NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — It was a last-minute decision to make the 80-or-so-mile trek from Crossville to Manchester for his first Bonnaroo in June 2009, John Hunt said.
After hearing his friends talk about the music festival for years, he decided to check it out for cheap halfway through the weekend.
“I was right out of high school, and that was the thing to do,” he said about his friends. “I never really got the chance to go, and then 2009 was the first year I decided I was going. It was just kind of the perfect storm.”
Headliners that year included Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Beastie Boys, and Phish performing two shows. Also included in the lineup were Nine Inch Nails, Al Green, Snoop Dogg, Erykah Badu, Merle Haggard, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Elvis Costello.
That first Bonnaroo experience was even better than he expected it to be, and he’s been going nearly every year since.
“The experience completely blew away my expectations,” he said.
Armed with about $80 and a case of water, Hunt said he didn’t have a plan in 2009 other than to get there. He was going to see if someone would sell him a last-minute ticket for cheap. If not, he said it wasn’t that long of a drive back to Crossville.
He eventually found some guys looking for a ride to the gates, and he gave them a lift. In exchange for his kindness, they ended up selling him a ticket for $80, which he said blew him away.
After setting up camp about a mile away from Centeroo—where all the main stages are and the majority of activities take place—he connected with his friends before heading to see the Beastie Boys.
“I was by myself, basically, but just made friends with basically everyone that was around me, so that was kind of cool,” he said.
That’s one of the easiest things to do at Bonnaroo: make friends with those around you. From your camping neighbors to those taking in the music next to you at whichever tent or stage, Hunt said the sense of community is easy to come by at Bonnaroo.
“I always introduce myself to the neighbors just to make friends with them,” he said. “The whole community feel from it is the main draw.”
He still keeps up with some of the people he met at his first couple of festivals on social media. But he always has a mixed group of people that he attends the festival with each year.
“I’ve gone with groups as big as 40 people. I’ve also gone a couple years by myself just because I didn’t want to wait around for whoever to make a decision,” he said.
That continued sense of community is what keeps him coming back year after year.
“I always joke that people who say Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth haven’t been to Bonnaroo,” he told News 2. “Everyone I’ve ever encountered up there’s just the friendliest person I’ve ever met. I’ve never, ever had a bad time. I’ve never seen a fight at Bonnaroo, and I’ve been to a lot of concerts and seen a lot of fights. I’ve never seen one there.”
Of course, the music is always a big draw, and Hunt says he likes to use Bonnaroo as a way to find new music to listen to. Most of the time, once the lineup announcement drops, he’ll look up bands he hasn’t heard of before and add the ones he likes to his list to see at the festival. Other times, he’ll accidentally discover a new band or artist he likes just by walking by them performing on his way somewhere else.
“Half of the bands that I’ve really enjoyed seeing up there I just happened to be walking by them,” he said.
The art part of the “music and arts” festival is also a draw for Hunt. He said he always stops by the booths with concert posters and art prints, as he’s a big fan of them.
“I met one of my favorite poster artists there,” Hunt said. “I just saw his booth and went over there and introduced myself. We got to talk.”
Besides taking in as much music as possible, Hunt said he recommends taking in some non-music experiences.
“One thing I really enjoy is seeing the fountain, especially on the first day,” he said. “I feel like that’s such an iconic part of the Bonnaroo farm.”
Another must-do? High-fives.
There are no shortage of high-fives to be found on The Farm, but they are especially prevalent on Friday, which is dubbed “High-Five Friday” on The Farm. The best place to get an abundance of high-fives is in the line that passed underneath the iconic Bonnaroo Arch.
Don’t forget to take in all the culinary options available at the festival, as well, Hunt said, starting with the classic slice of pizza from Spicy Pie.
“There’s people on all these Bonnaroo pages [online] that say this other pizza’s better,” Hunt said, “I don’t care. It’s Spicy Pie. It was my first true love, as far as food goes.”
If pizza isn’t your thing, Hunt says he always finds good food options over in the Food Truck Oasis, which sees food trucks from across the country convene in one corner of Centeroo.
“I know there’ll be something good in the Food Truck Oasis,” he said. “I do a little walk-by and see what everyone has and then decide from there.”
But Spicy Pie is a must-have for Hunt. According to the Bonnaroo food vendor site, Spicy Pie will have five different locations in Centeroo and the campgrounds—known as Outeroo.
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Hunt said for those attending the festival for the first time, the best bet is to be prepared.
“Prepare for the worst; hope for the best,” he said. “Make sure you get plenty of shade at your campsite.”
Once you’ve got your campsite set up, Hunt’s plan is always to have no plan.
“Definitely go see who you want to go see, but go see somebody you don’t even know the first thing about,” he said. “There’s going to be artists and things you want to see and definitely mark down those must-haves to do. But any other time I’ve ventured out, just kind of experienced the festival instead of going, ‘I have to be here and here and here.’ There’s been plenty of years I wasn’t super keen on the lineup, but I was just wandering around and going wherever sounds best.”
The Bonnaroo gods will show you the way, he said.
Tickets for Bonnaroo are still available through Front Gate Tickets. For ticket information and more, head to Bonnaroo.com. Bonnaroo takes place Thursday, June 13, through Sunday, June 16.
