After a light rain shower passed over the Albany County Fairgrounds, visitors to the 2013 Snowy Range Music Festival danced in the crowd to the music of Roy Rogers as a rainbow formed over the east stage. This year's music festival is set for Friday-Aug. 31. JEREMY MARTIN/Boomerang photographer
Thirty-eight bands and thousands of people are set to converge in Laramie during Labor Day weekend, all for a music festival only a few miles outside of the city.Snowy Range Music Festival is scheduled to host its sixth annual event next weekend at the Albany County Fairgrounds.The fairgrounds should be transformed from the regular dusty rodeo ring into 'a musical Disneyland,' festival organizer Carl Gustafson said.Artificial turf is laid over arena dirt, and two stages, one of which is three-and-a-half stories tall, are scheduled to be brought in. Food and merchandise vendors are set to surround the area.'It's like a little city,' Gustafson said about the festival after everything is laid out.The Snowy Range Music Festival does not feature one specific genre, Gustafson said. He said it was easier to list genres the festival does not have.'It doesn't have hip-hop, grunge or heavy metal,' Gustafson said. 'It's all American-roots music.'Three thousand bands submitted to play at the festival, but only 38 were chosen this year.'Those bands are top-notch professionals,' Gustafson said.Gustafson said he wants to see the festival reach its 5,000 attendance capacity every night, up from the 8,000 total guests last year. He also wants to see more Laramie residents at the festival. Most of last year's attendees came from Colorado or other places around the country.Camping is allowed during the festival. There is unlimited dry camping space available for a $30 one-time fee.The festival will have more than bands to entertain attendees. Events are scheduled for earlier in the day, including yoga sessions, guitar lessons and even a didgeridoo class, all free for ticket-holders.A three-day ticket costs $75, a Friday ticket costs $30 and tickets for Saturday and Sunday cost $40 each, but there are ways to get tickets at a lower price. Hits 106 is holding a special offer for Laramie residents. Show a utility bill or driver's license with a Laramie address at Turtle Rock Coffee and Café on Ninth Street or Turtle Rock Espresso on Third Street and purchase a one-day festival ticket for $10.61.Students and attendees of the University of Wyoming football game Saturday can bring their football ticket stubs and get in for $10.61 as well.Kids younger than 12 get in free.Gustafson has a deep connection with Laramie that keeps him from moving the festival. He said he ran away from home when he was 16 and stayed with a family in Laramie who taught him everything about music.'If I wanted to make money, I would be in Colorado,' he said. 'I'm not in it for the money; I'm in it for the community.'He said the festival can turn into something big that could bring in tens of thousands of people a year, but he needs help.'The city has been very helpful and supportive,' Gustafson said. 'Our main problem is the general public doesn't believe it's as good as it is. It's a diamond right in the middle of Laramie.'He said he thinks a big reason local people don't go to the festival is lack of band name recognition.'People have just not heard of the bands,' Gustafson said.He said people just need to get out and see the festival once and they will be sucked in.'Once they see it, they will love it,' he said.Gustafson said he might be forced to move locations sometime in the future if the festival does not gain local support, but does not have plans for that now.'The reason I don't (want to move) is because it's my hometown and I want to give it a present,' he said. 'I don't want to see this thing sitting in Boulder.'Fred Ockers, executive director of the Albany County Tourism Board, said he wants to see the festival grow.'We're majorly in favor of (Gustafson), and are trying to help him as much as we can,' he said. 'It's a very professionally-done musical event that we are lucky to have in Laramie.'Go to http://ift.tt/1p6JNrx to find more information and purchase tickets.
What: The Snowy Range Music Festival, a three-day music festival featuring 38 American-roots bands, including Morris Day and the Time, Dumpstaphunk and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, is set to be in Laramie during Labor Day weekend.
Where: The Albany County Fairgrounds
When: 4 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday and Aug. 31
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Entities 0 Name: Gustafson Count: 10 1 Name: Laramie Count: 9 2 Name: Colorado Count: 2 3 Name: Albany County Fairgrounds Count: 2 4 Name: Roy Rogers Count: 1 5 Name: Albany County Count: 1 6 Name: JEREMY MARTIN\/Boomerang Count: 1 7 Name: Snowy Range Music Festival Count: 1 8 Name: Turtle Rock Coffee Count: 1 9 Name: Albany County Tourism Board Count: 1 10 Name: Fred Ockers Count: 1 11 Name: Boulder Count: 1 12 Name: Laramie Boomerang Count: 1 13 Name: Carl Gustafson Count: 1 14 Name: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Count: 1 15 Name: University of Wyoming Count: 1 16 Name: Disneyland Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1BSzgEA Title: Beijing Film Festival Is Shuttered Again Description: The 11th edition of an independent film festival set to begin on Saturday in Beijing was shuttered before the cinema doors were even open. The Chinese authorities confiscated documents and films and briefly detained organizers of the Beijing Independent Film Festival, THESOUNDTRACE.BLOGSPOT reported.
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