Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
I have kept my mouth shut about this since I'm mostly a lurker & don't contribute much...however, I have been a member for some time and was a longtime lurker before I ever joined, so I've done a lot of reading here. I wasn't at Roo last year and, as a result, I kept away from the message boards for the most part because I was so upset that I couldn't make it. When I checked in after Roo & saw the news about Matt, I stayed away for several months because I was so shocked & upset about what happened.
When I decided to head back down to the farm this year, I started checking back in regularly and was kind of astounded at what I saw posted and (some of) the reactions to Matt's death. I wasn't there, so I obviously didn't have any knowledge other than what I read online but the outrage seemed to be misdirected. Do I think the festival has slowly improved logistically over the time I've been there? Mostly. Does the festival need more shade? Yes. Does the festival need more access to water stations? Most definitely.
All of that being said - we all need to acknowledge that there are other reasons for MOST of the deaths that occur at Bonnaroo. I'm saying most, not ALL. Freak accidents and anomalies happen. I completely understand the need for discretion and that this is a highly public forum. I don't want to cause any additional or unnecessary pain to the family and friends of those that have passed. I also understand the reasons for limiting the discussion of "no no word".
It needs to be said that this has reached our front door and it's clearly not going away. Experienced people that we all know and love have died. Senselessly. Others have had issues that have fortunately not ended so tragically. Telling everyone to drink more water and getting outraged by the lack of facilities will not solve this issue. The "no no word" problems are right here in our faces. I have people in my real life that I have lost and now I have online friends that I have lost. Both are equally terrible.
There always seem to be a few people that nicely (and discreetly) point out that we should be talking for real and they end up getting shushed and attacked. I am completely heartbroken that anyone died....but it also makes it so much more real when it's someone that we all know. It also makes it much harder to brush it off and attribute it to ignorance or stupidity. These are seasoned veterans, people who loved Bonnaroo and knew what the conditions were.
I do think that as a community we have a lot of power. We can and should get organized and lobby for the things we all know would improve the festival. We can and should also be addressing the things that no one wants to talk about. I love this forum and I love Bonnaroo - I'll go back to lurking if this is unwelcome but I couldn't keep quiet any longer. I for one will do whatever I can offline if no one is interested in what I'm saying here but if anyone is, let's talk.
Post by tobiasfunke on Jun 14, 2011 19:31:51 GMT -5
Thank you for this well-articulated and sincere post. Hire a sober babysitter when you're with Molly. Shit, I babysat 5 people during bassnectar, monitored their water, made them take a break from dancing. I did it without complaint, because I care about them. Your friends will too.
Post by Funky Munky on Jun 14, 2011 19:44:15 GMT -5
That's good stuff, since you are clearly sincere and personally motivated maybe you should start a thread about recovery, drug addiction/abuse or some other meaningful thread that educates people. I know a bit about the subject and would certainly participate. I think keeping these types of discussions general in nature and not speculative about specific individuals is a good rule of thumb though. Please don't go back to lurking, this kind of thoughtful contribution is capable of effecting change. Lurking, not so much. I saw people do plenty of dangerous stuff, I tried to help where I could without being a dick. Caring about the well being of the people around you is admirable and I think you'd find a lot of support here if you're motivated by love and compassion.
Thanks for the responses...I was nervous about posting this and certainly didn't intend to come off as a sanctimonious ass. I'm glad people can discern the true nature of what I'm trying to say - it does come from a place of love and concern. I wanted to post something similar a year ago but instead I kept quiet because it's not in my nature...I logged off and distracted myself with other things.
I said this briefly somewhere else but I'll add it here too.
I used to be a part of a chapter of an organization called DanceSafe. Our Buffalo chapter was called Fushion.
This is the bio from their website
DanceSafe is a nonprofit, harm reduction organization promoting health and safety within the rave and nightclub community. We currently have local chapters throughout the US and Canada. Our local chapters consist of young people from within the dance culture itself who have a sincere interest in bettering their communities and educating themselves and their peers. We train our volunteers to be health educators and NO NO WORD!!! abuse prevention counselors within their own communities, utilizing the principles and methods of harm reduction and popular education. Our volunteers staff harm reduction booths at raves, nightclubs and other dance events where they provide information on NO NO WORD!!! safer sex, and other health and safety issues concerning the electronic dance community (like driving home safely and protecting one's hearing).
We also provide adulterant screening or pill testing services for ecstasy users. Pill testing is an important harm reduction service that saves lives and reduces medical emergencies by helping ecstasy users avoid fake and adulterated tablets that often contain substances far more dangerous than real ecstasy.
Our information and services are directed primarily towards non-addicted, recreational NO NO WORD!!! users. Non-addicted NO NO WORD!!! users are an under-served population within the harm reduction movement, despite the fact that they comprise the vast majority of NO NO WORD!!! users in our society. While many organizations exist that provide services to drug-dependent individuals, few groups address the needs of the majority of non-addicted, recreational users. We hope to fill this gap. When needed, we will always refer people to appropriate treatment programs.
We used to set up a booth at local raves and I believe the Toronto chapter also had a both at WEMF(which is a music festival in Canada). At our booth we would have a whole bunch of literature for people who may not be totally aware of what it was that they were putting in their body. We also gave out things like water, candy, ear plugs and condoms. There was pill testing too. The biggest thing was that we were inviting and while we didn't promote NO NO WORD!!! use we at least tried to give people as much education as we could about what they were going to put into their body regardless of what they knew.
Anyways. In light of the recent tragedies I contacted both my old "co workers" and I also send a letter to DanceSafe just to gather some information to see if there is anything that can be done with next years Bonnaroo.
I would like to talk to more people that would be interested in possibly forming a chapter for Bonnaroo if we could get the ball rolling with DanceSafe.
Post by slightlyaltered on Jun 14, 2011 20:05:23 GMT -5
I agree, and I was thinking about this before heading down and how helpful it would be to find out about people's experiences with certain things at Bonnaroo. I feel like there's no way this has never been brought up before though. Most likely in the Solar Stage forum? There must be a good reason why mods don't allow it on the boards.
The only thing is that I go to lots of other festivals, and quite honestly Bonnaroo has pretty much the least amount of drugs of any of them. I think there is a little more to it than that this year but we may never know. For instance camping out all day and night so you could rail it at multiple shows could have the same effect as what is being insinuated on here. If it was just druqs people would die at AllGood, Coachella, and Waka a lot more often. I honestly think the crowds have more to do with it than anything else, along with the fact that it really is easy to get overheated in the middle of crowded tent even if it is only 70 outside.
I said this briefly somewhere else but I'll add it here too.
I used to be a part of a chapter of an organization called DanceSafe. Our Buffalo chapter was called Fushion.
This is the bio from their website
I've always wondered why DanceSafe is not at Bonnaroo. I'm very familiar with the organization. Education and testing saves lives. It's impossible to stop what might show up, but to pretend it doesn't exist and not educating people on the hazards is dangerous.
However, I don't know if this is the place for this education. I was a part of a high profile message board in the late 90's/early 00's that was similar, kind of a cross between Inforoo and DanceSafe. There was trouble with the law because of the community side of it (meetups at raves). I would hate to bring the scrutiny of law enforcement upon our Inforoo.
I would like to talk to more people that would be interested in possibly forming a chapter for Bonnaroo if we could get the ball rolling with DanceSafe.
I would volunteer for starting a Bonnaroo chapter of DanceSafe, as long as it could be organized outside of Inforoo.
I said this briefly somewhere else but I'll add it here too.
I used to be a part of a chapter of an organization called DanceSafe. Our Buffalo chapter was called Fushion.
This is the bio from their website
DanceSafe is a nonprofit, harm reduction organization promoting health and safety within the rave and nightclub community. We currently have local chapters throughout the US and Canada. Our local chapters consist of young people from within the dance culture itself who have a sincere interest in bettering their communities and educating themselves and their peers. We train our volunteers to be health educators and NO NO WORD!!! abuse prevention counselors within their own communities, utilizing the principles and methods of harm reduction and popular education. Our volunteers staff harm reduction booths at raves, nightclubs and other dance events where they provide information on NO NO WORD!!! safer sex, and other health and safety issues concerning the electronic dance community (like driving home safely and protecting one's hearing).
We also provide adulterant screening or pill testing services for ecstasy users. Pill testing is an important harm reduction service that saves lives and reduces medical emergencies by helping ecstasy users avoid fake and adulterated tablets that often contain substances far more dangerous than real ecstasy.
Our information and services are directed primarily towards non-addicted, recreational NO NO WORD!!! users. Non-addicted NO NO WORD!!! users are an under-served population within the harm reduction movement, despite the fact that they comprise the vast majority of NO NO WORD!!! users in our society. While many organizations exist that provide services to drug-dependent individuals, few groups address the needs of the majority of non-addicted, recreational users. We hope to fill this gap. When needed, we will always refer people to appropriate treatment programs.
We used to set up a booth at local raves and I believe the Toronto chapter also had a both at WEMF(which is a music festival in Canada). At our booth we would have a whole bunch of literature for people who may not be totally aware of what it was that they were putting in their body. We also gave out things like water, candy, ear plugs and condoms. There was pill testing too. The biggest thing was that we were inviting and while we didn't promote NO NO WORD!!! use we at least tried to give people as much education as we could about what they were going to put into their body regardless of what they knew.
Anyways. In light of the recent tragedies I contacted both my old "co workers" and I also send a letter to DanceSafe just to gather some information to see if there is anything that can be done with next years Bonnaroo.
I would like to talk to more people that would be interested in possibly forming a chapter for Bonnaroo if we could get the ball rolling with DanceSafe.
That sounds awesome, actually. I'm all for this kind of education/prevention
personally I feel that people should make their own choices about... how they choose to party. But people should be making informed choices.
Unfortunately, I doubt bonnaroo will ever promote something like dancesafe. That would be acknowleding the problem that they don't want the public to know about
Unfortunately, I doubt bonnaroo will ever promote something like dancesafe. That would be acknowleding the problem that they don't want the public to know about
I think you are probably right. A question specifically to you laggy since you frequent them: is DanceSafe at WMC or Ultra?
While I don't want to attach the Inforoo™ name to this initiative, I think that we would like to support you in this undertaking in any way possible. Please let us know how we can support.
Definitely a good post and something to think hard about....let me know if I can help. I so do NOT want to lose anyone else here or at any other festies that can be prevented!
I should add, the mods and I have been talking about using Inforoo™ as a forum to promote hydration and heat stress awareness. It would be great if we could work that in...
As someone that can not partake because of my profession, I was not aware of this organization. I do know that "Just say No" neither works, nor is realistic. If becoming involved with Dancesafe will help prevent this from happening again, then I am all for it.
1karen1, I know you will soon have your hands full with a little one, but you would be a great one to be in charge of this. Please remember to heed what Adam said about Inforoo's involvement.
I so do NOT want to lose anyone else here or at any other festies that can be prevented!
