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Buses best option to get to all that Jazz

Aspen Times Staff

With as many as 24,000 people expected during the first two days of this weekend’s Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Festival, Brush Creek Road may be a bit crowded.The festival opens today with Widespread Panic, which also will headline Friday. The popular band regularly attracts huge crowds, and each day could see 12,000 people, full capacity at Snowmass Town Park. Tickets to the Panic shows were still available Wednesday.The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority is offering $2 round-trip fares to the festival from anywhere in the valleywide bus system.Concert organizers “highly encourage” using RFTA, according to a Jazz Aspen news release. Passengers must show their concert tickets and retain the stub for the return trip.For concertgoers staying in Snowmass Village, town shuttles will provide free trips to and from the festival.Limited parking is available at the rodeo lot across the street from the shows; it costs $20 a day. At the Two Creeks lot, parking is $10 a day, while for $5 daily you can park at Cozy Point Ranch. Shuttles will run continuously from these sites.Brush Creek Road near Snowmass Town Park will be closed during the concerts, the news release says. A detour of Highline Road to Owl Creek Road to the mall will be in place.The festival grounds will open at 1 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. Monday, the event’s final day. Forbidden at the festival: coolers, cameras, radios, recording devices, high-back chairs, tents, pets, or inflatable objects. Seating will be on the park’s lawns, and blankets or tarps are recommended, as is being prepared for changing weather.”No camping is allowed or tolerated,” decrees the news release.For more information, call 923-2107. RFTA questions can be answered at 925-8484.