Rural Nevada is bracing itself for impact of the Storm Area 51 event set to take place next month…

In addition to the original Storm Area 51 Facebook event, which was apparently intended as a joke, there’s now a full-fledged music festival happening in Rachel called Alienstock. Electronic music, country and rock and roll is to be expected, as well as thousands of people from all over the country.

Connie West, owner of the Little A’Le’Inn in Rachel, will be heading up the festival on behalf of Matty Roberts, the California man who started up the online craze. She has obtained a mass gathering permit for up to 10,000 people, so Alienstock is expected to be rather large for a first-year fest.

Storm Area 51/Alienstock is being called the “biggest thing this town has seen.” It’s probably the biggest thing any of these nearby towns have seen. West said she receives 200 plus calls a day about people interested in the event. There’s no telling how huge it will actually be until it happens.

Small businesses in Hiko and Rachel are already preparing for the “invasion,” as the little, quiet towns anticipate thousands upon thousands of visitors coming through. Alamo will be seeing a lot of action, too. The town is about 100 miles north of Las Vegas, population approximately 1,000 — and it’s the last stop for gas, food, and liquor before Rachel.

Space, sewage, waste, and traffic are all issues facing the area as Alienstock draws closer. Perhaps the most glaring issue being traffic, as the town of Rachel will come to a complete standstill.

The Facebook event — Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us — has 2 million confirmed as “attending” and 1.5 million more as “interested,” but those numbers are highly exaggerated. Remember: that part is a joke.

Alienstock (A Camping, Music, & Arts Festival) has a much more modest 11k planning to attend.

Source: Las Vegas Review Journal