Bonnaroo’s not just about watching concerts 24/7. I mean that part is absolutely wonderful, but what makes Bonnaroo stick out above every music event and festival in the country, is that they just have so much more to offer. In a matter of hours, a usually-empty 700-acre farm is transformed into its own little community of people from all around the world. Check out my list below of twenty things to see, do and experience at Bonnaroo 2010!
Adult Swim Ragbag of Jollification
One of the first of many new additions to Bonnaroo this year is this “bright place of amusement.” Everything from custom t-shirts, eight extraordinary games, one colossal mound of meat, a majestic arcade, a one-quarter quarte mile putt-putt track and an endless parade of enjoyable prizes.
Arcade Tent
Need a little break from the sun and music? That’s okay. Bonnaroo’s got all kinds of things to suit whatever you’re into. Gamers and wannabes will want to hop on into the Arcade Tent to play some of the best classic arcade games like Frogger and Donkey Kong (I’m not much of a gamer) and some of the best in recent gaming, including Guitar Hero and Rock Band contests on the big screen.
Art
Bonnaroo is just as much about art and the freedom of expression as it is about watching some of your favorite new and old bands play on stage. You’ll find artists everywhere you turn, whether they’re creating in the campgrounds, on the fences or selling their work in the Centeroo market place. One of the new art exhibits this year is Dr. Sketchy’s, the place to be where artists of all skill levels and ages are encouraged to be. They’ll even provide the supplies, but you’re welcome to bring your own. It’s described as what happens when “cabaret meets art school.” They’ll be a variety of gorgeous modesl and costumed characters to pose for your sketching pleasure and even some drawing contests where you can win some cool Bonnaroo swag.
There’s also the return of both the Pod Art and the Poster Exhibit. Pod Art are strategically placed community centers throughout the 600-acre farm, where many artists from the Knoxville Museum of Art will showcase their collaborative works, featuring everything from sculptures, a bicycle powered conveyor belt that will help with the process of recyclation and a giant geodesic dome displaying a layered montage of time-lapse images captured at the festival, and many, many, many other pieces from these unique individuals.
The Poster Exhibit follows in the footsteps of tradition from the great music poster artists of the sixties. They’ve teamed up with the American Poster Institute to showcase the work of some of the most relevant new wave of artists, who have clients including some of the biggest names who have performed at Bonnaroo present and past. This exhibit is located directly next to the main merch tent, near the dirt walkway by That Tent. If you know your way around the farm well enough, you probably already know exactly where I’m talking about. If not, well the grounds inside the festival aren’t as hard to remember as you might think. I’d worry about the camping grounds – after all, I did get lost there for over four hours one year!
Broo’ers Festival
One of the most popular areas of Bonnaroo (an area I have yet to visit in three trips) is the Broo’ers Festival, located near the Troo Music Lounge in Centeroo. This year they’ll have beers from over twenty different breweries from all over the country including Anheuser Busch, Budweiser, Shock Top Belgian White, Sierra Nevada, Magic Hat and Woodchuck Cider. It looks as if this area will once again be dressed up with an Oktoberfest-like theme, featuring picnic tables, hop vines, whiskey barrels and haystacks.
Cinema Tent
The Cinema Tent is the perfect place to go to just get out of the sun for a bit and catch some of your favorite classic movies, documentaries and even the NBA Finals. It’s also one of the few places on the farm where you can relax on the sofa in the nice, cool air-conditioning.
Clean Vibes Trading Post
Clean Vibes is undoubetedly the hardest working organization in outdoor summer music festivals. These guys (and girls) are there to handle all the crap you don’t want to take care of. But please take care of your wastes and any wastes you may see around you. It’s really not that hard to pick up some garbage and throw it in a bin. It literally takes a second. If everyone pitched in, which is what I usually see happening, we can all make things that much easier on everyone else. Remember, Clean Vibes is taking care of the waste of nearly 100,000 people, so for the ninth time, “Pick up your shit!”
They’ve got the Trading Post, which is kind of like a recycling raffle accepting cans and bottles that can be redeemed for immediate rewards. The more cans and bottles you bring in, the larger the voucher you receive will be. You have a choice of a variety of green gifts, like earth-friendly health and beauty products and organic clothing to autographed band merch and food vendor vouchers. And whoever trades in the most recycling throughout the weekend, will win two free tickets to the 2011 festival!!! It’s really a win-win situation. At least if you don’t win those tickets, you can still go home happy knowing you played your part in helping out our Mother Earth.
Comedy Theatre
I’m not sure if there’s any other music festivals out there that feature some of the most notorious acts in comedy today, and every year, Bonnaroo adds even more and bigger names. Conan O’ Brien is by far the biggest celeb they’ve nailed for the Comedy Theatre, so there’s sure to be a line stretching for hours just to get in. Other comedians performing throughout the weekend include Margaret Cho (All American Girl), Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation), Jeffrey Ross (who will be hosting the Bonnaroo Roast), JB Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lyricist Lounge Show, Mr. Deeds), Greg Giraldo (Comedy Central), Bo Burnham (youngest person to ever record a Comedy Central special), Doug Benson (Super High Me), Nick Kroll (FX’s The League), Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel (MTV’s Human Giant, NBC’s 30 Rock and Comedy Central’s Reno 911), John Roberts (career launched thanks to YouTube), Rob Cantrell (CBS, NBC, HBO, Comedy Central), Baron Vaughn (Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham), Julian McCullough and Chelsea Peretti (FX’s Louie, The Sarah Silverman Program).
Conscious Alliance Food Drive
There’s all kinds of donations you can make at Bonnaroo, to help those in need. The Conscious Alliance Food Drive will be benefiting the Good Samaritan Food Pantry of Manchester, Tennessee. Last year’s food drive brought in over 7,000 pounds of food donations for the hungry in Coffee County, and this year they’re looking to get at least 10,000 pounds. The first 2,000 patrons who donate ten non-perishable items will receive a free, limited-edition Bonnaroo poster created by artist Michael Everett. Two food donation tents will be located outside the main entrances to the concert grounds.
Ferris Wheel
I’m a little iffy when it comes to ferris wheels and heights, but last year I worked up the nerve to take a spin. I’m really glad I did, because what I saw was one of the most breathtaking and beautiful views I’ve ever seen. See just how large 700-acres is from the top of a ferris wheel. Check out the campgrounds to see if you can spot your car, or check out the glorious views of the crowds roaming all around the festival grounds. And don’t forget to take your camera!
Food
Even before I first visited Bonnaroo, and taking into consideration with what I had heard about the food prices at Woodstock 99, I was a little skeptical as to what I’d be paying for a little snack and just how much I’d be getting. Well, the prices aren’t anywhere near as bad as I imagined they’d be, and you certainly can fill up without spending too much green. There are food vendors on nearly ever corner at Bonnaroo, selling everything from crawfish and alligator legs, jumbalaya and burritos, to $1 grilled cheeses and arepas you can even find in the campgrounds. Keep your head full of tunes, your body full of sunscreen and your tummy full of some great fixins! Stop by the area of the Latin Tent on Saturday for a little taste of that Latin American culture!
Fountain and Market
Most of the middle Centeroo area is full of all kinds of vendors, selling all types of arts, crafts, clothing and everything else you can imagine that you’d find at a music festival. There’s also the Relix Magazine tent, where you can sign up for a subscription to the magazine and the Bonnaroo Beacon tent, the official newspaper of Bonnaroo, where you can pick up your free copy every morning for a review of the previous night’s highlights. The infamous mushroom fountain adds to this area, for a place to cool off or just to catch a bit of eye candy at night, as the fountain lights up during the night.
Freedom Lounge hosted by Chase
The Freedom Lounge is a place where Chase cardholders can come to visit, sign up or relax and get the full scoop on your Chase Rewards options.
Fresh Experience Lounge
This tent is one part vending machine, one part performance stage. Come in and sample some fruity Odwalla smoothies and chill out to some DJ’s and flicks.
Fuse and Twix Barn
The national music cable network has teamed up with my favorite chocolate candy. Here at the big red barn, you’ll find everything from a giant misting tent, cell phone chargers, hammocks, karoake and riding the bull. Fuse will be broadcasting live all weekend long from the festival, and you can text BONN 38736 for updates, schedules, prizes and mores.
Music
Bonnaroo is the only festival of its kind in the country that has bands playing at all hours of the day, and occasionally, even until the sun comes up the next morning. In all, you can hear music on ten different stages and tents; from the five main places to see music (there’s two main stages and three big white tents that have taken inspiration from Abbott and Costello, appropriately named What, Which, This, That and the Other), to the smaller tents and cafe stages like Cafe Where, the Troo Music Lounge, the Sonic Stage, the Solar Stage and even the Silent Disco and the brand spanking new Lunar Stage (more below), where you get a chance to watch your favorite artists perform and give live interviews in a rare, up close, intimate setting like you’ll experience nowhere else but Bonnaroo.
As of right now, there’s over 170 bands slated to perform this year, but you won’t even come close to being able to capture all of them, so plan accordingly to whatever suits your tastes or just roam around until you hear something that sparks your interest at that particular moment in time.
New this year is Latino Alternativo, the Latin music-themed tent which, on Saturday, will feature a number of the hottest acts in Latin music, like legendary hip hop/funk outfit Ozomatli, Los Amigos Invisibles, Aterciopelados, the Nortec Collective featuring Bostich and Fussible, the Mexican Institute of Sound and Bomba Estereo. The area surrounding this tent will also bring a little bit of that Latin culture, with food, drinks and art, as well as DJ’s spinning tracks all day long in between sets, so make sure to stop by for something that you’ll only find at Bonnaroo 2010.
The other new music addition to Bonnaroo this year is the Lunar Stage. Latenight just got even better!!! Over ten of the world’s hottest electronica acts and DJ’s, like Kaskade, the Crystal Method and Hercules and Love Affair, will be spinning and mixing tracks well into the night and until the sun rises the next day. And beginning at 6:30 am, this stage will be broadcasting the World Cup on their video screens, as well as Conan O’ Brien’s set in the comedy tent on Friday evening. It’s not easy to get a spot in the air-conditioned Comedy Theatre, sometimes the lines stretch an hour or two, so I would imagine that because they’ll be broadcasting CoCo’s set live, that the Lunar Stage will also be packed. The other electronica acts that will be performing on the Lunar Stage include Sharam, Mark Knight, Timo Maas, Lee Burridge, Danny Howells, Afrojack, LA Riots and Dieselboy.
Planet Roo (The Academy)
This area is where you go to heighten your global consciousness, where you’ll find a variety of non-profit organizations committed to protecting the resources of the world. Learn how you can make a difference by reducing your carbon footprint or by supporting alternative energy sources. HeadCount will also be onsite to play a trivia tournament that will test your knowledge of music, politics and everything in between. Bring your old cell phones to the Rock the Earth station to be recycled. There’s also all types of organic foods, yoga classes and the ever popular Solar Stage, which will feature a number of rare performances and interviews with artists performing this year.
Also located in Planet Roo, is the Academy, an interactive art experience with daily workshops in art, theatre, percussion, belly dancing and break dancing.
The Post Office
Want to send something physical (rather than text messages and twitter updates) to your friends and family members who could not make the festival this year? Stop by the adobe-style post office for Bonnaroo’s very own postal service.
Silent Auction
Over the past several years, the Bonnaroo Works Fund has made it possible through the Silent Auction to contribute nearly $150,000 to a variety of organizations such as the Manchester Arts Center, Common Ground Relief, Conscious Alliance, Little Kids Rock, HeadCount and Rock the Earth. Stop by between noon and 8pm Thursday through Saturday, to place your bids on autographed artist merch including Gibson guitars! Both cash and credit cards are accepted.
Solar Stage
The Solar Stage located in Planet Roo will feature everything from rare music performances, to environmental speakers and interactive entertainment to artist, scientist and activist interviews, all on a completely solar powered stage.
Sonic Village
The Sonic Village features a number of tents and booths, like the Sonic Stage, where you can catch up close, rare, acoustic performances and interviews all day long from some of your favorite artists playing this year, to industry friends like Rolling Stone, Paste and Village Voice magazines. Once again the on-site record store will be on hand, so check back for more information on artist signings, contests and other fun activities.