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    How to find your friends at Glastonbury

    to find your friends at Glastonbury, agree a crew spot, a backup and a regroup time each morning, note the numbered Fire Point nearest your tent, and text rather than call when you're split up. if someone is truly missing, ask a steward or any Info Point. and carry one way of finding each other that needs no signal.

    Glastonbury is one of the hardest festivals in Europe to keep a crew together at. it fills 1,500 acres of farmland in Somerset, its licence allows up to 210,000 people on site, including fans, staff and performers, and the festival lists over 4,000 performances across more than 100 stages. 2026 is a fallow year with no festival; the next one runs Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 June 2027. this guide covers why crews split up on Worthy Farm, what your phone can and can't do there, where to meet, who helps when someone is lost, and the tools that work with no signal.

    Why is it so easy to lose your friends at Glastonbury?

    Glastonbury splits crews up because of its size, its layout and its length. the size comes first: 1,500 acres is about six square kilometres of hills, paths and fields. the layout adds to it. the main site sits in a grassy valley split into separate areas, each with its own stages, and the camping fields are spread throughout, from fields right next to the Pyramid Stage to quiet ones on the outskirts. a crew pitched together can still end up a long way from wherever the evening's headliner is. and the festival runs from Wednesday to Sunday, so over five days someone always drifts off to a different field, a late-night area or a set the rest of the crew skipped. and the late-night areas keep going after the main stages finish, which gives every crew one more chance to split up in the dark.

    none of that means you should stay glued together. it means you agree the rules for splitting up while everyone is still in the same place. our complete guide to finding friends at a festival has the general version; the rest of this page applies it to Worthy Farm.

    Does your phone work at Glastonbury?

    your phone works at Glastonbury, but don't build your crew plan around it. the festival's network partner adds a lot of temporary capacity: at the 2025 festival, Vodafone, the official connectivity partner, said it placed eleven temporary masts around Worthy Farm and that data traffic was up by almost 25% on 2024. the network grows every year, and so does what people ask of it. when a headline set ends and the whole field reaches for its phones at once, short texts may arrive late, calls drop, and a live-location dot can be minutes old.

    the second problem is the battery. the same release says festival-goers bought over 10,000 power banks on site. the festival includes free phone charging with every ticket, but a charging queue at midnight is not where you want to be when your crew is waiting.

    so: send short texts with a time and a place in them ("23:10 at the spot"), not voice notes or calls. charge before the evening, not during it. and if some of your crew are visiting from abroad, check their data plan before they travel, because some of them may keep data off all weekend. our guide to meeting up abroad without data has a five-minute plan for crews where not everyone has data.

    Where should you meet at Glastonbury?

    the best Glastonbury meeting spot is fixed, easy to name and away from the stage crowds, with the festival's official Meeting Point as the fallback. Glastonbury has an official Meeting Point, and the Main Info Point sits right next to it, open 24 hours from Wednesday 8am through to 4pm on Monday. that makes it the safest last-resort spot: there are always staff nearby who can help if someone doesn't turn up.

    it's a poor place for everyday regrouping, though, because half the festival may have the same idea. for that, choose your own crew spot that passes three tests:

    1. it doesn't move. a named stall, a sculpture, a signpost or a numbered Fire Point, never "by the bar" or "near the screen".
    2. it isn't in a crowd flow. the front of the big stages, the main walkways between areas and the bridges fill up at exactly the moments you'll need to regroup.
    3. everyone can name it. if one person in your crew can't explain how to get there, pick something else.

    add a backup spot near a different stage, and a regroup time nobody needs a phone to remember, such as the top of every hour or the end of each set. Info Points hand out free detailed site maps; mark both spots on one, and screenshot the online map too.

    a flag on a pole lets friends spot you from a distance, and it's the festival's own suggestion for marking your tent. just don't plant one right in front of a stage, where it blocks the view of everyone behind you.

    A Glastonbury crew plan, from the gate to the last set

    this plan takes ten minutes and covers the moments crews most often lose someone:

    1. before you go: share everyone's phone number on paper and in the group chat. note who has a UK plan and who is roaming. the police at the festival recommend downloading the what3words app beforehand, so they can find you if you ever need them.
    2. when you pitch: note the numbered Fire Point or other fixed landmark nearest your tent, and send it to the group. the festival says it "can be a nightmare to find your tent without a recognisable landmark".
    3. before you leave the tent: agree the crew spot, the backup and the regroup time for that day. take a photo of each person's outfit.
    4. at each move: say out loud where you're going next. anyone who leaves the group names a return time and place.
    5. before the headliner ends: decide where you'll wait and for how long. leaving the big stages after the last set is when crews split up most, so meet away from the exit flow and walk back together.
    6. back at camp: nobody goes to sleep until every crew member is accounted for, by text or in person.

    one more official tip worth stealing: print a spare copy of your return coach ticket and book it into one of the free 24-hour property lock-ups. if your phone dies or goes missing, you can still get home. for heat, crowds and what to do when someone needs help rather than directions, see our festival safety guide.

    What to do if you lose your friends at Glastonbury

    if you lose your friends at Glastonbury, stop walking and follow the plan. wandering between fields looking for someone is how two people keep missing each other.

    1. text once, with the time and place. "22:40, lost you, going to the spot." then stop; repeat messages clog an already busy network.
    2. go to the crew spot at the next regroup time and wait there.
    3. use the backup spot if the first one is overrun, and text that you've moved.
    4. if someone is still missing, go to the Meeting Point and ask at the Main Info Point, or tell a steward. according to the festival, Info Points "can help you contact the right people when needed", and campsite stewards have a base in every camping field.
    5. if your phone is lost or dead, go to the crew spot anyway, then ask at Worthy Welfare, the 24-hour welfare centre that also handles lost property during the festival. every Info Point has a landline for emergency calls.
    6. if you're worried about someone's safety, find the nearest steward or medical point right away. in an emergency, call 999. for a lost child, contact a steward, any Info Point or festival official; found children are looked after at the Kidzfield until 7pm and then at Worthy Welfare.

    for younger crew members, Info Points give out writeable children's wristbands, so a parent's number can go on every wrist. all of these services are listed on the festival's official info page; names and locations can change between editions, so check the 2027 map when it comes out.

    Can the Glastonbury app help you find your friends?

    the official Glastonbury app helps you plan where to meet, but everyone needs a working phone for it. when Vodafone launched the 2024 app, it said the map would let you drop pins on places such as your tent and where you parked, and set meeting points to regroup with friends before performances. Vodafone's 2025 release counted 250,000 downloads of the app.

    that's useful the day before, when everyone is charged and connected: pin the crew spot, the backup and your tent, and share them. it's less useful at 23:00 on the Saturday, when the network is busy, a battery is at 4% and one of your friends left their phone in the tent. treat the app as the place you write the plan down, not the thing that finds people for you. what the 2027 app will include hasn't been announced yet.

    Which tools find your friends at Glastonbury without signal?

    the tools that find your friends at Glastonbury without signal are a plan, walkie-talkies and offline friend finders: small devices, one per person, that show where your friends are with no network at all. each solves a different part of the problem. competitor figures below come from each maker's own website, as of October 2026:

    optionwhat you getneeds phone signal?how close it gets you
    crew spot + regroup timea place and time everyone returns tonoto the spot, if everyone sticks to it
    festival app and live-location appspins and a dot on a mapyesa smartphone is typically accurate to within a 4.9 m radius under open sky (US government figures), worse near structures and trees
    PMR446 walkie-talkiesvoice only, no locationnoas close as you can describe where you are
    Totem Compassa coloured light per friend points the way; up to 8 friends; rechargeable over USB-C; on sale nownostated as "5-10x more accurate than a smartphone", no figure in metres
    Crowd Compassa coloured light per friend points the way; no stated group limit; messages from the device; runs on AA batteries; on sale nownostated as 2.5 m CEP, the radius half of its readings fall within
    aura vibea light ring points the way and the display counts down the metres; up to 5 people; USB-C recharge; first batch ships early 2027nodown to 10 cm up close

    walkie-talkies are the only voice option that works with no network; in the UK and the rest of Europe, buy licence-free PMR446 models. for every category in more depth, see our festival friend finder comparison.

    Where aura vibe fits, honestly

    aura vibe is a crew-finder wearable from We are Aura s. r. o., an EU company based in Slovakia. the light ring points the way and the display counts down the metres, down to 10 cm at close range, so you go from "somewhere in that field" to standing next to your friend. it reaches up to 10 km in open terrain and up to 2.5 km in dense city blocks with no internet, works with zero phone signal and no roaming in every European country except Belarus and Russia, and every extra aura vibe in a crew extends everyone's range. it runs 24 hours per charge and recharges over USB-C in 2.5 hours.

    the limits, plainly: crews top out at 5 people, and everyone needs their own aura vibe. Totem Compass and Crowd Compass are on sale now and take bigger groups, and Crowd Compass adds messaging. aura vibe's first batch ships early 2027. pre-orders are fully refundable until shipping, with a 14-day return window after delivery and a 2-year warranty. see how aura vibe works for the full spec.

    FAQ

    yes. the festival's network partner brings in extra capacity every year, and at the 2025 festival Vodafone placed eleven temporary masts around Worthy Farm. but data use keeps climbing, and up to 210,000 people share the site, so expect slow messages and failed calls at the busiest moments. send short texts, keep your phone charged, and have a plan that doesn't need signal at all.

    Glastonbury has an official Meeting Point, with the Main Info Point right next to it. Main Info is open 24 hours from Wednesday 8am to Monday 4pm, so there's always staff nearby. it makes a good fallback for the whole crew, but pick a quieter crew spot of your own for everyday regrouping, plus a backup.

    go to your crew's meeting spot at the next regroup time first, because that's where your friends will look for you. then ask at Worthy Welfare, which handles lost property during the festival and is open 24 hours; anything found can be handed in at any Info Point. the festival also suggests leaving a printed spare of your return coach ticket in a free property lock-up.

    call 999 if someone is in immediate danger or a crime is in progress; 101 is the police non-emergency number. on site, the nearest steward is often the fastest help: campsite stewards have a base in every camping field and are the first port of call for medical or security emergencies. every Info Point also has a landline for emergency calls if your phone is dead.