my bearings and go and make sure everything's where I remember it is, because the last thing I want to do is kind of get caught out and not know where I am. Although sometimes if you do kind of get caught out and not know where you are, it's a little bit of an adventure. Just keep walking, eventually you'll find something or someone that you recognize. But really, I think one of the tips that I will do every single Wednesday is I will go up the hill to the Glastonbury sign. It's become quite one of the— it's been different over the years each time, whether things are slightly different, whether stalls have moved around. I remember one of the first times I saw it in 2013, there was like a great hammock stall. I don't think particularly they were for sale. I'll call it a stall. But it was the view from up there was fantastic. And then just chilling out and all the different hammocks. I mean, you'll find hammocks all over the place. They're really quite popular. But this one just sticks out in my mind And I just remember laying there and doing that thing where you, you know, where you always take a picture but have your feet in it. It seems to be one of those things where you haven't been anywhere unless you've taken a picture with your feet in it. So I did that from, from there. And then I've got another one at the top of the hill with my, my wellies in it, which I've had to since replace, which broke my heart. But you know, they're not as indestructible. But so really, that, that's, that's the one tick I do have. Maybe next year Next year, or maybe this year, I'm gonna— I really do need to go to the top of the Ribbon Tower. We talked about it before, and it's something that I've never done. I always go and see it, but I've never been up there. So maybe I can add that to my definite to-do list this time.

47:37Jessi We've said this a few times, but we are Glastonbury enthusiasts. We're very passionate passionate, but we're not necessarily experts. We don't know everything. So as you've heard in all of our previous episodes, we have been asking you guys to get in touch. We've wanted to hear your stories, uh, and your view on what you do and how your Glastonbury goes. So one of the things we've been doing is running a number of polls on Twitter, um, and these have been really interesting actually, because—

48:14Miguel Yeah.

48:15Jessi You might think, this is how I do it, this must be how everybody else does it, but it's been really interesting to hear the consensus of Mm-hmm. Or the Glastonbury veterans. One of the polls we ran, we asked the question, favorite thing to do Wednesday evening at Glasto? Again, if it isn't here, reply with your Wednesday tradition. On Twitter, they only allow you 4 options, so we chose 4 to put in there, and we got a lot of replies that were separate to that as well. But the 4 options available were Stone Circle ceremony, go up to the Glastonbury sign and see the view, head to the southeast corner, and stay at the tent, drinks and bevs as I put it here, and have a chill. So those are the 4 options. So it was Stone Circle, Glastonbury sign, Southeast Corner, and tent drinks. Of those 4, we actually got 330 votes on this, which was amazing.

49:01Miguel Thanks, guys.

49:02Jessi Yeah, thank you for all getting involved. Um, the winner by 1% was view from the Glastonbury sign.

49:08Miguel Oh, really?

49:09Jessi I know. So view from the Glastonbury sign got 36% of the votes. Stone Circle ceremony was a very close second in 35% of the votes. Third was tent bevs and chill, uh, which was 18%, and then 11% are the party animals like me and Miguel and to the southeast corner. So it's really interesting to hear your thoughts on it. And for you from the Glastonbury sign, um, I admitted this, uh, off microphone the last time we recorded this. I know, I can't believe I'm saying this out loud. People would think, you think you know Glastonbury and you've never done this before? I have never I've never actually gone up to the Glastonbury sign.

49:45Miguel It's literally just there.

49:47Jessi I know, in 9 Glastonburys. Please don't all tweet me and tell me how horrible I am and how, how I can't claim to be an expert. It's one of those things that I've always said, yes, I'll do that, yes, I'll do that, and it's just never really— on Wednesday, as I've mentioned, we go to the Brothers Bar, we get a little bit drunk, and then the idea of walking up that hill just kind of makes me go, no. So that is on my 2019 absolute must-do list, but it's amazing that 36% of you all all make that your tradition on the Wednesday, and I think I need to make it mine because I obviously— I've seen the photos, I've gone up to the park, and I know the, the angle of the view and how great it must look, but I've just never gone all the way up to the top. So that was what you guys thought, that was your reaction to one of our polls. Um, we've been running quite a few of these, and we're going to mention them sort of in various episodes that they are relevant to. We might also read a few out on our Instagram story, and we've got loads of amazing replies from you. So I just want say, we want to say thank you so much for, uh, supporting us. Thank you so much for, uh, taking the time to answer these things. It really helps us in framing these episodes and making sure we're covering all bases. So thank you. Another thing we asked you, uh, after our What to Pack episode was the age-old question of Team Wellies or Team Walking Boots.

51:03Miguel Yeah.

51:04Jessi This one caused, uh, as much kind of rivalry as I thought it might do.

51:10Miguel I was surprised as well. I got a lot of replies comments, which is good.

51:13Jessi We got almost 600 votes. We've got 595 votes on this poll with only 2 options, uh, Team Wellies or Team Walking Boots. Um, and this one was very hotly contested. There were a lot of passionate replies, which Miguel's going to read out in a minute. But I wanted to say that the winner of this Team Wellies or Team Walking Boots was actually Team Wellies. Uh, but it was very, very, very close.

51:35Miguel Team Wellies!

51:36Jessi Team Wellies! Woo! Um, it was very close. It was 52% to 48%. Now what does that remind you of?

51:43Miguel I've seen those numbers before.

51:44Jessi Um, yeah, so I mean, it's, it's clear that people, uh, have made their choice and it, it's really down to the individual person and what suits you best. So there's no clear answer if one is way better than the other. I will say at 52% versus 48%, the people have spoken and walking boots are now banned.

52:05Miguel We won't do that poll again.

52:07Jessi Yeah, they're banned. There's a no Miguel, you're not having any walking boots at Glastonbury 2019. No, obviously I joke. Um, but yes, so this was a really great poll. Thank you so much for everybody who contributed. And we're actually going to read out some of the replies because we've got some really good tips and kind of insights there. So Miguel, share with me, what did people reply to us?

52:26Miguel Okay, we got a reply from Andy Bass that goes, I'm team boot, but I also recommend insoles. Last year my feet were done by Saturday night and Sunday was stuff. I now use insoles for that extra cushioning. That's actually a good tip from Andy Bass.

52:40Jessi Yeah, I mean, we've talked enough about socks, but also insoles I think is a great shout.

52:45Miguel And we also got an answer from Wayne. Wore boots for the whole of 2016 when the mud was unbelievable. Didn't have a problem at all. So just shows boots can cope with anything. I, I, I was there. I think 2016 was a tough one, but if Wayne was all right—

53:00Jessi Yeah, I think I think wellies was the only thing that was going to get you through 2016, as well, from my opinion.

53:05Miguel And we also got a reply from the Glasto Thingy. I used to wear Docs to 1 and 2 day festivals many moons ago, but I think they'd kill me at something like Glastonbury. That's why I've gone to walking boots. Also, wellies get pulled off on that really heavy clay-like mud. You can keep marching on boots. Craig Butler, he says, both for me, wellies for when it's really bad, especially around the toilets in the morning, and walking boots for all other occasions.

53:30Jessi So that's someone who likes to go for a bit of both. I like it.

53:33Miguel Yeah, well, prepare for any weather. Yeah, any situation, which is, uh, our friend Rob does the same.

53:39Jessi It's a good point. Yeah, Rob brings his wellies with him, leaves the wellies in the car and uses his boots for the rest of the time, doesn't he? So there you go.

53:45Miguel And to finish off, we got an answer for Chateau P, @ChateauP. Walking boots. Dancing in wellies sucks.

53:53Jessi Dancing in wellies does suck. I agree with that.

54:08Miguel So, Jessi, I think we did it. We missed Rob, but we managed to have a conversation and cover all the aspects of arriving to Glastonbury and what happens when you're there and what to do on Wednesday.

54:18Jessi Yeah, I think we covered everything. We got some really good snippets from Rob and we got some really good contributions from you guys, the listeners. Thanks again for that. And yeah, so arrivals all done.

54:29Miguel All done. But if you have any questions, you can always contact us through the website, on Twitter. We're gonna do our best to help.

54:35Jessi And don't forget Instagram and Facebook too. We have our suite of socials. So anyway, whatever suits you best, get in contact with us and we might add your story to a future episode. Uh, or we'll be starting to use Instagram stories like a lot more. So we're hoping to really start getting some feedback from you guys and then, uh, reading that out on our Instagram story.

54:54Miguel We can't wait to be back with episode 5, where we're going to discuss where to camp, and then we're going to have the full, full GlastoCast team for that one.

55:01Jessi Yeah, we'll be back. There'll be 3 of us. Rob will be back with us. And yeah, I think where to camp is such a big question. I know, apart from what to pack, that's another thing that everybody always asks me is, wait, where, where exactly do you— on this huge site, where do you camp?

55:13Miguel So thanks again everyone for listening, and we'll see you soon on episode 5.