Post by Paul on Jul 25, 2012 10:52:16 GMT -5
If anyone was excited about this festival I think we can all I agree the most excited. Here is a review of my time at Firefly:
My trip all starts Wednesday morning. I woke up with really bad stomach pains that kept me out of work all day. I went to work on Thursday feeling a little bit better but still had really bad pains and dry heaving from time to time. Our original plan was to leave Friday at 430am to meet up with a group at 5. Well that didn't happen.
Friday morning I kept feeling worse. It was around 430 when I wanted to go to the ER because I never had any pains like this before. My girlfriend eventually talked me into trying to sleep more and go to the walk in medical center at 730am. I took her advice and went back to sleep and headed to the center at 730. After being there for 45 minutes they said I had a stomach virus that had been going around. Though I think it was more of heat exhaustion since I work outside all day and last week was brutally hot.
After the Doc visit I went back home and relaxed some more before finally leaving my house around 11 to head to Firefly. I expected some traffic getting in but it was smooth sailing. From the time we hit the checkpoint to our campground it took maybe 20 minutes. I applaud Firefly for this because I know how long waits usually are.
So we setup and we go make the walk to Will Call for my wristband. I was told Will Call would be outside the festival which it wasn't. We had to wait in the 1 line they had which was for Will Call and entrance into the festival itself. That was such a buzzkill. The line to get in was pretty crazy if you weren't there Friday afternoon. I did get my wristband with no problems, kudos Firefly.
The rest of Friday went off pretty smoothly except for the port a potties by our campsite. By Friday evening 3 of them were out of service and 1 of them had a caved in floor. The company only cleaned 2 or 3 at a time then left. I think word got around by Saturday because Red Frog Staff was checking all of them by our site and was getting the crew to clean them.
Early Saturday morning I started having really bad stomach cramps again. It was about 3 or 4 in the morning. It kept me up and I couldn't go back to sleep, I was in horrible pain. So I put a hoodie on in the rain to see if I can find somebody at the info tent in our campground. NOBODY WAS THERE! I know it was really late but other festivals have people at their info and medical tents 24/7. It ensures safety for campers in case something serious happens.
So after seeing nobody was there I go to take a quick 5 minute walk to the medical center itself right outside the track. After arriving there, NOBODY WAS THERE! I walked around the building and knocked on doors, nothing happened. I walked back to my site and on the way flagged down a few officers and firefly crew. NONE OF THEM STOPPED TO HELPED!!!!
I know I wasn't in a life or death situation but what if somebody else was? This was the major downfall of the festival for me. People need medical help available 24/7.
The rest of Saturday went fine. I was starting to feel a little better but still not 100%. The bands were all awesome on Saturday and I can't complain one bit about the bands.
Sunday was the best day so far. I felt 100% and actually got a pretty good night of sleep. All the bands were great on Sunday. We left Sunday night with no traffic slowing us down. I was really surprised by how many people were staying to Monday.
Positives for the weekend:
- nearby camping and even though they sucked, the port a potties were in abundance.
- the festival was really clean. they did an amazing job keeping all the grounds clean and enjoyable
- 4 stages and 2 bands on at once was awesome. I saw all the bands I wanted to see except for 1. It gave everybody a chance to go and see all the bands they wanted to. After PP dropped off I had no conflicts.
- the arcade was free!
- i never really saw security hassle people and entrance into the festival was really quick (even though I did have VIP).
- all the people I met were really nice. nobody was there to ruin everybody elses good time
Stuff I would change
- more medical staff and workers at all the info booths 24/7. If you read my story up above you can see why
- more food vendors. I was really surprised there wasn't more food vendors set up around the camp sites besides the food trucks in Lot 4
- better food. I didn't eat any of the vendor food inside the festival. I did eat at VIP lounge and even their food was hit or miss. It sounded like we would have gourmet restaurants around the festival. Don't call it gourmet food when it's just regular fair food with a fancy name. I also heard some of the food was making people sick.
- make another walk way to the main stage. Leaving the Killers on Saturday was horrible. I know there's somewhat limited space but a bigger or a second walk way is needed. It will handle traffic flow a lot better.
My overall grade: B
They did a great job for it being the first year. I would have given a better grade but the lack of medical staff around the camps disappointed me big time.
My trip all starts Wednesday morning. I woke up with really bad stomach pains that kept me out of work all day. I went to work on Thursday feeling a little bit better but still had really bad pains and dry heaving from time to time. Our original plan was to leave Friday at 430am to meet up with a group at 5. Well that didn't happen.
Friday morning I kept feeling worse. It was around 430 when I wanted to go to the ER because I never had any pains like this before. My girlfriend eventually talked me into trying to sleep more and go to the walk in medical center at 730am. I took her advice and went back to sleep and headed to the center at 730. After being there for 45 minutes they said I had a stomach virus that had been going around. Though I think it was more of heat exhaustion since I work outside all day and last week was brutally hot.
After the Doc visit I went back home and relaxed some more before finally leaving my house around 11 to head to Firefly. I expected some traffic getting in but it was smooth sailing. From the time we hit the checkpoint to our campground it took maybe 20 minutes. I applaud Firefly for this because I know how long waits usually are.
So we setup and we go make the walk to Will Call for my wristband. I was told Will Call would be outside the festival which it wasn't. We had to wait in the 1 line they had which was for Will Call and entrance into the festival itself. That was such a buzzkill. The line to get in was pretty crazy if you weren't there Friday afternoon. I did get my wristband with no problems, kudos Firefly.
The rest of Friday went off pretty smoothly except for the port a potties by our campsite. By Friday evening 3 of them were out of service and 1 of them had a caved in floor. The company only cleaned 2 or 3 at a time then left. I think word got around by Saturday because Red Frog Staff was checking all of them by our site and was getting the crew to clean them.
Early Saturday morning I started having really bad stomach cramps again. It was about 3 or 4 in the morning. It kept me up and I couldn't go back to sleep, I was in horrible pain. So I put a hoodie on in the rain to see if I can find somebody at the info tent in our campground. NOBODY WAS THERE! I know it was really late but other festivals have people at their info and medical tents 24/7. It ensures safety for campers in case something serious happens.
So after seeing nobody was there I go to take a quick 5 minute walk to the medical center itself right outside the track. After arriving there, NOBODY WAS THERE! I walked around the building and knocked on doors, nothing happened. I walked back to my site and on the way flagged down a few officers and firefly crew. NONE OF THEM STOPPED TO HELPED!!!!
I know I wasn't in a life or death situation but what if somebody else was? This was the major downfall of the festival for me. People need medical help available 24/7.
The rest of Saturday went fine. I was starting to feel a little better but still not 100%. The bands were all awesome on Saturday and I can't complain one bit about the bands.
Sunday was the best day so far. I felt 100% and actually got a pretty good night of sleep. All the bands were great on Sunday. We left Sunday night with no traffic slowing us down. I was really surprised by how many people were staying to Monday.
Positives for the weekend:
- nearby camping and even though they sucked, the port a potties were in abundance.
- the festival was really clean. they did an amazing job keeping all the grounds clean and enjoyable
- 4 stages and 2 bands on at once was awesome. I saw all the bands I wanted to see except for 1. It gave everybody a chance to go and see all the bands they wanted to. After PP dropped off I had no conflicts.
- the arcade was free!
- i never really saw security hassle people and entrance into the festival was really quick (even though I did have VIP).
- all the people I met were really nice. nobody was there to ruin everybody elses good time
Stuff I would change
- more medical staff and workers at all the info booths 24/7. If you read my story up above you can see why
- more food vendors. I was really surprised there wasn't more food vendors set up around the camp sites besides the food trucks in Lot 4
- better food. I didn't eat any of the vendor food inside the festival. I did eat at VIP lounge and even their food was hit or miss. It sounded like we would have gourmet restaurants around the festival. Don't call it gourmet food when it's just regular fair food with a fancy name. I also heard some of the food was making people sick.
- make another walk way to the main stage. Leaving the Killers on Saturday was horrible. I know there's somewhat limited space but a bigger or a second walk way is needed. It will handle traffic flow a lot better.
My overall grade: B
They did a great job for it being the first year. I would have given a better grade but the lack of medical staff around the camps disappointed me big time.
