The tents are drooping, the heads are throbbing, the ears buzzing; Glastonbury festival is over.
Most of the 200,000-plus ticket holders at the performing arts and music bonanza in Somerset will be leaving the site on Monday in gruelling 30C heat.
Music fans have been treated to a typically eclectic lineup since the gates opened on Wednesday, ranging from Charli xcx’s blistering turn on the Other stage, Rod Stewart’s teatime singalong on the Pyramid, and surprise appearances from the indie heroes Pulp, LA sisters Haim and New Zealand megastar Lorde.
But the revelry can’t go on for ever as the real world beckons – and A-road traffic jams and queues at Castle Cary railway station await.
The forecast for Pilton on Monday is clear skies with temperatures of 30C presenting challenging conditions for travelling.
The festival warns that the worst times to leave by car are on Monday between 8am and 5pm – when there can be delays of up to nine hours to leave the car parks – and recommends leaving between 1am and 7am on Monday “if you can get up”.
Glastonbury organisers suggest that journey times on the A39 back to the M5 can be a couple of hours, and up to four hours on the A37 to Bristol, and recommend taking the exit south on the A37 to the A303 and then east to the A34 for the Midlands and north or on to the M3 for London.
A festival traffic plan will direct vehicles from each parking area in different directions to reduce the volume on each route.
For those travelling by train, a free shuttle bus runs between the festival bus station and Castle Cary railway station throughout the festival. Queues are expected but not as severe as on the arrival days.
On Sunday and Monday, a bus service will run from the festival bus station, next to pedestrian gate A, to Bristol Temple Meads railway station.
The festival licence runs until 5pm on Monday, when traders and contractors will start leaving the site.
