1) Take a collapsible wagon! Make sure you bring a wagon, wheelbarrow, tarp or something to carry your belongings in if you are planning on taking in camping equipment (tents, canopies, sleeping bags, etc.). Summer Camp is not car camping, so you have to carry all of your belongings from your parked car to the campsite. They do have tractors once you get inside, which is nice, but it is not a short walk!
2) Wear a bandana or something over your nose and mouth. When we got there I saw people with bandanas tied around their faces. There was a lot of dirt, but I thought I would be okay; however, at the end of the weekend I was blowing black snot (no joke!) out of my nose, and I really wish I had put something around my face. There is a lot of foot/tractor traffic that stirs up dirt when you’re walking the roads, so you are inhaling a lot more than you realize.
3) Find which campsite suits you best before settling down. We had friends who camped all over, but I personally loved where we camped, which was on the back tree line. We had plenty of room to relax, throw a Frisbee, et cetera, and still were not far away. Our friends were camped really close together towards the stage, and although I liked their campsite, I was really happy we had much more room. Find what floats your boat!
4) Ride the tractors, even if it is just for fun. We hopped on the tractors every now and then just to meet people and see what was going on. We got on one tractor with an entire jazz band from New York. It is a nice view to look out onto the crowd and see all of the tent tapestries, varied attire, people dancing and having a great time and more. Also, do all of the random things offered for entertainment like rides and swings. We unfortunately did not have any time for rides, but we swung on the huge, awesome swing set that Summer Camp had in the middle of the stages. It is fun to just relax in this place that is your home for multiple days, so you might as well treat it like it is home.
5) Buy your late-night tickets the moment they go on sale. The late-night shows like Gramatik (with label artists Cherub, Branxx and more) and Lettuce on Saturday night were amazing! Lettuce had the funkiest bass player I have ever seen. Getting in without a ticket, however, was a no-go. There was no budging from staff, so get your tickets early.
6) Find out about whatever games and competitions there are and go check out the Make a Difference booths. We found out about the extra Everyone Orchestra show on Sunday, featuring members of The Grateful Dead, Phish, String Cheese Incident, David Murphy from STS9 and others. All you had to do was participate in the “Treasure Hunt.” The Red Barn is air conditioned and relaxing, so check it out. Make a Difference also offered cool, inspirational information on GMOs, charities and more, alongside Technaflora Plant Products Ltd. and others in a big white tent that had a bar and presented select shows inside.
7) Find out about the cool vendors, talk to them and participate. We donated cans to Conscious Alliance Canned Food Drive and got to know the people at the Solar-Go Productions booth, who were also at CounterPoint 2014 and other festivals. It feels good to connect with people who you will see all summer at festivals and who can potentially help you make more connections with crafts or any other work you might hope to do in the future.
8) Buy something from a vendor or someone in the campsites. These vendors and personal artists are special, one-of-a-kind creators who are not your run-of-the-mill, corporate sellers. They have taken the time to make or collect amazing, original, hand-crafted pieces with unique properties you are only going to find at a festival. You might as well live it up while you can. There is some really cool stuff out there! Many of the artists featured at the official merchandise tent are amazing also, so it is worth it to check out everything. Not to mention the food vendors have some of the best food you will eat this summer, so you might as well “splurge” a little.
9) Give, give and give some more. I had a good friend who took it upon himself to buy cool art, clothes and other things that represented Summer Camp and more. He then “gifted” them to all of us, and I did the same with crystals I had purchased from Bead Supply there. It creates a special bond to receive something meaningful from someone, and there is nothing as great as giving. Try it!
10) Meet as many people as possible. The cool thing about festivals is that there are people from all over the country who have come together for similar interests. Even if you think you will never see them again, odds are you will see them at another festival and/or become social media friends, and your “family” expands! Even if you do not see them again, it is nice to know there are so many caring “strangers” out there, and you can pass this camaraderie on out there in “the real world.”
Summer Camp in Chillicothe, Ill., May 23-25, was my favorite festival of the year so far. I had heard from previous goers that Summer Camp was “festival boot-camp,” which scared me a little and I had no idea what to expect. The festival is not car camping, so lugging all of your stuff from your car to the campsite was indeed a small nightmare. It was the hottest part of the day, and clouds of dust billowed so regularly that you could feel an extra layer cling to your body immediately. However, once we got inside, it felt as if the clouds of bliss opened up, and the rest of the weekend was a breeze.
I like the concept about “once you’re in, you’re in,” so we did not have to go through security every time we went into the mainstage area, and I felt more as if I were “home” the entire weekend. I actually like the fact that there were no cars, because we had so much room and everyone did not seem as crammed as other festivals. I was previously worried about my belongings, too; however, getting to know your neighbors is always a blessing, and I had no fear about leaving my stuff. I will say, though, my recommendations are to zip your belongings inside your tent and not leave them sitting out. This is good advice for any festival, though.
All the stages stretched around into a huge circle of dirt roads and had plenty of room, so there is not one stage that I did not like. There were a lot of stages with lots of music, also, so it was great to be able to walk from one stage to the next and see at least seven or eight different, fun shows throughout the night. There was a path in-between the woods where people were camped and sold many homemade things like posters, pins, mixed drinks and more. There were lights in the trees and signs directing you to stages, so every night there came a “Let’s go explore in the woods” moment.
The Moonshine stage, which hosted Bassnectar and other big artists, was probably my favorite stage, as there was no “bad seat” when it came to being able to see and hear, and there was live art paintings in the middle of the stage. The Vibe Stage had many of the more EDM shows like Nashville favorite Wick-It the Instigator, Russ Liquid and more. My favorite shows were probably Bassnectar, The Floozies at Starshine Tent, Gramatik at Sunshine Tent and Lettuce late-night show in the Red Barn. I also liked the Campfire Stage in the midst of the woods on the way to the Red Barn that always had funky, “sick-nasty,” bassy beats that had everyone dancing non-stop.
Summer Camp created a nice, family atmosphere where I felt like home and met, once again, some of the most interesting people from New York, Michigan, Illinois and elsewhere. There were fun swings in the midst of all the stages with huge, crystal blow-ups, a Ferris wheel, giant red slide and more. There was good Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale beer and food from Pie for the People and Hippie Dips. I enjoyed the tractors, while the light shows at all of the stage were out of this world and spectacular, hand-crafted totem poles littered the show crowds. Most important, the lineup overall was one of best I have seen thus far. There were not a lot of overlapping schedule conflicts, so we got to see pretty much everyone we came to see.
Showers were only $3 and extremely nice if you wanted to get clean badly enough (which I did); however, we were all filled with layers of dirt, sweat, sunscreen and more that only a camping festival can give you. It allows one to forget about the outside world and any problems that exist, and you can really just relax and appreciate life in those few short, magical days in the “land of the free.” The only thing I would change about Summer Camp is that I wish there were more bathrooms spread out over more of the festival area. Rather than Port-A-Potties, the available bathrooms were located in trailers, which was nice, though there could have been more. Summer Camp offered me more friends alongside sharing and caring vibes than I thought possible, and I cannot wait for next year!
For more information, visit summercampfestival.com, facebook.com/summercampmusicfestival or twitter.com/SummerCampFest.
