Monday, July 14, 2014

IS CHIVE FEST IN DENVER A HOAX?


Westword published a notice of Chive Fest, a "massive" music festival to be held in Denver's City park on Aug. 16. I immediately suspected something wasn't right. Last time a music festival (AEG) was promoted, 6 years ago, the neighborhood said no and the Zoo delivered the death blow because the music would have been too loud.
Going to Chivefest.com informed me that there were 4 such Chive Festivals this summer, to be held in Seattle, Chicago, Denver and Dallas.
The details for Denver: "theCHIVE brings fun LIVE to Denver on Saturday, August 16th with CHIVE FEST - DENVER! Join the party with fellow Chivers at Denver City Park on Saturday, August 16th, and enjoy a day of music, beer, and other CHIVEfoolery! GENERAL ADMISSION General Admission tickets are available to all ages for $70*. General Admission tickets get you admittance for the one day festival, including:- 8 bands on 2 stages  - The Chive Food Court  - Official Chive Merchandise Tent  - Around the park activations  - Nostalgia Tent  - Bars located throughout the venue (ATMs also available)  - FREE water stations and Cooling Areas VIP TICKETS Want a festival experience like no other and are 21 years of age or older, purchase a 1 day VIP pass to enjoy Chive Fest in style!  VIP tickets are $250* and will have a host of special amenities offered in designated areas." 

But Wikipedia reports that Chive has been responsible for at least 3 internet hoaxes. 

History[edit]John and Leo Resig founded Resignation, LLC in August 2007[6] and then launched theCHIVE.com in November, 2008.[7] The brothers went on to create additional photo-entertainment websites, all of which are staffed and managed by members of the Resig family.[6][8] On Monday, July 22, 2013 the Austin American Statesman reported that during the summer of 2013 the parent company of The Chive (Resignation Media) was re-locating to a renovated space in downtown Austin, TX.[9]
Hoaxes[edit]Between 2007 and 2010, Leo and John Resig conducted a string of internet hoaxes that, according to Leo, were designed “to entertain and inspire, not to inform.”[5]Donald Trump Tips[edit]The "Donald Trump tip" hoax involved a doctored photo of a Santa Monica restaurant receipt that was supposedly signed by Donald Trump indicating that a $10,000 tip was left on a bill of $82.27. Trump denied the story's accuracy to Fox News Channel, which had originally published the story as real.[10] Other media agencies also ran the story, including The Huffington PostE! News, and Access Hollywood.
Teenage texting disaster[edit]The "Teenage texting disaster" hoax occurred in 2008 and involved a fictitious teenager who had accidentally sent a text message to her father stating that she had lost her virginity on the beach.[11] This became an internet meme and was broadcast as a true story by several media outlets.[12]Jenny quits on dry erase board[edit]Arguably the most famous hoax was "Girl quits her job on dry erase board, emails entire office", which showed several photographs of a woman quitting her job by telling a story with a dry-erase whiteboard.[13] This hoax was also reported as true.[14]

The Chive Fests in Seattle and Chicago have supposedly been held, with footage provided.
A call to Denver's Parks and Rec verified that there is no permit for Chive Fest on Aug. 16th, and that this group announced an event last year in Washington Park without a permit, but was not allowed to hold the event.
I can't understand the motivation of Resignation, LLC to do all of this for a few laughs. But then again I have to admit that I wrote a satirical article about renting out City Park to a nudist group back in 2007 to highlight the absurdity of renting out our parks for profit. It has been one of our most read posts.

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