Kevin Griffith, JCPost
MANHATTAN, Kan- The Kicker Country Stampede is entering it’s 19th year and kicks off Thursday at Tuttle Creek State Park in Manhattan.
Security will be, for the most part, the same according to Kurt Moldrup,
Head of Security. He explained that the only difference will be the addition of a party pit at the front of the stage and in front of the V.I.P. area.
“We’ll probably have to make some changes as far as how we secure that area to allow people in just to the party pit and such as that. Overall there’s no expected changes things run very smooth and we expect it to continue to do so,” Moldrup said.
One thing that Moldrup wants people to know is that if they plan to attend they need to arrive early.
“We’ve got thousands of people coming for these concerts, and you can’t just leave 20 minutes before the concert and expect to be able to get in, parking and get to your seating or out into the festival. So people should plan ahead and leave early.”
This years festival is expected to draw a record sized crowd and so it will be more important to try and arrive early.
Other things that people need to know is that if you do plan to consume alcohol at the festival you need to do so responsibly, Moldrup added.
“Make sure you have a designated driver, take care of your friends, look out and after each other. Both security and law enforcement out there take a very strong and zero tolerance for underage drinking as well as any illegal or even, just disruptive behavior. With this large of a crowd we really have to have just zero tolerance.”
Rain has always caused a problem at one point during the festival and Moldrup said that they are expecting a little more rain this year and warns people to not play in the mud in the festival grounds.
“We really want to discourage people from getting into big mud fights and sliding in the mud. While that’s all fund and so on the problem is you get all muddy like that when your in a crowded group of people, others don’t want to be muddy and then you brush up against them and that’s how we have conflicts.”
It can also be dangerous and has caused injuries before because there may be rocks, broken glass, and metal under that mud.
“We really take a pretty much zero tolerance to on the mud fights, mud slinging because it just invariably ends up into a conflict, so we will remove people that get into that kind of behavior because it’s just not safe for anyone and leads to problems.”
Gates will open Thursday at 4:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.