DENVER—If you were lucky enough to get tickets for Barack Obama’s acceptance speech, organizers want you to come early, share a ride and leave your umbrella and noisemakers at home.
City and party officials released a list of tips, rules and warnings Friday for thousands of non-delegates who will be on hand when Obama gives his big speech on Aug. 28, the final night of the Democratic National Convention.
Most of the convention will be at the 21,000-seat Pepsi Center, where access is limited to delegates, reporters and others with credentials.
But Obama will formally accept the presidential nomination at Invesco Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos, which will hold about 75,000 people.
About half those seats are going to non-delegates from Colorado, who were being notified late this week. Party officials haven’t released the number.
The tickets, called “community credentials,” list a specific section of the stadium, but individual seats are first come, first served.
Gates open at 1 p.m. and party officials asked the audience to get there as early as possible, but they haven’t said when Obama will speak or when the program starts.
Special buses will take delegates to the stadium. City officials urged everyone else to take a shuttle bus or light rail train, form a car pool, ride a bike or walk, as parking is scarce.
Shuttle buses will start running to the stadium from parking lots in downtown Denver at 11 a.m., but they’ll stop at 2 p.m. Shuttles will ferry participants back to their cars after the program ends.
The Invesco Field light rail station will be open, but the Pepsi Center station will be closed. Bike parking will be provided within walking distance of the stadium.
A walking route will be marked to Invesco Field from the 16th Street pedestrian mall and from the Larimer Square shopping and dining district downtown, and volunteers will be posted along the way.
Visitors will go through metal detectors and have their bags checked outside the stadium.
Food and nonalcoholic drinks will be sold inside, but outside food won’t be allowed in.
Other prohibited items include the usual guns, knives, illegal drugs, fireworks and hazardous materials. Also barred are umbrellas—bring a poncho or raincoat instead—along with noisemakers, folding chairs, Frisbee-style flying discs, beach balls, skateboards, pets and more.
Some small still cameras and video cameras are allowed, but photographers may not block anyone else’s view. Only credentialed media are allowed to have professional photography, video or audio gear.
Details of the Aug. 28 schedule haven’t been announced. Party officials have said they may ask the early arrivers to call or text-message friends and ask them to register to vote. They may also have lists of other potential voters for them to call.
“There will be a lot of idle time,” Obama adviser said Steve Hildebrand said last month.
The theme is “Change You Can Believe In,” and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has been announced as one of the night’s speakers.
