The All Good Music Festival & Camp Out had long been held at Marvin’s Mountaintop in Masontown, West Virginia, but that will change in 2012 as the event’s promoters have just announced that the 16th annual installment of All Good will take place on July 19-22 just a short drive to the west at Legend Valley in Thornville, Ohio. Formerly known as Buckeye Lake, the “new” site has hosted numerous Grateful Dead shows as well as performances by the Allman Brothers Band, Lollapalooza and numerous Hookahvilles.
[via All Good Festival Facebook]
While the local community in West Virginia never fully embraced All Good, last year county officials passed a Mass Gathering Ordinance that put an onerous tax burden on event organizers. Combine the hefty tax with the authorities overzealous treatment of festivalgoers (not to mention the death of an attendee) and apparently it was time for the move to Ohio. The new site is just one mile from the interstate which should ease fans’ traffic woes. Expect a full lineup this spring, but organizers still aim to provide a schedule filled with no over-lapping sets at the new, beautiful site.
Here’s a letter the All Good team has penned about the switch…
The 16th annual All Good Music Festival & Camp Out, July 19-22, 2012, is moving a little bit west to the historic Legend Valley. For those who know your history or were a part of it, Legend Valley was formerly Buckeye Lake Music Center.
Located 30 minutes east of downtown Columbus, our new home in Thornville, Ohio was the site of some of the most memorable Grateful Dead shows ever plus historic shows by the Allman Brothers Band, Lollapalooza, AC/DC, numerous Hookahvilles and many more.
Parting is bittersweet. We will always treasure our time at Marvin’s Mountaintop. But we had to take a hard look at the negative impact the West Virginia site had on you, our fans, who sometimes spent 4 to 6 hours covering that last five miles under close scrutiny from authorities.
We had to weigh the impact of our traffic and presence on the local population and local officials who never warmed up to the festival, its legion of loyal fans and our “style”. In 2011 county officials went so far as to pass a crippling Mass Gathering Ordinance that directly targeted All Good and levied an outrageous tax on our event. We would much rather spend this money (your ticket money) on bands, safety and enhancements to your overall festival experience.
Legend Valley has a rich history of hosting similar events and Thornville is excited to have All Good roll into their town. The community is better suited to host us and grateful for the business that we will bring to their rural location.
For some of you in the east, the journey to All Good will be a longer drive, but with our entrance less than a mile off I-70, it may actually take you less time from your front door to your campsite.
For all of you, our new site means fast, unobstructed, wind-in-your-hair interstate travel, straight to the lot.
Grab your spot in the spacious camping pastures, and settle into the roomy, gently sloping amphitheater. No climbing and plenty of room to groove.
We’ll have your favorite bands, no-overlapping sets, state-of-the-art sound and lights, tons of heavy equipment, bathrooms, and dragon merch, but it won’t be All Good until you get there!
YOU make this festival! We can’t wait to see you again!
Peace and Music,
The All Good Family
9 Responses
The big rumor from some ohio peeps that work the venue is that Phish will headline it. Guess we will see if it is true
Preston county lawenforcements fucus was to protect its peple from the frequent overdoses and drug users and sellers. People want to have a good time fine. The festival people would have had better support if they would have worked to keep the abovementioned trash out of our county. Good riddence.
Well excuse me John for single handedly supporting little preston county with our festival just by gas and ice alone. not to mention the incredible amount of revenue generated in general. if you locals werent so quick to judge, discriminate, stereotype, and just be plain insensitive and unkind, you might actually get a chance to get to know us and discover that we are actually caring and kind human beings incredibly grateful for the opportunity to come into yalls backyard for just 4 days out of the year. If moving to Ohio means we can get away from people like you then i CANNOT wait for this year. lookin forward to some ohio locals actually happy to have us fuel their town and pour money into it.
Preston county lawenforcements fucus was to protect its peple from the frequent overdoses and drug users and sellers. People want to have a good time fine. The festival people would have had better support if they would have worked to keep the abovementioned trash out of our county. Good riddence.
I liked your article too. Thank you.
Hey John, you’re generalizing the festival crowd–prejudices and stereotypes exaggerated the massive “requirement” of law enforcement. The death of the attendee was due to a truck running over her down a hill–but was not attributed to drug use, but rather a flaw in parking/tenting arrangement. West Virginia itself was physically great for All Good, but the town itself was never welcoming to it.
I absolutely loved Marin’s mt top, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been and had an amazing time. I would love for it to be there again but I respect the festival promoters decision to move it to Ohio. Not only were the local authoritys a pain but the cops in Maryland were just as brutal. The pulled over all the people that looked like festival goers. They searched my car with a dog and waisted an hour of my time just to find out I had absolutely nothing illegal on me. Legend valley was home to some amazing GD and Alman bros shows and will have 3 different bands with original dead members aswell as the ABros. Gonna be amazing hope to see everyone there.
I live in Preston and will truly miss the festival this year! Not only could I party in my backyard, but the people are awesome. Don’t worry when the locals here feel the hurt in their wallets. They will be begging for you to come back!! I hope I can make the festival this year!! It’s the one thing I really look forward to in the summer!!
Good Feedback from everyone. Was looking into this festival for 2013, but HATE being searched going into the concert venue. There should be ONE time I’m searched, and that’s going into the GA camping area.
I’m sticking to Summer Camp Festival. No booze allowed you say…yeah right. This festival is truly hassle-free.