Glastonbury Festival Of Contemporary Performing Arts - Information - By car

The car parks will be open this year from 9pm on Tuesday night - for more information please click here.

If you decide to come by car, you will need a car parking ticket. Car park tickets are no longer available to buy in advance from Seetickets. However, in case some of you forgot to buy your passes in advance, we will be making them available to buy at the car park entrances for £20.

Directions
* From London: M3 then A303 and A37.
* From the North East: A1 or M1, M25 to M3 (Junction 12), then A303 and A37.
* From the Midlands: Preferably M40 and A34 to A303 and A37.
* From the North West: M6, M5 to A39 (Junction 23) then A361.
* From Wales: M4, M5 to A39 (as above)
* From the West Country: A37 or A361

If you use Sat-Nav for directions coming from Glastonbury town and the M5, the postcode of the west carparks is BA6 8NE. From the A303/ A37, the postcode of the east carparks is BA4 6TA. Of course Sat-Nav may not take temporary road-closures into account, so the best advice is to look out for Festival road signs and follow these.

Car-share
If you fancy car-sharing to the Festival, websites like Liftshare and Freewheelers can help you get in touch with others either offering a ride or needing one.

Arriving/parking
There are two main entrances for cars, you'll be directed to one depending where you are coming from. 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.

Caravans and campervans require special parking tickets and are only admitted to special secure fields along Blue Route (off the A37), with overflow facility on the Orange route for a few.

Routes to and from the festival are likely to be very busy but avoiding on-site peak arrival and departure times may help you steer clear of the heaviest traffic. The worst time to arrive by car is between 12 noon and 6pm on Wednesday and Thursday. And avoid leaving the festival between 9am and 5pm on Monday as sheer weight of traffic means it can take up to nine hours to leave the car park (not a good way to end your weekend).

No sleeping, camping or fires are allowed in the car parks. Please do not use un-official car parks as these threaten the future of the Festival.

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.

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
To be really sorted plot your return journey in advance. Worst times to leave by car are late Sunday and Monday between 9am and 4pm, when long delays can be experienced. Our useful graph from the 2005 Festival shows the time delays from that year:

Whilst everything is done to reduce queues, the volume of people leaving the site swamps local roads. Please plan your departure for off-peak times. If you need to be home for a particular time always ensure you have bottled water in your car as you could be queueing for long periods in very hot weather conditions.

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.

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 26th.

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» [link to 3.5 Disabled].

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» http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/ 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.