Music, Camping, and Community Draw People to Music and Arts Festivals

When tens of thousands of people converge on a music and art festival, things are bound to get crazy - drugs, nudity, long lines for the toilets, late nights in front of the stage. It's also bound to be an amazing experience of community, with people living, playing and sharing together, as well as enjoying terrific music.

Woodstock? Well, the original Woodstock was billed as a music and art fair, and did fit this description, but music and art festivals, while not as infamous as Woodstock, have become popular once again in recent years.

The trend now includes official on-site camping for these festivals. Events such as Bonnaroo, Langerado, All Good, and the Echo Project are current music festivals with on-site camping as part of the festivities. Sure, people camped at Woodstock, too - but since organizers weren't prepared, it was pretty messy. For most of these festivals, camping is an essential part of the experience.

In describing that experience, people often use phrases like "thousands of unwashed bodies," or "be prepared not to shower for four days." In reality, it's more than that. It's an experience of community. People living together in close quarters have to get along; otherwise, things get ugly. People come together to share living space, entertainment, and food, and in the process come to know each other very well.

Unlike at Woodstock, event organizers today plan ahead for community camping. Adequate toilet facilities are essential, and organizers make sure they are there, and that they get emptied and cleaned. Things still get smelly (there's only so much you can do with a port-a-potty), but the facilities are there and usable. Camping areas are organized and official. You can't just camp anywhere. At least one festival, All Good, has a special camping area for families with children under 12, as well as a Quiet Camping area where families and those who just like it quiet are welcome.

The real community, however, comes from the attitude of the participants. People are likely to share food, water, cigarettes, and maybe other...stuff. Want to walk up and talk to someone? Do it! Need to lie down and rest? You can -- pretty much anywere -- and not have anyone bother you.

Music is, of course, the reason for the festivals. These particular festivals are centered on the jam band culture. The jam band culture is somewhat difficult to define, but according to Wikipedia, these are bands that make music primarily in a jam session format - music is likely to be expanded and improvised upon for extended periods of time. This is different from "bands that jam" - more mainstream bands can certainly jam, and may enjoy jamming, but it's not their primary format.

Jam bands exist in different genres, or across genres as well. Their music might include folk, rock, folk rock, Americana, alternative, hip-hop, jazz, or other genres.

Langerado, Bonnaroo, All Good, and the Echo Project include many of the same bands, although Bonnaroo (the biggest and probably most famous) is now including big-name headliner acts like Dave Matthews Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and even the Police. Each festival has its own history and culture, though.

Langerado Music Festival was founded in 2003 as a single day music festival, but has expanded to three days on multiple stages, with craft and artisan booths and food and drink vendors. In 2007, attendance at Langerado was 15,000 per day. Langerado is held in Florida in March, and bills itself in a press release as the "unofficial kickoff to music festival season."

From 2003 to 2007, most or all Langerado participants did not camp on site. Instead, they stayed in hotels. Music at Langerado ended at a certain time each night, due to curfew regulations, but additional shows at other venues were held after hours, although they were not technically part of Langerado. In 2008, Langerado moves to the Big Cypress preserve in the Seminole Indian Reservation (it was formerly held at Markham Park in Sunrise, Florida), and all-inclusive camping tickets will be sold.

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival was founded in 2002, and is held over four days in June on a 700-acre farm near Manchester, Tennessee. In addition to music by over 60 artists, Bonnaroo offers an entertainment village called Centeroo, with an arcade, cinema, silent disco, comedy club, theater performers, beer festival, and music technology village.

According to jambands.com, the name Bonnaroo is Cajun slang for "a really good time." A 1974 Dr. John album, Desitively Bonnaroo, popularized the term. It's now a cry of solidarity among the people at the event. When something good or fun or funny happens at the festival, you're likely to hear cries of "Bonnaroooo!"

The Echo Project is unique in that it actually includes a community service project. It's a new festival, founded in 2007 by Nicolas Bouckaert, owner of the 350+ acre Bouckaert Farm in Georgia where the festival is held. Like the other festivals, it includes multiple stages for music and is held over multiple days. Echo Project also has a strong commitment to environmental practices and awareness, using corn-based plastic cups and solar energy for the event. Green tickets are available for Echo Project; buyers pay extra for their tickets to help offset the environmental impact of the festival.

The project in Echo Project 2007 was cleaning up the Chattahoochee River, adjacent to the festival grounds. Project volunteers came three weeks before the festival to work on the cleanup effort, in exchange for free or discounted tickets and other goodies.

All Good is perhaps the most family-friendly of these festivals. Founded in 1997, it's also the oldest. All Good is held in July at Marvin's Mountaintop in West Virginia. According jambands.com, All Good includes three days of music, camping, drum circles, crafts, microbrews, food, and a kids' activity tent. In addition to the kids' activities, All Good's family camping areas make it a draw for people with children.

The key to all of these events (besides music) is the community. Today, community is often lacking in our normal lives. Most people in the United States move between house, car, job, school, and other activities by car, without interacting with other people. We often don't know our neighbors, and even extended families may seldom see each other. Yet, most human beings do long for community, and these music and camping festivals provide it.

SOURCES

Woodstock 69, "1969 Woodstock Festival and Concert", woodstock69.com
All Good Festival, "Marvin's Mountaintop", allgoodfestival.com
Various, "Jam band", Wikipedia
Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, "Bonnaroo 2007", bonnaroo.com
Langerado Music Festival, "Langerado Music Festival", langerado.com
Langerado Music Festival, "Langerado relocates to Big Cypress in 2008", Langerado's MySpace Page
Various, "Langerado", Wikipedia
Ask Bonnaroo, "What Does "Bonnaroo" Mean and How Do you Arrive at Capacity?", jambands.com
The Echo Project, "The Festival", the-echoproject.com
The Echo Project, "The Project", the-echoproject.com
The Echo Project, "Green Project", the-echoproject.com
Get Your Groove On-Line, "A Decade of All Good Music", jambands.com