Stage Set For Gathering Of The Vibes Music Festival In Bridgeport

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (CBSNewYork) - If you're about to complain about your job, consider the plight of some workmen in Connecticut.

WCBS 880's Paul Murnane On The Story

They've been toiling in the 90 degree heat (that's without the heat index, which bumps it up to 97) setting up the stage for the Gathering of the Vibes music festival in Bridgeport.

For the main stage alone, there were four tractor trailers full of aluminum and steel and another with video, speakers, and wiring.

They all came together in nearly a week's worth of week in the heat.

"Sun is a good thing. Everything else is not," Production Manager Chris Hubbard told WCBS 880 reporter Paul Murnane.

He said anything is better than rain and wind.

Festival founder Ken Hays noted that severe weather is never far from the mind.

"My production crews do an emergency exercise to drop the stage roof and video balls, the sound system," Hays said.

If they have to, they can button it all down in about five minutes before a crowd of 20,000 this weekend and it looks like the rain, the wind, and the extreme heat will not ruin the vibe.

The festival runs from July 19 to July 22 in Seaside Park on the Long Island Sound, where Bridgeport Parks Director Charles Carroll said things have recovered from the effects of Tropical Storm Irene.

"This particular area, where the concert field is, was flooded. It was under four feet, three-to-four feet of water," he said.

For more information, visit the festival website.