thebreakfast.info
General Discussions => Spunk => Topic started by: jking on September 15, 2006, 06:03:42 pm
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what issues are you speaking of?
There were many reports several years ago regarding extremely over zealous security.
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Wakarusa responds...
Wakarusians:
As many of you know, there were law enforcement and accompanying security issues at this year\'s event. Some of these issues continue to make headlines, and regrettably, create controversy. As organizers of the festival, it is very disappointing that these issues have taken away from what otherwise has been a highly praised and truly special event. We cannot tell you how truly sorry we are that these issues occurred at Wakarusa this year and we sincerely apologize to everyone for any violations of your rights and privacy.
To give you some background, we were informed that there would be an increased law enforcement presence at this year\'s event. Initially, we were supportive of this when it was presented as an effort to increase the safety of everyone in attendance. It became apparent however that enforcement, not safety and security, was the true mission of the increased law enforcement. We must make it perfectly clear that we did not know of any of the specific measures, tactics or instruments the various law enforcement agencies used at the event. More importantly, Wakarusa does not believe such tactics and equipment were necessary and does not support their use.
If there are not significant assurances that similar procedures won?t materialize in the future, we will not host another Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival. There is simply no justification for these types of tactics to be used on an otherwise courteous and peaceful crowd. These actions are not what Wakarusa is about. Wakarusa has always took pride in being a fan friendly event ? we like to say, "a festival for music fans by music fans? and we mean it to our core. Wakarusa is a special event hosted in a very special setting and we do appreciate the vision of those local officials who allow Wakarusa to exist and to flourish. The festival has also benefited dozens of charities and not for profit groups. In the future, we hope to expand our mission of supporting great endeavors such as environmental causes, sustainable living models, and music education. In essence, this is an event that deserves everyone?s respect and support.
We are searching for moral, political and legal support to help us resolve the issues we all faced this year. As before, we will continue to listen to your concerns and work with the authorities to make Wakarusa an event we all can be proud of. Our annual mission is to make Wakarusa one of the best, safest and most enjoyable events in the country. We sincerely appreciate your loyal support during the past three years and we hope we can maintain your trust and respect as we work through our growing pains.
Thank you for your support,
Brett Mosiman
*Brett Mosiman will participate in an online chat this Friday, September 22nd at 2:30 p.m. Central courtesy of the Lawrence Journal World (http://www.ljworld.com). Brett will respond to questions regarding past and future events. Specific information on the online chat will be posted to http://www.ljworld.com tomorrow (September 20th).
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what issues are you speaking of?
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considering the "issues" that have occurred at moe.down in years past I\'m glad that they have found a way to address the security problems they have had
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My moe.down experience last year was one of the best I can remember. We pretty much did what we wanted when we wanted. It is a very chill fest.
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security came through and told us "we have no police on the grounds, we don\'t care what you do... all we want is to have the roadways clear enough so that an ambulance could get through if it had to because if not the emts will have the cops in here, so move that damn tent!" They seemed pretty chill about everything else though.
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i dont know about you guys, but i\'ve never heard of anyone havin serious problems at moe.down before.... i was smoking and ingesting all i wanted wherever i wanted whenever i wanted all weekend and i never even felt nervous..... definitely my favorite festival ive been too
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wasn\'t Phish \'99>\'00 on an indian reservation?
Big Cypress was the fifth and largest of seven weekend-long festivals hosted by the rock band Phish. The event took place on the eve of the millennium - December 30 and 31, 1999, at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation near the Big Cypress National Preserve in southern Florida.
Native land is technically not american soil, which means that it has it\'s own laws and regulations.
Which is why Big Cypress will always stand out in my mind as the best Phish show (and if you were there you know it really was one big show!) ever!
Not only did the band play amazingly that weekend but we were free to do whatever we wanted as long as we were peaceful.
I thanked over a dozen of the "security" there for the use of their land to celebrate the New Year w/ 80,000 of my friends.
eh, all the more reason to say "screw the festie scene!"
peace+love on the surface.. but a dark, dark underbelly
That\'s why Vegoose is so Special.
Cops let you pretty much do what you want on the festival grounds and lots as long as you are not selling in front of them or being a dumbass.
It\'s freakin\' Vegas!
You know when you go there it\'s called SIN CITY for a reason!
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wasn\'t Phish \'99>\'00 on an indian reservation?
Big Cypress was the fifth and largest of seven weekend-long festivals hosted by the rock band Phish. The event took place on the eve of the millennium - December 30 and 31, 1999, at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation near the Big Cypress National Preserve in southern Florida.
Native land is technically not american soil, which means that it has it\'s own laws and regulations.
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eh, all the more reason to say "screw the festie scene!"
peace+love on the surface.. but a dark, dark underbelly
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wasn\'t Phish \'99>\'00 on an indian reservation?
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what y\'all need to do is get some hippy native americans to let you throw a festival on native lands.
Native land is technically not american soil, which means that it has it\'s own laws and regulations. (This is why it\'s a really really bad idea to cheat at foxwoods!) They can put you in their own jails and try you in their own courts by thier own laws.
The company an old neighbor of mine worked for did some work at foxwoods building the concert hall, and it was MONTHS before they could start work due to all of the legal paperwork that had to be filed.
get an indian to host it with cool native laws - do whatever the hell you want.
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yeah, that\'s why i mentioned the right locaion. CB, for instance, was out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by 3000 of their own forested acres and more uninhabited land on all sides. add in the intentional size limitations and it was great without any hassle whatsoever. the county it was in has very few cops and because of its location, don\'t really care what happens as long as it stays out there (from a friend who lives in that county). but either way, i\'d rather have some semblance of privacy than to completely give away all rights from the get go. but you\'re right. since the patriot and rave acts, pretty much no place is off limits any more...
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the difference, kindm, is that on private land the owners provide the security and can keep cops from entering without a warrant, which will be tough to get if appropriate security measures can be proven. on public land cops have free range to do what, when and how they will. yes, you\'ll need permits, but no, there don\'t have to be police. and if you find the right location and don\'t sell alcohol, then your permit needs are minimal.
That really is not true. If you are having a public event then the police do not need a warrant to enter the grounds. There is nothing to stop them from actually buying tickets etc etc. Permit needs depending on what the event is completely up to the town that the event is being held. The town having the event may choose not to require a large police presence especially if the promoters can show that they have private security to help enforce rules etc but again their presence or lack thereof is up to the town / state depending on the size and potential traffic issues etc
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the difference, kindm, is that on private land the owners provide the security and can keep cops from entering without a warrant, which will be tough to get if appropriate security measures can be proven. on public land cops have free range to do what, when and how they will. yes, you\'ll need permits, but no, there don\'t have to be police. and if you find the right location and don\'t sell alcohol, then your permit needs are minimal.
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private land makes little to no difference.
When you have to get town approval for festivals there are always enforcement regulations etc. If you really think the vibes or any other festival that was / is held on private land does not have police enforcement then you are kidding yourself.
Just because land is private does not mean you can do anything you want. As an example you cannot paint your house certain colors, you can\'t aprk on the grass, you cannot build a tree house unless u have a permit to do so. Same goes for festivals. If you get a permit from any town USA there is going to be stipulations on what, when and how loud etc. Police enforcement is tops on list, followed by EMS and Insurance etc etc etc.
It just so happens that the ILCC has many of those aspects covered but i can assure you that undercover officers are there.
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yeah, i\'ve been pretty much done with big festivals for a while now anyways, but this definitely helps seal the deal!!
camp barefoot was the ideal fest, for me. 600 folks and not a single authoratative presence anywhere! walk up to the stage with your drink, drag the cooler with ya if you want. smoke what ya will where ya will.... and the only cop i saw all weekend was 25 miles away, headed in the other direction.
:that: Even the property that Camp Creek/ Gathering was held at, even though it was private, was controlled by nazi bikers. I personally never had any problems with them, but heard about a lot of issues. Camp Barefoot was INCREDIBLE!!!!! Run by fans for the fans!!! Def. see myself going to festivals of this calliber from now on!! And we will def. be at Barefoot again next year!!!!
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If the claim that the festival could not have continued without a visible show of drug-law enforcement is true then I understand the need to take steps. People should have been notified of video surveillance but not necessarily of camera location. If the claim is not true then it really sucks that those folks got busted just so a surveillance company could show off its wares.
I admit this response made me laugh
Posted by narky (anonymous) on September 15, 2006 at 8:21 a.m.
dude, you just killed my buzz
bustarusa, brah
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yeah, i\'ve been pretty much done with big festivals for a while now anyways, but this definitely helps seal the deal!!
camp barefoot was the ideal fest, for me. 600 folks and not a single authoratative presence anywhere! walk up to the stage with your drink, drag the cooler with ya if you want. smoke what ya will where ya will.... and the only cop i saw all weekend was 25 miles away, headed in the other direction.
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seriously, festivals need to stop being held on public land. Public land = cops do whatever they want
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Hidden, high-dollar equipment helped police crack down on drug dealing at this year?s Wakarusa Festival.
A new article in a trade journal, Government Security News, describes the roughly $250,000 worth of hidden-camera, night-vision and thermal-imaging equipment used by police throughout the festival grounds. The equipment was courtesy of a California company that agreed to give a free demonstration of its wares for marketing purposes....
Full Story HERE (http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/sep/15/police_used_hightech_surveillance_festival/)