PopEx ≫ 2003 ≫ Glastonbury Checklist

Help me, what have I forgotten..? Also OOH, new feature!

Saw REM last night at Brixton Academy and it's put me right in the mood for Glastonbury, here are the things I have packed so far 1, please help, what have I forgot?

Also, OOH, new feature - if you just got a mail saying "Darkness tickets!" then you are aware already that the old popex "gig mail" is back in action... before it used to mail once a week with listings for your fave bands... now it emails you when those tickets go on sale, so you should get SHARP notice. Make sure your profile is up to date!

UPDATE: Revisiting this post some seven years later. Glastonbury 2010 is on, we're watching it from the comfort of the sofa, but one day we will go again. To help me then, and to help you if you stumble across this Glastonbury Checklist (and I know some of you are) I will try and provide more detail, what to take to Glastonbury, what not to take to Glastonbury and how to get the most out of it while you're there.

Having to think about whether or not I'd prioritise my Glastonbury checklist as above these days. Ticket is an obvious one, though it's all different now. Won't be too long surely before they do some kind of retina scan on the gate and you won't need a physical ticket. When you have exchanged your ticket for a wristband, do remember to keep the wristband on long after the festival is over, as then you will look WELL COOL.

Train ticket: Getting the train down to Castle Cary station is all part of the fun I think. You might want to reserve seats for the way there, it may even be compulsory on that line. On the way back you have no chance, you will just have to perch where you can with the rest of the filthy masses. Make the most of the toilets on the way there, wash your hands even, just for the novelty of it. If there is toilet roll then pocket an extra few sheets (don't take the whole lot though). You can never have enough toilet paper at a festival.

Toilet roll and wet wipes: You don't want to be laden down with it, and an actual roll from home is not that convenient to carry around, but a few sheets of loo roll in every pocket at all times is the way. Mini "handy andies" type packs of tissues would be my recommendation, having them individually packed in cellophane like that is very handy for keeping them dry when it's a wet Glastonbury. I remember wet wipes from holidays as a child, in a big plastic bottle, but now we have a baby I think more in terms of the resealable soft plastic pack. Good for a wash, and wiping your hands before you eat. Not sure how hygenic that really is, but it'll make you feel better.

So far we're good, we're travelling very light indeed. You can fit these things in your shirt / trouser pockets, if you have plenty of cash then you can go.

More to add later.

UPDATE: Revisiting again seventeen years later 4 5, it's amazing now I did not mention hand sanitizer. It wasn't a very common thing there, but we've always had it on us since the children have been big enough to pick up their own food, and now since coronavirus no-one goes anywhere without a tube!

Glastonbury checklist, in order. Latest Glastonbury packing check-list version will always be here, but I will paste updates over time. Three checkboxes now for bought / own, primed / charged / ready to use, and finally packed

got 6 ok 7 bag 8 the thing
[x] booked time off
[x] [ ] [ ] ticket
[x] [ ] [ ] train coach ticket 9
[x] [x] [ ] tent 10
[x] [x] [ ] tracking tags for tent and other gear 11
[x] [ ] [ ] sleeping bag
[x] [ ] [ ] day bag 12
[x] [ ] [ ] pillow case 13
[x] [ ] [ ] minimal wash bag 14
[x] [ ] [ ] + toothpaste
[x] [ ] [ ] + toothbrush
[x] [ ] [ ] + deodorant
[x] [ ] [ ] + lip balm
[x] [ ] [ ] + sun cream
[x] [ ] [ ] + earplugs
[x] [ ] [ ] + hay fever and other meds
[x] [ ] [ ] + travel towel
[x] [ ] [ ] + tissue packs 15
[x] [ ] [ ] + hand sanitiser
[x] [ ] [ ] clothing arts shorts
[x] [x] [ ] 1995 Glastonbury t-shirt
[x] [x] [ ] travelling socks 16
[x] [ ] [ ] snack bars 17
[x] [ ] [ ] spare pants
[x] [ ] [ ] spare t-shirt 18
[x] [ ] [ ] spare socks 19
[x] [ ] [ ] outer layer (shirt type job)
[x] [ ] [ ] shell layer (waterproof)
[x] [ ] [ ] battery pack 20
[x] [ ] [ ] spare battery packs 21
[x] [ ] [ ] phone
[x] [ ] [ ] watch
[x] [ ] [ ] watch charging lead
[x] [ ] [ ] torch 22
[x] [ ] [ ] headphones 23
[x] [ ] [ ] water, collapsible in water bottle
[x] [ ] [ ] running gear 24
[x] [ ] [ ] collapsible chair 25

Things that are now moving down to the "unlikely to take" list:

got ok bag the thing
[ ] [ ] [ ] waterproof bag 26
[ ] [ ] [ ] spare phone? I don't have a spare phone.
[x] [ ] [ ] solar charger? Deciding extra battery packs might be a better use of the weight.
[x] [ ] [ ] tifoon 27
[ ] [ ] [ ] pen torch 28
[ ] [ ] [ ] pocket knife 29

Based on my travel checklist and hostel checklist.

Things I am leaving off the list for now that I had taken previously:

  1. I have a new checklist now, it will be kept up to date, but you might have to find "misc" on this page and navigate your way from there... or click on Glastonbury and find a post from 2024.
  2. Think this must have been a trendy new way to take ibuprofen at the time, where you didn't need water. Why on earth was I advocating this when you need water anyway, and Nurofen is a very very expensive way of buying ibuprofen?
  3. Removed old pac-safe.com link here.
  4. And revisiting this a nice round TWENTY YEARS LATER, when I add updates to blog posts after the event now I add them as footnotes like this. I'd love to go to Glastonbury again but it's hard to get tickets. Instead I get my kicks by planning my packing for Center Parcs instead.
  5. And now twenty two years later in 2025 I am going to Glastonbury again! And I have a packing list on http://www.clarkeology.com/misc/travel/glastonbury-packing-list/ and I might just embed it here...
  6. "got" means I have bought it / done it.
  7. "ok" means it is charged, primed, ready.
  8. "bag" means actually packed, ready to go out the door...
  9. For 2025 I have booked a return coach from Stratford.
  10. Yeah went without this one year... found in the loft, not unpacked and investigated yet... is it a bit old school? Do I need a tent peg hammer??
  11. Pleased with this, stop losing my stuff, but also find my way back to the tent! I have bought four more Chipolo tags, which can be tracked with Google Find My Device.
  12. Tote bag? Small backpack? Bum bag? To carry round the site in the day.
  13. For stuffing clothes in and using as a pillow.
  14. Not a lot of washing going on, but already this is not looking that minimal.
  15. Wet wipes possibly, very controversial.
  16. My favourite Patagonia travelling socks, assuming I'll be in them for the whole event! I had to darn them, like it's war time. Other advice is "take more socks than you think" though.
  17. Don't want to take all my own food and drink with me, but just light stuff to see me through between burger vans.
  18. I have two Glastonbury 1995 t-shirts! And a Senseless things one! I might take them all!
  19. Only really in case the originals get wet.
  20. Got a new one with built in USBC lead now.
  21. Going to need to take two or more to be safe I think.
  22. No pen torch now, so maybe, head torch too?.
  23. Good for the long journey there.
  24. There is a Shepton Mallet parkrun! Can I do it? There's an on site run too.
  25. In the 2024 list I thought too heavy, but a) I had it on my list from twenty years ago and b) are they lighter now? Clare talked me into this, a new collapsible stool is coming.
  26. This is something I found on an old reminder list! Keep stuff dry! Weather dependent.
  27. Titanium fork / spoon. OK spork if you prefer.
  28. ARGH I HAVE LOST IT! Get a new one? I am surviving and I think they say NO LASER POINTERS.
  29. Probably can't take my penknife. There will be no bottles to open or anything, though this would normally be essential for camping.

💬 Glastonbury

⬅️ :: ➡️

The content here originally from my very popular (in the tail end of the '90s) site popex.com. Some of this contributed by other people, so mostly editorial originally created by me. I shifted this content here when popex eventually shut down in the early '00s. Hopefully this ignites memories (if you find it).