Glastonbury 2003 - The Debrief

United Kingdom | by John Bownas | 05 September 2003

Glastonbury 2003 - report summary

Now that Glastonbury 2003 is receding into fond memories for those lucky enough to have been able to secure tickets, Mendip District Council (MDC) has published its official report on the event, and the overall picture looks very good.

The previous year's event had also gone well, but a number of key areas of concern were highlighted before the 2003 license was granted, and it was a key task of organisers to address these. They included:-

· Pilton and other villages outside of the 2003 festival site

· Unofficial Car Parks

· Ticket Touts

· Environmental Issues

· Sanitary Facilities

· Crime and disorder

The granting of the license itself indicated that Mendip DC believed that the organisers had plans in place to deal with each of these items, and as anyone who went to the festival would testify, the experience of 2003 festival-goers (150,888 of them at the peak time on Saturday morning!) and local residents alike was enhanced due to the subsequent improvements that were made over previous years.

(Click on the above issues for more detailed reports on each of them)

The overall MDC report summary reads like this:-

· The event was very successful

· The Milestone Conditions were, one by one all satisfactorily met by the set deadlines.

· There were no significant breaches of the Licence Conditions. · MDC monitoring of the event was the most comprehensive and thorough ever.

· The Festival was thought by most to be the safest and best ever.

· The negative impact on local communities was significantly reduced.

· The multi-agency partnership working should be seen as an exemplar for major events such as this festival.

· Many aspects of the event demonstrate the site to have been at or very close to capacity.

A festival of this size and complexity can always be improved and this is no exception.

The current event management has responded very positively to suggestions previously made and has been hugely innovative of its own volition. The baseline of 2002 standards has been surpassed.

The achievements of 2003 should equally be built upon for any future event, taking the good as a baseline, modifying where appropriate and improving where possible.