Where do I post suggestions?

[patfromlogan]

I was told that the folks that put these events on have their ways and don't specially care for suggestions.  Is this true?   And what would be the appropriate way to make suggestions or for that matter, ask questions about policy?  Here on the forum, online elsewhere or email elsewhere?

This has to do with the Folks and camping rather than anything about this forum, the music, the artists, and so forth.  It has to do with 2:00 AM hooting (drunks), peeing (drunks), noise (drunks), barfing (drunks) etc etc - nothing too thrilling I'm afraid, but some of us are talking about stopping attending, so it does matter - and I'm not talking about late night partying/picking/playing and singing: we are cool with that and while we are more like family+ old farts we try hard to do our share of the partying/picking/playing and singing ourselves.

[landshark]

I was told that the folks that put these events on have their ways and don't specially care for suggestions.  Is this true?   And what would be the appropriate way to make suggestions or for that matter, ask questions about policy?  Here on the forum, online elsewhere or email elsewhere?

This has to do with the Folks and camping rather than anything about this forum, the music, the artists, and so forth.  It has to do with 2:00 AM hooting (drunks), peeing (drunks), noise (drunks), barfing (drunks) etc etc - nothing too thrilling I'm afraid, but some of us are talking about stopping attending, so it does matter - and I'm not talking about late night partying/picking/playing and singing: we are cool with that and while we are more like family+ old farts we try hard to do our share of the partying/picking/playing and singing ourselves.

Feel free to voice your comments and suggestions on the forum , take the survey on the web or email them directly.
 The folks at Planet Bluegrass DO listen and take suggestions from us. They strive EVERY YEAR to improve the experience for ALL of us. So your comments will be welcomed and encouraged.

In my opinion as we age our tolerance for drunks diminishes, perhaps because we can't keep up or don't want to. A woman next to me front and center stage one night said "you are a kind woman" to which I replied why? Her reply was, you handled that drunk girl (she was laying all over me after forcfully getting her spot in front of me)in good spirit, to which I replied it's all part of the FESSSTIVAL . It would be nice if we could control others, but no can do. Tolerance and reflection of your own youth and drunkin stupidity does shed light and forgivness on this issue. The same folks that were barfing last fest could be the same folks complaining next year.
 

[dawgwannabe]

If they didn't pee your tent or yell obscenities at you during the middle of the night your experience was about normal for camping at PB festival. Those are the only things I've complained about 

What you report is typical of most camping experiences I've had at larger music festivals and PB festivals in particular.

You kind of get use to it after a while, but I didn't attend Folks this year because I've got a little tired of PB crowds. Rocky Grass was fine this year, but I thought I was going to be in a riot of drunk people waiting in line for a number.

YarmonyGrass was wet but very kind. Only one drunk, and he was a happy drunk. It wasn't quiet, but it wasn't a drunk fest either. A great call to head there instead of Folks even if I was alone.

[BluegrassBrian]

I'm not sure where you heard that we don't listen to suggestions.  I can promise you it's completely false. We're always looking for ways to improve every aspect of the festival experience - and your thoughts and suggestions are a big part of that. Most of us read all the comments on the forum, look at emails sent from festivarians, hear suggestions from people on the phone, and look through every single response to the online festival surveys. We take all of this in account when we have our festival wrap-up meetings and throughout the year as we plan for next season.

Sorry about your unpleasant experience in the campground. We work really hard to create an environment where everyone can get along.  But sometimes a few obnoxious people ruin it. 

 Listening to: Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue

[dancingwolf]

Dance harder - sleep sounder
Tent in the Meadow by the rivers edge  let the waters song sooth your mind,  maybe its the rain  maybe its the river
Be aware of you neighbors when you drop anchor.   
We camped with a nine year old and had all good times.


 Listening to: Dylan on KRCL 90.5 in Utah.

[Reefy]

We camped out this year and found it to be a pretty decent experience, of course we selected a spot about as far away from the action as possible.  I think holding the lottery so late probably encourages people to stay up and drink who might otherwise be sleeping. Of course, it conversely contains those same people in a line where they are unlikely to cause many problems. What about holding the lottery at 7 AM, and not allowing anyone to line-up until 6 AM. This may encourage people to get to sleep earlier.

I'm not sure how these "PB people don't like suggestions" rumours get started, I have found the organizers to encourage people to suggest artists, changes and additions etc. Of course everything isn't going to be perfect, but of the many festivals we have attended, Folks Fest remains our favorite and will continue to be on our annual list.

[patfromlogan]

I'm glad to hear that I was misinformed about PB acceptance of feedback.

We consisted of 10 people from Utah and a couple non-Utah friends who've joined us over the years.   The couple who go a day early usually set up camp near the venue.  Other than the drunks we had a great time.  And it's not like we were exactly sober and quiet ourselves.  My wife uses ear plugs (she claims I snore!) and I brought some also, though I didn't bother using them until Sunday. When people were playing music and such late at night (later than us...) it didn't bother me at all.  We had some pretty loud music and parties going on around us and I fell asleep just fine.

Sunday night was the problem.  Some thought it was funny to hoot and scream and yell in falsetto - we didn't think it was very funny, at 1:30 AM.  After they'd been talked to twice by other campers and persisted in being idiots, one of their wives chewed them out, saying that she was ashamed to be with them and finally then they settled down to singing and such.

One lady suggested that there be some sort of security present, walking the loop, and she said that she'd be happy to pay five bucks more if that was provided.  I got to end this and go to work... later.

[Maineahhh]

having been part of this group of 'idiots' as you call us . . . I can assure you it was not our intention to offend or keep anyone awake.  . We all value the spirit these festivals provide for us and others, and perhaps it was just flowing a little too freely that night . . . It was surely our excitement of being together again, and the alcohol to blame, as we don't travel from festival to festival in order to be a bunch of a-holes keeping people up at night . . .  And if I remember correctly, you had been over just once to let us know, and it was directly following that, that a camp member asked us so settle down, and we managed to find our tents. We woke up the next morning (me, a bit earlier than my friends, since I actually saw this person at our camp), to find that our tapestry displaying a peace symbol was thoughtfully laid into a huge pile of mud (if you remember, it was just a LITTLE rainy that weekend). If you ask me, an intentional act of anger such as that is something that doesn't really fit well with the unifying spirit of a music festival . . . On behalf of myself and my friends, i sincerely apologize for disrupting your peace at camp that night, and even though what I take from it is mostly the joy of spending that time with my friends that I get to see so rarely, I do feel terrible that we offended someone to the point that such a negative confrontation (even if it was just with a blanket) had to be added to the festival vibe . . . ick . . . maybe we could all just hug and make up???

[semicharmed314]

Another "idiot" chiming in here - very nicely said Maineaaaah.
I just have to say that the owner of that peace sign banner a) is (was) quite fond of it, b) is one of the the nicest guys to ever walk the planet and c) was not a participant in the late night festivities to which you refer. I'll never forget the look on his face the next morning.
In any case, it was certainly never the intention to offend our neighbors. Apologies.

[Bevin]

My $0.02...

You pays yer money and you takes yer chances.  Anyone who chooses to camp in an on-site campground at any festival runs the risk of being crammed into tight spaces and surrounded by people who are festivating.  Everyone has a different level of tolerance for that.  If your tolerance is low, maybe consider an off-site campground.  If your tolerance is high, be considerate of those around you when the spirit moves you to join in the rowdiness. 

If you have to confront your neighbors about profane language around children, late-nite-over-the-top-noise-making, etc, please confront the issue, not the person.  At some point, even the most tolerant of Festivarians can get rubbed the wrong way and find themselves in the position of being the pot calling the kettle black.  But there are positive and negative ways to do that.  We're a fairly mature crowd and almost all of us can behave like adults if asked to quiet down; or if we have to ask the same of others ourselves. 

However, any festival-goer who damages the property of another in a childish and passive aggressive attempt at retaliation for late-nite carousing should be permanently banned from all festivals, in perpetuity, throughout the universe.  There's (sometimes unfortunately) no law against being rude or inconsiderate - and encountering such behavior is the chance you take in a crowded festival campground - but intentionally malicious behavior or the damaging of property of another has no place in Festival World, no matter how disruptive the campground neighbors get. 

Someone really put a peace sign flag in the mud?  I guess I wasn't aware that Planet Bluegrass events were open to Republicans?   

[landshark]

  Not having to drive at FESSSSSSSSSSTIIIIIIIIVALLLLLLLLLLL is a plus and this alone encourages even us mild mannered folks to kick it up and be silly.

I do not drink and drive and I live in the mountains so no Happy Hours for this girl....so by the time FESSTIIIIVAAAALLL rolls around I'm more than ready  to kick it up.

You should consider renting a condo if sleep is what yer after.

[eddiewess]

I guess I wasn't aware that Planet Bluegrass events were open to Republicans?   

Why not, after all they let banjo players in   

[Ron N Deb]

I will see you 2 cents and raise you 4 cents Bevin !
your a Good man !
 

[patfromlogan]

Hey, thanks to Brian and others for the reply to my post about hooting drunks and such.

 I feel bad that the attitude is tolerant of this stuff. About a dozen of us Utahns will not be there this year.  It's sad, because we like to listen to the wonderful music, we like to drink, we like to play and sing, we like to stay up (sometimes) late and party; but we don't think it's amusing to purposely wake people up, and that's the bottom line. I fell asleep fine with people singing and playing music right next to our tents.  That's not the issue. 

  But in '06 the guy in a dress and his drunk buddies purposely woke people up yelling and screaming, thinking it was funny.  In '08 these other guys thought it was funny to hoot and scream in falsetto in the middle of the night.   Too bad that there isn't just one person who works for the fest and has some authority to walk around and pay a little attention to the ones who are going beyond "normal" behavior.

I admit that of course it would be hard to draw the line as to what to manage - the fine music in the BOT being drowned out by the large group of off key/out of tune loud sing-a-longers deserved a small nuke dropped on them, in my humble opinion (if I was that bad, I'd sing real softly or just listen for Christ's sake), and the people drumming need to go to a (free) Rainbow Family Gathering (where since there's no booze things are actually better behaved than at festivals that cost plenty of money, go figure) and drum their little hearts out.   At a Rainbow Gathering there are quieter areas like Kiddie Village, Yoga, and such. At many festivals there are family areas.  Why not at Lyons? Maybe the fest grounds being party central and Meadows family?

How's this for a scenario?  I'm a 250 LB black belt in full contact knock down karate who's had several fights, some assault and drug charges, and spent some time spent behind bars (so far it's sadly true), and I get ef word drunk at the Fest.  And I think it's funny to scream my big fat head off at 2:00 AM, and 3:00 AM, while I pee next to your tent.  Is anyone going to stop me?  Is there any way to control me?  If there was, I might attend.  As it is, I hope that the dunks behave this time, but I don't have much hope.