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Author Topic: Festival Grids  (Read 2982 times)

Art Welter

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Festival Grids
« on: September 18, 2014, 08:59:12 PM »

After seeing recent aerial photos of Black Rock City, the Burning Man festival site,  it reminded me of aerial photos from the 1985 We Fest in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. 
The interesting difference is that Black Rock City uses a designed and designated circular grid pattern, while the 1983 to 1985 We Fest seating was completely random, other than three roped off aisles. At the designated gate opening time, we played the 1812 overture through the PA, and the audience would make a mad dash in, lugging coolers and armchairs in a race to set up in the prime seating areas. People that could run faster still got better seats than more sedentary types who were first in line at the gate. 

Even though there was no grid, the seating arcs are very close to perfect sections of a circle, other than immediately behind the rectangular fenced in big ticket V.I.P. section near the stage. The stage side of the front of house structure is about 215 feet from the stage to give an idea of the scale.

In later years a rectilinear seating arrangement was enforced with different pay scales depending on proximity to the stage, eliminating the charm of the morning run and organic grid pattern  :'(.

Art
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Randy Pence

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Re: Festival Grids
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2014, 03:29:38 PM »

After seeing recent aerial photos of Black Rock City, the Burning Man festival site,  it reminded me of aerial photos from the 1985 We Fest in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. 
The interesting difference is that Black Rock City uses a designed and designated circular grid pattern, while the 1983 to 1985 We Fest seating was completely random, other than three roped off aisles. At the designated gate opening time, we played the 1812 overture through the PA, and the audience would make a mad dash in, lugging coolers and armchairs in a race to set up in the prime seating areas. People that could run faster still got better seats than more sedentary types who were first in line at the gate. 

Even though there was no grid, the seating arcs are very close to perfect sections of a circle, other than immediately behind the rectangular fenced in big ticket V.I.P. section near the stage. The stage side of the front of house structure is about 215 feet from the stage to give an idea of the scale.

In later years a rectilinear seating arrangement was enforced with different pay scales depending on proximity to the stage, eliminating the charm of the morning run and organic grid pattern  :'(.

Art

Burning Mans grid design might be purposely deisgned and designated now, but it happened out of accident when participants created an arc out of their own accord to optimize proximity to a central bonfire (http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/about_burningman/brc_growth.html).

The craziest difference is that the burners didnt do so with lawnchairs, but with RVs
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Art Welter

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Re: Festival Grids
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2014, 08:58:54 PM »

Burning Mans grid design might be purposely deisgned and designated now, but it happened out of accident when participants created an arc out of their own accord to optimize proximity to a central bonfire .
So the Black Rock City designated grid embraced the obvious desire for proximity to the main event, while the later years of the We Fest rectilinear seating arrangement ignored it.

Progress marches on  ;).
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Randy Pence

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Re: Festival Grids
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2014, 09:59:56 AM »

So the Black Rock City designated grid embraced the obvious desire for proximity to the main event, while the later years of the We Fest rectilinear seating arrangement ignored it.

Progress marches on  ;).

its been 12 years since i was at burning man, but i dont remember any organizational aspect of hte viewing the man itself burn.  The best "seats," so to say, were those which were close but where you wouldnt get too hot, unless that was your thing.  At some point, everyone starts running in one random direction around the fire.  Perhaps one got too hot or tripped too hard and made a move away and started a chain reaction.  I was told it happens every time.

The event has more than doubled in size since, so organized camping is absolutely necessary to avoid a middle ages european/ modern american suburban clusterfuck of a city.  Aerial shots of we fest look pretty good, urban planning-wise
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Festival Grids
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2014, 09:59:56 AM »


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