Mountain, valley get ready for Minus Zero

DOVER- Mount Snow and the surrounding area will be rocking out this weekend, as the Minus Zero Festival makes its debut in the Deerfield Valley.
Billed as a winter sports and music festival, Minus Zero will bring more than 50 musical acts and performance artists for a three-day event Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The festival features sounds that all loosely fit into the “electronic dance music” genre.
Music lovers will have their choice of four stages for music, including a daytime stage at the top of the mountain at the Bullwheel summit lodge.  Other stages are all in the main base area and include the main stage,the Bluebird chair barn, and Cuzzin’s bar.
According to Mount Snow public relations director Jamie Storrs, daytime skiing operations won’t be limited by the festival, and in fact skiers will be able to catch some of the music while waiting in the Bluebird lift line or hanging out in the Main Base Lodge.
“All in all, it will look like a regular day,” said Storrs.
He went on to describe the use of the Bluebird chair barn for the festival.  Normally meant to house the iconic bubble chairs, the barn will be transformed into a music and art venue.
“One of the cooler things will be the Bluebird barn,” Storrs said. “It will be sort of like a warehouse party, with a big stage on one end and art installations in it. It will have a bit of a ‘Burning Man’ vibe to it.”
Headlining the event are Odesza and Zeds Dead. Odesza will perform Saturday night. They are an American electronic music duo from Seattle consisting of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight specializing in indietronica, synth-pop, chillwave, and future bass.
Zeds Dead is a Canadian electronic music duo from Toronto. Dylan Mamid, also known as DC, and Zachary Rapp-Rovan, also known as Hooks, rose to prominence releasing original music and remixes in the deep house, drum and bass, electro house, UK garage, trap music, glitch, and dubstep styles. They will close the show Sunday night, followed by fireworks at 11 pm for the grand finale.
Tipper will close down the main stage  Friday evening. “Tipper” is the stage name of David Alexander Tipper, a British composer and musician who specializes in trip hop and other forms of electronic music.
The MOOver will offer extended times throughout the weekend, and a shuttle service will also be available, according to Storrs.  He also recommended that skiers and riders who want to stay away from Minus Zero festivities work out of the Carinthia Base Lodge for the weekend. Although the Main Base Lodge will still be open during the day for skiers, at 4 pm the lodge will be closed to all but Minus Zero ticket holders.
This is the fourth iteration of the festival, which started in Los Angeles before moving to Stratton Mountain for the past two years.
Storrs said that only about one in 10 festival attendees will be skiers, and that he is optimistic that attendees will find the Deerfield Valley to their liking.
“Having all of these people around who don’t ski means they will get out and see what else there is to do around the valley,” said Storrs. “I hope the town and local businesses welcome them, similar to what they have done in the past for events like Tough Mudder.”
Storrs also said the mountain hopes to make this an annual event. “Hopefully this is something we can continue in the future.”
For more information about mountain operations and how they will be affected this weekend, there is a FAQ page about the event at mountsnow.com. For information on the artists, pricing, and schedules visit minuszero.com or Mount Snow’s website.