Okay, here goes entry number two into the Festival Vacation Blog (heretofore known as "FVB" because it's a lot shorter and easier to type) and I'm actually writing from the backseat of an extremely stuffed Dodge Caravan.  The whole process of packing the van took about 2 hours or so, and there was a lot of wiggling, wrangling, and stuffing going on to make it all work.  You'd be surprised how much stuff you need to pack to stay on the festival trail for a couple of weeks.

What all do you need?  The basics are: a tent, sleeping gear (sleeping bag or blanket and pillow), clothes for 2 weeks (preferably ones you don't care about losing or ruining), comfortable shoes, food, and water, water, water.  If you're going to a festival and you're taking a Geo Metro with your friend, that's basically the minimum list of things you'll need to survive.  And that's about all you're gonna do is survive.

There's also a whole lot of stuff you'll need to make your trip a little nicer: a canopy, or at the very least some tent poles and a tarp, sunglasses & sunscreen (you'll be spending 4 days straight out in the hot summer sun, unless you enjoy being red as a lobster and miserable for 4 days I'd make sure to bring the sunscreen), some adult beverages (assuming you're of the legal drinking age), a battery powered radio, a mini propane grill, some cooking utensils and some spare spending money.

And then there's stuff you can bring to really make sure you're going to be set for the time of your life such as an air mattress, glowstick bracelets, light-up jewelry, glow-in-the-dark paint, a portable generator, a battery powered fan, a foldable table, playing cards, ping-pong balls and plastic cups, superhero masks, broom handles, and a flag.  I'll cover briefly why you'd want to consider each of these items and how we've used them in the past starting with the group that you absolutely shouldn't leave home without.

Take the tent for example.  Unless you've got a rich uncle paying for your trip you're probably on a budget and can't afford an RV for the weekend.  You're going to be camping at your car essentially.  It's not the Ritz-Carleton, but there have been some pretty amazing campsites in the tent villages in years past.  I've seen tee-pees, a jungle gym type structure covered in tarps, and one unfortunate group who got their van stuck in a mud puddle, and just roughed it in the van.  The tent offers you a place to change your clothes without flashing your newfound neighbors, gives you a place to keep your sleeping gear during the day, and you can even sleep inside it until about 8:00 in the morning.  By that time the sun is just high enough in the sky to be a real nuisance, blasting your tent with direct rays that turn that tent into an oven.

Depending on what kind of sleeping bag you use it might be a bit warm to sleep in during the night, but if you open the thing up and splay it on the floor of your tent it can act like a mattress.  If you can deal with waiting to air it up, an air mattress can come in handy in this department, too.  The pillow and blanket come in handy with either form of mattress and gives your tent that nice homely touch.  Walking from your campsite to the festival can be a long march if you're unfortunate enough to be be on the outskirts of the tent city, and you'll be walking/standing all over the festival, so you want shoes that are going to take care of your feet.  Something lightweight, with a good sole, and if it breathes, that's even better.  Dancing, walking, standing, jumping, hiking, and dancing (did I mention dancing?) will put the hurt on even the best shoes, so having a variety of footwear available is ideal.

All of that activity that can do a number on your shoes will also be pretty hard on your body.  Contrary to what your diet is probably telling you to eat, high calorie foods are totally festival-friendly.  You're going to be so busy having a good time that you're not going to want to stop to eat, even though you know you should.  High-calorie foods like hamburger, eggs, rice, and even some snack-food can keep your body going strong 20 hours a day (if you choose to be a rockstar).  And while you're burning all those calories in the sun, you're going to be sweating.  Which means you're going to need lots, and lots of water.  It's inefficient to bring all the water you're going to need with you, especially since the festivals have fountains and spigots available to refill your water containers inside the festival grounds.  Bring a large water bottle (empty to get through security), or a camel pack and use the free stuff.  Just remember to keep yourself hydrated at all costs.

The canopy serves to make things a bit shadier around camp, but shadier in a good way.  You don't want to spend more time in the sun than necessary, and that little bit of shade at camp can be a life-saver in the comfort department.  It also can help keep the tent cool during the day, and protect your coolers from direct sun.  The sunscreen & sunglasses come in handy for the times you don't have shade available (some form of aloe lotion or gel is also recommended).  The grill allows you to actually cook so you don't have to spend all your money on food vendors.  I'm not saying to stay away from the food vendors, but don't eat at one for every meal of every day you're there.  They are tasty, but expensive.  Cooking also saves your money for other items like t-shirts, posters, jewelry, and ice.  Besides gas money to get there and home, ice is probably your second most important expenditure of the trip.  You'll have to buy ice daily to keep your beverages cool, and your food fresh.  And while you're cooking breakfast in the morning, the radio can provide you with some tunes before the bands get shows started at around noon.

Most of the third list is items that can help the crowd experience at the shows.  The glowsticks, jewelry and glow-in-the-dark paint are great for late night shows to party and keep track of your festival buddies.  Playing cards, ping-pong balls & cups, tables, and adult beverages should be self-explanatory (unless you've lived most of your life in a convent, at which point a "Kudos, Sister"is in order I think).  Superhero masks are fun to wear, or you attach them or a flag to the end of a broom handle to create a marker to identify your group in the festival so nobody gets lost in the sea of people.  Flags can also be hung at your campsite to help identify your site amongst all the rest of the tent city (PRO TIP: hang glowsticks on your camp flag to help you find your site after the sun has gone down), and they can serve as great navigational markers to give directions (turn left at the Elmo flag, go two rows over and look for the balloon shaped like a shark hanging from the boat flag).  The fan and generator can give you that last connection to modern civilization should you need it.

That pretty much covers the what you'll need and the why you'll need it.  This isn't an all-inclusive list because everybody likes to do things a little different, but you'll have a good starting off point to know what you'll need to get through a weekend.  Obviously the larger the crowd you're going with, the more stuff you'll need to bring (including multiple vehicles).  I'll try to throw some packing tips out in the next update.  In the meantime I'm going to be catching a quick nap so I'm ready to go when it's time to set up camp.

This is my Festival Vacation Blog.  This year I thought I'd try to blog about the shows that I'm going to get to see while attending the Wakarusa, and Bonnaroo music festivals over the next couple of weeks.  I'll do some show reviews, post some pictures, discuss what I really like about each festival's set-up, organization, and what the crowd is like.

I'll also try to throw in some tips that my friend and I have learned over the past 4 years while we've been traveling to festivals.  We've gone in groups as small as 3 people in one vehicle, and as many as 18 people in 6 vehicles.  I think I'll also try to keep up on line-up rumors going into future year's festivals.  I can do pretty well about picking one or two artists that will be at Bonnaroo based off my own conjecture, so we'll see how interesting I can make it.

A little about me: My name is Scrubs (my real name is John), and I hail from Des Moines, Iowa (DSM).  I've loved music since I was a little kid, and I discovered around Junior High that I loved seeing bands and artists perform live.  For me, I'm a bit of a cheapskate at times, so I always look for value in shows (artist, venue, when can I see them again, etc.) and for me festivals make a really valuable music experience.  I get the chance to see 40 different acts from several different genres doing what they do best.  It's my nirvana.  I also try to get into the local music scene in DSM and follow up-and-coming artists as well as supporting the live music venues in the area.

I've been attending Bonnaroo for the last 4 years and have loved it every year.  2009 was a great year for a first Bonnaroo as we got experience it all, rain/mud, blistering sun, lots of dust, and some amazing shows that I'll forever cherish (such as the Beastie Boys, and an afternoon Bon Iver set that made me go get the album ASAP).  It was a small group of 3 that inaugural year, myself, my buddy Chris, and his brother.  Chris was going to go and he and his brother wanted me to tag along (to help defer expenses), and I had a blast that year, so we've made it an annual trek.

The following year we took 2 cars, and a total of 7 people and added a new wrinkle in the vacation plan: Wakarusa.  Wakarusa always takes place the weekend before Bonnaroo, and it's great because the two festivals are markedly different.  Bonnaroo is much more mainstream and up-and-coming Indie artists with some great late night performances (including Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, The Flaming Lips, STS9 and more).  Headliners such as Phish, Kings of Leon, the Beach Boys, the Beastie Boys, Arcade Fire, and Jay-Z always bring their "A" game and put on unforgettable performances.  Wakarusa tends to favor more of the bluegrass/folk music artists during the day and evening....but once the sun goes down you'll be treated to a night of some of the best electronic music your ears have ever heard.  There's a festival within a festival called the Interstellar Meltdown that provides a great range of electronic and fusion acts that will have you dancing until the sun comes up.  Starting in 2011 Wakarusa started opening up the mainstage for overnight headliners such as Bassnector, and Sphongle.

While Bonnaroo is much larger than Wakarusa (Bonnaroo becomes the fourth largest city in Tennessee during the festival), both have an amazing community of music lovers that come together to enjoy watching artists at the top of their game doing what they do best.  Both festivals have at your car camping, vendors, food, and fun.  But as alike as the communities can be, the festivals themselves are worlds apart.

By hitting both festivals each summer for the last 2 years I've really grown to love each one in it's own way.  I'm super-excited to be heading back this year, and I hope that you'll tag along in spirit even if you can't be there in person.  It's going to be a fun ride...ALL ABOARD!!