Why is this year so different???? This is my wedding!!!!!!!

[Real Deal]

I met my future wife here in Telluride at Bluegrass Festival.  We have planned to have our wedding this year on the Friday of Bluegrass.  We sent an email to Planet Bluegrass in January inquiring about bulk tickets for all of our Wedding Guests.  We never got a response.  Needless to say, with all the wedding planning, we just got around to purchasing tickets for all of our guests.  Obviously, we messed up and there are no more tickets!  We have been here for 3 Bluegrass Festivals and always got our tckets at the earliest in May!  This is rediculous.  Why is this year so much different?  The line-up is great, but not much better than the last two years.  Organizers of the fest have definitely done something differently.  There are plenty of ticket vendors that have tickets, but the prices are  out of reach for someone who needs to buy more than just one ticket.  I need to buy over 20 tickets.  I will do everything I can to get as many tickets as possible, but this defintiely puts a bad taste in my mouth about concerning anyone who had anything to do with organizing the fest.

[BluegrassDustin]

We haven't done anything differently, Real Deal...

We can't explain this year either, honestly. It's truly been like the Twilight Zone around here...

I'm sorry that you are without tickets for your wedding. I really hope you are able to patch something together.



D.

[fundirector23]

 

[GonePickin]

It's understandable that you're upset, and I would be too if I were in your situation. Putting blame on Planet Bluegrass is a bit much though. This is the first year that anything like this has ever happened, and I doubt they did anything drastically different this time to promote the festival. What motivation would they have to do that? It sells out every year, and it's not like if they sell out really early this year, they can book the 30,000 seat arena in Ouray for next year. I don't think they want to rock the boat on an already wildly successful event. And to be really fair to PB, they did everything they could to let people know tix were selling out early - Facebook posts, posts in this forum, emails.

I'm sure they will learn from this year, and approach next year a bit differently. Good luck man, I really hope you and your guests make it!

[HuckinFappy]

Now easy there Hoss....

Sorry about the sour taste in your mouth, but the kind, hard working folk who put this shindig together (and Folk's Fest, and Rockygrass, and the Wildflower series, and the Mabon, and....) ain't to blame for any of it.  They work their butts off on this, and truth be told they already bend over backwards, forwards, sideways and into unmentionable positions to accommodate us and make this experience Just.  Exactly.  Perfect.

I'm sure you've seen the sign before:  "A lack of prior proper planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."   I don't want to be harsh or callous...I've been through all the wedding planning myself, and I know what it's like.   But if your wedding is supposed to be at Bluegrass, you buy tickets when they're available....'cause weddings need to be Just.  Exactly.  Perfect.  You at least pay attention....the kind folks on the planet have been telling us for months we better buy early, 'cause it's going like hotcakes!

They aren't doing anything different...they don't need to.  They always work hard to iprove what needs to be improved, but they also seem to subscribe to the "If it ain't broke don't fix it!" theory.  One thing that ain't broke is P.R., advertising and ticket sales.

I hope your wedding works out the way you dreamed, and you have many long, happy years together.  But don't go getting all salty at the gang on the Planet.  Them's our peeps, and you mess with them, you mess with us. 

[swander99]

  This year is so different than the others?  We knew we wanted to go to TBF, so when tickets went on sale, we did all we could to get 'em.  Same as all the other years.

Now easy there Hoss....
I'm sure you've seen the sign before:  "A lack of prior proper planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."....the kind folks on the planet have been telling us for months we better buy early, 'cause it's going like hotcakes! 

Agreed! Tickets went on sale before January...  Good luck! Hope it works out for ya.

 Listening to: Planet Bluegrass Radio

[landshark]

Now easy there Hoss....

Sorry about the sour taste in your mouth, but the kind, hard working folk who put this shindig together (and Folk's Fest, and Rockygrass, and the Wildflower series, and the Mabon, and....) ain't to blame for any of it.  They work their butts off on this, and truth be told they already bend over backwards, forwards, sideways and into unmentionable positions to accommodate us and make this experience Just.  Exactly.  Perfect

I hope your wedding works out the way you dreamed, and you have many long, happy years together.  But don't go getting all salty at the gang on the Planet.  Them's our peeps, and you mess with them, you mess with us. 

You got that right Huckinfappy

ALWAYS a few tickets popin up closer to show time. Hang in there cowboy....

[zack_adcock]

I also think that many would disagree that this year "isn't that much better" than recent years.  No diss on past fests of course, but every day is totally stacked with awesomeness that itself gains "draw" beyond the usual folks.

For example:

1) If you look at past years' "artist request soapbox", many of those artists are finally appearing on the main stage (Trampled, Cornmeal, Darrell Scott, to name three)

2) To my eyes, there are more big-ticket acts from more different walks of music this year than in the past.
eg.
*Mumford & Sons are HUGE right now (I teach 9th grade and hear about them all the time from my kids)
*Decemberists The King Is Dead had a big debut in January
*As Hot Sugar pointed out, Robert Plant tickets top out around the cost of a four-day pass
*Old Crow (college kids like to sing "Wagon Wheel" these days)

3) Whether or not we all like it, word is getting out about TBF's awesomeness. That doesn't mean more people will be there, necessarily, as "sold out" is "sold out".

Regarding the brokers ... that's a mystery to me, but I expect they have to get on and buy tickets just like everyone else.

Sounds like a learning year for some of us all around.

[lalagay]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation Real Deal, planning a wedding is tough, and stressful for many different reasons, especially when things don't go according to plan. Me and Dayton met at our first TBF in 2009, and I'm from the UK. We had to go through a s**t load of paperwork to manage to be together and had to have a legal wedding within 90 days of me setting foot on US territory again in 2010.

So that wedding was rushed to say the least, and none of my folks where there to celebrate with me. And now, to top it off, with a year's notice to my family and friends in Europe, a grand total of 2 people from my side of the family will be making the trip to North Carolina this year for the "official" celebration, and those two are not even my mum & dad.

I was pissed at first, and mad at the people not coming, and then I though I hadn't given people enough notice to attend, and considered just cancelling the whole thing. But at the end of the day, the bad economy and the lack of money to go around isn't anyone's fault, so I had to take a back seat and feel grateful for the two people who could make it, and carry on as planned, on a smaller scale. At the end of the day, as long as me & Dayton are together, that's what counts!

On another note, we were also planning a late honeymoon/wedding celebration by attending Telluride Bluegrass Fest this year for the second time. We're pretty short on cash and my hubby's a student at the moment, but nonetheless Telluride means so much to us (and considering what a popular fest it is) we got our tix last November, before even knowing if we would have the finances to attend...

Unfortunately, in my mind, this is the only way to go about it. If you have a change of plans you can always return them or sell them at face value to a festivarian in need. Spend any amount of time on this forum and you'll find that out.

I might also offer a suggestion as to why the tix sold out so quick this year. TBF has an awesome lineup every year, any telluride bluegrass lover will agree. This year, TBF has an awesome lineup, any alternative music lover will agree, and THAT is a much bigger crowd of people.
Think about it: Robert Plant, Sarah McLachlan, Mumford & Sons, the Decemberists, OCMS, The Hand and The Heart... Those artists alone have attracted a broader audience's attention throught grammys won, being on the top 20 hits chart... It's not just the country and bluegrass folks rushing in for tix this year, it's all the people who've heard the noise about these guys and can't believe they're all at one festival! I bet people are thinking twice about Bonaroo vs Telluride this year (and who can beat the TBF location?!?), and THAT is were the tix went. Nothing to do with Planet Bluegrass's fest organisation, or rather everything to do with them putting on a great show and people wanting to be there.

One last thing that bugs me a little about your attitude towards the whole wedding plan. It's awesome that you met your fiance at TBF, we're in the same boat, it's a wonderful place to come back to and celebrate that meeting that changed your life forever.
But expecting a 10,000 + festival to jump on the opportunity to help coordinate your wedding celebration, with a 6 month informal notice, it's a bit much frankly. This is a MUSIC FESTIVAL in the town of Telluride that happens once a year. It's NOT a specialist wedding venue, you can't book the place to yourself, expect priority for your friends for a wedding that would take precedence over music lovers going to their favorite festival.
I personally think it would be unethical for PB to start selling off bulk twentysomething festival tickets to someone with a wedding plan, what has that got to do with them? I'm sure they would be as accommodating as possible to whatever a bunch of festivarians want to do at TBF, as long as it's legal and doesn't infringe on other festivarian's rights attending the fest.
So my advice is: chill out. Take a deep breath. Life is full of unexpected turns. Telluride Bluegrass Festival will always be there to satisfy your summer music festival needs, as long as you get in and get your tickets ahead of time. I hope you have a great time and an awesome wedding celebration, and that you and your partner will still be coming back to the box canyon to celebrate how you first met. It's still a great story, wedding or not.

[Rob_from_Ohio]

Well said Lalagay. 

I certainly sympathize with your situation Real Deal, but it's a fact that there are A LOT of people looking for tickets right now.  While they're not all getting married at TBF, I'm sure that they're no less disappointed by not having tickets.  My wife has ordered tickets for us as soon as they've gone on sale for the past few years (they make a great stocking stuffer!) and we just do everything possible to make sure we can actually attend.  We must be doing something right because this will be our 11th year at TBF together.

It does seem that there is a large influx of TBF virgins this year, or maybe there are just more of them using this forum.  I think Lalagay and Zack have nailed the reason for this - the line up features acts that us TBF veterans have been asking for for a few years, as well as several acts with great appeal outside of the "normal" realm of bluegrass.  It's going to be an incredible 4 days.

I hope it all works out for you guys and that you can spend as many years together as this festival as my family and me.  Go easy on The Planet.  Those folks are working night and day to provide me with the best 4 days of my year every single year and I have a feeling a lot of others feel the same way. 

 Listening to: Live YMSB from the Acoustic Planet Tour

[rettlerSCI]

Sorry but this year is WAY BETTER then last years lineup IMO. When I saw the first announcement of artist it was pretty clears this was going to sellout fast, as the last few years have soldout, even with last years lineup.

Still had a blast last year, but feel this years is 10x better then what was on there last year.

[Bevin]

It's not that it's any different this year, but each year gets a little more difficult. 

And I would point the fingers at US.

We have done far too good of a job of conveying, over this Forum and otherwise, what a good time this is, and now it's grown in popularity beyond it's capacity.  That's no one's fault but our own. 

I remember the days when ABGATers had Bear Creek preserve almost to themselves until about Tuesday (that was just a few years ago, folks).  Now it's full up on Saturday. 

We get on line, we pump the event, encourage people to come early, tell people they can score tickets when they arrive (which is less and less true and more and more irresponsible) and generally we're marketing ourselves into a corner where even the hard core can't get a ticket. 

I put in for 2 tickets in the lottery every year.  I know groups of 4 who recruit family and friends to enter the lottery on their behalf and end up with 30 tickets for 4 people (which ultimately get doled out, of course). 

Where do we go from here?  The valley isn't getting any bigger.

Wanna know where i love to ski?  Where it's a powder day every day?  Tough beans - I'm not talking about it. 

Wanna know where I love to festivate?  Go ahead, post away, tell everyone, then even you won't be able to get a ticket no matter how hard you try.

[end of rant]

[DukTapeMan]

We get on line, we pump the event, encourage people to come early, tell people they can score tickets when they arrive (which is less and less true and more and more irresponsible) and generally we're marketing ourselves into a corner where even the hard core can't get a ticket. 

<hic!> Uh-oh...  guess I shouldn't relys on gittin' me a pass when I git der, eh?

Blaze, dagnabit! Where'd you put doze passes?? 

[Auntie Hope]

We get on line, we pump the event, encourage people to come early, tell people they can score tickets when they arrive (which is less and less true and more and more irresponsible) and generally we're marketing ourselves into a corner where even the hard core can't get a ticket. 

<hic!> Uh-oh...  guess I shouldn't relys on gittin' me a pass when I git der, eh?

Blaze, dagnabit! Where'd you put doze passes?? 

No, you little drunk, you should not be looking for passes after arrival in Telluride..... and get your horse off my leg. Sheesh....... 

Auntie Hope 

[Blaze]

Blaze, dagnabit! Where'd you put doze passes?? 

Ummm... I tink I'd ate dem wit da Wonka bar Pappa Mark gaves me...   

I ate yers, too.

Sorrys, DukTape Man