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Have a show across from a beach next weekend. First outdoor show with a tent. I have been reading some of the horror stories of artists returning for their second day only to find a storm or heavy wind ripped through while they slept and now everything is in shambles. My question is, if you are informed and keep abreast of the weather, and know that the night might bring something bad, have any of you ever closed up completely, taking everything with you, including your tent, and just set up lock stock and barrel the next morning? It seems that as much work as that might be, wouldn't it make sense to do that instead of leaving it all to chance?

Also, by the same token, if the morning seemed grand but now it's noon, and you begin to hear or see rumblings that a storm is brewing, have any of you closed down and taken everything away with you in the middle of the day?

I realize that there isn't always time to do this, but it also seems that sometimes there is actually enough time to get it all together and get the heck out of there, including your tent - EZ Up or not.

I have heard that some artists completely lower their tents at night as much as they can, dropping certain things to the ground to lessen the danger of a sudden rain storm or wind gust might incur. Do any of you do this?

Just arrived in Tubac, AZ for their annual arts festival and while talking to our neighbor found out about one of the Palm Springs art shows that takes places in the downtown area. In case you hadn't heard. On January 21, 2012 90 mile per hour winds basically wiped out the entire art show. Palm springs is a windy place, hence all the windmills that catch the wind coming through the pass. The extent of the damage to the trees in the park is really something else and considering more people weren't hurt is amazing. Huge trees were knocked down and fell on vans, tents went flying and our neighbor reported that he had been hit in the head and knocked out (he had the shiner to prove it). It only goes to show you how dangerous weather can be and sometimes all the weights you put down are still not enough to keep the tent from flying. Surprisingly, watching the YouTube videos some tents were still standing while some right next to them were decimated!  For more on that show see: the shorter version  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt1NlZNxJCQ&feature=related  OR   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n6DD5CBQJs&fe

It makes ya sort of humble.