....It will be interesting to watch as it evolves to include a broader amount of things (technology, debut of music, literature, etc.)
I'm glad Fortress Fest is successful, but it's another one of those "be careful what you wish for" if it becomes a national event....
Yes, "be careful what you wish for" is a sobering cautionary warning; the pitfalls are very real.
My take on it is that if we want an city or neighborhood with a true urban fabric then you have to accept that events like these are just part of the equation even if for one weekend it throws a wrench in your normal routine.
I have lived in dense cities that have festivals throughout the year and those festivals and the energy they provide are why people choose to live in those areas of town. If you don’t like events like these affecting your life then you don’t live in that area... you live in the suburbs. I had neighbors when I lived in SF that hated living in a noisy environment... they would complain because people were outside on the sidewalk talking and laughing, they threw pistachios at my window because me and a friend were listening to music at 9pm on a Saturday night and they called the cops numerous times for all kinds of silly reasons because they felt the city needed to curb the amount of people going to the park across the street to hang out. I finally told them that if they didn’t want to be surrounded by the city then why did they choose to buy a home smack dab in the middle of the city. They finally sold and moved out.