I went to my very first music festival last June and now that it is coming close to the one year mark since my experience I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the best parts and share with others that may be debating on going to Bonnaroo or maybe just a music festival in general!
1. The friends and neighbors: During the four day long festival you are camping, pressed up against, and napping next to complete strangers so why not make friends? You meet amazing people waiting for the shows to start, imagine hundreds of people all singing and talking to one another while waiting for your favorite band to start! I still remember a lot of people that I came in contact with and someday hope to see them again. Take advantage of all the opportunities to talk to people, you never know who you'll meet! My favorite was the couple that camped next to us, they wore Mario and Luigi costumes the whole time!
2. The Food: Most of the time we made our own food at the camp site but there were a few times that we ventured out and tried new food. The first night we got gyros from a stand on Shakedown Street, which is something I would never normally eat, and it was a great decision because it was amazing! Besides the gyro I also experienced Spicy Pie, a tradition I have never heard of till Roo'.Spicy Pie is basically a massive piece of pizza with jalapenos on it, hence spicy and boy was it. I still find myself craving it!
3. Fountain runs: There is a fountain in the middle of all the fun that you'll be thankful for when the temperature goes up to 90 degrees! All day it is full of people running through it, bathing in it, and just standing on the center ledge taking it all in. I ran through the fountain every night as a refresher from all the sweat i accumulated throughout the day.
4. The music: The music was only half of the experience but I did enjoy seeing all the bands and trying to get as close as I possibly could! The best memory from the music aspect is waiting 4 hours to enter the pit for Twenty One Pilots! As soon as they opened the gates me and hundreds of others sprinted almost half a mile to The What stage, and of course being Bonnaroo they comically played the beginning of Lets Get It Started by The Black Eyed Peas, and don't worry, I made it to the fourth row!
5. All the creativity and uniqueness: There were hula hooping queens, a completely graffitied wall, two marriages, amazing handmade art, crazy outfits, a real life Mario Cart race, a parade at 1:00 a.m., and even a massive light up car blasting music. These are things you will never experience anywhere else.
Bonnaroo was probably the best experience of my life, everyone coming together as a family for four days enjoying the lifestyle, music, and each other is all I could ever ask for. If you ever feel like you don't fit in when it comes to every day life I highly encourage you to make the trip to Bonnaroo, it'll change the way think and will make you feel right at home in this big world. I am now forever radiating positivity.
