While the Soybean Festival is a regular sight every fall in Martin, there are a lot of big changes coming this year.
Beginning this year, music concerts will now require attendees to purchase tickets. The tickets are all general admission and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. While the concert will stay take place atĀ the same park it has for years, it will no longer support all the viewers who want to attend.Ā Instead, the festival will enforce a cap ofĀ 3,000 paid customers atĀ any of their concerts.
With surrounding roads closed off for the festival, visitors in previous years could simply stand in the road and be able to catch the acts on the massive stage from a much broader area. Now there will be walls lining the perimeter ofĀ Festival Park, with two entrances to access seating. Guards will be placed at either entrance and will scan tickets before allowingĀ entry to the concerts. One entrance will be on the east of the park on Central, and the other will lay atĀ the corner of Lindell and Main.
The park will be divided into two sections, with 2,000 seats available (including bleachers), and an area for an extra 1,000 people to stand near the front of the stage. Like the tickets, seating is first come, first served. The doors will open 2 hours prior to the beginning of each performance, giving early attendeesĀ an advantage for optimum seating.
Access to the concerts Soybean offers isĀ no longer complimentary, and have prices which range from $7 to $20 depending on the act. Tickets can be bought online ahead of the date, and remaining tickets will be sold at the Festival Park Ticket Box Office 2 hours before each act begins.
Objects allowed at the Soybean Festival concert venue will now be regulated as well. Lawn chairs, backpacks or other large bags, and coolers will not be allowed in the new concert viewing area.
