Wakarusa, in Ozark, Arkansas, is a wonderful festival. It was the first of this summer, and the best so far. The venue is a great mix of open field and sparse forest. Waka also had a great mix of large and small stages, so if you felt like dancing or felt like sitting, there was always a place for you to go. But what made Wakarusa such an incredible festival for us was the people who attended. There was such a sense of camaraderie among the festival goers, it was hard not to love it. The easiest way I can explain it is that everyone there was already friends with everyone else, they just hadn’t met everyone yet.
Bonnaroo was Bonnaroo. That is, big and obnoxious. The crowd is very different there, but the people we worked with were great, and helped me make it through that festival without losing it. Bonnaroo does have spectacle though. During the Primus show, though I think it was actually for the end of My Morning Jacket’s set at the main stage, a group of skydivers descended on the crowd, dropping glitter and tiny LED helicopters in their wake. Easily one of the more amazing things I’ve ever seen.
We spent some time in Memphis and Chicago, which were both great cities where we met great people, but the next destination was Electric Forest. The crowd at the forest was a little closer to Wakarusa, but not quite right. We had fantastic neighbors for Electric Forest, who made the whole experience that much better. The heart of the forest is an actual forest (since we still camp in fields) with lights, art, interactive installations and a music stage. No pictures I can take can do it justice, but they’re worth seeking out.
Onward to Grey Fox and Tweed River.