Fans weather through rain and mud

COFFEE COUNTY—Rainy conditions that dominated most of Friday afternoon at the 2009 BamaJam Music & Arts Festival, was not a deterrent to the crowd of music fans.

A sea of easily more than 100,000 people gathered early in the Main Stage area to hear a country cornucopia of talent including Alan Jackson, Charlie Daniels, Aaron Tippin and Randy Owen.

Festival organizer Ronnie Gilley said with Saturday’s anticipated crowd that Kid Rock would draw, the event could easily be larger than Woodstock, an iconic outdoor music festival held in upstate New York in 1969.

Fans continued pouring in Friday, though traffic was not near the problem it was on Thursday and lines for entry were not near as long. What had increased, was the lines at the 225 portable toilets located around the festival grounds; lines for food and drinks; and lines to purchase coupons.

Steady rain that sometimes fell in a downpour kept many fans in the campers the early part of the afternoon, but the rain was gone by 5 p.m.

Weather is not expected to be a problem on the last day of the 3-day festival. Saturday’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with a high of 86.

Alan Jackson was still playing at 11:45 p.m. Friday to a huge crowd at the Country Stage, while the Black Crows on the Alternative Stage packed in mostly younger fans. Music continued well past midnight.

Law enforcement officers were making some arrests for drugs and other charges, but it was less than one percent of the crowd, said one Enterprise officer.

There has been one death at BamaJam. A camper from Jack died in his sleep Friday morning. Those camping next to Ray Douglas Rhodes, II, said the 48 year old was responsive at about 7 a.m., but he could not be awaken two hours later. His death was ruled positional asphyxiation.