A Rough Guide to Glastonbury (as i remember it...), from a newbie's perspective.
Expensive!!!
£1 for a can of fizzy stuff.
£2 for a chips.
£3 for a burger.
...and that's the cheap stalls!
Best to take some form of cooker and enough food to last you a few days before you have to dig deep. Food you can burn on a fire/BBQ (don't forget the ketchup), pot noodles, cereal bars, fruit, pasta and ready made sauces are ideal. But carrying enough food for 5 days along the arduous route from your car to camp might give you an early hernia!
A water container is essential, as comes in handy for washing as well as drinking, the collapsable-when-empty type are best to keep your load size down.
Bang on. The kids love it and so did I :)
I have yet to be in such a friendly, colourful, adventure packed place for children. Didn't hear one screaming child, unless it was screams of laughter.
Forget the map and don't expect to find that shop you saw yesterday in the spare 5 minutes before that band u want to catch. Best to wait until the Sunday to start finding bargains but prices a hell of a lot better than the food stalls.
There's TONS, it's 24/7, if you can't find something you like then your faaaaaaarrrr too wasted. Even the market traders are pumping it out!
The best bit was in between their songs... i could then hear the Chemical Brothers giving-it-some on the Other stage ;)
It's awesome and all that but i reckon they could really use that system to better effect, sound quality is good but i've heard big rigs make me "feel it" a lot better.
The video screens being in sync with the sound would be nice ;)
Respect to the grass (well the grass that's still there) because it takes one hell of a beating from festival goers and the weather alike, yet survives well (no comment on the swamp at the front, lol).
If your there for the full 5 days then you have to catch some Z's at some point! Even all you insomniacs on go-faster-powder will find it damn near impossible to remain awake when you have to traverse slippery muddy conditions and crowds bigger than a London rush hour!
Personally i didn't need ear plugs (the music is loud and 24/7 don't forget) to get to sleep/die but something over your eyes helps in the daytime ;)
Make sure yours is 100% waterproof and you can securely secure it to the ground as it is going to get a kicking, quite literally.
Just enough room to sleep is fine as long as you don't want to be able to keep it clean and dry, having a spare area to get out of your wet weather gear and store/dry it is very very handy.
The soil is easy to mount tent pegs in, not too many stones to get in the way generally, but if your going to camp close to the action then prepare to be nylon to nylon with your neighbours!
Check your guide-ropes when the sun comes up, there's a lot of us trying to commit suicide over them when it's dark ;)
Deep breathe before entering.
Where's the hooks?
The chemical flush smells worse than what it's trying to clean away!
Make an informed choice... you don't need to use the one that has a monument to the Pyramid stage in the pan! The closer they are to the road the more they get used, that row you need to double back on is usually far healthier.
When the Glastonbury guide tells you the weather system is very changeable, BELIEVE THEM!!!
It went from burning-skin-hot to black-sky-sideways-rain in 5 minutes flat. Take the hiking wear you wouldn't be seen dead in and your sun bathing kit!