This week I’ve had some really exciting news! The wonderful Laura behind Portobello Tents, who I stayed with at Noisily 2019 in a Lotus Belle tent, has acquired some land right by the Glastonbury Festival site, and for the first time, in 2020, they will be opening the gates of Portobello Farm to Glasto Goers who want a slice of field-based luxury!
At Noisily I was so impressed by Laura and Portobello. The tents were gorgeous, the beds were absolutely DIVINE (best night’s sleep I’ve ever had in a field) and the little touches made us feel so special. Having a clothes rail to hang up your festi garms inside your tent? Game changer!
So when Laura told me she’s found a permanent location to host for Glastonbury I was so excited! I’ve never stayed anywhere other than the ‘standard’ campsites at Glasto, but I’d looked into glamping and lots of the ones I’d come across seemed to be very expensive for what you actually got, discouraged groups of friends rather than couples/families, and/or were absolutely miles away (some even a 20+ minutes shuttle bus ride!).
Let’s start with the most important bit first. Portobello Farm canvas tents all come with proper wooden off-the-ground beds, real memory foam mattresses, and duvets & pillows. This means no matter what package you buy, you won’t need to bring any camping gear whatsoever. You arrive to everything you need except your clothes! Just add sequins!
The Portobello Farm car park is less than 100m from the tents, and there will be lovely people on hand to carry your bags anyway. For anyone who’s done Glasto before, and has carried your gear for actual miles from car park to campsite, set up camp, then had to do another 1 or 2 trips to the car for the rest of your stuff… you will understand just how much of a bonus this is. Zero stress, zero carrying kilos and kilos of camping gear etc, zero arguments whilst putting up the tent… Just drop off your bags, enjoy a free welcome glass of prosecco, whack some glitter on and head into the festival!
The facilities will be fantastic too… from luxury toilets and showers, to a pamper parlour, to wooden hot tubs with a view over the festival! I can’t think of anything more magical than sitting watching the lights over the festival (maybe even the opening ceremony fireworks!) from a hot tub with a glass of bubbly.
There will also be an on-site bar & restaurant called the Tack Room, with some incredible chefs serving up food all day. Breakfast is included for each day of the festival – wake up to a complimentary Full English, Eggs Benedict, avocado on toast or simply continental style granola, fruit and pastries. Proper fuel for the day ahead!
The next super important thing – how far away is it? Well, it’s about a 10 minute walk from the Pink Gate, which is a few car park fields away from both Pedestrian Gate A and D at the top left of the map. See where I’ve marked on these maps the Pink & Bronze gates, and also the Orange vehicle Route into the site:
Portobello Farm will also be running a free shuttle service to and from Bronze Gate for when you don’t want to walk. Now, being honest, for me, this is one of the big things (apart from cost) that had put me off glamping at Glasto – having to leave the site through the gates every day didn’t sound appealing to me. And as I’m a bit of a party animal, I’m known to spend my nights in the South East Corner which is diagonally as far away from Gate A as is possible. However, I’ve done a bit of thinking and this is my justification:
- I LOVE walking back through the site after a big night. Seeing it almost empty in the light of dawn is brilliant. And a walk helps you wind down for a sleep.
- Sleeping in a real bed, in a canvas bell tent, in a quiet field will mean I’ll actually be getting WAY better & longer sleep than I usually do in Big Ground, on a slope, surrounded by noise and getting woken by the blazing sun at 8am.
- In general, better sleep plus no queues for showers will mean I’m up and at ‘em in the mornings much quicker than normal.
- Because I won’t have to waste time on the Wednesday going to and from the car, that’s a lot of festival hours I can gain back.
- In general, a nice stroll in and out of the site every day not carrying any bags apart from my day pack sounds MUCH nicer than carrying the usual huge load of stuff I bring in and out on multiple trips, both on the Wednesday and then the Monday to leave…
- No car park queues either!!
- Finally… I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching in general since 2019’s Glasto finished, and I’ve actually realised that I want to do the festival differently next year. One “big night out” in the SE Corner, ending at the Stone Circle for the sunrise, but the other nights I want to be in bed by around 2.30am, so I can make the most of the daytimes instead. I feel that the last couple of years I’ve focused too much on the night times.
With that in mind, I’m super excited to announce that I’ll be staying at Portobello Farm for Glastonbury 2020!
Laura has invited me to come and try out their new location on their first year. I’ll be posting lots of photos and videos throughout our stay, and of course will be giving a full review afterwards!
Tent options for Glastonbury Glamping with Portobello Farm:
Portobello Farm will have two types of tents, that can then be configured further. The two types are:
Bell Tents
Lotus Belle Tents (the VIP option)
Even the most basic option at Portobello Farm requires zero camping gear from you. The Bronze Bell Tent package still includes real beds, real mattresses, real duvets & pillows. You can have the tents set up in a variety of ways… Double, Twin, Triple, Family, Friends, and Couples. And then, you can decide on what level of luxury you want beyond that! The Gold Bell Tent package includes toiletries, towels, lights, table & chairs, clothes rail etc.
You could really treat yourself and go for the Lotus Belle option. This is the one I stayed in at Noisily and WOW! It’s everything I’ve already mentioned, but with lots of additional space. I could stand up and walk around the outer edge of the tent, no problem! If you want more room for getting ready, dancing, yoga or any other activities, this is the one for you.
Luxury Camping options for Glastonbury Festival at Portobello Farm are filling up fast!
If you want to join me and treat yourself for the 50th Glasto then take a look at the Portobello Farm website and get booked in ASAP
Hi
I would like to be there on ledgends day .
How much will it cost.
Many thanks
Hi Sue, the Sunday-only tickets are just for local residents in the area of the Festival. They went on sale at the end of October and have now all sold out unfortunately!