Glastonbury 2016!

Hello!

Starting my first post with a bang! I worked at the Glastonbury festival this year over the summer. For those of you who don't know this is one of the biggest festivals in the UK with act such as Adele E.L.O and many more coming to Worthy farm in Somerset to play to crowds of hundreds of people!

My main reason for being there was to work. My job title was that of a stewart which is a fancy name for person that stands and gives information about the festival and where to go. My shifts were 12 hours every day for 6 days (22-27 of June )My role was to  give people information about where to park, which gate to go through etc. I even had a night where I sat outside someone's house just watching to make sure no drunken bums tried to get in. The shifts were very tiring and even worse I had the graveyard shifts which were 8pm-8am so it was very hard to stay awake. We did have meals included (3 meals a day) which was very good! However, later on they said that these meals were deducted out of our pay. Over all the working experience was alright apart from the fact that information could get "transmitted" wrong and people didn't know what they were doing or were told off for doing something they thought they were supposed to be doing. The staff were friendly and the atmosphere was bubbly. We even got to camp like they do in the festival but  with our own toilets and warm showers

How did I get this job? A representative of the company i was working for came to my University and offered my class the job.

Now on to the exciting part.. The free ticket into the festival! This made the horribly long 12 hour shifts worth it all in the end as this is the most fun i've had in a long time and might I add my first ever festival!

Tuesday  afternoon/night

This day was filled with constant waiting as I got off the train at Bristol Temple Meads to find that I had to wait an hour for the van to come and pick me up along with the other girls I was with. When the van finally came we were greeted to 7 hours stuck in traffic on a journey that usually took 50 minutes. This mega traffic jam was due to all of the people trying to park up and enter the festival. Once we finally got there we trudged through the mud to pitch up our tents in a small square specifically for the University of Chester students. This was one of the funniest parts watching people struggling to put up their tents and attempt not to get mud in the clean tents (by the end of the week this was inevitable). We then all gathered to eat and drink and socialise till it got too late and we all went to have our first night in the tents.

Wednesday

Was a nerve racking start for me as I didn't know anyone who I was with but then it eased off as I got to know a lot of people and found a group of friends to go to the festival with. We just stayed around camp discussing the shows we wanted to see and the when it hit 8pm we started our very first 12 hour shift through the night! Which may I add was the hardest one as none of us had slept for nearly as long as we should have.

Thursday

There wasn't really much going on so myself and a group of friends (who were also on the night shifts) went out to explore the festival and we walked around the Pyramid stage and the Other stage while trudging through the mud. We then made our way back to camp to catch the shuttle to Tesco (iI had to sit on the floor) to get a few more supplies before our second shift began.

Friday

We all got back to camp at around 9am from our posts, grabbed breakfast and made our way back to our tents for a quick 4 hour sleep. We woke at about 12-1 pm to get ready and have our very first day in the festival as this was the day where the best acts started playing. We just caught the end of Skepta at the Pyramid stage which wasn't really my thing so I just enjoyed the atmosphere. We then made our way up to the front of the Pyramid stage crowd to see Two Door Cinema Club which was probably one of my favorite bands to see as I sang and danced to a all the songs with everyone else in the mud and the rain, but no one seemed to care they were to busy enjoying the live music. We then made our way to the Other stage to find that we got very good places to stand to enjoy The Lumineers  which again failed to disappoint as they had brought the sun with them and successfully I dried off. After they had finished we made our way back to camp to get ready for our shifts and have dinner.

Saturday

We came back from our shifts more tired than before as we had not gotten near enough sleep over the last couple of days. We decided that there wasn't anyone we wanted to see on Saturday and claimed it as our “rest day”. Most of us slept through the day as others including myself woke at about 2-3 and enjoyed a cider and a packed lunch in a circle of camp chairs with all the other campers.  As the others arose we then had dinner together. To then see that the other morning shift workers had finished their shifts and were buzzing about going to see Adele which I was very jealous of! However it turned out that I was placed in an area where I could hear her loud and clear and sang along getting judging looks from passer byers but I didn't care. So I enjoyed this shift a lot more than the rest.

Sunday

After our shifts had finished and we made our way from breakfast sheepishly we retired for a couple of hours and then woke up at around 12-1 again to enjoy one last day in the festival. This time we split up as me and another girl wanted to see the famous Glastonbury sign where we took many selfies! We then made our way to the Other stage to see Jamie Lawson and Years and Years who put on one of the best shows! And for one final night we made our way back to camp. Started our shift and in the morning I ran into trouble. Basically it was a big miscommunication on the company's part as I stated that I needed to catch a train to go to London to get ready for my early flight the next day. The woman in charge promised that she would pick me up early around 4-6 am to take me to the station so I can catch the first train out and make it in time to get everything ready. However, it didn't go to pan as the woman kept saying that she'll get me later and later; I just gave up and stood down from my position to go back to camp and pack and go to the train station myself only to have heard that i missed both trains and had to buy another ticket (as for you train travelers you know how expensive these can be). It was all going so well till then but I finally made a train and everyone on it (still covered in mud) slept the whole way back.

Overall it was a great experience and I would consider doing it again. If any of you are interested contact me on my social platforms and I will pass on the information that you need to sign up.

Beth