I feel that using the word Glastonbudget to explain the interesting festival sights I saw needs to be a thing. Why are a group of bananas dancing to Gwen Stefani whilst a group of princesses riding unicorns sing along? Glastonbudget. Why did a ball fly across the stage within inches of Vicky Jackson? Glastonbudget. Why did I think Roxxi Red were a Roxette tribute only to find 4 rocker men, one of whom removed his t-shirt during his set? Glaston-fucking-budget that’s why!

For those of you who didn’t see the stories on the My Melton Instagram this weekend, I feel now is a good time to tell you that I have just returned from Glastonbudget. An annual music festival that takes place in the local village of Wymeswold at the end of May/start of June. Dubbed “the world’s best tribute festival”, this event promised a whole weekend of entertainment including some of the best tribute acts in the world and a variety of unsigned artists. The festival has 4 stages that are open to all guests and an additional stage that is exclusive to guests with a VIP pass (see the VIP section for more information about that stage).

I was lucky enough to get a press pass for myself and Lee which basically allowed us to visit everywhere apart from backstage so we got a proper feel for most of the festival. So this blog post is designed to explain the areas in more detail and answer some of your burning questions.

1. The Acts I saw

We spent two days at the festival. Saturday and Sunday, due to Lee working on Friday. During those 2 days/nights, we saw acts from all 4 of the stages open to everyone. These stages are:

1. The Main Stage. The biggest stage of the festival, expect videos in the background and some of your bigger tribute acts.
2. The Big Top. This is another big stage and also the location of the nightly silent disco. This tends to be where the other batch of larger tribute acts are based.
3. The LoCo stage. This is a tent which hosts a variety of original artists and provides a less crowded experience at night compared to The Main Stage and Big Top.
4. The IcOn stage. This is smaller outdoor stage that, in my humble opinion, can be slept on by festival goers that don’t know it’s a thing.

A general rule of thumb when it comes to crowds as a whole is that they tend to pick up between 2-3pm when the “mid-card” acts perform. Now I invert the “mid-card” because the mid-card acts we saw were bloody fantastic. On Saturday, we saw Forever 80s, at The Big Top, which put together a production that could’ve easily been mistaken as the headline act. Add iconic 80s songs into the equation and you’ve suddenly got hundreds of people going ham to Bon Jovi.

Whilst Roxxi Red, whom I mentioned at the start of the blog, offered a stage presence so infectious that I didn’t give a flying monkey as to whether or not I knew their material. I am, however, currently playing Gimme More on repeat as I type this post. Rock fans, give it a listen if you haven’t already done so.

As for Fleetwood Mac, another Sunday performance which took place on the Main Stage, they hit the ball out of the park and I’m pretty sure it’s in Leicester. Fantastic group set-up. Plenty of audience participation. The Main Stage screens were used nicely. I was happy, if not slightly thirsty afterwards.

Onwards to the smaller stages now. Mid Saturday evening, we retreated to the LoCo stage due to my poor boyfriend getting slightly sunburned and it’s prime location to the food stalls. Here we listed to Helen Delamere who encompassed the idea that pops into your head when you think old-school festival. Someone dressed up with a guitar singing original material about the world’s issue. Or in this case, the struggles of a power cut up north and the wonders of Wales. Very much a relaxed pace compared to the loud singing and dancing taking place on the other stages during this time. Meaning, I could take a good breather and eat my noodles happily.

Once the temperature started to drop and the other half was ready to back out into the wild, we wandered towards the IcOn stage. Where my ears pricked up at the sound of Jo Jo And The Mojos. Holy heck. Their lead singer had an audience engagement that just couldn’t happen on the bigger stages. “What”‘s that Skippy, you’re not singing to Britney Spears? Let me just wander around you and the rest of the audience and get you guys to join in”. It was bloody brilliant to watch and I was very happy to dance along, dodging the women with white tally t-shirts. Nothing against said women, they just had a good 10 pints of alcohol more than I did.

As for the “big acts”? We saw two of them, four if you count the last song of a performance or singing in the background. Said last song came from Love Distraction which was a tribute to The Human League which meant lots of people singing “Don’t You Want Me” at full blast. It was beautiful.

As for the background singing? That took place at the Dolly Parton Experience where I quite happily joined in with the thousand-plus people singing “Country Roads” with a mocktail in hand. The American twang showed brilliant attention to detail and is an excellent touch, despite it confusing the other half. Cue a conversation during the talking parts of her set about how Dolly with a Brummie accent would take people away from the experience. Not ideal when you’re the world’s best tribute festival.

The big acts in question were The Big Top’s Saturday headline act Seriously Collins and Sunday’s Main Stage performance from Vicky Jackson, a P!nk tribute act. Holy moly. Both of these performances were incredible for differing reasons.

Let’s start with Seriously Collins. Now, my knowledge of Genesis isn’t as firm as it is compared to Phil’s Disney-related material so I was slightly curious as to whether I’d appreciate it properly. Oh, how I did. Their lead singer was so good that anyone walking past the tent would believe that it was the man himself performing. A special shout-out also goes to the instrument players who held the stage, picked the stage up and took the stage to the burger van after the performance promising it a good time. Drum beats dropped at the right time. We were entertained the whole set. Everyone had a great time. Success. I was slightly disappointed by the lack of Tarzan/Brother Bear though. Maybe the folks at Glastonbudget need to give these guys an extra 15 minutes, if the band is willing, next year.

As for Vicky Jackson. Where do I start? Do I begin with the 3 costume changes? Yes, you read right. There were 3. The tracklist that covered P!nk’s music history from her original material up until the present day? The atmosphere of the crowd as we lost our collective minds to “So What”? I could easily write a whole essay on the performance, but I am mindful that I’ve still got a few bits to cover. So I’ll sum it up as this, she is brilliant. The attention to detail is top notch and the crowd ate it up. Yes, I was one of those people who partook in said eating.

I’m pretty sure you will have already guessed from the way I have written this part of the blog post, but the acts I saw were bloody brilliant. There was a fantastic variety of genres. Superb attention to detail by the tribute acts. Incredible audience awareness and creative material by the original artists. If you schedule any of these acts onto your 2024 Glastonbudget schedule, you will be in for a treat.

2. The other entertainment.

There are 4 main aspects that fall within the “other entertainment” category. These are:

1. The silent disco.
2. The Conga4Wonga.
3. Fancy Dress Saturday.
4. Fairground rides/inflatables.

Let’s start with the silent disco. Firstly it is AN ADDITIONAL COST ON TOP OF YOUR TICKET PRICE! At the time of writing it is £15 per day. £10 of this is refunded barring you don’t break/steal the headphones. Secondly, it takes place very late at night. Kicking off at 11/11:15pm and going until 2 in the morning. Each night has 3 music channels, however, when I looked at the sign on Saturday night, it mentioned Friday’s music policy. So it would be brilliant if there was a way before the event to see what music policies were going to be on each day. As it was late, I ended up missing this which was a little bit disappointing, maybe if I had the extra day, I could’ve gone on Saturday instead of having 2 long days with early nights on the trot. Oh well, that’s what 2024 is for and this time, I’ve got the 3 days on my brain. Not that it mattered mind, I could tell what music was being played at the silent disco because I heard a thousand-plus people singing the song at full blast. They seemed to be having a whale of a time so definitely considering budgeting for it if you are more of a night owl.

Next is the Conga4Wonga which encourages guests to partake in the festivals biggest conga line on Sunday afternoon. It’s part of the festival’s way of raising money for Age UK. For those of you who missed the conga for whatever reason (tactical naps, cooking at the campsite, etc.), the charity also has little cards that allow you to pay via a text code. Also, the donation from the reusable cups also goes to charity. We stan a festival that gives back.

As for fancy dress Saturday. I was quite impressed by my attempt to slap a camouflage dress and a cheap back of accessories together to make a costume, then I got to the actual festival site.

Turns out there are groups and pairs that plan this down to the last thread. From the previously mentioned bananas and unicorn princesses, to a fantastic 6 piece Cluedo ensemble that I, annoyingly, couldn’t snap a photograph of. Fancy dress is a HUGE deal at Glastonbudget with both guests and festival staff getting excited/slightly confused at the creativity people display. Well, on the bright side, I’ve now got a year’s warning to start putting a proper costume together. Jokes aside, this is something you have to see and join in with. It’s absolutely iconic in the best way.

Lastly the fairground rides/inflatables. I’ll make this one quick. There were about 5-6 fairground rides (most in a separate area apart from the Ferris Wheel), 2/3 inflatables, axe throwing, an archery range and a couple of fairground games. Not necessarily the focus of Glastonbudget but it is there if you want some variety to your day.

Overall the additional entertainment, from what I personally partook in, complemented the live performances well. I just wished that there was a slightly earlier silent disco for people who struggle to stay up past 11pm/haven’t drank so much they grab everyone during Seriously Collins. That’s just a me niggle mind.

3. The living abode.

We pitched up a tent in the standard camping section. In addition to the standard camping, there is a site for caravans/motorhomes, VIP camping (we’ll touch on this more in the VIP section) and quiet/family camping.

As we arrived on Saturday, we had a little bit less picking space compared to our Friday companions, however, to say we had to worry about finding a space, would be lying. We found a nice plot close to the festival entrance.

Now being close to the festival entrance has it’s pros and cons. The pros are:

1. There’s less walking to and from the stages which is great when you get to 11 o’clock and have been dancing all day so you’re legs are knackered.
2. You’re right by the campsite burger/pizza busses, camping shop, charging lockers and coffee van.

Now for the cons. These are:

1. You can hear everything happening in the Big Top. This is wonderful when you’re cooking a BBQ in the afternoon and you hear Elton and Whitney. One o’clock in the morning, when you can hear everyone singing at the silent disco, not so much.
2. Closer to burger/pizza busses means being close to loud drunk people. These guys tend to crowd round said busses after 2am so if you’re not deep in your slumber at this point, you’re in for a rough night. Oh and they can bump into your tent accidentally, we counted 4 bumps on Saturday before we dozed off. It was quite funny.

For those of you who are incredibly light sleepers that don’t want to be out until the crack of dawn, I would seriously advise paying the extra money to book a slot in the family/quiet camping area. It’s the furthest campsite from the two arenas which means what you’ll be able to hear will be quieter and, in theory, those drunk people I was telling you about will have staggered to their tents prior to arriving at your plot.

As for the toilet/shower situation, you will be pleased to know that showers are included with your camping ticket. So if you don’t want to survive on baby wipes and dry shampoo, bear that in mind. That being said, however, the pressure on the showers in standard has been hit-and-miss all weekend. Now, here’s a little tip for you first-timers. If you are told by someone in front of you in the queue that a shower is out-of-order, due to water pressure, do NOT skip the queue and go in said shower. 3 people did this yesterday and every single one of them complained that they solely got a trickle. The people who did listen got a nice shower. Oh, and we laughed at the people who didn’t heed the warnings. Don’t let that be you in 2024.

Last thing to note is that I didn’t have the greatest of sleeps. One due to the noise I mentioned earlier. Two and the biggest gripe was that I gets bloody cold at night. As in I wore a hoddy, trackie bottoms in bed and my teeth were chattering until I nodded off. If you have a couple of backup blankets lying around and you are prone to the cold, like me, bring these with you.

In a nutshell, pay more if you need to sleep earlier on in the night, be it through quiet camping or headphones/earplugs. Listen when people tell you what showers work. Bring extra blankets or buy them at the camping shop. Do these 3 things and you will be refreshed enough for your next adventure, whatever that may look like.

4. The VIP experience.

As part of my press pass, I was able to access a good portion of the VIP perks that passholders can take advantage of. So it made sense to talk about that in a separate section.

The VIP experience is an additional £130 on top of your main festival ticket. For instance, if you brought a ticket online and paid £120 for a standard weekend ticket, you would spent £250 overall to get the VIP perks.

So what’s included? All VIP people got a complimentary bag which includes a program and branded essentials and a larger camping pitch so you have more space between tents. This campsite also includes regularly serviced posh wash showers and flushing toilets. Complete with posh hand soap and hand dryers. In addition, you also get to take advantage of a shortcut to the main stage.

As for driving perks, these consist of a VIP car park right next to the VIP camping area. In addition, VIP guests access an exclusive entrance with significantly lower queues especially for those of you arriving on the Friday when queues are known to be lengthy.

Alongside all this, you also get to take advantage of a special bar. The VIP bar is only open to VIP guests and don’t even try to sneak in. Multiple bouncers require you to show your pass before entry. The bar itself serves popular pub pints, and bottles of champagne/Prosecco alongside cocktails. For those of you who are also members of the sober club, the staff are also able to make a pretty good mocktail, you just have to ask them nicely. It allows drinkers to pay there and then instead of queuing to buy tokens and then queuing again to buy a drink with said tokens. A big plus in mine and Lee’s book.

The bar also hosts the last stage of entertainment, meaning VIPs actually can take advantage of 5 stages as opposed to everyone else who has a choice of 4. By day, this stage features DJ providing a variety of party tracks between Main Stage performances, after 11pm, the stage hosts 4 different acoustic artists. All of whom are included in your VIP ticket. At the back of the bar, there is also a dedicated burger/hotdog van and a coffee stand. We found the burger/hotdog place was open more than the coffee stand. This was a shame because I saw they sold waffles and wanted some.

The bar also has a direct view of the Main Stage. I was able to get some decent shots of the performance from the bar when I zoomed in, however, be mindful that you may have people walking to and from the main toilets or finding a spot by the main stage.

With all that in mind, who would I recommend the VIP experience to? I personally would recommend it to anyone who has the money especially those of you who need a base to retreat to when it gets too much. Bit too hot outside, head to the bar because they’ve got air con. Too many people crowding around you, hide in the outdoor bit for photos and then toddle back for plenty of seating. Want to just pay for a drink there and then? Pay for the bar.

5. How much is this gonna cost me?

Right. Time for the practical bit. How much money are you going to need to save to live your best Glastonbudget life? Allow me to break it down.

Your standard ticket is gonna be cheaper the further out you go. The last online tickets before Lee and I left were £120pp. Meaning you are starting out at either £120pp or £250pp depending on whether you choose a VIP or normal ticket. For normal ticket holders that want the family/quiet camping, budget another £10-£15 for this upgrade.

Non VIP bars required tokens which were, I believe, £1 per token. Pints range around the 6-7 token mark or £6 if you’re in the VIP bar. Soft drinks are £3 in non token venues and this is the same regardless of whether you order it at a food truck or the bar. Only difference is if you’re drinking 330ml or a pint. Cocktails in the VIP bar was £10, Prosecco was £30 a bottle and Champagne was £50 a bottle. A Jagerbomb was £5 and double spirit and mixer was a tenner. As was, 4 shots of either Cactus Jack (cherry and apple were available), white Sambuca or gold tequila.

Foodwise, you’re looking at around £11-£15 for a substainal meal (e.g. burger and chips, chicken stir fry, fish and chips, etc.) and around £5 less for things like doughnuts. If you want to save money, the festival does allow you to bring a disposable BBQ (or multiple if you feel it’s appropriate) baring it is elevated above the grass. Lee and I did this on both days meaning we didn’t spend as much on the food trucks.

As for merchandise, festival drinkers are required to get a £3 festival cup to hold your beverage of choice. Before you ask, you do get to keep the cups afterwards.

In addition, there is a stall that sells official Glastonbudget hoodies and t-shirts. The T-shirts were £10 each and the hoodies were £25 each. I personally brought a hoodie which was very comfy as the late-night chill kicked in. Both items of clothing feature a 2023 exclusive design and a list of all the acts on the back which is pretty stinking cool.

Fairground rides were around the £3-5 mark with the dodgems having a deal where 3 cars were £10 instead of £4 each, so consider this if you have a group of riders.

Should you forget your portable charging device, you are able to hire on for around £30 for the day. For reference the battery I used over the weekend allowed me to charge my phone multiple times and clocked in at £20. Basically, if you can get it before you travel, do.

As for camping equipment, Lee brought 2 camping chairs at £15 each and a double air bed for £55 from the camping store outside of the main arena. Just like the chargers, if you can bring one from home, you can save money.

Overall, the biggest things that will take your money daily will be food and drink with things like forgotten items and merchandise being additional spends, you will need to budget for.

6. The things that slightly annoyed me that I need to make you aware of.

There are two main things that annoyed me whilst I was there. One the festival can’t really control so it’s more of a heads up and the other one is something I hope is implemented next year.

Let’s go with the out-of-control niggle. The internet. Glastonbudget is a bunch of fields on a country road. This means the signal can be iffy. It also means that you have this cute thing where your phone full has full bars of signal but you’ll only be able to post something for 30 seconds when the sun hits a particular festival cup and angled towards to blue seat which is located on the top of the Ferris Wheel. While it isn’t quite as bizarre as what I’ve just described, there is actually zero prediction if you will be able to connect to the internet and if so how long for. So if you are wanting to Instagram/Facebook live the whole weekend, come up with a plan B because it is not happening. Take it from someone who wanted to do both.

So for the one, I hope they can fix it. Cash points. With that temperamental signal I was telling you about, it is incredibly difficult/boarding on impossible to check your bank balance. Now I understand that anxiety that comes with checking your bank balance after you had multiple shots/pints/cocktails the night before, I’ve been there. Having your card decline is a whole separate anxiety that is 10x worse. So could we please look into an ATM happy Glastonbudget people? Please?

Final summary of thoughts

Overall, Glastonbudget is a must-do! From its high-quality variety of live music acts to the welcoming atmosphere, it’s’ truly a place that is open to everyone. I’m not telling you that you have to do EVERYTHING when you do Glastonbudget 2024 because it’s physically impossible. Not only due to the multiple stages but also dancing and drinking for 12 hours before a silent disco is going to make you very sleepy. Heck, I was sleepy and I only had non-alcoholic beverages.

Pricing-wise, it’s cheaper than its biggest festival counterparts, allowing you to get a higher quality experience for the same price as a Glastonbury ticket (and some change). You can purchase everything you need to set up camp on-site, just be prepared to spend some more money. Drinks in cups are between £3 and £10 depending on the beverage, whilst large bottles start from £30. Expect to spend £15 or less per substantial meal, per person regardless of whether the truck is in the standard campsite, arena or VIP area. Merchandise starts from £3 for their festival cup and clothing starts from a tenner.

The main thing to be aware of is the importance of choosing the right tent location based on need. Light sleepers and/or families should look at the quiet/family camping area to reduce the likelihood of noise and/or drunk people. Whilst the party animals amongst you can get away with being closer to the area as there’s a high chance, you’ll be singing in that silent disco that is causing the noise to begin with. Regardless of location, extra blankets for those of you who feel the cold are essential as the temperature tends to rapidly drop.

Lastly, questionable and spotty internet access is something to bare in mind should you be planning to post lots of content of you living your best life. Which you will be. It’s Glastonbudget! You’ll be singing and dancing by 1pm at the latest. Racing to the front of the stage to squeeze in as many professional photographer’s pictures as possible. Taking a picture of the burger van because the kitchen is an American school bus. Sipping a drink in hand whilst discussing who has the best fancy dress costume on Saturday. Screaming at the top of your lungs because Fleetwood Mac wants you to tell someone to go their own way or Vicky Jackson is singing about everyone starting a fight. Feeling slightly guilty when you hit someone on the head whilst keeping the beachball in the air (to the two ladies in question, I am still very sorry about what happened). These are just some of the memories I have of the past weekend.

I can have an early night tonight after a hot bath to solve that sleep qualm. I know next time to go on Friday so I can be well rested and have a lie-in on Saturday to fully take advantage of the silent disco. I will wear fleecy PJs and bring extra blankets to help with the cold. Why? All the great things that the festival did over the weekend are so good that I can go back next year knowing how to do this whole festival thing perfectly. Yes, I say go back next year because I bloody want to. It’s absolutely fantastic and my biggest regret is waiting 28 flipping years to give it a whirl.

Update: Tickets are now live. You can grab your super early bird tickets by going on the Glastonbudget website.

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Now about that bath…

Kelly