By
Karen Campbell
MURFREESBORO,
Tenn.-- A farm located in Manchester, Tenn., brought in over 80,000 people from
all over the world this year for four days for “Bonnaroo Music and Arts
Festival.”
The annual
festival multiplied the entire town’s population by at least eight times. Top
musical acts performing this year ranged from Billy Joel to Mumford and Sons to
Kendrick Lamar. The entire town works very hard every year to make sure that
proper means of security are met to accommodate such a massive crowd. Although
the size and popularity of the festival are majorly increasing every year,
Manchester still manages to keep this event family friendly and enjoyable for
all Bonnaroovians.
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| Photo by Karen Campbell |
The music starts
at noon each day of the festival and does not stop until 2 or 3 a.m. Over 100 bands
play on more than six stages throughout the weekend. Bonnaroo always delivers a
very interesting lineup with performers from all types of genres.
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| Ben Folds Bonnaroo 2012 (Photo by Karen Campbell) |
With a crowd as
massive as this, it is of great importance that security is strictly enforced,
which Manchester has done a wonderful job with. Manchester calls upon law
enforcement from all over the state to assist in maintaining order at the
festival. Security checkpoints are set up at the entrance as well as drug dogs
to watch for illegal substances.
“The line of cars
waiting to get through the security checkpoints stretches for miles,” said Officer
Justin Boyd. “It’s difficult to provide security for this many visitors. We’re
really thankful to have so many volunteers from the community to help out at
the festival. Dozens of nurses volunteer as well.”
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| Jason Huber of Cherub with some Bonnaroo fans |
Bonnaroo is usually held during the third
week of June. With that being said, you can only imagine how hot it gets being
out at the farm for four days straight. There are several free water stations
located all around the festival. However, when dealing with thousands of teens
and college students overheating is an inevitable occurrence. The festival has
done a very good job at covering all of the bases including medical cars
stations, plenty of water, shaded resting areas, and even large fountains in
the middle of the festival for a nice cool break.
With
Bonnaroo going on its 14th year and its size increasing dramatically
every year, there are constantly many changes being made. This year, Bonnaroo was
bought out by Live Nation. This means there will be less stress on the town
since a large corporation will be in charge of the festival from now on.
Coachella and most other prominent music festivals like Bonnaroo are run by
corporations such as Live Nation. This has many advantages when dealing with
events as large as this for reasons such as security and safety.
One
significant change that has been made due to the new ownership is that every
person attending the festival will be required to scan in and out of the
campgrounds to help reduce the number of people sneaking into the festival
without a ticket. They will also be cracking down on keeping illegal drugs out
of the festival. The staff at Bonnaroo has been dealing with this issue since
the festival first occurred in 2002 and they hope that increased amount of security
guards will help this factor.
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| Girl Talk at Bonnaroo 2011 (Photo by Karen Campbell) |
Bonnaroo
is a hidden gem in the little of town of Manchester. While many people fly in
from all over the world for this festival, Middle Tennesseans practically have
it in their backyard. The key is to plan ahead, stay hydrated, and don’t
hesitate to take a break from the music to find some shade.
The 14th
year of Bonnaroo will be held from June 9-12, 2016 and will be drawing in record-setting crowds once again. The lineup is set to be released in February 2016. Pre-sale tickets and more information can be found at www.bonnaroo.com. Take advantage of your
home state’s world famous event and go have some fun at the farm!
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