Fans Petition Faster Horses Festival

More than 10,000 people have signed a petition asking Live Nation and LN Nashville President Brian O’Connell to implement strict campsite rules at Faster Horses festival to keep the grounds clean.

Matthew Jones of Petoskey, Mich., launched the “Clean Up Faster Horses” petition on Change.org to show O’Connell (aka BOC) “how much we care about the amazing festival he brings to us.”

Jones has taken issue with the amount of garbage that was left littering the grounds at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., following the July event. A photo that’s posted on Change.org along with the petition shows a grassy area covered with food wrappers, plastic bottles and even an abandoned loveseat.

– Faster Horses 2017

“These ‘campers’ make the rest of us look bad and cost the festival undisclosed amounts of money,” Jones writes. “Undoubtedly costs will continue to rise if something is not done. … While the majority of the Faster Horses Family are good, honest people that are respectful, it only takes a few bad eggs to make us all smell rotten. Now is the time for change.”

Jones has offered Live Nation a few solutions for dealing with litterbugs. His petition suggests that fans who leave their sites a mess should lose access to next year’s presale and should no longer be allowed to purchase campsites in their name. Plus, he thinks violators should be charged a campsite cleaning fee equal to the cost of the campsite. Jones points out that the penalty will also help curb scalping.

The Faster Horses’ website includes a section about garbage in its list of camping policies, instructing campers to “KEEP YOUR AREA CLEAN!” in all caps. The site notes that the festival offers curbside garbage pickup. All fans have to do is leave their “trash-specific bags near the road by 10 a.m. Friday-Monday for collection.” 

O’Connell released the following statement in response to the petition:

“Everyone on the staff at Faster Horses is committed to making sure that we leave our beautiful area in better condition than we found it. Additional signage, trash bag distribution, social awareness and just plain conversation have been implemented over the years to alleviate the trash removal issue. The Faster Horses staff, along with MIS, makes sure that everything will and always has been cleaned up prior to the final day of us being on site. The petition brings up some interesting points and options that we will be working on prior to the 2018 edition of Faster Horses. I know the Faster Horses community, and I know that many, many campers clean their sites perfectly. Our job is now to educate those who don’t (clean their sites) why it is so important (to do so).”

Faster Horses 2017 featured performances by Brett Eldredge, Darius Rucker, Miranda Lambert Dierks Bentley, Bobby Bones And The Raging Idiots, Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell, Maddie And Tae, Jon Pardi, Laruen Alaina and more.

The 2018 edition is scheduled July 20-22.

O’Connell was not available to speak to Pollstar for further comment.