BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – Phish has a message for fans planning to attend the band’s big farewell festival in Coventry next month: Don’t mess with Vermont.

The band posted a message Thursday on its Web site, www.phish.com, noting that the Northeast Kingdom is “a region of unspoiled rural beauty and small, tight-knit communities” and asking that fans treat Vermont with respect.

Drummer Jon Fishman said it was very important to the band that its last show, performed in its home state, go smoothly.

“The most important thing to us about Coventry is that this thing comes off well and everybody respects that area,” Fishman said Friday, after giving a drum workshop to a group of teenagers in Burlington. “Of all the gigs that we would ever do in our whole lives, and of all the places to end on a positive note, this is the one that’s most meaningful to us.”

“To be able to begin and end in Vermont, and have it all go well, is so important,” Fishman said.

The band wants fans to carpool to save gas and traffic congestion, and to leave the site as spotless as possible, as much of the campground is on farmland usually left for grazing cattle or growing corn.

“This is your last chance to show the rest of the world what makes the Phish audience so unique,” the band wrote. “We love living in Vermont and plan to do so for many years to come. The greatest gift each of you can give the four of us as we move on to the next phase of our lives would be to do your part to help leave a positive lasting impression with the people of our home state.”

AP-ES-07-24-04 1354EDT