Imagine this: It’s Friday, April 7th, and the time has finally come to begin your long-awaited weekend at Lucidity.
You and your crew roll into Live Oak Campground, park your car and jump onto the shuttle wagon to be taken into camp. You are dropped off in the middle of the festival with bags gripped tightly and swung over your shoulders. Ready to find a spot to call home for the next few days. This is where it begins— where the festival community is truly formed. It all begins at camp.
Back in the early 2010’s, I made a habit out of attending events like Beyond Wonderland in the Bay Areas. Or SnowGlobe in the South Lake Tahoe Mountains every winter. While the events were fun and the music was great, there was also a sense of disconnect from each festival as a whole.
In 2014 I attended High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, CA. I was excited to hear we would be camping for 4 days at the festival. This idea was new to me and I was excited to see how it made the experience different. Having experienced both ways of festival-ing, I think that camping at the festival allows you to connect more closely to the entire festival and what it has to offer.
You are not just showing up, partying, and leaving—This is now where you live, eat, sleep, and wake up in the morning. Something about that makes room for such a deeper connection to the festival and the others who are there experiencing it with you.
The Dusty Barrel teeter totter could be outside your back porch.
Camping at a music festival is where we build community.
From the moment you arrive, the first thing you will do is pick out a spot to set up and decorate your new home. For many, It’s customary (and fun) to have a theme camp where there are fun activities to partake in (whether it be face painting or a full on bloody mary bar and dance floor) to give passersby a reason to stop on in.
This can be how some of the best friendships are formed at festivals— and I’m speaking from experience! My crew and I coined the camp theme, “Camp Stop Won’t Stop” years ago and integrated it into our totem and the key decorative pieces in our camp every year. Stop by and say hi at Lucidity if you see us!
The great part about Lucidity festival is that the camp-sites are the festival. Community is everywhere.
Many festivals I’ve attended in the past have the camping area and the festival area kept separate. At Lucidity, the festival is intermixed within the camp-sites.
I remember waking up one morning at Lucidity, making a cup of coffee at camp and walking barefoot to a workshop being held about 20 feet away.
With the festival completely integrated within the community, it’s easy to feel as if your camp itself is part of the excitement.
One thing to remember as you find yourself a home for the weekend is that different areas will be host to different camp-vibes. Camping near the Healing Temple will bless you with a quieter and calmer energy. Whereas camping at the Nook is where you can expect the bass to be pumping late at night.
Wherever you decide to camp, just keep in mind that this is now your home and your community. Treating it as such is a vital part of the overall experience. Happy Camping!
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