RockyGrass 2012

The 2012 lineup was superb. The music was great. There was great variety of food and beer, and it was reasonably priced. I cannot wait until next year.
So why not 5 stars?
Simple, the tarp system is antiquated and does not work in Lyons.
Sure, in theory, when the «owners» of the large random tarps are not using them (most of the day), then anyone can use them in their absence. However, it is awkward walking on other peoples’ tarps. It is inconvenient to find an open tarp. It is nearly impossible to find a place for a even a small two-​person blanket.
To illustrate the point, if I arrived early, I could bring a huge 15 X 20 tarp for 2-​people and effectively take up a huge amount of space. I would never do that, but many others do.
My question is, why even use the tarp system at all? If it was not in place, more people could sit though the entire set that they came to see, then move when not watching the stage during other artists’ sets– i.e. the way most other festivals operate.
I concede that the system works better at the much larger Telluride Bluegrass Festival as there are places near the stage to stand, there are places in the back to stand, and there is always plenty of space for people to come and go with tarps and blankets. Not so in Lyons.
I had a 3 day pass and had to sit in the river on the first 2 days and found a small spot in the back for my blanket on Sunday. That is, with 3 high back chairs placed in front of the blanket while I went to get something to eat. Not cool.
I might not be so disappointed, but this same thing happened last year, it happened again this year, and I can expect that it will happen next year.
The most frustrating thing is that we arrived before noon each day and the spots were taken before that time. I understand that many people are camping and on vacation, so they can run to set up and take all the spots each morning. However, many of us live in the metro and work, thus we cannot be there first thing in the morning.
Does that mean that we should not get good seats? I guess so, despite paying the same price per ticket as the others.
Is it infuriating that most of the people that stake their claims with their tarps are hardly ever at their seat? Yes.
I learned in grade school that it is not OK to «save seats.» Apparently, we throw that general rule out the window at RockyGrass.
Still, great music. I will be back.