We live on the east coast, have two college kids, have been to many many festivals in our day BUT have never done Telluride. We have started thinking about it, but too late to get town park camping. This would be a huge trip for the four of us and would want to be in the best locations. If we camp too far out will it make it difficult to get a good “tarp spot”?Would it be better to wait another year and buy tickets early? Is it even possible to get town park or Warner Field tickets if you buy early? Would love some feedback on how to do this. Also is it possible to attend for a day or two?
Although Town Park tix have sold out don’t be discouraged as many people sell back their tix to the Planet and come April (or May) on each Tuesday they re-release them. And if this year is like the previous two, you can pick up tix the week of the event in Telluride.
Our group comes from Illinois and Tennessee – We don’t camp (rent condos instead, though pricey!), nor do we wait for the tarp run (we usually find the end of the line somewhere in town between 8 and 9 a.m.), and I’ve never sat in a spot I considered “bad” – in fact, there’s not a bad spot in the entirety of Town Park to watch the music, especially if you’ve got binoculars. For us, it’s always been worth it without question.
In comparison to other festivals, keep in mind that Telluride has about 10,000 people – a LOT fewer than many of your average fests – and the environment is overall really calm and friendly. Every now and then you’ll get a group who’s WAY too big for their one-tarp space, but overall there’s plenty of room in my experience.
In other words, even if you can’t camp in Town Park and aren’t right up front with your tarp, I have to think it’s totally worth it. This is hands down the best festival in the country for my money (and I think a lot of people here will agree).
I guess it really all depends on whether or not being up front with your tarp is essential, in some ways. Also, like Dave said, a lot of times you can end up with Town Park tickets even if they’re sold out right now.
To your last question – driving in and out can be kind of a hassle for a shorter run, but in my experience yes, you can attend for just a couple of days – though I’m not sure you can buy camping for fewer than four days.
See you in June 
Warner Field tickets are fairly easy to get if you act the first day they go on sale. They don’t last much longer than that. Keep your eye on the Telluride Ticket Exchange section of this forum. People will put their extra tickets up there, as well.
I’d say try to make it this year. We only have a preliminary lineup, but it’s still phenomenal.
Zack is absolutely correct. You can be over by the food vendors clear on the other side of the festival grounds from the stage and still hear everything. There is no bad place to sit at Telluride.
If you can’t get Town Park or Warner Field camping, Mary E. is a really nice choice. I’ve camped there before and had a great time. As a bonus, it’s the only campground where you can have camp fires. A shuttle will come to pick up festivarians and take them to the festival grounds and as long as you plan everything properly (catching it early enough, bringing everything you need for the day with you in a back pack . . .), there is no need to take more than two shuttle rides a day.
Thanks for the info. We live in Massachusetts and would probably fly and then rent a car, and drag all that camping equipment on the plane. So I should be watching for someone selling 4 town park camping tickets in the coming months? Anyone know how much that is? It only says SOLD OUT at this point. Do they allow camp fires in the town park?
No campfires are allowed in Town Park (or Warner Field). Town Park (and Warner) tickets should be $265 each. Don’t pay more than the face value (+ reasonable shipping). Watch the ticket exchange board in addition to the returned tickets area of the Planet’s website, you should be able to find what you are looking for. Last year I was able to pick up 3 tickets to Town Park fairly easily, and plan on doing so again this year. If you have to, don’t be afraid to buy more than you need. For example, last year we had 3 people in our party. I bought the first set of two I was able to get. We only needed one more ticket, but I was unable to find a single ticket for sale, so instead I just bought two and sold the other. These tickets are practically as good as cash in hand.
All sounds good. Sorry I have so many questions. I imagine I need to buy a car pass too or is that included in the price of camping?Can you park near your campsite?If not, I know at Merlefest there’s a trailer folks can check in their instruments( fiddle and banjo) for security. Anything like that at Telluride?Thanks again all!
Finding a parking pass is very unlikely. You can pull into an unloading area for a period of time and get all of your gear to a place to camp then must park your car elsewhere. I don’t know about a place to check instruments but I am confident that such a place exists.
If you fly to Denver you can rent a car and pick up all you would need to camp by renting it at REI. Makes it a lot easier to do your traveling. We pack a cooler full of our camping needs and check it and rent a tent and bags.
I have been taking my instruments to TBF for years. There are many of us that bring musical instruments. You can check them in the festival, but most of us leave them at our camps in Warner or Town Park. Years ago, I expressed my concern about leaving my instrument to a person camped nest to me. he talked about trusting your neighbor, and showed me his nice Martin, that he kept in his tent.
You wont need a vehicle pass for Town Park. If you are in Mary Illium they are more useful (and more available).
As far as your instruments, there is a check at the entrance to the festival grounds. I’ve left my instrument in the tent, and checked it. The only reason I would check an instrument is if you are worried the weather/environment. My fiancee took her fiddle with her last year and checked it almost every day because of the extremely low humidity. I’ve NEVER been worried about my instrument being stolen or anything.
Ditto the others on instrument safety. I brought my Djembe last year and had no problems leaving it in the tent. If you arrive early (for ABGAT and the like), however, security is a bigger concern. The festivarians tend to police themselves and look out for their neighbours before the Planet takes charge of Town Park, but small thefts have occurred (I’ve never heard of anything as large as an instrument being stolen, though. It’s usually just food or alcohol). That’s really only a concern weeks prior to the festival. If you’re arriving the week of, you’ll have no problems.
I’ve never camped in town and I got a high school camping pass. Does anyone know how far the parking is from high school camping?
You will probably have to park up in Mountain Village, but there is a free (and scenic) gondola that will bring you back to town. No worries at all…unless you forget and leave your glasses in the car.
Too much bacon, Hoochdude…
Too much bacon, Hoochdude…
never enough bacon
I’m trying to determine human tolerance limits for bacon concentration in the bloodstream.
Ran that test just 30 minutes ago. So far…
1 pound and still typing! :thumbsup
Auntie Hope :festivarian2 :green
Speaking of Bacon I have a great new recipe for Bacon Candy. Now to come up with a plan to make it and not eat it all before we even get to Telluride… Hmmmmm that’s gonna be tough. :flower Beth
Yeah good luck with that ;). Is it a recipe we can make on-site?
Hey! I just noticed someone changed my title to !!!Bacon!!!
Thank you Forum Jesus!