What a lively discussion! And here I am coming into days later....
When I went to this past fest I didn't find anything offensive or uncivil about it. Granted, there were a thousand people there, so I might have missed incidents, had there actually been any, or I simply forgot about them because I didn't deem them important. Sure, there were a couple of different people who got on my nerves because they seemed to be hogging the "spotlight" or what have you, but you have to take into account that this might be their first and last fest all wrapped up in a nice package, so I let that slide.
The fact of the matter is that no matter where you are-- high school, public events, work etc-- there will always be a group of people whose sole purpose is to put others down. I'm sure there was a group at the fest this past year, even though I didn't actually see or speak with them, because there's at least ONE person like that. Someone will always be making a comment under their breath "Oh her hair looks awful!" or "Who let her out of the house?!" or whatever. I'm with Nancy--it's not something to let run your life.
Some of the incidents being described her sound, and possibly were, quite awful. I'm not sure how I'd handle myself in a situation like that. More than likely I wouldn't want to return to the fests either. But that wouldn't stop me if I wanted to go. There's a good chance that the offenders who were present at one fest, won't be there at the next one. And if they are, the likelihood of actually running into them in a sea of 1000 is slim.
Regarding the KLS yelling event: I'm surprised that fans didn't get involved. It doesn't take but a few people to restrain an individual or calm a person down until the actual security personnel arrives there, rather than letting the situation go on for too long. But, as someone else mentioned previously, people don't want to get involved for fear of escalation or personal attack. I suppose that comes with the job.
Until I witness something utterly horrendous at a fest, things like those which have been described here, you won't catch me decrying the festival or its workers for anything in that category. Now, if you want to talk autograph lines and events, that's another story.