Winter’s wimpy grip on California is weakening – I can feel it. Oh, at least one more cold snap lies between today and the true spring, but winter will be in the rear view mirror soon. And with the sun, comes the long California festival season. Will you be prepared? I can help!
One common challenge to those attending bluegrass festivals is getting to all the musical attractions during the multi-day course of the event. This issue is especially prevalent at the Father’s Day Festival in Grass Valley. Many acts, spread out over a wide area over the span of a number of days – it can be daunting!
Step one is to get your hands on a festival schedule. Get it laminated and post it on a bulletin board in your home. Next, go through the list and mark with a grease pencil the acts you want to see, assigning them a number with the most desired act as “one”, the next most desired as “two”, and so on, until each act has a corresponding number.
Next, obtain a topographical map of the festival grounds. Get the tightest scale you can: 1:10,000. The USGS can provide a 4’ x 6’ laminated version for under $100. Post this on your bulletin board. Using a red grease pencil, carefully trace the outlines of the festival area, and mark the location of the stages at the festival, and your anticipated campsite, as well as the expected locations of your friends’ campsites.
Create a grid showing each day of the festival on a separate 8 ½ x 11 sheet with a line for each hour of the 24-hour day. Have them laminated and post them on your bulletin board. With your trusty (black) grease pencil, mark the times on each day when the bands appear and where. For each day, mark your anticipated waking and retiring times.
Now comes the fun part! For each day, starting with your waking time, check the topo map to determine the distance from your campsite to the next attraction of the day. Then do the same for all the intervals between your planned activities. Carefully note these distances in a small notebook. Then go to the local high school track, and time your travel times for each of these distances at each of the following gaits: normal walk, saunter, rapid walk, jog, canter and sprint.
Take this valuable information back to your house and you now have the information you’ll need to ensure you can get to every single activity you want to do during the festival. Print your findings out on pocket-sized pieces of laminated paper (don’t forget extra copies!) You’ll also know which times during the festival you’ll be running as fast as you can to keep to your schedule, and when it’ll be a leisurely stroll. You may even be able to squeeze in some spontaneous conversations and jamming!
There you have it! With just 3 or 4 months of intense planning, you can be completely prepared for the festival season, and you won’t miss a thing!
