University of Virginia Library

Festival Hassled
Out Of Existence

By Steve Grimwood
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The Dogwood Festival will begin
tomorrow, but those planning to go
to the Fluvanna Popular Rock
Festival are out of luck. Promoters
of the Memorial Day weekend
event announced yesterday that
they have abandoned their plans
and intend to bring lawsuits against
the Fluvanna County Board of
Supervisors and other persons in
the county who worked to keep the
festival out, through pressure and
the enactment of a "regulatory
ordinance."

No Support

Don Webb, president of the
sponsoring firm, Trips Unlimited,
said, "The only way we could have
a festival is if we had the full
support of the people." This was
obviously not the case in that the
festival has met strong opposition
since its inception.

The regulatory ordinance passed
by the Board of Supervisors best
demonstrated the feelings of Fluvanna
County. Its provisions included:
No one under 18 admitted
without the accompaniment of a
parent or guardian during the entire
festival and that no more than 8
hours of music would be allowed
within any given 24 hour period.

Unjust Law

"Due to an unjust law that was
about to be passed, we and our
backers, who have put up a lot of
money, don't feel we want to do
business in Virginia," said Webb.

"We tried to aim money towards
the poorer people and flood victims,
but it seems that most of the
opposition came from county officials
and people in the upper
income brackets who wouldn't
benefit from the festival."

Webb also outlined the lawsuits
that Trips Unlimited was planning.
"We're going to sue Smith, Jones,
and everyone else at that meeting,"
he said. The meeting referred to
was one held in the offices of A.D.
"Skip" Erickson, the promoters'
attorney. Present at the meeting
were J. Harry Michael, a Virginia
State Senator, two members of the
Fluvanna Board of Supervisors, and
the former and present commonwealth
attorneys of Fluvanna
(Smith and Jones).

Public support was not present
in Fluvanna, and it is unlikely if
any other rural county in Virginia
would consider hosting such an
event. The earthmen and the
Martians seem to suffer from a lack
of communication and mutual
distrust. "We wanted to have a
festival and do it right," said Webb.
But Fluvanna did not want the
anticipated thousands trampling on
their turf, and unable to completely
stop the festival with legal means,
they hassled it to death. "They
made it so sticky that we're going
to write it off," said Webb, and
Fluvanna is happy to be banished
by the flick of a pen. The 7,000
residents will have a "safe and
sane" Memorial Day.