The Work
Paul Carroccio’ s behind-the-scenes mastery is foundational to the success of both the Dead of Summer and Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots Festivals. With deep local ties, phenomenal planning skills, and a nuanced understanding of festival dynamics, Carroccio serves as an indispensable bridge between artistic vision and logistical reality.
Carroccio succinctly characterizes his role:“ I’ m a logistics guy in the sense that I know how to manage the site and the events in a way that makes sense.” His involvement encompasses essential, often unseen elements, such as municipal coordination, vendor management, broadband infrastructure, and ensuring reliable utilities like electricity, sanitation, and security.“ Festival attendants are there for the bands, the music, and the experience,” emphasizes Carroccio.“ But, if you don’ t have clean facilities, working electricity, and good security, none of it comes together.”
According to Carroccio, when working with each festival organization, he utilizes a systematic approach, which involves working with each festival’ s promoters and founders, as well as their comprehensive teams.“ We work with site managers, production managers, volunteer managers, and hospitality managers. We have 30 or 40 vendors, ticketing and box office managers, accounting managers, and safety and security professionals. We also have teams of volunteers who work tirelessly to bring it all together.” This extensive network ensures every operational aspect— from setting up fences and heavy machinery to managing ticketing and volunteer logistics— is seamlessly executed.
Navigating municipal relationships is another critical part of Carroccio’ s role.“ You have to get a permit for the event, which involves checking boxes with the fire department, police department, and medical personnel,” he explains, crediting Manchester’ s officials as“ progressive, and willing to take chances with trusted people.” This foundation of trust enables efficient handling of permits and smooth coordination with local services, which is crucial for events of this scale.
One of Carroccio’ s unique strengths is his ability to respond swiftly and effectively to real-time challenges.“ If the performance schedule is thrown off due to a thunderstorm, we might have to clear the field,” he says, describing scenarios where safety considerations collide with artists’ expectations.“ An artist might say,‘ My set starts in 30 minutes.’ We’ re honest with them about managing those expectations, because we want both artists and festival attendants to stay safe. Nobody wants to risk electrical hazards when you have 1200 amps worth of power cables.”
Carroccio’ s extensive background as a musician informs this diplomatic problem-solving.“ That’ s where I come in as someone who has experienced the musician’ s role as a drummer in a touring band. Being
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSHUA SHERMAN manchester life magazine 2023 33