Phish fans begin arriving in Coventry

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(Host) It will be almost 48 hours before Phish takes the stage this weekend in Coventry for the band’s final performances.

As VPR’s Steve Zind reports, thousands of fans are already arriving in the rain in the small Northeast Kingdom town playing host to the concert.

(Zind) A line of cars five hours long crept into Coventry past fields dotted with Holsteins and port-o-lets. At the entrance to the concert site security personnel took tickets and checked through camping gear and coolers looking for contraband.

Today’s arriving fans are only the vanguard of an estimated 60,000 more expected to come on Friday and Saturday

The rain began early in the afternoon and splashed off the tents and tarps in the campground at the Coventry airport while across the road at the concert site workers scurried around, some wearing large trashbags to keep dry in the downpour.

The concert site is like an instant city – with a workforce of 2,400, a general store, post office and a radio station.

Phish is playing tonight in Philadelphia and isn’t expected to arrive here until tomorrow.

The band will play on Saturday and Sunday evenings, and on Monday the population of Coventry will rapidly shrink from 70,000 back down to 1,000. For Vermont Public Radio, I’m Steve Zind in Coventry.

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