The Time I Lost 2 Tents At Glastonbury

The Time I Lost 2 Tents At Glastonbury. I was almost in tears. Not from sadness or happiness but from sheer exhaustion. The sun was beating down on me, it was relentless. There was no shade.

People all around me were setting up their tents. I was panicking because I had to set up two tents, one for me and one for my mates and I was worried there would be no room. The trouble was I couldn’t remember where I put them!

This was at Glastonbury 2010, the 40th anniversary year. It was only my second Glastonbury and just like my first Glasto, I had come unprepared.

Funny enough the seeds of this very website probably began that fateful Wednesday morning. Unlike my first Glastonbury, this time I had way too much stuff, and an extra tent to carry. When I say carry, I mean carry.

I looked on in envy at Glasto veterans as they passed me with their sturdy trolleys. It all looked so effortless for them.

As we entered Gate C (we were heading to Gate B, but there was a false rumour that they had closed Gate B!) the weight of all the things we were carrying was becoming too much.

Sweat was pouring into my eyes and my arms were killing me. Did I really need so many clothes? Why did we bring so many drink mixers? We can drink the rum neat. All of these thoughts were going through my head and many unprintable ones!

Maybe my first Glasto was a fluke and I got this terribly wrong? Maybe Glastonbury isn’t for me? I am sure many first-timers have had these thoughts on the opening morning of Glastonbury.

Something had to give. I stopped and dropped all my gear and told Karen to wait with all the stuff except the two tents. I would then take the two tents to a free space and drop them there.

So I headed up the Big Ground and found a space for the two tents. Well, I presumed the space was big enough. I had no idea how big my friend’s tent really was. They gave me rough dimensions.

There were a group of lads who had set up and were enjoying the first of their ciders. In typical Glasto fashion, they promised to look after the space for me while I went back to get Karen and the rest of the gear. I hadn’t set up the tents cause I didn’t want to leave Karen alone for too long.

Do you think I could find Karen? Of course not. It took me ages! It is funny, now I know almost every blade of grass at Glastonbury but then I had no idea where things were. Eventually, I did find her but time was ticking away and I wanted to go out and play. We were both already exhausted and we had 5 more days to go!

So we set off to where I put the tents. Except I couldn’t find them. We walked up and down the pathways of the Big Ground and they weren’t there. I was sure I left them near one of the paths.

Maybe those lads took them! (Sorry boys!). God damn it. I am going to have to buy two tents on site and then call my mate to explain to him that I have lost his tent. He will probably tell me that it was a family heirloom and his grandad used it in World War 2.

This was when the tears almost came. We tried one more route which I was sure we tried before and then we would go off and buy some new tents. We walked and walked and just when we were about to turn around, I saw the lads I had spoken to earlier.

Sitting right there next to them were the 2 tents and the space to put them up. We just about managed to squeeze them into the space. (See the photo above, that is somebody else’s tent inside ours). Then we headed for a much-needed cider down at The Cider Bus.

Needless to say that we had a brilliant time at Glastonbury 2010. It was a classic. Michael Eavis singing with Stevie Wonder. Faithless smashing it. (One of my top 5 ever Glasto performances). Hot sunny days.

That famous Glastonbury spirit that is so hard to put into words. It was my mate’s first Glastonbury and seeing his face as we went around the site made it all worthwhile.

I vowed to learn my lessons though and not to be in that situation again. Here is what I learnt:

• If you are going to Glastonbury by car, having a good trolley makes things so much easier. We have had the same trolley for 8 Glastos and countless other festivals now. She is part of the family! Not carrying anything makes the queue a lot more pleasant.
• Less is more. We only take what we really need now to Glastonbury. Every year I pride myself on having less stuff with me.
• However, what we do take makes life that little bit easier. Now that I am in my late 40s I need some comfort! So we have a big tent. Being able to stand up in a tent after a few too many ciders helps a lot! We go camping a lot so our tent is in use a lot during the summer.
• We are part of the chair w****r brigade I am afraid and I have no shame in saying it. We use them by the tent in the mornings and take them out till early evening. Having a chair is especially handy if it is a muddy Glastonbury.
• Take good walking boots. When you are walking 35,000 steps a day you will need them!
• If you are coming by car, use the car park that is close to where you want to camp. It sounds obvious but if you don’t know the size of Glastonbury you might not think this is an issue. It is! If you park on the wrong side of the festival it could mean you have an extra hour of walking through the festival site. That will not be easy believe me.

So that is the tale of the lost tents of Glastonbury. If you have any Glasto stories you would like to share with the world, please send them to [email protected]

Thank you to all the people who have answered my questions too! If you would like to take part please send your answers to the questions below to the e-mail address above. (If that makes sense!)

1) When was your first Glastonbury and what were your first impressions?

2) What makes Glastonbury so unique?

3) Can you tell me some of your favourite Glastonbury stories, either involving you or a memorable story you have heard?

4) What one tip would you give to Glasto newbies?

Here is my Glastonbury Packing List to help you decide on what to take and not what to take: What to take to Glastonbury

See you on the farm!