This article has shown me I can't separate the experience from the festival. I can't compare the all-night experience to the art Jam experience or the ring of fire jam. I wasn't even at the Tower or Storage jams.

I couldn't agree more. Having made the trek to the furthest tip of Maine multiple times, and all of the experiences that went along with it (the bad and the good...overflowing porto-johns and glowstick wars, hours on end in traffic and the Went Gin...etc.).

Also, I would just add that while the amenities and comfort level at the new festies is refreshing for an older phan, there was something really awesome about waking up in a sea of tents as far as the eye can see, walking a mile down a runway to get into a show, sitting in traffic that was literally not moving for hours at a time and tailgating on the highway, etc. that everyone should get the chance to experience. Kind of like when our parents/grandparents would wax nostalgic about walking 5 miles to school, uphill both ways, with newspapers wrapped around their feet because they couldn't afford shoes.