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Post by psydealist on Feb 2, 2011 17:44:39 GMT -5
Hey Festival Patrons,
I wanted to give people the heads up about something I find to be quite troubling about this year's festival. When I bought my tickets for Nateva 2011 I was surprised to see that my camping pass was only good until 11pm on Sunday August 7th. I emailed Nateva to make sure this was in fact correct and the response I received said the last act will be ending at 9pm and we are to depart by 11pm. This means we would be breaking down camp in complete darkness and traveling long distances late at night. The biggest safety hazard of all would be forcing thousands of vehicles to be driving in potentially intoxicated conditions. This would pose great danger for the individuals themselves as well as the general public. I encourage anyone who reads this to email Nateva, write on their facebook page, tweet, make phone calls, etc. regarding this logistical nightmare. The bottom line is that if festival goers have to make a mass exodus on Sunday, the subsequent arrests, accidents and DUI's would probably end Nateva's good reputation forever. Thanks.
Yours truly,
Common Sense
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Post by itrainmonkeys on Feb 2, 2011 18:49:37 GMT -5
Thanks for bringing this up. Hopefully we get a more official word/clarification about it.
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Post by kaynalex on Feb 2, 2011 19:14:51 GMT -5
Hopefully that's not the case for the forementioned problems it would cause, but if it was I can see them having us break down camp sunday morning to depart that night so it wouldn't have to be done in the dark. Lets just hope whoever emailed you back didn't have complete information because to have everything packed sunday would take away from the experience a bit for me.....  |
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Post by mattinthehat on Feb 6, 2011 1:16:15 GMT -5
If this is true, it would rank as one of the dumbest decisions in the history of festivals. As you stated, the number of intoxicated individuals traveling at night would be a record for Maine. Then there is the problem of ruining the enjoyment of Sunday because everyone is worried about driving home in the middle of the night. In addition to the aforementioned problems, is the issue of rented RVs. I planned to rent an RV for this year's fest, and the standard procedure for this process is the rental co. drops off your RV on the date requested, and then picks it up at the end of your stay. However, they are NOT going to pick up your RV at 9:00 on a Sunday night. In fact, I doubt that they would do a pick-up on a Sunday at all. Sunday is assumed to be a given overnight. Yeah, I could probably move to a different location for the night (WAL-MART), but will that location be willing to deal with the hundreds (thousands) of other RVs/campers with the same idea? I doubt it. Let's hope this is a mistake, and not the deal breaker it would truly be.
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Post by groovatronic on Feb 6, 2011 11:58:07 GMT -5
That is some serious BS if thats true.
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Dexxy
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Post by Dexxy on Feb 17, 2011 19:58:47 GMT -5
Nateva Music & Camping Festival: We just haven't worked out the final details yet. We're definitely ending early Sunday evening, and asking people to go home, that's not being debated, but we're also not going to be forcing people out onto the roads after a day of partying either. We'll get this worked out before the bands are announced in the next few weeks. We really do appreciate your patience.
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Post by groovatronic on Feb 21, 2011 11:59:32 GMT -5
Vague answers make me a sad man
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Dexxy
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Post by Dexxy on Feb 22, 2011 0:19:11 GMT -5
Slightly vague yes, but they did say that they wont be forcing people out and onto the roads sunday night. It sounds like it is more of a suggestion to help get people off the grounds in a timely manner starting sunday night.
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Post by mattinthehat on Feb 22, 2011 1:04:21 GMT -5
Why do you want to end early on Sunday night? This is a weekend festival right? The last time I checked, Sunday is a weekend day. So what we obviously have is higher priced tickets and fewer bands. Did Frank lose THAT much money last year? As far as "suggesting" that people leave early, what if they don't? Who wants to drive all night? If everyone decides to stay and party, what are they going to do about it? All I can say is the BS factor is starting to climb rather rapidly. These guys had better come up with one killer lineup, or this will probably be a no show for me, and many others as well, and I live in Maine.
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Dexxy
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Post by Dexxy on Feb 22, 2011 11:29:54 GMT -5
Why do you want to end early on Sunday night? This is a weekend festival right? The last time I checked, Sunday is a weekend day. So what we obviously have is higher priced tickets and fewer bands. Did Frank lose THAT much money last year? As far as "suggesting" that people leave early, what if they don't? Who wants to drive all night? If everyone decides to stay and party, what are they going to do about it? All I can say is the BS factor is starting to climb rather rapidly. These guys had better come up with one killer lineup, or this will probably be a no show for me, and many others as well, and I live in Maine. Not sure what you have been looking at but the tickets are cheaper this year AND there will be more bands. Tickets prices you can reference for yourself, info on there being more bands came directly from Frank spoken to me, no hearsay there. Like I mentioned, they arent FORCING people out. Have you been to the Gathering of the Vibes before? They have a headliner that ends by 6 on sunday night and then you HAVE to leave. I just think this is an effort to help them get the camp grounds cleared out a little faster this year. While it would be nice to get an official word on this, which we will soon, I really would not worry about this at all. Frank has said a number of times that they will NOT be forcing people to leave sunday night. How is the BS factor rising rapidly other than this little confusing bit?  |
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iamwelting
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Post by iamwelting on Feb 22, 2011 11:45:46 GMT -5
Last year my GF and I left after Furthur (we live in the area) and it was quite difficult to get out. None of the security people were helping, and we were getting yelled at by other festival goers. Hopefully this year they will have sunday night after the last show a bit more organized if people want to leave. And, the more people leave on Sunday night, the easier it is for everyone else to leave on Monday.
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Dexxy
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Post by Dexxy on Feb 22, 2011 15:16:07 GMT -5
Last year my GF and I left after Furthur (we live in the area) and it was quite difficult to get out. None of the security people were helping, and we were getting yelled at by other festival goers. Hopefully this year they will have sunday night after the last show a bit more organized if people want to leave. And, the more people leave on Sunday night, the easier it is for everyone else to leave on Monday. I think this year having a policy in place regarding sunday departures, security and staff will be much more helpful getting people out of the camp grounds safely. Perhaps an area where people who intend to leave early on sunday can all camp together? |
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Post by groovatronic on Feb 22, 2011 21:45:59 GMT -5
Thanks for the info Dexxy, it's good to have some insight into the matter
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Post by mattinthehat on Feb 23, 2011 3:08:27 GMT -5
OK Dexxy, I'll take your word for it, for now, that we won't be kicked out. Hopefully, as you say, the logistics for those that want to leave early will be OK. While I have not been to Allgood, I have seen pics of the location, which is more urban. I can understand why the would not want festies clogging Monday morning traffic in that location. Oxford is hardly in the same situation. I still stand by my comments about the number of bands. When you shorten the fest by 4-6 hours, how do you add more bands? Shorter sets? More local or unknown acts in barns/tents? Tier 2 acts playing really late on Friday and Saturday? The only other option would be another main stage somewhere out of earshot of the other main stage. I don't see enough available land for that unless Frank acquired abutting land nearby. Or at the speedway, which is unlikely from a traffic/bus logistics standpoint. At any rate, most of these ideas are not improvements. So, I say "yeah right" to the concept of more bands in fewer hours, until proven otherwise. Once again, I say the quality of this lineup is going to be the key element.
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Post by mattinthehat on Feb 23, 2011 3:15:42 GMT -5
Sorry, I meant to say Festival of the Vibes, not Allgood.
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Post by mattinthehat on Feb 23, 2011 5:07:26 GMT -5
Dexxy,
While you are correct that the pricing this year is a tiny bit cheaper, I was thinking about doing RV with hookups, which went up a hundred bucks. That is why I made the comment about tickets being more expensive. While we're on the subject of tickets, I see no mention of satellite camping/parking yet. I commuted back and forth each day last year, which I will do again this year if I don't do the RV deal. No rustic camping for me, I like creature comforts (and locked doors). Have you heard anything about this yet?
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Dexxy
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Post by Dexxy on Feb 23, 2011 14:01:42 GMT -5
Camping will be first come first served so there will be no separate sale of off-site tickets as I understand it. I assume there will be plenty of places you can park for the day right next to the festival grounds if you are commuting each day, there was last year. I hope that helps answer your question.
In regards to there being more bands, I would expect there to be more stages and possibly more late night music as well. They will be working to open up the camp grounds so more room for music and more room for campers.
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Post by mattinthehat on Feb 24, 2011 1:55:56 GMT -5
That sounds fine, on the surface. But last year, we were told that once you were on festival grounds, you could not leave during the weekend. That was the whole point of satellite parking and camping (which were separate areas). Each day we were directed to the speedway grounds, where the off-site campers (and their vehicles) went in one direction, and we day commuters went in the other direction. We were then put on buses and shuttled to the fairgrounds. When we arrived, I saw no evidence of any adjacent off-site car/truck parking. There were a lot of cars parked at the speedway, so it will require some major logistics changes to accommodate them at the fairgrounds this year. What you are being told is that there will be room for these vehicles, PLUS more room for campers, stages, and music. Even with the addition of the hill (if the State allows it), this just seems overly optimistic, at best. This is more like the old 10 lbs. of (fill in blank) in a 5 lb. bag scenario. I will continue to hope for the aforementioned miracle. However, put me somewhere between highly skeptical and a true disbeliever.
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Dexxy
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Post by Dexxy on Feb 24, 2011 15:22:18 GMT -5
FWIW the state has nothing to do with the hell. The permitting and shut down of the construction work last year had nothing to do with the hill. They didn't open the hill because the grass did not set in time and having people camp on it would have destroyed it.
I really don't think it is that crazy to think that they will be able to open up the grounds more. Having done a festival once there they will now have a much better idea how to effectively use their space. That combined with the opening of the hill, potential removal of some buildings and flattering out areas that previously could not be use should open up a TON of space on the grounds.
Also, they did have a number of areas that could be used for parking that I am willing to be you never saw, across pottle road.
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Post by mattinthehat on Feb 25, 2011 2:50:27 GMT -5
Dude, I have to call you on that comment about the hill. The halt of construction last year had almost everything to do with the condition of the hill. Yes, that work was not authorized (depending on who you talk to), but what ultimately stopped it was State officials looking at the mess and saying NO. Whether the State approves that hill this year will depend on the kind of weather that we have this summer. If that land is wet at the end of June, you can bet there will be no camping on the hill. There may be one possible way that the condition of the hill doesn't matter, and that is the new climate in Augusta. We now have a State government that actually believes that business is a good thing, and landowners should be able to use their assets to actually make a living. By July, that hill may be a go no matter how shaky the topsoil is. Then there is the newly approved casino in Oxford. The local desperation for business may not be as keen as last year, in spite of the d***h***s who are still trying to thwart the will of the voters. We shall see.
I found one of your comments to be most interesting. You mention demolition of existing buildings on the fairgrounds. Would you care to elaborate on that subject? I find it fascinating that the owners of the fairgrounds would allow Frank to flatten existing buildings that have been there for years, in order to facilitate one festival a year. Did Frank buy the fairgrounds? Are the fairgrounds destined to be leveled anyway, due to future development? Livenation? Casino? Both? If all of this extra space was available, why did they need the speedway for overflow last year? Did Frank buy/lease the additional areas for this year? So many questions.
Since you and I seem to be the only other regular posters left on this site, and apparently two of the few who care about the serious stuff, would you like to take this conversation offline? In spite of the fact that I may seem adversarial at times, I really do want this festival to succeed.
By the way, have you noticed the change in activity on this site? There was a mini flurry of activity for a bit lately, and then the Nateva website dropped the link to this site. Suddenly, this place is a ghost town. Coincidence? Maybe it's the Bonnarroo lineup announcement.
Take care,
Matt
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Post by excitableone311 on Feb 25, 2011 6:50:08 GMT -5
You ever see the back of a twenty dollar bill... on weed? Oh, there's some crazy shiznit, man. There's a dude in the bushes. Has he got a gun? I dunno! RED TEAM GO, RED TEAM GO.
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Post by aintnofreedom on Feb 25, 2011 6:52:17 GMT -5
MattintheHat, I think you're reading too much into the dropping of infoteva from the website... We're not official and other sites don't typically link to fan forums (ex: Bonnaroo has it's own "community" but anyone in the know realizes inforoo is where it's at).... In fact, this site has a hard time getting sustained traffic because 1. it's a small fest. 2. it's a newish fest. 3. there's not a hell of a lot to talk about.
That said I feel like this fest gets way more flack than it deserves from the masses. Just look at their facebook and it seems like everyone is taunting Frank with other fests and whining about a lineup. Nobody whines about Vibes not having their lineup yet, but they are both at about the same time.
Lastly, am I the only one who's not outraged about possibly leaving Sunday? It'd be nice to have the option to stay, sure, but if they opt not to, it ain't a deal breaker. Although I guess it depends on who closes out the fest.
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Post by keithmg210 on Feb 25, 2011 11:08:37 GMT -5
You ever see the back of a twenty dollar bill... on weed? Oh, there's some crazy shiznit, man. There's a dude in the bushes. Has he got a gun? I dunno! RED TEAM GO, RED TEAM GO. ON WEED ;D |
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iamwelting
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Last chance to dance trance
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Post by iamwelting on Feb 25, 2011 11:47:27 GMT -5
This thread is highly amusing. I would love for the hill to be opened up for camping this year. Not sure how much of a difference the regime change in Augusta has to do with it, though LePage does have the stated intention of rolling back every environmental protection the state has passed in the past decade or two. I don't really see the need for more stages. The two main stages were run really efficiently last year, the pcmh stage was awesome cause you could bring whatever you wanted in there. I don't remember if they had music in the other barn during the day, but that could be an option, as well as maybe a tiny stage in the silent disco area.
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Post by itrainmonkeys on Feb 25, 2011 13:17:55 GMT -5
mattinthehat..........please just calm down a little bit.
There's been a lack of posters/activity on here likely because of a lack of a lineup. This place was never really buzzing like crazy to begin with. Once a lineup comes out there will be more posting. I check this forum every day but am waiting for a lineup to come out to start showing some real love to the place again.
As for the issues you seem to have with Nateva......I don't know what to say. You say you want the festival to succeed but since last year you seem to have TONS of problems with it. While your concerns are reasonable I think you just need to relax a little bit and wait for some more official word from Nateva. They were very open with us last year about pretty much everything so stop please stop trying to find holes in what Dexxy's saying. He's just trying to help and is giving us a lot of info. He's been nothing but help.
Also, as aintnofreedom has said.........you are reading too much into them dropping the link from the official site. They did some re-design stuff but are still looking to this place as the message board/community thing it was last year. I know this because Mojo has had some contact with Nateva about this place.
You have some concerns that obviously aren't being answered here right now so have you tried filling out the contact form on Nateva's website? Or maybe sending a message to their Facebook page? If not it might be worth a try.
If those options don't work then perhaps be patient and wait for some official word.
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