My group dove into the tarp line this year, after years of just playing around the edges (getting there at 6 or 7 am), by throwing out the sacrificial non-sleeper for the overnight freeze fest. And with that sacrifice comes long discussions of ways to make it better. So here’s ONE idea.
That ice rink over there. Yeah, that one. The one with the nice warm bathrooms that were only open 4 hours a day. The one with a roof and walls. The one that is totally EMPTY while a couple hundred of us freeze just outside. How much would it cost to rent that for, say, 12 hours a day? I bet it would be REALLY inexpensive!
I don’t know about the rest of the tarp runners, but I would gladly pay an extra buck, or an extra FIVE bucks a night to have the line form inside. Take my money and pay a security guard, a daily clean-up crew and rent to the village. Take what’s left and give it to a charity. Take it and put it towards carbon offsets! Whatever, but let us line up with a LITTLE bit of comfort (there’s no heat in there).
Oh, I know there’s a certain pride that goes along with “I stayed out here freezing my butt off all night” and “TRADITION” and “no pain, no gain”. But as an old fart, I vote for a LITTLE easier time of it.
If you start having the line indoors, it will only get longer earlier. People will be staking out a place in line on Wednesday for the Sunday show. I would go the other way and say instead of one number, one tarp - one number, one 10’x10’ tarp. No more of one person freezing all night for a group of 20. But whatever…
OK,so I’m a wimp. I’ll just buy some electric socks.
But that limited tarp size is something else that came up in the car on the way home. The people next to me on 2 days had a tarp the size of my back yard. It WAS amazing to see it roll out, but it also seemed a little unfair. But getting tarp sizes reduced seems really, really difficult.
Easy solution to the oversized tarps - have the tarp nazi do a walk-through immediately after the tarps are laid and pick up the tarps that are too large. It would not require that much time or effort.
IMO, carrying in a huge tarp, or more than one tarp is a bit unfestivarian-like.
The festival rules, published in the program, used to limit tarp size to 7x7 feet. How can you fit more than a few people on a small tarp like that? Naturally, that rule fell by the wayside, as everyone has noticed.
All 4 days, my group rolled out a 10x20 footer. All 4 days we shared and invited others to sit with us to the filling point. One day, we didn’t even have room for ourselves, and we didn’t ask any to move, so even though we’d spent the night in line, we ended up squatting ourselves. It was all good. The squatters on our tarp bought us beer, we made friends and I never saw anyone refuse anyone space on an empty tarp.
So that’s the problem from my perspective - people who don’t play well with others.
If you’re on a large tarp, prepare to share. If you have no tarp, prepare to squat. Train your neighbors; pull out your pocket-sized copy of the Festivarian bill of rights, explain the rules; make new friends. People who refuse others empty tarp space are the ones who should be removed by the tarp nazis.
A legit MC making public service announcements wouldn’t hurt either. Why we have this world-class festival with amateur MC’s is still beyond me. I miss Pastor Mustard, too.
I agree with the folks re:tarp sizes. Football size for 2 people seems a little unfair. This was our first time, and while most everyone was great. The ones that were asked if we could share a corner, just to pile our camel backs on, were rudely denied. There are some in every group. But thanks to the ones who shared graciously and were a pleasure to be around.
Totally agree that tarp size should be limited. Saw so many empty tarps the size of a 1 bedroom apartment. And then there were those that were empty almost all day where we were. Its just wrong. SO many people want to get a spot to enjoy the music and so many others just take advantage like that. I say tarp nazis are a must!!! If you have a large group, then just have more than 1 person brave the cold and carry a second tarp- It ain’t rocket science, guys!!!
Tarps make it so freaking hot out there too. Might as well put burning sand on the ground. :lol
Speaking of big tarps, I would have hated to be sitting behind the tarp that was about 70’ long with the people playing that bean bag toss game on it . :mad Did anyone else notice that? It was to the right of the sound board on Fri. or Sat. Maybe it just me but I think that’s disrepectful to the musicians not to mention the people sitting near by. So yes, enforce the tarp size rule!
One of those mornings I actually asked that group to leave room between their chairs and the fence so folks could get through and was told, “we don’t have chairs, we dance”, so the intent was to stand up all day, and that’s exactly what they did, on the left side of the sound tower.
But Hey! They put their tarp down first, right! :evil :thumbsup :evil
We had the same thing happen at Night Grass in 2008, with “free ticket from PB” folks slipping in at the last minute and STANDING right in front of the stage all evening, while most of the crowd had been there beforehand, supporting the restaurant and waiting hours for the show to start.
Perhaps these youngin’s need to watch the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes”… poor little VW Bug…
More random thoughts (the only kind I ever have!):
70 feet with a bean bag toss ain’t no tarp - that’s a campground!
I met up with a friend who was bragging about how her tarp mates had perfectly lined up their chairs so that nobody could pass through. I think that was actually kinda rude, especially knowing that people NEED to move in and out of their area throughout the day. She was noting how effective it was at night. Yeah, effective for them, but if you’re in front and want to go to the bathrooms, everyone should help you by allowing you to pass. Especially at night when it’s even harder to see.
The soundboard area really needs a no-parking zone on either side to let people up front get in and out. I was able to lay my tarp on the left side every day, but instructed my tarp sitters to keep their chairs away from the fence so people would be able to pass without trouble. The only problem popped up when latecomers wanted to squat there (understandably!). Last year (or was it '08?) there was a lane built for “no tarps” there. Perhaps it needs to return!
Not tarp related, but… On Friday morning, there were some high school age kids walking around asking for cigarette butts - supposedly helping to keep the camps clean. Friday night, my case of beer that was soon going to be put on ice suddenly disappeared. I know we can’t do much about getting ripped off, but we must remember at all times that not EVERYONE has the festivarian spirit. I guess I’m just happy that they didn’t see my guitar when scouting our camp. But I DID find my case of beer near the river on Saturday morning - too bad it was empty.
I got to chime in here. I busted the beer bandit red-handed on Saturday night and let me just say that it was NOT high schoolers like you might think. I am not going to name names, but I will just say that it was a woman in probably her mid 40’s. Turns out she was camping near us by the river with a nice group of TP regulars. I busted her when I went to my tent to grab my mandolin. I had left the ez-up to go grab my axe and when I returned I noticed a stranger stumbling into our ez-up and looking around to see if anyone was there. She didn’t notice me and then I saw her grab a bottle of Stoli from our table and start walking away. I confronted her and then she gave me the bottle back and stumbled away into the dark. I was bummed that I didn’t get a picture of her that night, but then the next morning I saw her stumble by and I recognized the stumble so I talked to her and she admitted to it and said ‘sorry’. I took a good mug shot of her so I could report her and I later learned that she already had the police looking for her. I guess she had already gotten a DUI on the way into town and wasn’t supposed to be drinking in the first place. Just goes to show you though, you can’t always be so quick to blame those pesky kids!
I sit corrected. If it was that woman, I totally apologize to any HS-age people reading this forum for assuming it was them. I just remember that the only time I stole beer was when I was in high school and it was only from my father’s stash. A woman in her 40s should know better, even if she was drunk! All she would have had to do was ask and I probably would have given her one.
I guess it’s my fault for just assuming that the festivarian spirit is so universal that I don’t have to worry about ANYthing. Taking a few seconds to put my beer under a tarp or making sure my guitar is hidden away in the tent is something I’ll just have to remember to do in the future, even at TBF. If I was camping at Coachella or one of those huge fests, I wouldn’t even THINK of leaving anything laying around. I just get too complacent in Town Park for my own good.
And yes, the empty chair syndrome seems to have subsided - peer pressure is a strong motivator! Way to go, tarp-ees!
We had a lot of issues with visiting thieves this year. We had one camp member who liked to keep an eye on things, playing Sheriff, and he cchased out several folks who didn’t belong and didn’t have good intentions. He actually collared one guy and had Randy call the sheriff. Turns out they were hoisting beer from campsites, but it could have been worse.
Sunday night was really freaky, when a guy comes tearing through camp, and a few minutes later the police were looking for him. Turns out he had just “assaulted a federal marshall”. I know they hung around Town Park a long time looking for him, anyone know if they found him?
The overall lesson we took away was that (as always) it’s up to us to look out for each other. The police force can’t do it without help. We’re all (marginally adults, and when we see something that seems fishy, suspicious, odd, creepy or wrong, it’s up to us to try and figure out if it’s harmless, or if we should bring it to the attention of the authorities.
It’s more fun to just pretend we’re all in a little safe bubble, but it’s not true.
:evil
adults, and when we see something that seems fishy, suspicious, odd, creepy or wrong, it’s up to us to try and figure out if it’s harmless, or if we should bring it to the attention of the authorities.