The Big Green Bus

Bonnaroo, Bonnaloo!

Ro

Categories: Events & Destinations: Bonnaroo

Jun 17, 2008 05:44 am 2 Comments

June 12th, 2008
Bonnaroo Music Festival. Manchester, TN.

The Big Green Bus arrived at Bonnaroo yesterday following an all-night, non-stop drive from Washington D.C. Tired and sticky, we bussers were excited to rest and recuperate from the whirlwind of being on the road for the past three days and nights (not to mention the frustration of constant malfunctions and the ensuing repairs). I for one, was so excited at the prospect of sleeping on a non-moving object that I fell promptly asleep at 9pm and didn’t wake up till a full ten hours later.

When I did finally awake, it was to see the landscape surrounding the Bus drastically different from the night before. A sea of people, cars, and tents had simply materialized in the span of a few short hours. What was a vast grassy plain was now a field of car roofs and multicolored tent peaks as far as the eye could see.

Now might be a good moment to briefly explain what Bonnaroo is for those of you unfamiliar with the name. Once a year, beneath the merciless rays of the southern summer sun, some eighty thousand Americans, from teenagers to the die-hard 40 year old Metallica fan, gather at a 700 acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee for a weekend of live music, fun, and dare I say it, good ole fashioned debauchery. This being my first music festival ever, I find myself unprepared for the magnitude and intensity of back-to-back live concerts, music blaring until sunrise, and just the sheer number of people. Over night, this quiet farm literally morphs into a tent city. A city with seriously limited personal hygiene facilities (I could write a whole blog entry on the strategies of jockeying for a clean porta-potty, but I’ll spare you the details).

Hailed as the modern day Woodstock, Bonnaroo attracts the most unusual and interesting of people from across the nation. The Bus is a natural magnet for curious onlookers and we’ve been busy giving tours and showing off our refrigerator (a lifesaver in the Tennessee heat. Ah, to be the only people miles around who can enjoy popsicles and ice-cold beer) which is powered by our beautiful solar panels. We bussers always feel a great sense of satisfaction when we can demonstrate that going green doesn’t mean giving up the comforts of modern living. It’s such a rewarding feeling to see someone impressed that solar panels can generate enough energy to satisfy the needs of 12 gadget crazy college students (I mean, we all had to bring our ipods of course).

Sitting atop the roof of the Bus, watching the sunset and the crowds passing by below, I am once again struck by how lucky I am to be traveling across the country this summer. I am constantly amazed by the genuine enthusiasm from onlookers who are just as amped about waste veggie oil and solar panels as we are. I am at once hopeful and excited that Americans are gradually coming round to the idea that sustainability and comfort don’t have to be mutually exclusive.