Westfair Fairgrounds and Amphitheater — Attraction in Council Bluffs

Super cool venue! Great for concerts. It's well organized, offers lots of options for food and beverages, plenty of parking and toilets, etc. I did not wait an excessive amount of time to park or to leave. My only complaint involves things that I believe were out of the venue's control. Security. UGH! I was there two nights in a row and on the first night as I left, I was screamed at by a female sheriff's deputy saying that I was driving where I wasn't supposed to and leading other cars to follow me. There was no other way out! If we weren't supposed to be driving there they should not have led us all to park there in the first place. I really don't think I was doing anything wrong, but this female sheriff's deputy thought I was then punished me making me and a bunch of cars behind me wait an excessive amount of time before she would allow us to enter the stream of traffic. There was literally no other way out but she didn't care and freaked out unnecessarily. So then on the second night I went to get an adult beverage and saw the "amusement park" maze leading up to the registers. I was one of the first people in the venue and there was no line and not a single person at the registers yet. The security guard standing at the exit from the registers said I could bypass the maze since nobody else was there. As I approached the registers the other security guard jumped in front of me blocking passage, and started yelling at me asking if I was working there. I said "no I'm not working, I just want a beverage" and he told me that I needed to exit and go back to the beginning of the maze and enter the proper way. REALLY? Power trip much? Thankfully the other security said that he had told me I could bypass it so the other guy could stand down and allow me to pass. I didn't get an apology from the guy who yelled at me but, whatever. I'm satisfied with the venue but security needs to chill.

One more thing, there were no spotlights so it was difficult to see the bands from a distance. Again, this may not be specific to the venue because there are platforms...

This place has real potential to be a five star concert venue, however there are some things that need work. My friends and I recently attended a Turnpike Troubadours concert. There is only one road/entrance into the venue, so prepare to wait awhile in traffic if you are seeing a bigger act. Perhaps adding a second entry could alleviate some of the congestion. The next issue is the beer/alcohol distribution. The lines were the LONGEST lines I have ever seen at any concert I have been to and I have been to well over 200 concerts. There were two beer/alcohol locations and both were ridiculously long wait times. One idea would be to open up both the front and back side of the tent for sales, rather than having staff standing on the backside hand beers up to staff standing on the front side. Imagine they could have been handing beers directly to customers. Also, if you tell people they can buy as much as they can carry, please don’t open all the cans. That makes it very difficult to carry five beers. Next up would be the food vending. Where are the corn dogs, or nachos, potato peels or funnel cakes? Heed my advice - eat before you go, the food selection is not the greatest. Additionally none of the food kiosks serve beverages, so if you want a water or soda (say for a child), you have to go back and wait in that long beer line. Let’s move on to the bathroom situation. The porta potty’s are quite a distance from the main area, and there is really only one location. So if you are on the left side of the venue, it’s quite a haul to use the restroom. And after having to chug five drinks to keep them from spilling or getting too warm, you are going to need that bathroom. Lastly, my friends and I had VIP tickets and it was written on the site that this would be a separate roped off area. There was no roped off area. However, there was a white, large beer truck parked in the amphitheater, which created blocked views of the stage. All that being said - friendly staff and cute...

We went to River Riot, and it was amazing! But, the food selections were poor and the food expensive. Just for a double cheeseburger, it was $15 each. For 4 fried Oreos, it was $6. The restaurant staff weren't very informative and sort of rude. The concerts were amazing, but it sounded like they were having sound difficulties, which made it hard to hear the artists. I heard about every other word. Also, the smoke was unbearable. No matter where you went, there was cigarettes, Vapes or weed. It smelled disgusting and made it hard for my sister and I to breathe, as we are non-smokers. When we arrived, the main event parking lot was full, so we had to blindly look for the second parking lot. In order to park, we had to go up a steep hill and go up another hill. We parked, got out and started heading for the entrance, only to find out we had to go ALL the way around. There were no signs and no one told us before we got to the entrance, we had to go around. Once there, we were told we couldn't bring in aresol cans of sunscreen or bug spray, so we had to throw them away, and in the process get a wicked sunburn. I wish they would have told us that before we packed them. I looked on the river riot website, and there was nothing there. It was ridiculous. So, my experience was alright. Wish it would have been better, considering all...