Glastonbury Blog

After a few rumours over the past few days, Glastonbury Festival announced that they would put a few more tickets on sale at 9am on Sunday morning. If you've been following my ticketing adventures since 1st April you will know that I (along with everyone else, I should add) have gone through hell, high water and emotional turmoil in an effort to purchase a small piece of paper allowing access to the site. Now I have a ticket - that's the good thing - but I will be trying to get a couple for my friends and this is why I can't relax.

It's all about the people you go with, after all...

Despite the fact that a large 400,000-volt power-line crosses the festival site, finding a plug to charge your mobile phone is unsurprisingly difficult. That’s why I normally go for the multi-battery option, packing five fully charged backups last time.

Trouble is, that clashes somewhat with the environmentally friendly message of Glastonbury Festival. Encouraging the production of yet more … <reads battery label> … lithium-ion does not help the health of Mother Earth. So this year I’m trying something new.

This is the Solio: a device that charges your mobile phone, iPod, PDA or “any handheld mobile device” (so they say) from the sun. It sounds like a fantastic idea – you charge up the internal battery in the day and then transfer the electricity into your phone.

I had hoped to review it in more detail. Unfortunately I’ve realised that the one I bought has got a rubbish internal battery that can’t even charge my phone once whereas it should be good for about one-and-a-half charges.

So this one is going back to the shop and I’ll let you know what the replacement is like.

Google Earth is clearly the undisputed king of online mapping software but it does lack a little when it comes to areas of rural England. My village in the countryside, for instance, is just a green blur as seen from a satellite.

Enter Microsoft's Virtual Earth. The level of detail for rural areas is much better though the the images themselves seem to be a fair bit older than Google Earth. You pays your money and takes your choice.

All of which is a rambling introduction to an aerial view of the festival site, as seen at a point other than during festival time:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=51.152553~-2.581894&style=h&lvl=15&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&encType=1

If you do have Google Earth, I also recommend finding the same place on the map and downloading one of the overlays that someone has created. They've put the festival itself on there and it looks very impressive.

According to the BBC, Glastonbury are going to provide free toilet paper to everyone at the Festival so we shouldn't take our own.

Hmmm...

This is a great idea with only two minor drawbacks:

1) I reckon it will take until at least the 3rd act on the Pyramid Stage before rolls upon rolls of the stuff is thrown through the air for decorative effect (and why not, pray tell?)
2) I've been 'caught short' before and can tell you, I'm not risking it again. A small but perfectly formed box of toilet paper will be going in my bag as backup. Just in case...

A friend sent me this picture, taken a few weeks ago, of the area overlooking the Pyramid Stage. It won't mean an awful lot if you don't normally camp there but you can see a tree stump there where once was a tree (obviously).

Sadly the tree isn't there any more - which is a shame as it used to provide morning shade on our tents. Unless you're the sort who goes to bed before dawn (and I'm not) you won't appreciate how this helps to prevent waking up too early in a stinking hot tent.

You have to hand it to the guys at the ticket agency. Any sort of attempt to discuss the transfer of tickets is met with a stony response and silence.

"Transferring tickets? No, sir."
"Girlfriend will dump you unless you swap tickets over? No, sir."
"You're donating your ticket to your friend who has a terminal illness and won't live to see another Glastonbury? No, sir."

Selflessness aside, I've still got my ticket. 6 weeks and a couple of days to go...