Note: The info below contains more details about the physical nature of the site, and what to expect there, plus some guidelines. You'll notice that some (but not all) of the info below is also found in the Rules and the What to Expect - let's just say I believe in redundancy. I figure if you read particularly important item two or three times, maybe you'll remember it! :)
About the site:
The festival will be at "Dragon Hills Retreat" near Carrollton, Georgia. It is a mostly primitive camping site, although there are a very limited number of cabins available for rent - please contact James & Rita (770-258-0863) to reserve one. The site has plenty of camping and parking space.
Dragon Hills is rather hilly, as the name implies, but most of the hills are terraced, with "lollybumps." This provides some flat(-ish) areas for the vendors to set up on, but makes for challenging driving. If you must cross a lollybump in your car, try to hit it at an angle, because it's not just flat... then a drop-off, then flat again - it's flat, then a bump, then a drop-off! These bumps *always* snag at least 10 cars over the weekend!
The site has a covered stage for music, and sinks outside the kitchen for dishwashing. Keep in mind that the kitchen is completely off-limits to participants, and there is NO storage for your food! Dragon Hills has (real) outdoor showers with walls but no roof, which work great if you're not overly modest, a couple of indoor showers, flushing toilets in the Great Hall, and a nice covered pavilion in the Weyr for classes.
In most areas, and assuming there's no burn ban in place, you may have a personal campfire, but all fires that are in grassy, mowable areas must be contained and off the ground; where the site managers have to mow with a bushhog, rocks, charcoal, bottle caps, and other trash tends to get left behind; these items can damage the bushhog blades ($$$ to repair), and injure or even kill the mower operator. For campfires, please bring your own firewood. Also, please practice common sense with your fires, and don't build a huge roaring fire and then leave it unattended (yes, we've seen it happen, and in high winds, too. Just makes ya wonder...) DragonHills is very private, so the festival is clothing optional. However, those working the registration booth MUST keep their clothes on, due to emergency personnel or other outsiders coming to the gate.
If you don't like to camp, there are reasonably priced hotels within 15 miles, in nearby Carrollton. Do a Google search for hotels in Carrollton, GA, and you'll find plenty. The closest one is probably the Days Inn on Hwy. 27, across from the Wal- Mart that our participants spend so much time at.
Dogs are not allowed at Dragon Hills. (Service animals are always welcome, and with proof of certification, will be admitted at no charge). A very few exceptions, *WITH PRIOR PERMISSION*, will be made for dogs who are special needs who absolutely cannot stay by themselves, with friends, or in a kennel, but all dogs will be charged an admission fee, must have proof of rabies and general vaccinations, and must be registered when their person registers. If you show up at the gate with an unregistered dog, you will be asked to take the dog off-site. All permitted dogs must be kept on a leash (you must hold the other end of the leash) or otherwise contained at all times, quiet (no barking), and under control at all times (no jumping on people, no stealing food).
Pagan dogs (and some live on-site) are known to be very intelligent when it comes to stealing food and even opening coolers! Be aware of this and keep your food out of reach and your coolers securely closed. Also, flies are rampant at Dragon Hills, especially in the spring (in the fall we have yellowjackets - yippee), so keep food containers tightly closed, don't throw left-over food out into the woods, and keep trash contained or haul it to the dump whenever you drive out.
We follow a Leave-No-Trace (LNT) ethic at Moondance and FallFling. This essentially means that YOU are responsible for removing any and all trash that you bring or generate while there. If you'd like to read up on LNT, here are some good LNT principles & ideas as they apply to Burning Man specifically: http://www.burningman.co m/environment/reso urces/lnt.html. Please don't litter or pollute the site in any way, and do clean up after yourself, especially when you pack to go home. DO NOT drop cigarette butts, bottle caps, or other MOOP (matter out of place) on the ground. Also, remember to check for items at the Lost & Found, which is located at the Kitchen.
There is a certain area set aside for parking at DragonHills; please use it. If you are camped at the top of the hill or in the Quiet Area, you may keep your cars near your camp, as long as the roadways are completely clear (think huge fire trucks coming through). In the Weyr and main area (Stage and merchant area and on along the tree line and terraces), ALL cars must be moved to the parking area after unloading. The only exceptions are a few vendors who have prior permission to park at their booths. The road from the Kitchen to the Stage must be kept clear at all times. Due to safety concerns, because kids play in the area and people gather to listen to the music, no cars are allowed to drive through the vendor area and in front of the stage after 6:00 pm on Fri and Sat nights or during daytime music performances.
Because of the hills, all RVs and large campers should be parked no further down than the Great Hall, except for vendors who vend out of their camper/RV. Small campers can set up in a flat camping area (but realize you may have problems pulling a camper back up a muddy hill!). There are a *very few* hookups at the Great Hall for RVs and campers for electricity *only* (no water or sewage); I don't know if the system will handle air conditioning. Also, RVs must run silently in self-contained mode (no generators!!).
All camping areas are public domain and are up for grabs, but please ASK before you set up next to someone else, in case they have that area set aside for their group.
Due to agreements with the neighbors and sheriff, all drumming must be restricted to the main drum circle, as sound tends to carry (in other words, don't drum at the top of the hill near the altar!). There can be NO drumming past 10:00 on Thursday night. Please be considerate with boom boxes, especially at night, and please keep your personal noise level to a minimum when you are near the Pavilion or Great Hall when a class is going on.
Of course, the usual legal stuff applies at DragonHills: Firearms are not allowed at DragonHills during the festival; any infraction of mundane law, i.e., theft, threat to or endangerment of others, etc., are grounds for immediate expulsion from the festival; underage drinking, gross drunken behavior, and unwanted sexual attention (harassment) will not be tolerated; also, illegal substances are absolutely forbidden, by any and all people!! This last one is very important if you can't abstain for the weekend, please stay home. We run the risk of losing the site and our freedoms otherwise. Don't use drugs at the festival; don't even bring them.