Sobriety Advocates Propose Substance-Free Seating at Events

VIDEO – STIGMATIZING OURSELVES? –

March 16, 2023 – Duke Rumley is the executive director of Sober A.F. Entertainment.

“A.F. can stand for a lot of things. Sober A.F. can stand for sober and fun, it can stand for sober alcohol-free or we try to make it edgy,” Rumley said.

Rumley has been in sobriety for 33 years. He said a sober support group of Dead Heads helped him realize he could still enjoy shows sober.

“That helped me figure out that being sober could be tolerable. If I could, you know, still be able to go out see Grateful Dead shows and be around a community of people having fun at dead concerts, then I was like, wow, this I can try for a while,” Rumley said.

Now, he wants others to have that same opportunity. Rumley is advocating for a bill that would require all venues in Colorado that hold more than 7,000 people to designate and enforce 4% of their seats to be substance-free. Think venues like Ball Arena, Coors Field, Empower Field, Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Folsom Field among others.