Neither Stuart nor I have ever been to the Glastonbury Festival before and after much deliberation and encouragement from our many mates who go every year we decided to register and try to join them for the 2019 event. They could show us around. Show us the ropes. Break the seal for these two Glasto-virgins.
Inevitably, we asked those same mates for advice about applying. We had heard is can be a nightmare. And they all said the same thing; be prepared, get organised, and get a group of others so you all apply at the same time. It will better your chances. As it happened my brother and my sister had decided to register too so we thought it might be good idea to form a little syndicate of four for applying for tickets.
Initially we had all tried for the coach ticket combo last Thursday at 6pm, but without success. Our second bite of the Glasto cherry was yesterday at 9am when most tickets went on sale. And what a frustrating experience it was! 9am came around but the mad, phenomenal rush saw the See Tickets portal site seeming crash (although they claim this was not the case.) We tried and tried and tried. F5. F5. F5. Errors. Queues. Time-outs.
Then, all of a sudden, we were in. Nothing magic really. A few other browser tabs open and a few other URL numbers changed to see if there were any other queues to join. But in the end if was our main web browser that offered up the booking form. Lead booker plus five other registrations. We had six minutes to complete the whole process. Six minutes to put all of our numbers in. Six minutes to pay. Six minutes or get kicked out. Go!
We very, very carefully typed in all four registration numbers by hand. And postcodes. And read them back out loud. Good. Four minutes left.
"Please check carefully as errors cannot be corrected and you may need to start again" Gulp! We checked the numbers once again. And the site confirmed the names. All correct. Good.
We then gingerly proceeded to the next screen, the payment screen and put in my card details. Three minutes left.
This then threw up an error! What!? "Card not valid. We do not accept Amex. Please start again." Yikes! Luckily, they gave us a second chance to try with another card.
Another card!
Desperate dash to bedside table to find my other credit card. Stuff flying everywhere. Two minutes left.
Type in new card number.
Hit "Pay Now."
Wrong security code!
Argh!
Retype code.
Recheck long card number again.
Numbers dance in front of eyes.
One minute left. Quick! "Pay Now."
"Processing..."
"....."
"....."
"Processing..."
"......"
"....."
"Is it working?..."
"....."
"....."
"Is it? Hit F5! Refresh"
"....."
"No! Don't! Wait!"
"....."
"Processing..."
"....."
"....."
"....."
"Booking Complete"
Phew!
New web page. "Congratulations. You are now going to the largest green-field music and performing arts festival in the world. You will receive an email shortly confirming your booking. Your card has not yet been charged. If your card payment is declined or you do not have enough funds to cover the payment your booking will be cancelled."
We were then directed to a temporary web page. "Due to high demand..." etc.
We had paid a £50 deposit each towards the full £248 plus a booking fee for a standard ticket at the event.
Moments later the web page refreshed again "Tickets have now sold out!"
And sure enough Glasto organiser Emily Eavis had just tweeted at 9:36am. "We are blown away by the huge demand, looks like record numbers tried.
"Thank you for your patience and incredible support and for those of you who missed out, there will be a ticket resale in April"
Our joy was soon tempered however as we discovered none of our mates had been successful in their applications. None. We knew dozens upon dozens who had tried but not a single one had been successful. Bollocks!
I am sure we'll have a good time and all that but how much more fun it would have been for us (and for them!) if we could have all gone together.
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