Not one, but two large music and art festivals are planned at a remote nudist camp near Sultan the next two weekends, and police are concerned.
Hundreds of performance artists are expected starting today at the Lake Bronson family nudist camp, and in a week hundreds of concertgoers are expected for a techno music festival over the Fourth of July weekend.
Police learned Wednesday that a similar event sponsored by the same group last year near Mount Rainier led to arrests and trashed U.S. Forest Service property.
“I’ve been a cop for a long time, and that causes the hairs to jump up a bit,” Snohomish County sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Brand said.
The hundreds of people expected at the events north of Sultan are likely to clog the narrow dirt road leading to the camp, Sultan Police Chief Fred Walser said. They also might break out in drug or alcohol-induced fights and prompt 911 calls.
“Right at the moment, we’re short-staffed,” Walser said. “If there’s a large volume of traffic, we need to know about it, we need to change our schedules.”
The two events came to light this week as officials began scrutinizing plans for Stompin’ in Da Woods 3, a techno music festival planned for the Fourth of July weekend. That event is under county review for lack of proper permits. It’s unclear whether the event will be allowed to proceed as planned.
Officials also are concerned about Critical Massive, scheduled today through Sunday, a local spinoff of the popular Burning Man event in the Nevada desert, where tens of thousands of people burn a huge wooden effigy.
“Lake Bronson seems to be hosting these events and not telling anybody,” Walser said. “My fear is these folks aren’t really prepared if a large group of people descend on them.”
The events differ greatly, said Dave Martinez, organizer of Critical Massive. His event sells no tickets at the gate and includes four days of workshops. No burning is planned, only classes on massage, belly dancing and crafts such as hula-hoops and sewing clothes for stilt walkers, he said.
Conversely, the techno music festival plans to have 85 disc jockeys playing records on three stages on the property, with music planned from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. About 400 people are expected, each paying $30 for the weekend of music performances, games and camping.
County officials said 2 a.m. is the limit for loud music.
Lake Bronson representatives told county officials on Wednesday that the techno event was misrepresented as a group of campers who just wanted to play music at night, not a group of DJs from around the world playing on three stages.
Scott Hanson, promoter of the techno event, said the group is tight-knit and will number about 400. Hanson’s group held a similar three-day event last July on Forest Service land south of Mount Rainier.
Denny Coughlin of the Snoqualmie Ranger District said there were multiple arrests for drugs and alcohol, the area was trashed and forest service toilets were not pumped out as promised.
“It was an out-of-control party,” Coughlin said Wednesday.
A ranger in his office arrested five people the first night of the event, Coughlin said.
“Based on this experience, we would not issue another permit to this group or any similar type of event proposal of this kind,” Coughlin wrote in an e-mail.
Hanson’s group might be forced to hire professional security or off-duty sheriff’s deputies for the Fourth of July event, sheriff’s officials said.
Hanson said he was surprised at Coughlin’s statements. “They did not take anybody out of the place in handcuffs that I’m aware of,” he said.
County staff approved Critical Massive, saying the event complies with land-use rules governing the Lake Bronson property. A similar review is expected as soon as today for Stompin’ in Da Woods 3.
If that hurdle is cleared, a county special events permit with requirements for traffic controllers, police and health issues might follow.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
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