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  1. #1

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    Dec 2007
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    Sugarbush Brew-Grass Festival!

    Got your tickets? 18 Brewers, four bands, great food--it's gonna be a great day! Gates open at 3:00--see you there!

  2. #2
    Hawk's Avatar
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    Oct 2007
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    Just ahead of you in the woods....
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    Re: Sugarbush Brew-Grass Festival!

    Quote Originally Posted by Crocker
    Got your tickets? 18 Brewers, four bands, great food--it's gonna be a great day! Gates open at 3:00--see you there!
    Sounds like a great day. MMMMMMMM beer! BUT... I got a parade to go to. Bruins Rule!!!!
    Trouble with you is the trouble with me,
    Got two good eyes but we still don’t see!

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Sep 2010
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    Groton, MA and Warren, VT
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    124
    I think the Brew-fest was a pretty mediocre event, and I am being kind. If I had actually paid good money to stay at the resort to attend this event, I would have been livid.

    To call 3 bands playing in the CR Pub a music festival was a stretch to say the least. Some control freak cancelled one of the 4 bands due to "time constraints", even though the band was pleading to play, and no one was in a rush to be anywhere. The "tasty BBQ offerings" was the standard base lodge cafeteria pre-frozen-stamped burgers grilled out on the patio, not barbecue by any definition. A tall bald, bearded bartender tried to actually toss out my friend (a completely sober 49 year old college professor) because he didn't have his green wrist band on. Maybe this cranky-pants bartender takes himself a little too seriously, calling security, radioing for help...c'mon man, security? to toss out Mr Chips? (fyi, they ran out of the foolish wrist bands, and just sent him in with an X on his hand, and no one told cranky-pants, who then wigged out) It was a weak attempt which was disappointing.

    Perhaps they will get this right next time. Maybe they will have good food. Maybe a stage. Maybe turn up the PA so the music can be heard. Don't put up gates like we're sheep in a pen. Don't get your panties in a twist about wristbands. Charge more money, use the money to make it an event worth attending. Maybe the organizer should go to the Newport Jazz festival, or the Lowell Folk Festival, or any actual music festival to understand what a festival is. Then maybe set those goals a wee bit higher.

    The beer was good.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Dec 2007
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    Bad Liver Valley
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    Sorry you didn't have a good time--some things you mentioned we can work on for next year!

  5. #5
    The fences are mandated by the Vermont Department of Liquor Control and our strong concerns about entry, wristbands and ID's are also a direct result of the laws we have to follow. Our license is on the line and we need to err on the side of caution.



    As for the bands, this was billed as a brew fest first, music second. The Newport Jazz Fest is music first, everything else second. We also had some challenges with regards to weather and PA's, and we have a plan to improve our weather-proofing for next year.

    We are sorry that you had a less than excellent experience, and we will always work to improve our events. Overall, the other feedback we got has been great.

    Thanks for coming.

    John

  6. #6
    Hawk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by southvillager
    I think the Brew-fest was a pretty mediocre event, and I am being kind. If I had actually paid good money to stay at the resort to attend this event, I would have been livid.

    To call 3 bands playing in the CR Pub a music festival was a stretch to say the least. Some control freak cancelled one of the 4 bands due to "time constraints", even though the band was pleading to play, and no one was in a rush to be anywhere. The "tasty BBQ offerings" was the standard base lodge cafeteria pre-frozen-stamped burgers grilled out on the patio, not barbecue by any definition. A tall bald, bearded bartender tried to actually toss out my friend (a completely sober 49 year old college professor) because he didn't have his green wrist band on. Maybe this cranky-pants bartender takes himself a little too seriously, calling security, radioing for help...c'mon man, security? to toss out Mr Chips? (fyi, they ran out of the foolish wrist bands, and just sent him in with an X on his hand, and no one told cranky-pants, who then wigged out) It was a weak attempt which was disappointing.

    Perhaps they will get this right next time. Maybe they will have good food. Maybe a stage. Maybe turn up the PA so the music can be heard. Don't put up gates like we're sheep in a pen. Don't get your panties in a twist about wristbands. Charge more money, use the money to make it an event worth attending. Maybe the organizer should go to the Newport Jazz festival, or the Lowell Folk Festival, or any actual music festival to understand what a festival is. Then maybe set those goals a wee bit higher.

    The beer was good.
    Sounds like your expectations were a wee bit to high. Knowing how SB has operated in the past it sounds pretty much on par with other events. Sorry you didn't have a good time but you can make what you want out of any situation. Sometimes it just takes a sunnier outlook.

    Now I know that tall, bald, bearded bar tender. I have spent many an afternoon chatting about things with that man. He is a fairly level headed person and does a great job at the bar. I would imagine that you guys would have to have a pretty bad attitude if he asked you to leave. What did you say to piss him off? If you openly bitched like you did in this thread, who could blame him for being a little miffed.
    Trouble with you is the trouble with me,
    Got two good eyes but we still don’t see!

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Sep 2010
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    Groton, MA and Warren, VT
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    Hey I stand by my review of the Solstice Brew-Grass Festival. I witnessed my sober friend get walked out, held by the arm like a criminal. If that was the policy, then the policy was bad, and should change. He was a guest of the resort, period. The actions of the people working the event caused him to feel uncomfortable. It was not barbecue by any means. One band was cancelled due to time constraints, we heard them ask to play. That is the festival I attended.

    I apologize if my wise-ass tone was insulting, but my tone reflects the feelings of me and the 6 friends who came up with me. Again, as I said, it was mediocre at best.

    Judge for yourself how it was billed compared to what was delivered. Interestingly, the list of rules makes it sound like they were getting prepared for trouble.
    http://www.sugarbush.com/content/cm.asp?pid=23&id=4106

    The beer was good, and now that I think of it, the pizza was good, too.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Groton, MA and Warren, VT
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    124
    Oh, and it turns out that I was wrong about running out of wrist bands. My friend opted to pay $5 to get in since he arrived late. When he arrived, we still had lots of extra beer tickets we were not going to use and told him to just use one of those and buy a sample with the ticket instead of going to the bar.

    That turned out to be a serious mistake. I now understand that using beer tickets purchased by another person (without a green wristband) was a rules violation which mandated expulsion from the event, according to the policy of the day. Luckily, Mr Crocker stepped up and was kind enough to bend the rules and not throw him out for using the beer tickets we purchased. Good times.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Groton, MA and Warren, VT
    Posts
    124
    Quote Originally Posted by Hawk
    Quote Originally Posted by southvillager
    I think the Brew-fest was a pretty mediocre event, and I am being kind. If I had actually paid good money to stay at the resort to attend this event, I would have been livid.

    To call 3 bands playing in the CR Pub a music festival was a stretch to say the least. Some control freak cancelled one of the 4 bands due to "time constraints", even though the band was pleading to play, and no one was in a rush to be anywhere. The "tasty BBQ offerings" was the standard base lodge cafeteria pre-frozen-stamped burgers grilled out on the patio, not barbecue by any definition. A tall bald, bearded bartender tried to actually toss out my friend (a completely sober 49 year old college professor) because he didn't have his green wrist band on. Maybe this cranky-pants bartender takes himself a little too seriously, calling security, radioing for help...c'mon man, security? to toss out Mr Chips? (fyi, they ran out of the foolish wrist bands, and just sent him in with an X on his hand, and no one told cranky-pants, who then wigged out) It was a weak attempt which was disappointing.

    Perhaps they will get this right next time. Maybe they will have good food. Maybe a stage. Maybe turn up the PA so the music can be heard. Don't put up gates like we're sheep in a pen. Don't get your panties in a twist about wristbands. Charge more money, use the money to make it an event worth attending. Maybe the organizer should go to the Newport Jazz festival, or the Lowell Folk Festival, or any actual music festival to understand what a festival is. Then maybe set those goals a wee bit higher.

    The beer was good.
    Sounds like your expectations were a wee bit to high. Knowing how SB has operated in the past it sounds pretty much on par with other events. Sorry you didn't have a good time but you can make what you want out of any situation. Sometimes it just takes a sunnier outlook.

    Now I know that tall, bald, bearded bar tender. I have spent many an afternoon chatting about things with that man. He is a fairly level headed person and does a great job at the bar. I would imagine that you guys would have to have a pretty bad attitude if he asked you to leave. What did you say to piss him off? If you openly bitched like you did in this thread, who could blame him for being a little miffed.
    No one had a bad attitude, that is why it was a frustrating episode. My friend had no wrist band, he had an X on his hand. He used a ticket one of us had left to buy a 3 oz sample, that turned out to be a rules violation, he was only allowed to buy beer at the bar. We did not know these rules. A big deal was made out of the rules violation. He was a guest of the resort, and was made to feel uncomfortable.

    You are correct, I guess my expectations were too high.

  10. #10
    I dont know what you guys are talking about but I can't help but think of the soup nazi episode on seinfeld.

  11. #11

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