It is true that there was a chance that the offramp might not "be" this year, but that is not the case. Officially.
Even though there will be less bands, which sucks, I think this is going to be a very good year, particularly for the offramp, way many great bands this year. You can't always control your lot in life, but you can make the very most of it.
Regarding the longer set breaks. For the most part the offramp will go from 10 minute set changes to 15. There will be one longer set change a day (30 minutes), and we will just use those for bands that have a lot of set up to do. Bummer, but not the end of the world.
The reason behind it is that the GPC want there to be some quiet time, so people can talk to each other, have more time to roam around, etc. Those 10 minutes breaks are really hard for the bands to do anyway, so maybe it is for the best? This costs the offramp six bands
.
Comfest will close earlier this year.
There are many who feel that this is a way to control growth of the festival, I think it will be a big freakin' mess. We'll see. I think it goes 10, 9 and 7 for the Offramp and the other stages. Jazz stays open an hour later.
I will make my plea, again. If you don't like the way things are going at Comfest INC. Please consider joining the General Committee.
You really can make an impact.
Not really supposed to answer in these threads, but honesty is the best policy. Rumors and conjecture get ugly, and I am sick of being told what I can and can't say when this has already been decided and there is no reason not to confirm/clarify shit that everybody has already heard anyway.