The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #68269 Message #1150182
Posted By: Nerd
30-Mar-04 - 01:14 PM
Thread Name: BS: Banning water from festivals
Subject: RE: BS: Banning water from festivals
Guest, Petr
yeah, it's true that bottled water often comes from soft drink companies, etc. They are among the companies who can make money by selling water, one of the odious practices Capitalism encourages.
But this is different than implying that pollution of water by large corporations is linked to a desire to sell the clean water. That's what implied to me a level of coordination that was absurd. Stil, I don't disagree with dianavan's general point, and indeed it's been a pet peeve of mine for some time when water is banned from festivals. All the festivals at Penn's Landing here in Philly had that rule for a while, and they still might; I stopped going.
By the way, I sometimes run events myself, and depending on the health laws, in some states the event is legally required to provide drinking water for free. Promoters get out of this by simply not telling people they have the right to demand the water. Check the food vendors (sometimes THEY are required to provide it on request) and check the first aid station.
Promoters are also always looking for what's easiest from a security standpoint. If they have had problems, say, with people bringing in water bottles filled with vodka, etc, it may seem to them like the easiest way to solve this problem is to ban outside water.
People like dianavan need to resist to show them it's NOT an acceptable solution, or they'll pat themselves on the back for their cleverness. If you make it more expensive for them, by holding up lines at security and making people go away in frustration, you can eventually make a difference. The problem is that in the short term public opinion will be against you and you'll be cast as "whiners" who are just holding things up for everyone else.