Parking & Seating

[Cajunkiwi]

Hey guys,

I was looking at the layout of City Park (currently considering taking the Marconi Meadows shuttle), and I noticed the Museum of Art didn't appear to be too far from the pedestrian entrance. Has anyone tried parking at the MoA and walking before, and if so, how long a walk is it? Google maps says it should be around 15 minutes, but I have no idea if that is even close to being accurate.

Also, we're looking at making the Acura Stage our home base for the day, and we (my wife and I) are locked in a mini battle royale about where to try and set up shop (she's never been before and I have only been once, around 10 years ago). How big is the standing room only section? We're going primarily to see Pearl Jam, so I'd like to be close to the stage. However, from the looks of things you can't bring a blanket to sit on between acts in the standing room only area, and my wife doesn't want to stand the whole day. So - if we bring blankets and sit at the edge of the standing room only area, how close to the stage will we be - and how easy is it from there to move around during the day to catch other bands (and gorge ourselves on the food) and still make our way back to our spot? We're coming with friends so we can meander around in shifts...

Any info you can give me would be immensely appreciated!

[johnstp]

The walk from NOMA to the Fairgrounds is about fifteen minutes. It's a nice walk, actually. I don't know anything about parking at the museum, though.

The standing room section isn't terribly deep, so if you set up shop right at the rail, you'll still be very close. Honestly, you may be too close considering what the crowd may look like. I prefer to find a spot on the periphery, which allows for a much more graceful exit for bathroom/food breaks. Also, as you get closer to the end of the day Saturday, I wouldn't expect to go anywhere. Even the cement paths tend to fill up with people trying to see the show. It can actually get a little ugly. My advice would be to try and take your last walk before whoever comes before Pearl Jam starts. Then, just stick it out for the last two acts.

[Cajunkiwi]

Thanks johnstp,

We'll probably arrive early and try the museum first, and if we can't find parking we'll head to Marconi from there. The walking estimation I got was from Google Maps and I wasn't sure how accurate that was - they've had problems in my native New Zealand for telling people to walk through a tunnel that doesn't have a walking path, resulting in serious injuries. 15 minutes is an easy walk though, we'll definitely try that first.

Thanks for the seating tip too - we'll probably look at setting up as close to the front as we can get, but off to the side where it'll be less chaotic, and, as you said, better situated to nip off for a bite to eat and catch some other bands. I may be the one holding down the fort anyway - the bands I wanted to see are all on the same stage (Galactic, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, etc).

Thanks again - Saturday can't get here soon enough!