Glastonbury Festival is famously huge – but how big is it really? (Picture: https://gsp8181.co.uk/glasto/)
It seems every Glastonbury regular is obsessed with the size of the Worthy Farm festival, returning on June 26.
‘It’s like, huge, you will walk, like, so far,’ they say wide-eyed, while offering important but obvious footwear advice (word on the street is that walking boots are advisable).
But let’s get the facts straight. Just how big actually is Glastonbury Festival? If only we could plonk the surface area of Glastonbury on our home town to grasp its size…
Luckily, there’s a website for that, in which you can overlay Glastonbury Festival onto anywhere in the world, giving you an exact size comparison.
Hopefully this could clear up any big festival scaries for Glastonbury first-timers, and you will realise that actually – although it’s 900 acres big, 3,000 acts strong and attended by 200,000 people – you will soon be able to get your bearings.
Or, perhaps not…
London
It makes up a tiny little chunk of London (Picture: https://gsp8181.co.uk/glasto/)
From Waterloo to Tottenham Court Road, Glastonbury does cover a mighty chunk of central London but is admittedly a little dot when you take in the size of the capital.
Londoners are used to Hyde Park Festival, which pales in comparison to Glastonbury in terms of act count and size – but the Worthy Farm grounds are only a little bit bigger than that particular London park (if you include Kensington Gardens, too, and tip it on its side!).
Perhaps a better park comparison is Regents’ Park, which Glastonbury neatly covers, while also taking in half of Primrose Hill and a few neighbouring streets.
Of course, Glastonbury’s grounds are no match for the mighty Richmond Park – which as we know, is absolutely massive.
Oxford
It covers Oxford City Centre (Picture: https://gsp8181.co.uk/glasto/)
Oxford’s whole city centre would fit into the Glastonbury Festival map.
The site begins from University Parks in the north and reaches all the way down to Christ Church Meadows in the south.
From west to east, the overlap spans from Oxford Station all the way past Holywell and into the greenery surrounding Magdalen College.
Glasgow
Glastonbury just about fits into Pollock Country Park and its surrounding fields(Picture: https://gsp8181.co.uk/glasto/)
Glaswegians could walk from the River Clyde – or Glasgow Central Station – north until they hit the M8 in the same time it takes festival-goers to plod from the bottom of Glastonbury to the top.
For greenery lovers, the Glastonbury sits just fits into Pollok Country Park and the surrounding golf course, North Wood, deer park and various playing fields.
Maybe a morning run is in order around Worthy Farm…
Edinburgh
Glastonbury is about the size of Holyrood Park (Picture: https://gsp8181.co.uk/glasto/)
Glastonbury Festival is roughly the size of Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park, and in the city spans from Broughton down to Southside, encompassing the Old Town, Canongate and Dumbiedykes.
That’s a lot of plodding, but just think of it like a walk around the best park in Edinburgh – but with 200,000 people and 3,000 distractions.
If you’re an avid Arthur’s Seat hiker then Glastonbury should actually be a walk in the park – or should we say, farm.
Newcastle
A bit chunk of Newcastle’s city centre makes up the size of Glastonbury (Picture: https://gsp8181.co.uk/glasto/)
Toon dwellers can enjoy Glastonbury safe in the knowledge the schlep back to their tent can be no longer than the walk from Newcastle Central Station to Jesmond station.
East to west, the New Bridge Street roundabout to Arthur’s Hill is the maximum distance required for weary festival goers.
However add in the crowds of Bigg Market on a Saturday night – but everywhere – and it may take you a little longer than anticipated.
Bristol
It’s about the size of Ashton Court (Picture: https://gsp8181.co.uk/glasto/)
Bristolians will probably be aware of how big Glastonbury Festival is, with Worthy Farm on its doorstep.
But if you’re not, then rest assured there aren’t any hills to match the gradient of Clifton Vale at Glastonbury. Phew!
However, the festival’s site would encompass the city centre and beyond, spanning all the way from Kingsdown in the north to Victoria Park in the south.
Liverpool
It’s around the width and a bit more of the River Mersey (Picture: https://gsp8181.co.uk/glasto/)
Glastonbury roughly fits just over the width of the River Mersey at its narrowest point in Liverpool.
If you can’t quite grasp this and are more of a land creature, the area spans from Stanley Dock all the way down to Lord Street in the city centre.
Across, it is just about the distance from Liverpool Lime Street to get to the water’s edge.
Manchester
Manchester’s city centre is about the size of Glastonbury (Picture: https://gsp8181.co.uk/glasto/)
Weirdly, the Glastonbury map overlay almost perfectly fits into the railway route around Manchester’s city centre.
So if you’ve often walked through the Civic Quarter, into the Northern Quarter, China Town, the Medieval Quarter, Spinningfields and Petersfield, then you’ve got a pretty good idea about the size of Worthy Farm’s festival.
In the north of the map is Manchester Victoria station, while Manchester Oxford Road marks the southern tip.
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