Merlefest 2012

[Manfred Hacker]

I have recently arrived in the Northern Virginia area and would like to enjoy as much of the music scene as I can.

All I know about MerleFest is some of the YouTube posts and that there is an incredible line-up of musicians there.
I have seen the ad for MerleFest 2012 and have a few questions for the experienced Fest attendees among you:

- How fast do the tickets for reserved seats usually go?
- If I had all four days, what ticket arrangement would you recommend?
- I would like to come with a travel trailer. Do camping spaces go fast? Is there other camping nearby in addition to the campus RV camping?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Manfred H.

[yorick]

Hi Manfred,
If you come to Merlefest once, you'll come again. I've never bought a reserved ticket, so I always buy at the gate.

Others will have advice on camping--there are several local options. Friday and Saturday are the biggest days at Merlefest, and if you just do those two days, you'll wear yourself out. Bring your instrument; there are places to check your gear in so you don't have to do a lot of lugging. Drop by the Wilkes Acoustic Society's open jam. If you want to see some dynamite little pickers, stop by Larry Skipper's spotlight stage.

Peace,
Jim

[stratman62]

There is plenty of camping, there are three Corp Of Engineers campgrounds close by and and some city and county sponsored temporary campgrounds. If you don't go reserved seats, bring a chair. Be prepared to do some walking, there are 14 stages scattered over the campus. At the Watson and Cabin stages there are large screens set up so even if your not up close you can still see pretty good. You will definetly enjoy the festival.

[f5loar]

I think the extra $$ for a reserved seat is a waste of money. Most of the acts on the main Watson stage also perform on other stages. The problem with MerleFest in general is with 12 stages going at the same time it is hard to be at two stages at once. You just hate to choose who to miss. Regular at gate admission is the way to go and I would limit it to the days that have acts you want to see. Thursday and Sunday are short days since not all the stages are open. If you know someone is there Thursday and Friday but you don't want to see anyone else on Thursday then don't go Thursday. The schedules will soon be posted at the website.

[Manfred Hacker]

I appreciate your advice, f5loar, Jim and Dwight.
That helps a lot and I will definitely try to get there for a couple of days.
Manfred

[TerryBurnsKing]

Manfred,
We have just returned from all four days at Merlefest. We always get the 4 day reserved seats, but I can see arguments for unreserved too.
We camp at "Sewerfest" (Google it!). It's got RV spaces, nice hot showers, biscuits in the morning for sale and all night jams all over the campground. Shuttles run frequently. Nice, nice bunch of people.
So. There ya go. I hope you go. Or went!