tough decisions

okay after MUCH discussion and sadness, it’s been decided that my guy and i will NOT be attending the pemberton festival this summer.

for those that aren’t familiar, basically pemberton festival is set to include like 30 of my most favourite bands in the world. and i am ultra sad about not going… but here’s the thing.

first off, the price is outrageous. it’s $230 + service charge + $40 per person for camping. so basically over $300 each. plus food, plus gas, plus booze, plus costs of camping etc. we figure all in, we’re looking at at least $500 a piece. so $1,000 for the two of us for one weekend? not happening… way way way too much money. we simply don’t have it. also, when you factor in having to take the thursday, friday and monday off work… losing 3 days of pay PLUS paying the money for stuff previously mentioned… it’s really a LOT of money spent. what’s three days of work? over $100 a day? eeek.

second, while the bands are rad, the problem with festivals is that the set times are so short, the atmosphere sucks, people are always talking and not paying attention… it’s almost impossible to enjoy a band. plus you’re usually so far back from the stage, as there’s like 50,000 people in front of you. festivals are usually the worst environment to see bands in anyways. plus, every single band i want to see on the bill, i’ve seen before, most multiple times.

third, i have little faith in the logistics. this is an untested venue that they’re running at max capacity for their first ever event there. this will likely be a shit show. i’m not paying that much money and standing in 2+ hour lineups to get in, waiting in long lineup for porta potties, waiting in more lineups for food and even more lines for drinks. i hate lines. this will be lineup central. all lines, all the time.

and lastly, just all the little things… no booze allowed in the campsites, driving up and down the sea to sky hwy with tens of thousands of additional cars, getting searched constantly (leaving and entering the camp sites and venue), fights and rowdy folks, if it rains it will be a miserable time, and all the general madness that comes along with running a huge event.

so after much deliberation, we’re not going.

it will suck not being there, since the majority of my friends are going… but really, almost all of them are getting free tickets. i don’t know many people that are ready to pony up that kind of hard-cash. so i guess i’ll just hear about it after, and look at the pictures. and hope i can laugh and say i made the right decision. because really, if i’m spending $1,000 on a weekend for me and my guy, i want to go somewhere better than pemberton. like vegas.