Byers, it's a small town about 40 miles east of Denver, and if it wasn't for the big punk/alternative rock festival, Riot Fest, that was there last summer, most of Colorado and the rest of the world would have never known it existed. 

That same festival that brought around 15,000 people per day, who would never have spent a penny in that town, to the three day event last September, is now being told it can't come back.

Earlier this month many of the Byers towns-folk complained that there was too much extra traffic, loud noise, and drug use in the town, and wanted the county to stop the festival from coming... And that is what they did.

Arapahoe County cited public safety concerns for why they denied the permit in a denial letter:

Due to the amount of traffic congestion from Riot Fest, emergency service providers would not be able to serve the residents of Byers, the surrounding areas, or the attendees of Riot Fest on a timely basis. In addition, the congestion and configuration of the event parking/camping would result in pedestrian/vehicle conflicts along Bradbury Road and I-70. In the case of a disaster at Riot Fest, the ability to evacuate the site quickly would be impaired by the limited access and the existing roadway infrastructure and network.

Riot Fest organizers have 10 days to appeal to the county.

This years festival featuring The Cure, Rise Against, Primus, Weezer, Slayer, and many more was planned for the weekend of Sept. 19-21, and more than 17,000 tickets a day were expected to be sold.

Organizers have promised to name an alternate location, and wrote on Facebook: "Riot Fest in Denver is NOT cancelled, the show will go on, and rock n roll never dies."

Can't we find a big field in Fort Collins somewhere??

 

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