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Permalink Reply by Panda Bear on June 17, 2012 at 11:08pm

At certain shows they have places where ppl who do poi or hoop can stand. mostly towards the back or by the walls. and when your not dancing, place it at your feet (probably in an open area still) & dance withing your hoop. thats your little "bubble" ppl shouldnt be invading. but im also a new hooper & am only answering these questions from other who have spoken to me about hoops and shows.

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StudentPermalink Reply by Louisa Hula* on June 18, 2012 at 8:32am

I never leave my hoop unattended - if I need to be away from it for any reason, i give it to a friend to hold. They usually don't mind, they're usually happy to be holding a pretty object ;-) I suppose you might be able to ask the bartender or merch booth people if you can leave it behind their counter, but I've never tried it.

Yes, people will get out of the way, but you need to start out in a not too crowded area. People will probably run into your hoop even if you're completely under control. Drunk/high people sometimes have poor depth perception, haha. Try not to do any moves that aren't solid yet and that might cause you to fling your hoop into the crowd. But you might hit people anyway, and that's okay, just say sorry and smile, if it was really bad, maybe offer to buy them a drink or something, haha. I've only been to a handful of shows with my hoop so far, but I've never had a problem with someone getting mad about the hoop hitting them. Usually it's their fault for walking right into it.

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StudentPermalink Reply by Riah on June 24, 2012 at 6:50pm

What festival are you going to? I'll be at Rootwire and Camp Barefoot 6 in August.

I've found the type of fest makes all the difference. At larger festivals like All Good, finding a place to hoop is hard. You end up in areas far from the stage, behind the sound tent, or off to the sides. At smaller festivals, like Camp Barefoot, you can hoop closer to the stage. I still choose to be farther back so I can do more tricks and not worry about hitting people, but others will hoop closer. Most people will not just see you turn on your hoop and instantly back away to give you room. You will need to find an open area or mark your space early. Keep in mind also that if you stop hooping for a bit, you're likely to lose your space.

I never leave my hoop unattended or with anyone other than my husband. If I want to go into the crowd (I usually don't cuz I wanna hoop!), I just carry it. When walking through the crowd I carry it above me and once I'm in my space, I hold it in front of me. Sometimes I put it on a low energy trippy setting (I have an Atomic so it has those options) and hold it up in the air. If I let someone borrow one of my LEDs (which is rare) I never take my eyes off of them. It doesn't take long for someone to turn off the lights and disappear into the night. I did have a friend lose a LED she'd just bought last year. I don't know exactly what happened, but I assume she wasn't watching it and had laid it down somewhere. We looked for it all weekend once the sun went down but never saw anyone playing with it.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I've been hooping for 3 years with my LEDs and have taken them to several festivals. I take a lot of precautions with my hoops so if you're thinking of a situation, I've probably thought about it too!

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Permalink Reply by Amnesia on June 24, 2012 at 7:07pm

What festival are you going to?? I know in September there is an EMF here in San Bernardino....and I've brought my hoop to these events a few times....When I'm walking around and not using my hoop, I just have it around my shoulder and arm...Usually people are cautious and walk around it...Sometimes you have the people who just don't care, and will run into it. It just depends on the crowd. Never leave your hoop unattended. Even if you let someone borrow it, make sure your eyes are open...just in case...I mean, you spend the money on your hoop....keep it safe...

everything that Riah said I would have to agree with...

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Permalink Reply by Kellie on June 24, 2012 at 8:06pm

I'm going to identity festival in San Diego. I'm probably going to wait until my next show to bring a hoop :)

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Permalink Reply by Kellie on June 24, 2012 at 8:04pm

Thanks everyone! Iam going to identity festival in san Diego! I think I'm going to wait and see how things go this time. I am still not very confident or comfortable in my hopping skills, but thank you all for your answers. I would never leave it in attended. Plus my boyfriend and i always go together. It's a lot to think about. Were also hoping to go to big events next year :).

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StudentPermalink Reply by Danielle Starshine on June 25, 2012 at 10:59am

if you have an led, you can always coil it down and wear it around your neck like a big glowy necklace

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