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, 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 later3, 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 2003

⬅️ :: ➡️

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).