Today I have a Glastonbury come down and I wasn’t even there! So here I attempt to tell you how it was the year we took Alastair.
I will keep it brief and if I’m being honest it’s probably not going to be very factual either as I’ve had a few sleeps since 2014 but here goes…
Adam and I had been so so lucky to attend the two years previous without Alastair. I remember even less about those two years, theres letting your hair down and then theres….well yeah, anyway, this allowed us to know the lay of the land before we attempted the festival with a wheelchair in tow.
and I was never gonna eat that pizza!
Anyway, Alastair was 12 at the time so his ticket was free (if we were to do this agin we would apply for one of their complimentary carers passes). After we booked we applied for a disability camping pass that was super painless.
On arrival we had disability parking and a shuttle to the disability field (Spring Field) situated just behind the Pyramid and John Peel stage. As we got there we learnt that we could have actually driven to drop off our things at the pitch which we will definitely use next time (the wheelchair coach couldn’t transport Alastair in his large all-terrain wheelchair easily)
Spring Field offers a ‘tent putter-upper’ service (which we didn’t need) hot showers, charging points for wheelchairs and other equipment, a medication fridge, changing spaces and free tea and coffee! The staff and volunteers made sure there was enough space between tents for accessibility.
As soon as we set up, our plan is always to meet friends by the cider bus. Day 1 was warm, very warm, idyllic. Alastair was out of his wheelchair and making new friends.
If you have been to Glastonbury you will know how iconic the stone circle is on the Wednesday night (many staying until sunrise for the awakening but we didn’t make that for obvious reasons) This is the highest point of the festival so decided to take Alastair up there while we still had the energy, and well, BUCKET LIST.
AND THEN THE RAIN CAME! I’d like to say it never stopped but it did, a bit, but that ground never recovers with tens of thousand people walking over it, the rest of the festival was tricky to say the least.
We ended up with 11 people under this umbrella at one point!
What we did was pick a stage we knew we would enjoy quite a few hours at, moving was difficult. The disability platforms were central. The rules were 1 disability pass: 1 carer which I was nervous about being a family of 3 but all the staff we came across let all 3 of us on.
I remember wanting to get super close to see Blondie play on the Friday morning (Debbie Harry tho!) Balls to the platform I wanted to smell her so we got there super early. The gig was so so worth it but when you turn around at the end and 20,000 people are stood behind you getting out is tricky. BUT Glastonbury people are ace and a team of young guys pulled, pushed and moved people out of the way so we got where we needed to be!
Saturday saw us visit Left Field and the John Peel tents. I remember Wild Beats playing their first few notes of their first track and Alastair turned round to us in disbelief as if to say “Oh my days, we listen to these at home and they are actually here!” He was certainly star stuck.
On the Sunday we took advantage of the free shuttle bus offered to Spring Field campers and let it take us to the far end of the festival Shangri La, Block 9 and The Unfair Ground (very) slowly walking back. Through Green Futures, Arcadia and The Park.
Sticky Stuff!
The last thing we saw that Sunday night, as the sun was setting was Massive Attack. I still have goose pimples to this day every time I think about it. Alastair was on our shoulders and it was one of the most life affirming moments I’ve ever had!
So yeah, Glastonbury with a wheelchair, totally doable, totally amazing! I’ll be doing everything in my power to get us back to Worth Farm in 2020!!
Smiling and Waving 