Included in the ticket email is the following policy: (I emphasized w/ green)
CHAIRS AND TARPS: Please use only low-back lawn chairs so folks behind you
can see. Highback chairs and dancing are welcome in the designated areas. One 5 X 7 tarp can be used to reserve space on the grass, please do not
bring tarps larger than 5 X 7. For safety and courtesy considerations, you
may not sit in the pedestrian walkways. Due to many complaints and in the
spirit of Festivarianism, if you see an empty tarp, feel free to sit until
the owner returns. We hope this will cut down on the frustration that many
of you have expressed to us that you feel upon seeing empty tarps during
those killer morning and afternoon sets. Small tents and lawn chairs are
welcome in the designated area in rear of the Festival grounds only. You
(and your gear!!) will need to clear out of the Festival grounds each day.
5 x 7? Hmmmm. How many people/chairs will fit on a 5 x 7 tarp? We generally have seven to 12 people on our tarp. We sit back in the high back chair section, we are all in our fabuluos fifties and sensational sixties. Will that rule apply to the entire festival seating or just up front? We “Old Folks” need to know.
The email contains a fairly lengthy festival information section, most of which is familiar to Festivarians. The above was taken verbatim from that email and is an interesting change regarding tarp size.
For larger spots, to comply with the rules, I assume you’d just be dealing with multiples of people each with a 5X7 tarp to get the turf you want/need. Should be fun…
I doubt this will change much about the layout of the festival. The only difference is that instead of one person running in with a giant tarp for 12 people there will have to be 3-4 people running in with each person carrying a 5x7 tarp and then putting them all together to once again make a giant tarp.
I like the idea because it should require more than 1 person waiting in line to save a space for large amounts of people. Some of the tarp sizes at last year’s festival were out of control!
I dislike the idea because smaller tarps could potentially mean less tarp space for wanderers to plop down for a song or two and meet some new people.
Mark, you guys should still have plenty of room to set down your tarps. You’ll just have to lay down more than one this year. Should be fun!
Yeah. 5 x 7 only. That’s gonna work. In my (tarp line) dreams.
I think that’s been a rule since the first fest I attended in 2001 and you can see how well that’s worked.
It would be WONDERFUL, but who’s gonna enforce it, and when? After the 40 x 40 tarps are on the ground? Good luck with that. Before the run in both the Town Park/Warner line AND the town line? Uh huh, sure.
Seriously I would LOVE this rule to be enforced. I’m just skeptical that it will or even CAN be.
Excellent rule!!! But unfortunately, as in past festivals this will be ignored by some and I believe it would be a nightmare to enforce once the tarps are on the ground. Everyone’s tarp should be inspected before entering the grounds. This would definitely slow the entry process, but whats the big hurry, it’s usually an hour after gates before any music. If we all just slowed down a little, maybe no one would get trampled like I did last year. Thank you for again bringing this to everyone’s attention. :thumbsup
Uh-huh. That’s been in the rules forever. It’s enforced on a discretionary basis. Yes, I’ve seen people have to pull up their tarps, but those are usually like the 12x20 variety.
Don’t panic, Don’t get too excited about it, and don’t expect it to be radically different until Dustin or someone else says so.
I have no doubt that a tarp size was in the rules at some point. But in the past several years it hasn’t been in the info that has accompanied the tickets while similar language on other topics remains (I’m a packrat and I just checked '08 and '12.) I can’t remember ever seeing anything specific anywhere before, but I’ve only been paying attention since '07 and could’ve easily missed it.
You’re right in that it’s nothing to get excited about and I certainly don’t envision any tarp police or immediate compliance, but it’ll be interesting to see whether this is embraced and self-enforced generally by the community (like the empty chairs in line) or largely disregarded (like catching some ZZZZZs.) I’ve heard many comments on tarp sizes getting ridiculous so it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
:thumbsup I like this rule, as it would require more skin in the game for large crews.
I’d also be in favor of issuing multiple warnings & a pre-flight check with a que - especially for the front sections. Once a tarp has been placed down, then the next person goes. Have a volunteer at the entrance, and several in the venue where tarps are being placed. Think major event parking lots how they direct you to your spot. A half dozen extra volunteers would be all that you’d really need. If you have two people from a 12 person crew lined up back to back, then you’re golden (although I’d still prefer a “ticketron” style lottery - if you’re old enough to remember sleeping out for tickets, Ticketron eventually made it so you were subject to a lottery … even if you slept out all night).
I’d also be in favor of taking back more space for dancing on the front side sections which used to be a bit more open prior to a few years ago. maybe setup a temporary rope from the get go & make sure the grass is marked really well so people don’t take over that area.
Though an old guy like myself probably looks foolish, I still like dancing, so I’d also be in favor of taking back more space for dancing on the front side sections. I’ve been told more than once to sit down (and rightfully so) when I attempted to dance in front of seated folks. :flower
I really would not like the idea of volunteers directing tarp placement. We have been coming for eleven consectutive years from Indiana. Even though we sit back in the “High Back Seat” section, I still get in line each day at 4:00 am to just get the same spot. We have friends from around the country join us at Telluride, all staying in different condos and hotels. We gather each day on the tarp. They know day after day, year after year where the tarp will be each morning. If the festival would go to directing tarp placement, tarp placement would become somewhat random each day.
Perhaps tarp size back where we sit has never been a problem. I have never heard any of our neighbors mention anything about the size of each others tarp.
I didn’t intend to use the parking lot situation as a perfect analogy … and wasn’t suggesting the volunteers to be directing where to place your tarp, but rather to help do away with physically competing for the best tarp space by effectively “throttling” the speed/flow of people carrying tarps to the available spot of one’s own choosing … kind of the way some highway on ramps have a traffic signal. While it might take a little bit more time and coordination, in the grand scheme of things it wouldn’t really be all that much more time/effort & would be significantly more fair (IMO).
A 5’x7’ tarp size limit, if enforced, could double or triple the size of both tarp lines. I’m not sure we need everyone spending the night in line every night - the line situation is tough enough already.
But the tarp size issue isn’t the only thing we need to work through between now and June.
We also need clarity on last year’s last minute, game-changing, tarp run rule amendment regarding shelters and EZ-Ups. Those tarp line security folks should be enforcing well-known, established tarp run rules, and not making up new ones at the last minute.
In addition to what Bevin says, I feel the noble art of Tarp Hopping will actually suffer from enforcement of the 5x7 tarp rule. If people have less space for their crew, they’ll be less willing to let strangers pull up a chair. I spent my first three festivals tarp hopping with two others and had a blast doing it. Now, as a member of a large camp in Town Park, I enjoy having extra room on our tarp for friends and a random assortment of tarp hoppers to join us. Most camps and groups with large tarps are very welcoming to the wandering tarpless. If they had to cut their space in half, however, they may be a little more protective of that space.
