Fernie Fest

That was an amazing event. Everyone who put so much time and effort, blood sweat and tears into organizing FernieFest should be so proud of themselves. Saturday night with the DJ's and tonight with Keith Greeninger & Water absolutely rocked!

Sorry to the neighbour who kindly emailed all the sponsors about not appreciating the noise level Saturday night... my response: one night of loud music should be well worth the sacrifice. This event was a true community event initiated by just a few people. Look at what was accomplished. Congrats FernieFest... looking forward to next year. Turn it up!!!

I found the fest to be quite a dissapointment. you could tell it was rushed and poorly organized. Things like charging for parking in a field with room for hundreds, charging full ticket price with only a few acts left to perform on sunday! closing the beer gardens at 9pm on sunday, half assed homemade signage, and talk about a stupid weekend to have it, the first long weekend of summer and in direct competition to the city sponsored events on canada day Duhh!!!!!!!!better luck next year

old time the olny thing that pissed yo off is that they did not sell depends....sick that gun in your mouth and pull the trigger

[quote=oldfernie]you could tell it was rushed and poorly organized.
[/quote]

considering the destruction experienced friday night before the festival it was amazing that it even went ahead at all. There was definitely a few times that we considered canceling the entire event.

[quote=oldfernie]things like charging for parking in a field with room for hundreds [/quote]

The parking charge will definitely be re-worked next year... probably offering discounted entry to those who arrive on there own power or use the free shuttle. Driving your own vehicle to FernieFest goes against all of our principles and the $5 charge was meant to be a deterrent. Basically the charging for parking paid for the free shuttle service... perfect!

[quote=oldfernie]charging full ticket price with only a few acts left to perform on sunday! [/quote]

FernieFest is just that, a festival not a concert. You aren't meant to show up to see a few acts, your meant to stay for the entire day and enjoy the full lineup and the festival atmosphere. It was quite disappointing to see earlier acts play to a nearly empty festival grounds, we wouldn't want to promote this further.

[quote=oldfernie]closing the beer gardens at 9pm on sunday [/quote]

Sorry about the beergardens closing early on sunday, we really had no idea what our plans were when we started the liquor application process nearly 6 months ago! Next year the beer will flow as long as we are allowed to.

And you can't discount much from an already very affordable $25 pass.. probably the cheapest festival in BC.

[quote=oldfernie]half assed homemade signage [/quote]

Halfassed homemade signange? are you kidding? Thanks to all the great artists, volunteers, Nick Morris for the wood, and NuFloors for the paint! The signs were awesome!!

[quote=oldfernie]and talk about a stupid weekend to have it, the first long weekend of summer and in direct competition to the city sponsored events on canada day Duhh!!!!!!!!better luck next year [/quote]

And the timing...... that is definitely something that we are looking at differently for next year. What do you think would be a good time to have it?

Thanks for wishing us luck for next year, its going to be way better! we learned alot and will change alot, but there is even more things that we wont change, because the 1st annual FernieFest rocked!!

We really enjoyed Fernie Fest - props to all involved in putting on this awesome event!

Here are a few of the things that really stood out for us:

-Fun for the whole family - there was something for everyone with the wide range of music, kid's activities, etc.

-Location - easily accessible, but still had a bit of a "wilderness" feel to it. I'm surprised that there was a noise complaint as the festival wasn't close to many houses, although i suppose there is always *someone* who is going to complain.

-Cool graphic design - I don't see where the "half assed homemade signage" comment comes from, I thought the graphic design on most of the banners, pamphlets, and web site was very polished and professional looking - and the rustic wooden signs on the site seemed to suit the location.

-Good food - we enjoyed the food, and thought it was good value for the money

[quote=oldfernie]I found the fest to be quite a dissapointment... Things like charging for parking in a field with room for hundreds[/quote][quote=rnelson]The parking charge will definitely be re-worked next year... probably offering discounted entry to those who arrive on there own power or use the free shuttle. Driving your own vehicle to FernieFest goes against all of our principles and the $5 charge was meant to be a deterrent. Basically the charging for parking paid for the free shuttle service... perfect![/quote]
I liked the idea of promoting "green" transportation, we took the shuttle on Saturday and my wife and daughter rode their bikes in first thing on Sunday, but I have to admit that we took our private car on Sunday afternoon. Here are a couple of things that would make the shuttle service a more attractive option IMHO:

-Use a smaller shuttle bus, but run it twice as often. Once every two hours isn't often enough, and the large bus didn't appear to be required. Hopefully the savings in using a smaller shuttle would at least partially offset the cost of running it more frequently.

-Post the shuttle schedule at all the stops (Aquatic Centre, Hostel, Fruitstand, Festival Grounds) so that people looking to ride the shuttle know they are in the right place, and know exactly where and how long they will need to wait for a ride.

~~~
The kid's activities were great, but I would consider holding then in the forest near the DJ booth next year so that there is some shade. Since the kid's activities will be done by the time the DJs get started this shouldn't pose a problem.

[quote=rnelson]It was quite disappointing to see earlier acts play to a nearly empty festival grounds[/quote]
Perhaps a later start would be in order? Then again, perhaps the low turn out early in the day was due to the late start Saturday which was due to the storm, so maybe this was a one time thing...

[quote=rnelson]...the 1st annual FernieFest rocked!![/quote]
Agreed! Looking forward to next year's show...

I'd like to say a word of thanks to OldFernie for your bolstering comments and support on the signage and the rest of the festival - not! (and I really do hope that you can tell that I'm being sarcastic)

I was one of the many that volunteered time into making some of those signs and then remaking them on Saturday morning after some of them had been destroyed or blown away completely by the winds of Friday night, whilst helping clean up the site, rearrange the vendor's area as the first site for them had to be abandoned due to falling trees, put up vendor's tents, the beer tents and any other tents that had been blown down or away completely - all of this whilst it was still raining hard and blowing winds that were a slight cause for concern and in only a matter of hours before the festival was due to start. I managed to keep a smile on my face and my spirits light, unfortunately now after reading your post, I have a bitter feeling. Thanks again OldFernie.

The festival rocked - I've been to many festivals, Glastonbury in England being my biggest and I reckon the FernieFest kicked the ass out of most of them. The bands were just amazing, the stalls were fantastic - I loved the bannock and tacos - the site was beautiful (I now have a picture of the site looking over the lake towards Mount Fernie and the Three Sisters as my background on my desktop) and everyone I spoke to on Saturday night was blown away by the fact that the organizers had managed to arrange compensation from Mother Nature by way of having the amazing full moon! How spectacular did the site look as the moon lit it all up?

I'd like to say a huge (genuine this time) word of thanks to the organisers of the first annual FernieFest. It was a great weekend and I can't wait to be a volunteer next year!

As my mom says, if you can't say anything nice, then don't say it at all... I don't agree with this on every occasion constructive cristicism is useful, but your comments OldFernie are not constructive, they're just down right sour!

[quote=liz-martin]I was one of the many that volunteered time into making some of those signs and then remaking them on Saturday morning after some of them had been destroyed or blown away completely by the winds of Friday night, whilst helping clean up the site, rearrange the vendor's area as the first site for them had to be abandoned due to falling trees, put up vendor's tents, the beer tents and any other tents that had been blown down or away completely - all of this whilst it was still raining hard and blowing winds that were a slight cause for concern and in only a matter of hours before the festival was due to start.[/quote]
Thanks - your efforts were much appreciated by most of us who enjoyed the festival.

I thought this was an excellent event - which is amazing considering that it was a first effort an the site was destroyed hours before the festival was due to start.

[quote=liz-martin]I managed to keep a smile on my face and my spirits light, unfortunately now after reading your post, I have a bitter feeling. Thanks again OldFernie.[/quote]
Don't let OldFernie's comments get you down, unfortunately it's pretty hard to avoid his kind on the internet...

Although your thanks are appreciated threefish, I must say my reasons for putting my time into helping with the site were purely selfish - I wanted to be able to enjoy the first annual FernieFest and I didn't want to be disappointed (and neither did anyone else at the site on the Saturday morning!) I'm so pleased it wasn't cancelled.

Oh and your link seems to sum OldFernie up very well.

Ferniefest rocked. It was awesome. Kudos, pats on the back and great big cheer for the fantastic team that put it together.

I'll admit that as I biked down to the site on Saturday afternoon, I was a little disappointed that I couldn't hear any music or see any banners or even any people. Then I remembered that one of the worst storms I have seen since I lived here had ripped through Fernie the night before, and frankly I think that we should be grateful that we got anything at all.

Stepping into the grounds I had to dodge a fallen teepee that was being resurrected, and again I was a little disappointed at the lack of people, and I had arrived between acts so no music playing. Then, again, storm remembered; looking around you could already see the faces that were lit up in expectation of a great event to come and feel a really great vibe in the air. No storm was going to put this event down!

When I used the free shuttle (yey for that idea, charge more for parking next year and put on more buses as far as I am concerned) later that evening it was a whole different story. Bigger crowd, great music and a great festival atmosphere. I loved every minute of it and I had great fun. At night it was like walking in the enchanted forest, from the outside there was no sign of activity but once you were in there it was a whole different world and the DJ booth with the firespinning was really unique.

Yes, there's bits that could be done better, but I'm sure they will be next year and for a first attempt it was more than amazing what you guys pulled off. Well done, and keep up the good work! I was unable to volunteer my time, but instead I showed my support by gladly paying for a ticket (where else can you get a full day's entertainment for $30?) purchasing food, clothing from the vendors and doing my bit to support FBC...

Oldfernie, is there anything you actually like in life?

For next year, a later beer garden would definitely be a hit, and a few more portapotties with a decent supply of TP!

There were many things about fernie fest that i liked. However i wasn't telling anyone to put a gun in their mouths or calling them names (the troll thing was very clever, good one)

Everyone involved i'm sure tried their very best and that just wonderful, but it was still rushed and poorly planned.

It's easy to point out the good things in life, but without constant change their is no constant improvement.

The sign at the highway turnoff looked like an arts and crafts class full of 8 year olds made it.

As far as the diference between concerts and festivals ryland, im well aware thanks. I've played at and been to many festivals in my day. My point is that you are alienating alot of locals who have to work during the day, yes even on holidays ryland. if you need a definition of work I 'm sure troll boy could help you out.

The green arguement is fine and dandy but very unrealistic when it comes to transportaion to and from town. Sunday evening there was bugger all to get people home.

Dj's in the woods till the sun came up! Those poor people with familes living nearby, i think its disgusting the way that you all insist it your right and a small sacrafice on their behalf.

I think that most of you are so stuck in your beliefs that there is never a middle ground, its your way or walk the highway!

I take back my good luck wish man, you people have tunnel vision.