Glastonbury Festival 2024 car parks, festival map and driving tips

This week revellers will be flooding through the gates of Worthy Farm as Glastonbury Festival 2024 finally arrives.

Considered one of the world’s foremost music festivals, an estimated 200,000 people are set to join the almost week-long festivities at the event, headlined this year by Dua Lipa, SZA and Coldplay (and someone potentially big appearing on the Woodsies stage.)

With that comes the arduous task of arriving, and while there are options such as coach and train travel, for many the comfort of getting to Worthy Farm in their vehicle is still a more ideal way to get to the event. 

Then there is parking at the event too and those good souls are more than happy to drop revellers off - but where?

Ahead of this week’s edition of Glastonbury Festival, here’s a look at some essential travel advice and what you absolutely must bring with you to avoid dramas at the festival car parks. 

How do I get to the Glastonbury Festival site by car?

Glastonbury Festival has advised that the following routes from the following locations are the best means of travelling to the festival and implores people to car share and do their bit to lower carbon emissions. 

However, they are also quick to advise that the Sat Nav details will only get you “near” the site - therefore, once you’ve arrived at the Sat Nav location, you’ll need to follow the festival signage afterwards.

• From south London: M3 then A303 and A37. (Sat Nav TA11 7DP).
• From Swindon: M4 then A350 onto the A361. (Sat Nav BA4 4LY).
• From the North East: A1 or M1, M25 to M3 (Junction 12), then A303 and A37. (Sat Nav TA11 7DP)
• From the Midlands: Preferably M40 and A34 to A303 and A37. (Sat Nav TA11 7DP)
• From the North West: M6, M5 to A39 (Junction 23) then A361. (Sat Nav BA6 9XE)
• From Wales: M4, M5 to A39 (as above) (Sat Nav BA6 9XE)

AA Roadwatch has also advised several road closures along the A361 due to the festival, with Parson’s Batch, Top Street and Neat Lane affected by the festival.

Those of you who plan to travel and stay in a campervan or a caravan throughout the festival might pay to also read the festival’s guide to navigating around the site on their website for further details. 

Leaving the festival site

Avoid leaving by car on Monday between 8am and 5pm when there can be long delays of up to 9 hours in the car parks. Leave between 1am and 7am on Monday morning to beat the queues. If you need to be anywhere on Monday, leave early and bring plenty of water and food.

Where are the nearest petrol stations to Worthy Farm?

Those who want to fill up to avoid any dramas leaving the festival this year, or looking to stock up on some supplies before the gates open on Wednesday morning, there are a couple of petrol station options near the site.

There is a Tesco Petrol Station alongside a Tesco Superstore at Townsend Shopping Park, Shepton Mallet (BA4 5EG), a Gulf on the A37, Shepton Mallet (BA4 6TB) and bp at 6 Bath Rd, Wells (BA5 3LF)

Do I need a parking pass or permit to leave my car at Glastonbury Festival?

Yes - yes you do and please remember to bring your car parking pass with you.

For those who have yet to get their car park pass for Glastonbury Festival this year, it’ll cost you £55 and is non-transferable.

The car parks at Glastonbury Festival are scheduled to open at 9pm on Tuesday June 25 2024 allowing revellers to arrive on site throughout the night. Don’t expect much in terms of entertainment though. 

Though there will be toilets on site, revellers will have to remain in their cars until the Festival gates open at 8am the next day (June 26 2024)

There will be four main entrances for cars and drivers are urged to follow the “P” signs to get to their nearest available parking spaces. Parking staff will sometimes ask for you to park further from the site to keep traffic moving on public highways and to keep traffic flowing during peak times when people are arriving at Worthy Farm.

Glastonbury Festival has also advised those driving to the festival this year that “the worst time to arrive by car is between 7am and 2pm on Wednesday. In recent years at peak times, the A39 queue to get into car parks took several hours, while it took less than an hour for those travelling on the A37.”

I’m not intending to stay, just to drop people off -  is there a special area for that?

For those of you doing a civil service in dropping revellers off at Worthy Farm this year, we salute you. We can also tell you that there is a 24-hour Drop and Collect service with buses running to and from the festival’s Gate A entrance throughout the event. 

“The Drop and Collect is located to the east of the site. Head towards Evercreech on the A371 and follow the signs for Drop and Collect or DC. Plan a route that keeps you away from the immediate area of the Festival as the A361 is closed for through traffic on the Monday after the festival between Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet.”

Don’t under any circumstances, however, attempt to drop festival attendees off on the local roads as the walk to the gates is incredibly long. On top of that, with the road closures in place, the area is set to be particularly dangerous with the level of traffic expected on certain routes.

Are you a seasoned chauffeur when it comes to driving to Glastonbury Festival? Do you have any local knowledge or tips you’d be happy to share with those who might be driving to the festival for the first time this year? Leave a comment down below with your travel advice for the Glastonbury Festival or email [email protected].