DROP AND COLLECT POINT
For those being dropped off at the festival we have set up a 24 hour Drop and Collect service with a 24/7 bus service that runs to and from the Festival continuously.
Dropping off on local roads will leave you with a long dangerous walk to get to the car parks and then a longer walk to get to the gates. Not only that but working out where to be picked up is even harder leaving you waiting on a dangerous road side whilst your lift tries to negotiate all the road closures put in place to assist the exiting traffic.
Be sensible: get dropped off at the Drop and Collect point, catch the bus to Pedestrian Gate A where you will get quicker access to the site. Less walking and safer and much quicker.
The drop and collect will be open for the public from 12.01am on Wed onwards and remains open until 1800 hours on Monday eve.
The drop and collect is located to the east of the site. Head towards Evercreech on the A371 and follow the signs for Drop and Collect or DC. Plan a route that keeps you away from the immediate area of the Festival as the A361 is closed for through traffic on the Monday after the festival between Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet.
A few more miles moving is better than sitting in a queue!
Those that have used the Drop and collect in the past have found the service to be excellent. There are serviced brick built toilets and a burger van for those who need a bite to eat.
NATIONAL EXPRESS COACHES
Coaches are one of the best – and greenest – ways to get to Glastonbury. Glasto's official coach travel partner, National Express, will once again be running services from over 75 locations direct to the Festival’s own on-site coach station right by the Festival gates.
Of course an added bonus of travelling with National Express Coaches is that your journey is better for the environment. You generate at least FIVE TIMES less CO2 emissions going by coach, than driving in a car alone to the festival.
Here are five top reasons to get the Coach
1. It’s direct – you’ll get dropped off and picked up from the Festival site.
2. You won’t have to listen to the sat nav or try reading an upside map whilst driving.
3. You’ll be tired – after a weekend of late nights, you can let someone else do the driving.
4. The fun can begin as soon as you get on the coach – it will be full of your fellow Festival-goers.
5. It’s greener – everyone on a coach instead of separate cars means less of an impact on the environment.
The best railway station to reach the Festival is Castle Cary
For train times, information and tickets visit GWR.com/Glastonbury
Please book early to get the best available prices and if using a Railcard do not forget to bring it with you along with your ticket.
TRAVEL BY TRAIN
Bus from Castle Cary train station
There’s a free shuttle bus for Festival ticket holders running between Castle Cary Station and the Festival Bus Station throughout the Festival. The bus station is next to Pedestrian Gate A. The shuttle operates from Wednesday to Monday (there is no service during the night when trains aren’t running). Remember you will need your Festival ticket to use the bus service to the site.
On Sunday and Monday, a bus service will run from the Festival Bus Station, next to Pedestrian Gate A, to Bristol Temple Meads railway station. Fare £15 (single).
NB: Please note that all the buses returning to the station (Castle Cary and Bristol Temple Meads) on Sunday and Monday are timetabled to arrive at the station for the last train. Don’t travel to the station outside these times as you will have to wait in the car park without any facilities. It is better to wait in the Bus park where there is shelter and food and drink and get the first bus in the morning.
Unfortunately it will not be possible to park at Castle Cary station during the Festival and there are no left luggage facilities at the station.
Although extra rail services will be running to Castle Cary station, queuing for trains is still likely. However, when leaving the Festival, trains on Sunday afternoon and in the early hours of Monday morning tend to be less crowded.
Make sure you allow plenty of time to…
• Pick up your kit from the property lock up near gate A (if you’re leaving any there during the day)
• Get onto the bus and load luggage
• Travel to the station
For those leaving on a Monday make sure you do not arrive too early if you have Saver Tickets or you will be asked to pay the additional fares or have to travel back to the Festival to wait for the appropriate train.
There are also regular trains from Bristol Temple Meads to Castle Cary, sometimes you may have to change at Westbury, and the journey takes around 70 minutes.
All aboard!
TRAVEL BY CAR
Driving to the Festival? Have you considered sharing your petrol costs by car sharing?
As of 17 June, car park passes are no longer available in advance. Car parking can be paid for on the gates to all public car parks, for £40 (cash only).
DIRECTIONS
• From London: M3 then A303 and A37. (Sat Nav TA11 7DP).
• From the North East: A1 or M1, M25 to M3 (Junction 12), then A303 and A37. (Sat Nav TA11 7DP)
• From the Midlands: Preferably M40 and A34 to A303 and A37. (Sat Nav TA11 7DP)
• From the North West: M6, M5 to A39 (Junction 23) then A361. (Sat Nav BA6 9XE)
• From Wales: M4, M5 to A39 (as above) (Sat Nav BA6 9XE)
• For more local traffic using the A37 North or A361 East (Sat Nav BA4 4LY)
PLEASE NOTE – your satnav will not get you all the way to the Festival site. Please follow the Festival signs as soon as you see those.
It is important that you approach the site on the side that you want to park. Using local roads to get to the opposite side of the site causes delays so use main roads that are well away from the site. A few extra miles travelled further away can save hours in queues near to the site. Always follow the directional signs, variable message signs and park where directed by staff.
Also please note that those who parked on the east side of the site in 2013 had the shortest queues at the pedestrian gates and the shortest queues getting out on Monday.
ARRIVING/PARKING
Car parks will open at 9pm on the Tuesday night before Glastonbury 2016, allowing Festival-goers to arrive throughout the night, when traffic volumes are low. There will, however, be no entertainment or facilities in the car parks and Festival-goers will be expected to remain in their cars until the Festival gates open at 8am on Wednesday morning. Most people choose to eat locally or en route and then arrive in the early hours.
There are four main entrances for cars, depending upon where you are coming from. Follow the P signs to get to the nearest available parking spaces. Sometimes parking staff have to fill some of the car parks further from the site before some that are closer. This is done to keep traffic moving on the public highways and keep us at peak parking capabilities for as long as possible. It is random, dependent upon the traffic on the highway at that time so you cannot plan to park in a particular parking field.
If you have a choice, use the Blue Route (approach from the A303, then the A37), where there is more parking space and less of a queue to get in and out of the site.
Anyone heading for the family campsite by the Acoustic field should take the Purple Route into the Festival (this is signed off the A37, follow the purple patches on the road signs).
The worst time to arrive by car is between 7am and 2pm on Wednesday. In 2010 at peak times, the A39 queue to get into car parks took several hours, while it took less than an hour for those travelling on the A37.
WHERE YOU PARK
Most people want to park as near as possible to the pedestrian entrances (because they feel they have a lot to carry, or are old, or young, or pregnant, or ill, or just tired). Unfortunately it can’t work like that. The choice you make is which side of the site to approach from, and after that it depends which field the stewards are filling at that time. It’s really down to luck, whereabouts in the car park you end up.
CHECK WHERE YOU ARE PARKED BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE CAR PARK
Use the cards provided by the AA to note the route colour and car park number. Trying to find a car amongst the thousands parked can be a nightmare. Look for the flag with the car park number and remember the position in the field. Some of the car parks are over half a kilometer from site so be prepared to carry your kit a fair distance both in the car parks and on site.
LEAVING AND RETURNING TO THE CAR PARK DURING THE FESTIVAL
It is possible to leave the car park and return during the Festival. The cars are parked in rows with decent turning space in between the rows and the car pass works each time you enter. Most likely you will be parked in a different place on your return, though.
LEAVING THE FESTIVAL
The worst times to leave by car are on Monday between 8am and 5pm when there can be long delays of up to 9 hours to leave the car parks. Beat the queues by leaving between 1am and 7am on Monday morning – if you can get up! The Festival is doing everything possible to reduce queuing but there is only so much capacity on the roads. If you need to be anywhere on Monday leave early – and have plenty of water and food as you will queue.
When leaving the festival please be aware that journey times on the A39 back to the M5 can be a couple of hours and on the A37 to Bristol can be up to 4 hours. Over the past few years the best route for exit has been south on the A37 to the A303 and then east to the A34 for the Midlands and North or onto the M3 for London. Also consider using the A361 towards Frome and then the A350 towards Swindon to get to the M4 from there pick up routes to the Midlands North and East.
The festival traffic plan will direct vehicles from each parking area in different directions to reduce the volume on each route.
The Festival licence runs until 5.00pm on Monday and we are expected to have cleared the car parks by that time, if possible. From 5.00pm traders and contractors start leaving the site and all the roads are clogged. We would not have security on the car parks after 5.00pm – so please plan your exit before then.
Make sure you are OK to drive. Drug driving is not a safe trip. When did you last have a drink? You see more police around the site than you do for the rest of the year. Do not risk it! Wait until you are OK – you know it makes sense.
BREAKDOWN
If you arrive on site, and your car needs attention, get it sorted asap so it will be ready when you need to leave. On Monday all recovery services are very busy. A locksmith is situated by Yellow Gate if you lose your keys or lock them in your car.
For AA Service at Glastonbury, ring their dedicated Festival hotline on 0800 072 3642. Special rates apply for non-members who wish to join and receive immediate service. Also, AA staff will be in East 12 off Blue Route and at Bronze Gate in West 32 throughout the week, and the AA’s dedicated Key Assist vehicles will be on site from Saturday.
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
People with mobility difficulties should follow the signs to Yellow Gate, off the A361, near the Red (Main) Gate. It would help if you display an orange or blue disabled sticker. Be aware that the Festival site is a hilly farm with rough tracks, harder than most environments. If you have further enquiries regarding disabled access and transport please refer to the Disabled information.
CARS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
CO2 is the main cause of climate change and arguably the single biggest pollution threat that humankind faces today. Road transport accounts for around 25% of Britain’s emissions. The least polluting cars emit around 100g of C02 per km, while the most polluting emit around 520g. Click here to find out how your car compares. The main ways to cut emissions are to drive less, reduce fuel use by choosing more fuel-efficient vehicles and by car-sharing wherever possible.
TRAFFIC NEWS
Check out the Festival website and Twitter account for the latest travel news. Once within range (about 10 miles) tune into Worthy FM on 87.7 FM – it’s good for traffic news both when you arrive and when you leave – and listen in to the morning show each day to find out what is happening on site.
