Facing a room full of skeptics Tuesday night, the organizer of Thee First Texas Zen Festival denied the planned musical event is a rave.

By Rob Fraser, Times-Review Writer
The Cleburn Times
Thursday, May 31, 2001

GRANDVIEW - Facing a room full of skeptics Tuesday night, the organizer of Thee First Texas Zen Festival denied the planned musical event is a rave.

The town meeting lead by Pastor Martin Knox of 1st Baptist Church was organized by Grandview residents Kelli Bollman and Mary Thomas after Bollman's daughter called her from Fort Worth and said she saw a flier advertising a rave called "Thee First Annual Texas Zen Festival at Beaumont Ranch."

Bollman said she started calling people in the community concerning the event "and we decided we don't want this type of activity in Grandview."

Knox told the crowd of more than 200 people, "Let it be clearly understood. We are not here to decide anything. That's not our job, that's not our objective, we are not the ones who can do that. I think we need to understand that first of all so everyone is aware. So you won't have a misunderstanding that we are going to make the decision that carries some weight and authority tonight. That's not true."

Knox said, "We are here to help people be informed about Thee Texas Zen Festival to be held at the Beaumont Ranch and what has been publicized in some places as a rave. To help people understand what that means.

"I realize when people get very concerned our emotions tend to go with that if we are not careful, but we do not need to have a meeting in a room that is warm and too small for the number of people in it where people get upset with one another or want to call names or anything like that. If you try that we will probably call you out of order and ask you to leave. I'm not trying to be harsh or mean at all but that's not going to be productive at all."

Knox also put an hour and a half time limit on the meeting because "if we go too long we get counter-productive and repetitious."

Knox said as a pastor in the community he has concerns about anything that could bring harm and damage to the people in the community and "I want us to be careful with those."

"I also realize in this situation we have Beaumont Ranch trying to run a business," he said, "and as long as that is being right and legal they have every right to do that; but on the other hand, if there are elements that bring harm and damage to our community I think all of us have a right to stand up and address those things."

Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford told the crowd, "It's not my intent or duty to shut this thing down. That's not what you hired me for; you hired me to make sure the citizens are safe...that this community is taken care of properly and certain standards are met to ensure that. That's the purpose we have entered into this with, to do our best that regardless of the number that show up the situation is contained and handled. We not only have an obligation out there, but your city police officers have an obligation here in the city to ensure that safety is conducted, that traffic violations are enforced" and that the traffic flow throughout the county is smooth and expedient.

Alford said his department would meet with the Texas Department of Public Safety to make sure "we have their assistance in whatever form or fashion that maybe needed to primarily expedite the traffic and also to handle any crowds."

The sheriff said he was in a two-hour meeting Tuesday afternoon with the county judge (Roger Harmon) and the county attorney (Bill Moore) to discuss options available to the county.

The county is looking at how "we are going to handle the health, safety and welfare of our citizens. Not only the attendees, but the residents of Grandview and the unincorporated areas surrounding Grandview."

"The Zen Fest people have met with our office on three occasions, the first time I was notified was on March 22," said Alford.

The primary concerns addressed, Alford said, were health, volume of the crowd, public safety and traffic control.

Senate Bill 386, which was just passed, for mass gatherings of 5,000 or more requires certain elements and requirements be met, he said. The first is the posting of a notice with sufficient time with the county judge. The county judge then posts for a public hearing. The public hearing determines whether-or-not the event will get a green light and is to held at least 10 days prior to the event. This event is proposed for Saturday, June 9.

A public hearing has been set for Monday in the courthouse. The time and place has not been determined.

The penalty for violating the decision is a $1,000 fine and possible jail time.

Alford said he would testify during the public hearing along with the county health officer and the county fire marshal-since there is no county fire marshal the county judge will contact another fire department official to provide information. Festival promoters will also provide information.

Event promoter and president of Texas Zen Festival Patrick Lewis said Beaumont Ranch was selected for the event because it was located out of a municipality and along an interstate highway.

He also said there would be 30 county police officers (off-duty deputies and police officers from other towns). Five of the officers will handle traffic along I-35.

So far, he said, fewer than 3,000 tickets have been sold; however 25,000 tickets are being printed, though a realistic number expected to attend is closer to 12,000.

An additional 80 experienced concert security officers will be on hand, Lewis said. The officers are experienced in dealing with crowds from 20,000 to 180,000 people.

"Security is not going to be a large problem at this event," he said.

Lewis said there will be 50 portable toilets and 10 special need toilets along with the existing toilets on the ranch property.

He said most portable toilets are not maintained during the concert, but the festival has hired a person to keep them continuously clean during this event for health reasons.

He said there will also be a medical helicopter on site. There will be three medical tents, 11 paramedics, misting tents and six "fire/rescue" personnel will be on hand. The company providing the medical help, he said, is experienced in handling the medical needs at major events such as music festivals.

Lewis said this event has been labeled with "a naughty word, four-letter word: 'rave.'"

"Rave by definition is a clandestine event taking place normally in a warehouse, without any permits, without any security. Usually thrown by drug dealers and run by drug dealers. I don't support raves and I don't attend raves. And I have more of a reason to hate raves than most of you because it gives promoters like me a bad name. We like to have these events with the utmost security so we can keep doing them."

Lewis said he was so impressed by Beaumont Ranch, the people of the county and the surrounding areas that he wants to run a good festival as he will probably want to come back and run more-not only electronic music which will be performed at the festival, but alternative music and some country music concerts.

The people coming to this event, Lewis said, are paying from $20 to $35 a ticket, and the majority are coming from Dallas, Houston and Austin and some surrounding states, including some from California.

"They are not going to be causing trouble around your town, that's for sure. They are paying good money and will be trying to get in there as quickly as possible and when they do get in there we are going to have them under control," said Lewis.

There will be a processing center located next to the ticket booth so that "if any problems do occur we will be able to process and the officers will be able to take those people straight to jail."

Lewis said, "One thing I would definitely like to address is the revenue from this event. We have several charities we would like to donate to within the city because we would like this to be more of a community event."

He also made the offer that the event would be open to anyone wanting to sell food, or merchandise, and some of the profits from the festival would be donated to the Grandview Public Library, Shots for Tots, Grandview Youth Association and "we always work with the American Cancer Society."

The Zen Festival has been around for eight years, Lewis said. It began in Miami on city-owned property and "we never had a serious problem." He said he has been asked back for the past three years.

Another main concern is drug use, he said, and that's why a rave is such a clandestine event. He promised the crowd after passing through the ticket booth will undergo a search for drugs, a body search and a bag search.

He said the event will draw at least 12,000 people and that will benefit the community from tax dollars.

Lewis said the event will be well run and the major issues of health, safety and security have been addressed.

Again, a public hearing has been set for Monday in the courthouse, though the time and place has not been determined.

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