r/BillyStrings • u/DirtyHead420 • Aug 23 '26
misc Current state of Ionia Fairgrounds
Seemed pretty quiet. Girl at the gas station was unaware of who Billy was.. but I think it'll be clear by this time in one week.
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u/DirtyHead420 Aug 23 '26
For the record.. I didn't post this in a doomsday sense. More so as a way for people coming from a distance to get a peek.. Albeit I did think there would be more of a shape already layed out. I plan to go back mid week and will post an update.
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Aug 23 '26
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u/sonicmouz Aug 24 '26
They have an 8 year old account with thousands of karma. How is it a burner account lol
how many times can one person (you) make themselves sound dumb in a comment section. so far we're up to 30+
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Aug 23 '26
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u/happydontwait Aug 23 '26
I love how you don’t even reference the festival that Billy ran for like 4 years lol.
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u/jesuswasthebestjew Aug 24 '26
Billy also didn’t run that festival. He was contracted to play at that festival and it was run by an entertainment company. Nothing about this festival is anything like Renewal.
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 23 '26
So far I'm not impressed with how this is being run. The RV pass is kind of a shit show. First it was $500 and then it was announced that you have a 4-Hour arrival window on Thursday 4-8pm and have to out of RV lot on Sunday by 10am. If you can't make that arrival window, you have to contact customer service.
There is no additional parking for people that might be meeting up and are staying with RV travelers, on site for their vehicles overnight. So that means finding a random parking lot and having them able to meet you during that 4-Hour window and packing them into your vehicle to go enter or them taking a rideshare and schlepping their gear from the rideshare drop-off to the RV lot.
On concert days, you aren't allowed back into the RV lot once you've entered the concert grounds so you can't go back to your own RV for dinner, breaks or rest. You're kind of held hostage on the concert grounds. This could be solved by giving the RV people wristbands that would allow free passage to the RV lot, after they're getting their ticket scanned, but that's not happening.
Customer service replied to someone asking about RV arrival times and the CS agent said the RVs didn't have electricity provided and they posted the screen shot to Reddit and set off a small panic (it's not true, 30 amp electricity is provided). But no water is provided or a dump station. For for campers that don't have a grey water tank they'll likely be dumping that on the ground. Could be better on these issues.
I hope everything goes smoothly but it's a bummer that our friends that wanted to join us on the RV lot are looking at hotels to avoid the hassle.
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Aug 23 '26
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u/kylec00per Aug 23 '26
Was going to say, this is year one and people should be fully expecting issues and learning curves.
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u/SituationVast6607 Aug 24 '26
It is odd that RV folks can’t access their camper without forfeiting entry into the venue but you will have the advantage of just taking a short walk to get home at night after the show. That will be sweet!
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u/questafari Aug 23 '26
No re entry is absolutely diabolical
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Aug 23 '26
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 23 '26
Electric forest is 44 to 60,000 people per day and has had access to their RV lots since day one when it was rothbury. I've never been to a festival that had on-site camping that didn't allow people to return to their campsites. Wristbands are not a new thing.
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Aug 23 '26
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u/questafari Aug 23 '26
So what makes you super okay with no re entry? Like how does that positively affect your life and your experience?
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Aug 23 '26
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u/questafari Aug 23 '26
Lol what? One gate in one gate out. Theres hundreds of fairs and small festivals that are plenty safe and they allow re entry. What makes it safer if you can’t leave and get back in like and go through security again?
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Aug 23 '26
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 23 '26
The Ionia Free Fair brings in 350k to 400k people for the multi-weekend fair. And they've hosted Metallica in the past. The idea that this 26,000 people is going to be a problem for them is laughable.
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u/Due_Spray9490 Aug 24 '26
It’s 15-20k per day tho, critical info.
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 24 '26
Huh, that's different than discoverionia.com says: The Ionia Free Fair draws an estimated total attendance of around 400,000 to 430,000 guests over its 10-day run, averaging roughly 40,000 to 43,000 people daily.
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Aug 23 '26
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 24 '26
Not sure where you got that this was known early on. I purchased these non- refundable / no transfer tickets on February 13th and the information regarding the arrival window, no re-entry and departure time was received via email from Ticketmaster on August 4th. It would have been nice to know these details before purchasing the tickets. When did you get this information? If they knew this early as you state, it would have been nice to have it on the website (it's still not there).
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 23 '26
If you think rothbury Michigan is bigger than Ionia don't know much about Michigan small towns. Rothbury has a population of 462. Ionia is 12,000. Twenty five times the population. The Electric forest isn't my thing hence why I'm going to Billy strings but having on-site camping with no re-entry is something that I've never encountered.
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Aug 23 '26
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 23 '26
And I was at Rothbury on year one and it was run smoother than this. You could enter and exit the campground at any time.
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 24 '26
Serious question: where did you find the RV information months ago? I thought I saw a screenshot of a festival map a few days ago, so I'm wondering if I missed an email or link on the Freak Fair website. My apologies if I this information is readily available, I only know of the website and the one email from Ticketmaster in early August regarding Freak Fair information.
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u/lesher925 Aug 23 '26
Phish fests are 40k and you can come and go from the venue all weekend once the gates open the day before music. It's not that difficult to allow, and standard for most music fests
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Aug 23 '26
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u/lesher925 Aug 23 '26
This absolutely is a music festival. You people are delusional claiming it's not.
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Aug 23 '26
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u/lesher925 Aug 23 '26
Ahhh, you're THAT caught up in semantics? Well, Mr. Literal.... a fair is an event that centers around agriculture, farm equipment, 4H livestock judging, and other state goods and services. It's a music festival loser.
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u/Zesty-Vasectomy Aug 23 '26
Because it's a play on Ionia Free Fair. That's the reason it's called a fair.
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u/lesher925 Aug 23 '26
Multiple days
Multiple bands
Multiple stages
Camping/RV
Art instillations
Ferris wheel
Please tell us all your definitive rationalle that it's NOT a festival...
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 23 '26
It absolutely is a music festival. It has on-site camping. It is boasting multiple acts on multiple stages throughout the day. What is your definition of a music festival that this doesn't meet?
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u/questafari Aug 23 '26
Not being able to access a $500 dollar RV sight throughout the day makes sense to you?
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Aug 23 '26
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u/TJ-Detweiler- a healthy little squirt Aug 23 '26
Relax Buzz Killington you’re freaking out in almost every thread. People wishing they had a re entry option isn’t that big of a deal lol
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Aug 23 '26
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u/TJ-Detweiler- a healthy little squirt Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
lol mEEEoowww you’re a feisty little one. You know you’re dealing with a completely unhinged person when you immediately get a double response 🤣. From a burner account too🤣😂
Edit: hahah so you comment->delete switch up your childish insults comment->delete comment again then block me damn bro you totally burned me have fun freaking out
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Aug 23 '26
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u/BillyStrings-ModTeam Aug 24 '26
Be Nice. Be Friendly. No personal attacks. No doxxing. No trolling.
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u/Wolverine9779 Aug 24 '26
You don't have much self awareness, or sense of irony.
Lay off the nitrous, maybe.
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u/questafari Aug 23 '26
I’m not going lol. I’m genuinely asking why you shouldn’t be able to go do whatever you need to do throughout the day, avoid the sun if you’re hot, get some food elsewhere, go to a lake or river. Don’t need to get so worked up!
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u/GoblinObscura Aug 23 '26
It’s because these people worship Billy, and to question any decision made around him or any of his business entities is flat out blasphemy. This is exactly why my wife and I are not going. The chaos around camping, hotels etc was more than I wanted to deal with. Friends of mine are talking about sleeping in Walmart parking lot or getting a hotel 45 minutes away. Heck with that nonsense. Why you can’t get a weekend wristband and come and go as you please is beyond me.
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Aug 23 '26
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 23 '26
Packing down an RV and something like a pop-up when it's raining is a little more involved than checking out of a hotel room. Most campground check-out are noon, state campgrounds here in Michigan at 1:00 p.m. State campgrounds at other states are 3:00 p.m.
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u/eazyian5 Aug 24 '26
Holy shit, the number of people complaining about the RV pass we get it. You guys should all get together and go camp somewhere else, that will teach em
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Aug 24 '26
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 24 '26
I'm not trying to impress you, Tim. If you consider saving and cutting back for the year to buy an RV pass and a 22 year old pop-up a big rich RV, go for it. I'm just trying to do the best I can and have a good time doing it. Take care.
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u/YimmyWonders Aug 23 '26
You sound like a rich prick. Not everyone is going to bend over backwards to make your experience easy. It’s about the music and helping Billy’s local economy. If people show up and act right it will continue to improve however long he wants to do it. I truly hope you all have an amazing time and are able to boogie with some awesome people. But hearing yall bitch about these RVs on this forum is fucking exhausting, especially for people who really wanna go but can’t make it.
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 23 '26
Sorry for coming of as a rich prick. I don't consider myself rich, doing okay but not rich. I'm not asking for anyone to bend over backwards for me or anybody.
I was stating I was surprised to see some of the policies that has been instituted by the organizers: small RV arrival window (never been to a festival that had an arrival window. Once the gates were open arrive anytime.), no re-entry from camp ground (never been to a festival that had on site camping without re-entry), earlier than expected departure on Sunday.
The misinformation being relayed by the customer service team regarding the availability of electricity as it makes it seem that the even the people who are involved didn't know what's going on.
I really am excited for ALL the music. I was just hoping for a more traditional festival experience like he has had at Renewal. I heard how sweet that was and wanted it for my home state as well. I hope it goes well, is profitable and returns for many years. It would be great to see more attendees be able to spend their time and money in the Ionia/ Muir region instead of staying in Grand Rapids and if more local or onsite camping was available. Hopefully in the future!
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u/questafari Aug 23 '26
Notes I’ve taken from this:
Midwest locals are crazy.
This is how they format their comments.
Don’t move to Midwest.
This isn’t Phish.
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u/xpeebsx Aug 23 '26
The mitten is barely Midwest and not a real representation but fair points
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u/IshtarsQueef Aug 27 '26
goddamn this triggered some people, but it's very true, michigan barely has anything in common with places like indiana and ohio and kansas, etc.
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u/Patient-Lecture-4251 Aug 23 '26
I’m sure all of this worrying you’re doing is going to help a lot. Just go and experience the festival, be prepared to nourish yourself properly and you’ll survive properly. I rolled into big cypress in a banged up geo metro, a tent, and a small amount of cash and learned a ton about myself.
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u/---Brain-- Aug 23 '26
Walmart and Meijer are quiet too, for now. I'm here on foot and there's some secret spots around to camp at for those interested or in similar situations. Walmart has signs up about no overnight camping, unsure if they are enforcing it. Meijer doesn't have signs up and I had a homie crash there the other night with no issues.
If you're in town early and wanna hang out and smoke weed I got some stories to tell. I'm just an old hobo with no watch to tell time by anymore and map that will never lead me anywhere.
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u/theshinin Aug 23 '26
Everyone is quitting weed in solidarity with Billy and his dog voice.
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u/---Brain-- Aug 23 '26
Why would go out of your way to say something negative? You could have just kept that thought to yourself. All I was trying to do was put a message out there for those interested. I hope you're not attending the show, buzzkill.
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u/LordSloth666 Aug 23 '26
Brother we will be up there early as hell on Friday. Hope we cross paths because I will certainly burn with you.
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u/---Brain-- Aug 24 '26
Sure thing. If you see a traveler/bum around the walmart/Meijer area holding a cardboard sign that says Too Ugly To Prostitute, thats me. I'm harmless and cool to chill with. I got some stories to tell.
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Aug 23 '26
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u/theshinin Aug 23 '26
Aww. Make sure you bring your white knight outfit to the fair.
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Aug 23 '26
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u/Impressive-Ball-8571 Aug 25 '26
Coming from Indiana, staying in Grand Rapids. Super stoked for this show!
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u/woogieman123 Aug 23 '26
Anyone know what the RV area looks like? Is it just an open field kind of thing?
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u/theshinin Aug 23 '26
Tried Google Earth?
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u/DigitalGuru42 Aug 23 '26
I thought it was an asphalt parking lot from the last time I was at the Free Fair (20yrs ago), so i was glad to see (hopefully) grassy fields instead in the satellite view. Had the fear of fresh blacktop!
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u/theshinin Aug 24 '26
Agreed, seems fairly flat in both car and RV. Not sure I want to get stuck in the ‘south lot’ though.
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u/jjs197 Aug 24 '26
The calm before the storm. Hopefully nitrous mafia has plenty of supply!
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u/Wolverine9779 Aug 24 '26
Fuck the nitrous mafia. That's who will ruin this scene before long.
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u/Amiibohunter000 Aug 25 '26
What’s your opinion on ppl slinging acid/shrooms/molly at shows?
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u/Wolverine9779 Aug 25 '26
It's complicated. I'm a "freely given" kind of person, but I try not to judge too harshly. But if that's your only purpose for being there, that's not good. Coming and sharing some love, because you love the scene? I can dig it.
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u/urban-achiever1 Aug 23 '26
Quick put your chair in line.