Changes in layout planned to mitigate sound for 9th annual SnowGlobe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There have been changes over the past eight years with the annual outdoor music festival in South Lake Tahoe, SnowGlobe, and many of them are meant to mitigate sound that affects nearby neighbors.

The festival draws thousands of electronic dance music and festival fans from around the world December 29-31 each year.

Crews have been on site at the Community Play Fields, setting up the stages and tents, including ground covers meant to protect the field's sod. The parking lot at Lake Tahoe Community College has turned into a large staging area with trailers and support vehicles.

The City of South Lake Tahoe, SnowGlobe and the neighborhood group, No Globe Alliance, have worked together to try and reduce sound impacts to homes in the area. They have met during the past year, just as last year, to address noise requirements addressed in the Bijou / Al Tahoe Area Plan, issues brought to agencies by the alliance.

This year's changes:

The main stage has been repositioned so the rear of the stage is on Al Tahoe Boulevard instead of that being the left side of the stage. This leaves the stage facing west.

The “igloo” stage is being repositioned in front of the main stage, and the sound engineers believe that will counteract the sound impacts from the main stage to some degree.

Additional adjustments are being made by the sound engineers to better regulate the noise levels during the event. SnowGlobe will have two monitoring stations out in the community – hopefully again at the home of one of the alliance organizers in Pioneer Village off Al Tahoe Blvd., and they are trying to identify a home along the meadow in Tahoe Sierra for the second one.

TRPA will be positioning its own monitors in various neighborhoods. City staff will again be monitoring the sound levels at the perimeter of the event.

"City and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) staff believe these strategies will more effectively mitigate the sound and meet the requirements in the Bijou / Al Tahoe Community Plan," said City of SLT Communication Manager Chris Fiore.

SnowGlobe will be permitted to end at approximately 12:30 a.m. on New Year’s Eve with the first two night ending at 10:00 p.m.

SnowGlobe started as an idea when Chad Donnelly was sitting at a snowy Denver Broncos game with his family. He thought if people will sit in freezing cold to watch football, why not a music festival? He grew the event and sold it to MTV Viacom prior to the 2018 festival but remains connected to the event.

Due to concerns of citizens, the SLT City Council issued a contract renewal was extended to Donnelly and MTV as long as a new venue is identified by 2021. It is unknown if that location would be in Lake Tahoe.