haydays traffic

[shafe7]

my freinds and I were involverd in the same train wreck saturday . met the traffic line at about 8:30 finally walked thru the gate at 1:00 thank god for the entire 2nd season of sons of anarchy and the dvd player in the truck. that 4 mile walk in was not fun. looking at there parking area even if it didnt rain there was going to be a problem. If you include all the home owners that allowed parking at the old site there was way more parking

 

[Big D rmk700]

Talk to the Barons on saturday nite they expected 25000 people on Saturday and had close to 50000 show up!!! Want to give a big thank you to Lenny at the Line Shack that was one great party Saturday nite!!!!

 

[backcountryislife]

Talk to the Barons on saturday nite they expected 25000 people on Saturday and had close to 50000 show up!!!

From the sounds of it, they weren't ready for 250, much less 25,000, so the extra seems to be a minor issue compared to how poorly this was obviously planned out.

How could one ever expect that it might RAIN in MN... Gimme a break.

 

[bigbull]

As a vendor at Haydays, I too was deeply upset over the troubles that happened to the patrons with parking, lack of preparation, weather issues, and, I am so sorryto say this, the theft that took place on premises over night to the vendors. While we feel very happy that sales helped to offset these issues, there was zero potential customers from 7am until 10:30 am on saturday due to the problems and it didn't get really busy until noon. So with the total attendance that was recorded, we feel we saw from 1/2-2/3 of the actual people there because they left the event before even getting to our location. Very disappointing. The potential for this location is great, yes theroads in will always be back upped some, but it we will be worth a small wait to enjoy the show when parking and admittance issues are solved. Overnight security on site also needs to be improved since swappers are allowed to camp on site. All in all, we will continue to support this event and I hope the people will too.
BB

 

[JuicedRMKryder]

SW North Dakota to Coon Rapids(579 miles)= 9Hrs
Coon Rapids to Haydays (50 miles)+2.5 mile walk = 5Hrs
GRAND TOTAL = TOTALY P*I*S*S*E*D OFF

 

[xrated]

As a vendor at Haydays, I too was deeply upset over the troubles that happened to the patrons with parking, lack of preparation, weather issues, and, I am so sorryto say this, the theft that took place on premises over night to the vendors. While we feel very happy that sales helped to offset these issues, there was zero potential customers from 7am until 10:30 am on saturday due to the problems and it didn't get really busy until noon. So with the total attendance that was recorded, we feel we saw from 1/2-2/3 of the actual people there because they left the event before even getting to our location. Very disappointing. The potential for this location is great, yes theroads in will always be back upped some, but it we will be worth a small wait to enjoy the show when parking and admittance issues are solved. Overnight security on site also needs to be improved since swappers are allowed to camp on site. All in all, we will continue to support this event and I hope the people will too.
BB

You guys got hit? @$%!$^ thta sucks.

 

[srxspec]

Don't believe the Snobarons butt covering number of "50,000 people showed up on Saturday"! There was roughly 19,800 people there Saturday and only about 1/2 that many on Sunday! They were just poorly prepared for any type of event! An uneven, rut filled alfalfa field is a poor excuse for a show site of this caliber!

 

[haydaysswaptroll]

Haydays--> First lets dispel a myth- We're not a club that makes money for ourselves. We actually give a lot of the "profits" back to the snowmobiling community in the way of grants for trail improvements, grooming machines, etc. This was hardly a cash grab as some have implied. What's left, if any, will be used for further land development at the site. There are still many things to do but there wasn't the time or money available to get them done before the event.

Yes there were lots of issues at the new site with the traffic and parking. We had limited authority on how we could handle the traffic. The county basically stated in the granting of the permit, this is how it's going to be done. Next year will be much different. As for attendance totals, it was local news that estimated the totals around 50k, about double what was expected. Another constraint was the county didn't want anyone to park where'd they have to cross a road walking. So that really limited us. But now that they saw thousands walking the roads, I think they'll be okay with fully grown adults being able to cross the street.

The new site has more clay in the soil than the old, even though it's still part of the same sand plain. The parking field is rented and therefore we're not allowed to put gravel in it. This was the first time it's rained heavily in at least 8yrs on a HayDays weekend. A little rain is ok but Saturday morning about 1am there was at least an inch that came down. So in the AM the field turned to mud. The D-70 at one point had 14 trucks/trailers stuck to pull out and from there it just jammed it all up on the roads as parking backed up at the entrance.

Parking was inadequate and already has been addressed for next year. Traffic management changes are already being scheduled. Much of this was dictated by the state/county, such as not being able to turn off Hwy 95. Instead we had to route all traffic around to the backside where it came together in a bottleneck.

Neighbors didn't park cars as the county wanted a $500 conditional use permit per residence. Many, not aware of how big this event can be, didn't deem it worthwhile to put up the cash and not know if they'd make it back.

The apology sign the plane was pulling was made up on the fly. [bad pun]

Anything else I missed [or forgot?] to comment on, feel free to contact me.

 

[Hardass]

And the thefts?

 

[haydaysswaptroll]

And the thefts?

There's always a-holes when you get thousands of people together. It's the biggest reason why we don't want people walking around after dark or Friday night after being let in for swap. I believe the reports indicated there was 3 thefts from vendors. While not a lot it's still more than zero.

There's something special in the works for next year but I am not at liberty to discuss it publicly. Needless to say, the goal for next year is zero.

 

[Itsflathere]

There's always a-holes when you get thousands of people together. It's the biggest reason why we don't want people walking around after dark or Friday night after being let in for swap. I believe the reports indicated there was 3 thefts from vendors. While not a lot it's still more than zero.

There's something special in the works for next year but I am not at liberty to discuss it publicly. Needless to say, the goal for next year is zero.

I hope it's that night security can carry side arms.

 

[haydaysswaptroll]

I hope it's that night security can carry side arms.

You're on the right track.. I'll leave it at that

 

[Mafesto]

Thank you for telling your side of it.

I will be back.

Like I told my buddies that morning........"This isn't a traffic jam, it's a tailgate party"
Everything is what you make of it.