Should Glassware be Allowed at Festivals?

Festivals seem to be getting bigger and bigger at the moment, it seems that everyone is going to a festival and I’m seeing people walking the streets, their wrists adorned with multiple grubby looking wrist bands. This phenomena is nothing new, festivals and outdoor gigs have been going on for centuries but there has been a resurgence of the festival in recent times.

This may be down to a number of factors. Digital music is moving artists away from the fans, there is now no longer a physical product that most people buy and feel an affinity with their favourite bands. Festivals are a great way of bridging this sometimes seemingly insurmountable gap between bands and their fans. They allow fans to go out for a day and see multiple bands, enjoy the sunshine, and of course enjoy a drink or ten.

The problem is, since festivals have become popular they have inevitably also become somewhat sanitized. That’s right, with the attendances increasing, festivals mist become more controlled. It is a sad fact that the more people that go, the more violence and trouble there is. This is why, instead of glassware at festivals, we have to suffer with plastic cups.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with plastic cups, it just that enjoying a beer or a wine seems much more of an event if its supped from a pint glass or a wine glass, alas it is a sad fact that at festivals, glasses can be used as offensive weapons and are often thrown around in large crowds. Glasses can seriously injure people and due to the large numbers of people, it is impossible to catch the perpetrator.

Even at more high brow festivals like Glastonbury, which is normally frequented by the older generation who might be retired and proud owners of ambition blinds, glasses are not allowed, I feel this is a real shame since it undermines the festival experience somewhat. There is nothing more satisfying that sipping a cold beer from a frosted glass, especially at a hot festival.

Due to the nature of plastic cups, then cannot be cooled to the same degree as glasses, and indeed they cannot retain their heat, this is not ideal for hot days when cool liquid is much appreciated after a day of jumping around and sweating. When it comes down to it, health and safety is the most important consideration here and if glasses are too dangerous at a festival, then so be it that they’re banned, if only people were more trustworthy.