Organizers of a upcoming concert, billed as a three-day "trance" festival, are scrambling to find a location for the event after authorities in southwest Iowa raised concerns about possible drug use and non-stop, loud music. The Iowa City-based promoters of the event had planned to hold the concert this coming weekend in a field near Zion.
Adair County Sheriff Brad Newton says he became aware of the event when a man called from Fairfield – where a similar concert took place in early July. "They just wanted us to be aware of this event that they classified as a ‘rave,’" Newton said. "I talked to the (Jefferson County) Sheriff…he said it wasn’t a real good deal."
The July 4th event in Fairfield upset several neighbors, who retained a lawyer to keep the promoters from returning to the area. The neighbors complained of loud music and believed the concert goers were using drugs like ecstasy. Newton says he became especially concerned about the event near Zion when he contacted the land owner, who thought the concert was for a small, Christian-affiliated gathering.
"I’m not saying that everybody there ain’t Christians, I don’t know, and I’m not saying everybody that goes to these things uses drugs," Newton said, "but it concerns me when somebody intentionally says one thing, when in fact they know it’s going to be something else." The land owner has since denied promoters use of the land near Zion.
Sheriff Newton says afterward, the promoters apparently tried – but failed – to move the event to Madison County. The landowner in Madison County said he was told the event would be a "bluegrass" concert.