This is not an easy decision for Wintergrass. After a very successful long run in Tacoma, Wintergrass feels that it might have to make a move.
An opportunity has come available to move the festival to the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue. This hotel is undergoing a major addition (not a remodel) which will provide some great facilities for a festival like Wintergrass. They are adding hundreds of rooms. They are adding major convention space. It will all be held in one venue with a multi-year commitment. No leaving the venue to go to workshops or other stages.This will put all of the people in one hotel instead of scattered at hotels all over(no lugging instruments on a shuttle). No room lottery. The Bellevue Hyatt is a 4 star facility. Bellevue itself offers a variety of restaurants within walking distance, shopping malls,grocery stores and easy highway and public transportation. Check out the hotel’s website and ignore the rates on there, Wintergrass rates will be greatly discounted.
Wintergrass is in the final stages of negotiations with the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue. We are strongly considering relocating the festival in 2010.
•The Hyatt offers over 700 rooms, all stages, workshop rooms, plenty of vendor space and lots and lots of unrestricted jamming space.
•The stage capacity of the venues is roughly equivalent to Tacoma, but there is room to grow in Bellevue.
•Rooms rates are about 1/3 lower at the Hyatt than in most hotels we’ve been at in Tacoma. We are negotiating a multi-year contract so that the great room rates we get year one, will be in place for a number of years.
•Jam-friendly? Yes. The manager grew up in a house full of musicians who stayed up all night playing music. His dad was a working musician who performed well into his 80s. He loves music and understands the joy of playing tunes together with friends. He just doesn’t want us sticking signs on the walls. We can handle that, right? 🙂
•We know traffic can be a bear, but we also know there are ways to work around the worst of it.
•We have not signed anything yet and we very much want feedback from Wintergrass fans. If we moved to Bellevue, would you come with us? Leave a comment here or email Wintergrass. If you sign up for the Wintergrass email list a survey will be sent to you. Also visit us on Facebook.
Thanks from Wintergrass
Sounds great to me! Yes, I would continue to come and continue to volunteer. My only potential concerns are transportation and parking for those who will want to stay at even cheaper area hotels (no convenient light rail or huge parking lots in Bellevue). So we might still need some sort of shuttle bus system if patrons demand it. We’d also miss the chance to explore Tacoma which is funky and culturally very different from Bellevue, but if the hotel makes us welcome and the stages work well, then the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. Linda Grez
Parking will be free at the venue on the weekend.
Heck, yeah. It sounds great to me! I’ll be there with the Nechville booth for sure.
Alk
I am ok with the move. The trip to Bellevue on I-405 is more difficult for me, but having all the venues in one place makes it worh it.
I am concerned with the availabliity of cheap parking near the Hyatt.
I was one of the die-hard Wintergrass fans who complained long and hard about the Murano BUT other than the hotel management’s cluelessness with respect to bluegrass jamming there is so much to like about Wintergrass in Tacoma. The Church surely must be the best bluegrass concert venue in the world. The Rialto was nearly as good. How about the rowdy scene at the Varsity Grill . .just too cool. I’m hoping the Murano drops their prices a bit, embraces the festival culture, find ways to accommodate their concerns of property damage and we are back picking in Tacoma in February.
Chuck
I would be in favor of it. It has been great to support the turnaround of Tacoma over the years, and it is nice to have a revitalized area near the Murano that makes for a fun weekend. But people come for the festival- bluegrass fans are used to pretty rough conditions sometimes, so the city/hotel really is secondary. Having everyone/everything in one place would be a huge plus- the energy is really dispersed when people are staying in multiple locations and there are multiple venues. Logistically this makes a lot more sense- centralization is good. Plus I bet there would be a lot more day ticket sales from people in Seattle who would come over the bridge to check it out.
I really doubt that many people (except Tacoma locals) would stop coming if the festival were no longer in Tacoma. People care about the music, the scene, and the cost. With a good lineup and reasonable costs, people will come no matter what. Look at all of the people who drive for hours on summer weekends to camp in the dirt and sometimes extreme weather.
No real downside as far as I can see to this move.
I think it is a great idea. Yes, I’ll miss the church and the Rialto, but this looks like a great venue; good bus access, parking nearby (the Mall), a more family friendly area, plenty of places to eat nearby, huge jamming potential, as well as management that really gets it. …and more affordable. One question, not for myself, but for other folks, is there any place to park RVs around there? I’ve never really looked with that in mind.
I would follow Wintergrass to Bellevue as long as the lineup is what I’m interested in. The reason I only went for one day this year is because the lineup was lousy – getting too far from the bluegrass that I love.
Wintergrass was once a regional gathering of bluegrass music people held in the dead of winter. It was accessible to the region, It was fantastic fun, It was affordable, it was bluegrass. Stick to that formula and you will be successful.
Whether it is Bellview or Tacoma makes no difference at all.
In general, I support the move…as a matter of convenience. I live in Seattle and making the trip to Tacoma, though not far, means I need to either sleep in my mini-van (ouch!) or spend bucks to sleep in a room (also ouch!) I would miss the church venue…really one of the nicest halls to see music that I can think of. Hopefully a similar venue of intimate size can be found in Blahview.
Chuck pretty much nailed it.
The questions about traffic are N/A. For those of us from out of town, traffic is the same in both places.
Tacoma: +The church and Rialto are great venues. The Murano has ambiance. Familiarity. -Bad jamming rules, jammers in more than one building.
Bellevue: +Relaxed jamming(?), cheaper, jammers under one roof. -Unfamiliar, does it have character like the Murano? (River City is too sterile)
Matt