Sorry to beat this dead TARP!!!

[Mark in Alabama]

It seems that the issue of cigarette smoking may actually be a bigger issue than the tarp sharing issue.  I would not be opposed to the Planet implementing a smoking section (perhaps by the dumpsters in the latrine area) similar to what is done at RG and Folks w/ the smoking tent.  I am not sure a large enough area could be corralled for this purpose given the 12,000 festivarians at Telluride, maybe that is something Dustin can address.

Maybe a simple friendly reminder to the visitors to our tarps that the first sign they saw when entering the festival grounds says words to the effect of "Smokers Please Be Considerate Of All Non Smoking Festivarians" would help.  To borrow tarp space and light up without asking seems rather presumptuous to me.  I would have to think a simple "hey, we are glad your here with us, but would you mind stepping to the back before you smoke" would probably be quite effective.  If they refuse, I think you would be more than justified in asking them to leave your tarp. 

At that point they should have their Cigarettes confiscated, their wristbands cut and boiled in hot wax. 

 Listening to: DukTape Man lighting up a Camel

[Lisa Delia]

Hey Mark,

Really enjoyed your set at Run a Muck! 

[Goody]

you guys and your silly tarps

easy the most ignorant thing I've seen at a festy ever


Die Tarps Die!

 Listening to: Umphrey's McGee - Juke Joint

[Auntie Hope]

I'm thinking Clare would be the guy to manage the tarp size thing if this was put into place.

You want more Clare? 

Auntie Hope 

[Cindy Lou]

You funny Hope.
I seem to recall that they used to have in the guidelines that the tarp could be 5'x7'.  The reason I say this is that I own at least 2 that size that I know I bought for festival. 
When did that size restriction get eliminated?

[Hot Sugar]

We shared our up front tarp all 4 days. 
Met some great folks and at times it was very crowded. Even shared my tarp with a fella who deceided he did not like me after he asked what I did for a living.

 He was an oil man, I clean up his mess. Very funny indeed.  He moved rather quickly, gee thats toooooo bad

Where was I for that one?

[completejohn]

I gotta say one thing about tarps and sharing.  THIS IS THE BEST FESTIVAL I'VE EVER ATTENDED - the people are SO polite, sharing, caring, trusting and just downright friendly.  Yeah there are SOME rude idiots, but you can't regulate them away.

Go to any other non-PB festival.  You'll see fights, arguments and extreme rudeness.  Just TRY to get back to your "spot" in the crowd at, say, Austin City LImits Fest after a pee break - it's like you never had a spot in the first place.  Stand in one spot all day long to get a great view of your favorite artist, then right before the first note, 40 people rush into your space like they own it, light up cigarettes, spill beer on ya, etc.  One night, the front of an ACLF stage was so crowded I could lift my feet up off the ground and not fall to the earth.  Had I not been lucky to be tall enough to catch fresh air, I would have freaked out. 

So while I appreciate PB looking for ways to make the tarp thing more fair for everyone, it's just looking to improve an already wonderful fest.  That's what makes this company great.

[ponchom1]

I saw no issues with the tarp line, the tarp run, or tarp size.  We shared our tarp all week and met tons of great people.  I loved it.  It is what it is, and all is well and good.  Great festival! The last thing we need is more rules.

 

 Listening to: Moody Bluegrass

[swander99]

I saw no issues with the tarp line, the tarp run, or tarp size.  We shared our tarp all week and met tons of great people.  I loved it.  It is what it is, and all is well and good.  Great festival! The last thing we need is more rules.

 

    Agreed!   

[Mr. Geppetto]

As a non-tarp-runner and first timer, I thought things were just fine in this department. We had some friends up front who squeezed us in a couple times; other times I made my way up there and met awesome people every time!  We had a large group and didn't feel the need to wait in line all night, so we just set up shop back by the sound board, and looked for vacant space for the shows we wanted to see closer. If you wait in line all night I think you deserve to set up at your own discretion.

I did see some tarps here and there that were just freakin huge! Kinda ridiculous. Maybe Planet could just set some reasonable rules or "guidelines" without worry of enforcement. Suggest 5x7, nothing over 12x12ish maybe. Etiquette would probably take over when fellow runners see somebody whip out a monster.

As far as smoking goes, don't banish them! Most people are courteous enough to step out of the way. If they're not, don't hesitate to ask them to get it out of your face! I don't think I smoked once inside the fest, but I do occasionally partake. It's not rude to tell people to move or put it out. Way too heavy handed to say people can't smoke in the isles, etc... The last thing you need is security guards hunting down smokers. Rules or not, when people are schnokered, they will light up regardless

[FestiTrey]

My recommendation is to not allow tarps at the very front.  After the VIP section, it should be standing room only for 25-40 yards, THEN start the area where the tarps can be put down.  There are a few benefits to this approach:

1.  The people who are setting their tarps up at the very front are the same people who have their chairs right outside the softball fields all festival long.  Their chairs never leave the tarp line...which is just dumb and not really fair to the average festival goer.  Those people are clearly gaming the system. 

2.  You wouldn't have to worry about the ever growing tarps at the front of the stage that sadly sit empty for the vast majority of the day.

3.  It frustrates me when there is a band I really like and my options are to sit on my tarp (typically just in front of the middle walkway) or walk over everyone's tarps, chairs, coolers, water bottles, etc to get up to the front.  It prevents a lot of people from doing it, so it leaves a lot of empty space in front of you.

4.  It would make for more lively shows and encourage people to stand up and dance toward the front.

5.  Lastly and maybe most importantly, it shares the wealth.  As I said before, it is the same friggin people every day with their tarps front and center.  Everybody should get a chance to be front and center without the threat of being asked to move because you are on their tarp.  I mean is it fair that someone can sleep in until noon, get to the festival at 4:00pm, walk right down to the front of the stage and make people move who have been at the festival for hours and really wanting to see YMSB up close, just because somebody else set a tarp for them?  It's dumb. 

Anyhow, I will get off my soap box....but I definitely think a change to the tarp system needs to be put in place!

[FaceOnMars]

My recommendation is to not allow tarps at the very front.  After the VIP section, it should be standing room only for 25-40 yards, THEN start the area where the tarps can be put down.  There are a few benefits to this approach:

1.  The people who are setting their tarps up at the very front are the same people who have their chairs right outside the softball fields all festival long.  Their chairs never leave the tarp line...which is just dumb and not really fair to the average festival goer.  Those people are clearly gaming the system. 

2.  You wouldn't have to worry about the ever growing tarps at the front of the stage that sadly sit empty for the vast majority of the day.

3.  It frustrates me when there is a band I really like and my options are to sit on my tarp (typically just in front of the middle walkway) or walk over everyone's tarps, chairs, coolers, water bottles, etc to get up to the front.  It prevents a lot of people from doing it, so it leaves a lot of empty space in front of you.

4.  It would make for more lively shows and encourage people to stand up and dance toward the front.

5.  Lastly and maybe most importantly, it shares the wealth.  As I said before, it is the same friggin people every day with their tarps front and center.  Everybody should get a chance to be front and center without the threat of being asked to move because you are on their tarp.  I mean is it fair that someone can sleep in until noon, get to the festival at 4:00pm, walk right down to the front of the stage and make people move who have been at the festival for hours and really wanting to see YMSB up close, just because somebody else set a tarp for them?  It's dumb. 

Anyhow, I will get off my soap box....but I definitely think a change to the tarp system needs to be put in place!

I think this is actually a decent idea which has potential, although I'd say good luck on fighting city hall.  PB has a system which "works" in so far as keeping order;  there's a relatively large segment of the population who've embraced the current setup and there's probably not quite enough of an outcry to prompt a new major tweak to the system.  This is not to say I disagree with you that in reality that the deck is essentially stacked (for reasons you've alluded to above) from the front row of the poser pit through until about the end of the sound board.   Just making an observation, not necessarily complaining.

For something like your idea to work, I think it can't be too large an area (or too small).  I think a lot of people like to sit it out for the bulk of the day ... so there needs to be x amount of space available in the whole venue for people to simply be able to spread out and sit back for the long haul.   For instance, if there's a very large dance area (or place to stand and get a closer view) and it's being underutilized during the day, then everyone is packed in that much tighter in the space allowed to lay down a tarp.   It already seemed a bit over the top on this count with tarps backing up into food lines.

However, a modest expansion of the front walkway behind the poser pit might do the trick.  Maybe enlarge it by x4 and have that outer 1/4 be the walkway (as we know it, with a second rope) with an entrance to the inner 3/4 "dance area" in the center of the walkway?  That would probably still leave a good few rows for tarps & tapers in front of the board.

Alternatively, maybe do the OPPOSITE of what happened this year re: the expansion of the tarps to the sides in the very front row (of coach).  I noticed on Sunday, you couldn't really stand up close on the left side because tarp were spread very far wide.    Maybe rope/block off much bigger chunks on the sides up front for dancing/standing.  I think this would be the least disruptive to the status quo.

Still, I'm sure there'd be unintended consequences which could backfire.  For example, would there be a "no sitting" rule in this front area?   Could you bring in stuff to put on the ground?  How would all of this be "enforced"?

[landshark]

Ok here goes, dancing in front of the stage, your kidding right. Dust, lots and lots of dust blocking everyones views and clogging all our lungs. Not good.

If folks would just move forward and occupy the empty tarps when they are empty there would be no fuss. Just do it, move up and consider it a gift. I place my tarp up front, share all through fest and break it down before the last few acts, knowing there is no such thing as MY space. Share.

I would love to stay seated into the last act up front, but folks from the back rush forward. So no matter how you toss it around there will ALWAYS be a grip on tarp ethics. It is a no win situation

[FaceOnMars]

Ok here goes .... So no matter how you toss it around there will ALWAYS be a grip on tarp ethics. It is a no win situation

Although I was with you 100% on clapping for encores landshark, I'm probably only at 76% on tarps (i.e. I'd support slightly expanded areas on the sides up front for dancing and viewing [could be watered down] - which I believe have been larger in the past).

I am with you 100% that it is one of "those issues" where you can't please everyone all of the time, and for the most part we all seem to be able to help one another reside with one another within the lines we're given

[landshark]

Well I love a man that agrees with me most of the time

After over 20 PBG fests  I would have to say that this tarp issue has been rolled around for at least that long. Part of fest is land grab.

How about a lottery that raffels off numbers so the front tarps are everchanging. Your wrist band has a number on it, this number designates tarp positions for each day. No gettin up early, no throwin more than 1 tarp and no land grab. Numbered seating, that gets closer with each day, so the front is in the back on some days and the back is up front.

I say we just  sit on the grass