Glastonbury 2016 traffic: Emily Eavis apologises for 11-hour delays after urging drivers 'not to set off'
Muddy conditions have contributed to the problems after flash flooding last Friday
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Your support makes all the difference.Glastonbury organisers have told festival-goers “not to set off” due to huge delays getting onto the site.
Worthy Farm’s gates opened at 8am on Wednesday morning, with many festival-goers having travelled through the night to be among the first to pitch their tents. Some are reporting having queued for over five hours, only to move less than a mile.
Update from Glastonbury at 1.30pm:
“We’re pleased to report that the festival is fully open for business. Everyone is welcome to travel to the site, where traffic is moving as it usually does for the festival. Please expect to queue, but we will get you in. Thank you for your patience and help with this today. We look forward to seeing you for a great Glastonbury.”
Organisers are blaming the problems on “wet weather and ground conditions”. Mud has been a problem on site since a flash flood last Friday, but the weather is expected to remain largely dry and sunny this weekend.
“If you are coming to the festival by car or campervan and have yet to begin your journey, please do not set off,” an earlier statement from Glastonbury read. “If you have set off and have yet to reach the site, please stop somewhere safe and warm.
“If you are already queuing to get into the site, please bear with us and follow the instructions from the signage and traffic managers. If you are coming to the festival by coach or train, please set off as planned. But please be prepared for your journey to take longer than usual. We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause but we are doing everything we can to deal with this situation.
The Glastonbury team warned ticket holders on their website that the busiest time would be between 8am and 2pm but with more than 130,000 people expected on site, congestion on the roads has reportedly led to traffic jams of up to 11 hours.
Festival-goers are encouraged to follow the @glastofest Twitter account and tune into Worthy Farm FM (87.7FM) for the latest traffic updates.
Muse, Adele and Coldplay are the big headliners, with hundreds of other acts set to perform on a huge range of other stages across the 1,100-acre site.
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