Small Touches at a Large Festival

Last week I attended one of my favorite summer music festivals, Bonnaroo, in Manchester, TN. This massive event draws a crowd of over 80,000 to a 700-acre farm for four days of camping, music, comedy, film and food. To say these organizers have a lot on their plate, is a huge understatement.

Logistically, I'm not sure where they begin but as an attendee, I appreciated the many details that were present. So for this week's blog, I'm sharing a few of the little things that don't always get the recognition they deserve.

Printed Materials
Each car received a booklet with everything an attendee could want to know about the festival. The design was whimsicle and clean, the copy was clever and combined the vital resources guests needed with interesting editorial. There was a tear-out schedule that was easy to read and made you feel like the festival had it together.
Shade and A.C.
Last year the weather was hot and there weren't enough places for festival-goers to seek shade and cool down. This year, the Bonnaroo planners listened and succeeded. Through out the grounds called Centeroo, there were many places to seek shade with eye-catching signage. The festival also coordinated with sponsors to create large AC/Fan spaces with comfy seating and activities to entertain while cooling down.
Water
In years past, no one was allowed to bring water into the festival grounds. Attendees had to rely on water stations, which lead to crowding and impatient guests foregoing them altogether and becoming dehyrdated. This year, they allowed water through security and it made a huge difference.
Sanitation
Bonnaroo did an amazing job of keeping restrooms clean 24 hours a day, offering amenities at restrooms as a fund-raiser for local organizations and watering down the dirt roads during the day to keep the dust to a minimum. With thousands of people in one place, its the dirty jobs that make all the difference.
Staff
Staff and volunteers knew what they were doing and provided accurate information when guests had questions. Volunteers cleaned the grounds, assisted with recycling and composting effors, watched over the stages to be sure everyone was safe and drove golf carts of people to and from camping. Medical staff was on hand everywhere to provide assistance when needed and all of these people were critical in creating a fun and safe festival.

I can't commend the Bonnaroo staff enough for listening to feedback from the previous year and then going above and beyond to provide a better experience. So to everyone who spent hours trying to decide what signage should look like, when to clean the grounds or how to re-direct traffic efficiently, thank you. Your efforts didn't go unappreciated.

Ada Walton
Digital Content Editor
Meetings + Events Magazine

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