Oh, wait. Wrong generation. This generation is more likely to be wearing ear buds for their iPods and toting a Blackberry or a text messaging cellphone to
Bonnaroo, the South's premier music and arts festival that kicks off tonight in Manchester, Tennessee.The brainchild of Knoxville's
AC Entertainment and New Orleans based
Superfly Productions, Bonnaroo is celebrating its sixth anniversary with an
impressive lineup that includes headliners such as The Police, Tool, Widespread Panic, The White Stripes, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, MANU CHAO Radio Bemba Sound System, The String Cheese Incident, Franz Ferdinand, Ornette Coleman, Bob Weir & Ratdog, Damien Rice, Ween, Gov't Mule, Ziggy Marley, The Decemberists, The Roots, Kings of Leon, just to name a few. Music is the main attraction, but there will also be comedy (
Lewis Black,
David Cross, others), a 24 hour per day
film festival, interactive
art exhibits, a
brewer's festival, yoga lessons, art, theater, and dancing classes, environmental workshops, internet cafes and technology exhibits, and
lots more at the four day event which concludes Sunday with a scheduled three hour jam by Widespread Panic.Ashley Capps of AC Entertainment said yesterday afternoon that tickets are going fast and expected to
sell out today, and that if you don't have a ticket don't come. Last year's event sold out, raking in $15 million in ticket sales.The town of
Manchester welcomes the annual event which generates $20 million in local economic impact each year. More than 80,000 festival-goers from around the world descend on the town of 8300, swelling its population to more than 90,000 and making it the sixth largest city in Tennessee during Bonnaroo weekend. The festival is held on a 700 acre farm, which the promoters purchased earlier this year to establish a permanent home for the event.Weather has been a factor in past years, with rains creating a giant mudfest at the event site. This year's continuing droughts, however, are creating the opposite problem.
Medical personnel are preparing for heat exhaustion, dehydration, and asthma attacks expected to result from the dry, dusty conditions. There will be 16 first aid stations and 12 roving golf carts manned by emergency medical personnel. Attendees can also opt in to a text messaging system for safety alerts.Traffic control is a huge logistical problem, with 30,000 vehicles expected to arrive in the area starting today. The Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Tennessee Department of Transportation and event security staff have mobilized a
massive 24 hour per day effort involving helicopters, patrol cars, motorcycles, and roadside assistance units. Security will be tight. All vehicles will be searched and no large rental or "box type" trucks will be allowed. There will be security personnel and horseback mounted patrols throughout the venue for the duration of the event. There are long lists of
what to bring and
what not to bring. There is a strict no-illegal-drugs policy, but festival-goers are allowed three cases of beer and two 1.75 liters of hard liquor per person (no glass bottles!). That's a lot of booze, but hey, it's a long, four-day weekend.Accommodations consist mainly of camping areas assigned to vehicles in the parking lots and two additional campgrounds inside the venue. A limited number of RV passes are available, but there are no hookups and no fuel is available onsite.There were also a limited number of VIP tickets that included shuttle service to hotels in nearby towns, priority access, air conditioned rest rooms, VIP viewing tents, catered meals, cocktail lounges, and more. These tickets, which appeal to an older, more affluent
demographic, sold out in May.Technology plays an increasingly prominent role at Bonnaroo each year. This year, free wi-fi and internet access for artists, staff, and attendees will be provided throughout the entire venue by D-Link. According to their press release, D-Link is setting up the latest wireless access point and switching gear to manage the backbone and create "one of the largest independent temporary wireless infrastructures in the country." AT&T is providing
live streaming webcasts throughout the weekend, and XM Radio will be broadcasting performances on
XM 12. And speaking of iPods, there will be a Bonnaroo
iTunes playlist and festival promoters say entire sets by selected artists will be available for download from iTunes next week after the festival.Because of the Knoxville connection with AC Entertainment (and several local bands that will be playing), the Knoxville News Sentinel newspaper is sending a team of bloggers and photographers to
cover the event. News Sentinel photographer Saul Young has this
portrait gallery from last year. This
photo ran in a print edition of the paper last year, generating a lot of
controversy among those with more delicate sensibilities. We're looking forward to what Saul sees through his viewfinder this year.Even if you're like me and getting too old for camping out with a bunch of wild and crazy kids at a music festival (and too cheap to buy a VIP package), there are lots of other ways to experience a taste of Bonnaroo. For those of you headed to the festival, have fun and be careful out there!UPDATE: The Knoxville Voice alt-weekly
profiles Manchester and how the folks there welcome the event.UPDATE: The New York times has a
Bonnaroo blogger.
