For Bonnaroo 2019, I was given the AMAZING opportunity to work as a member of the media for Bonnaroo 2019. There were some amazing pieces of the festival (check out my recap here) that I never would have been able to experience without it. However, there were definitely some areas that left room for desire. Inside of the venue, things were smooth sailing and staff rarely questioned my pass. Turns out actually get the pass proved harder than it sounded!
Actually Getting My Media Pass & Getting in Line
The first one I ran into? Actually getting the freaking pass. Media credentials are picked up in a different location than Will Call. This year Media/Artists/Guests weren’t able to pick up their passes until 6 pm on Wednesday. I was surprised, to say the least, not to mention there were several ‘hiccups’ along the way.
The Issues
- The campgrounds almost always open early (even though they’re not supposed to open until 8pm on Wednesday). This year was no different. Doors opened around 3pm ET. This meant that there were 3 hours of people already getting in line before I could even get my media pass.
- When attempting to pick up my media pass, I was actually told by the Sheriffs guarding the entrance that there was no media check-in (even though I was showing them the email from Bonnaroo directly). Eventually, I had to turn around in traffic and sneak past the Sheriffs because they refused to let me through (where’s the communication at Bonnaroo and TDOT?)
- When I tried to get into the campgrounds, I was sent to not one, but TWO totally different entrances. I was searched twice and then was told after almost an hour of waiting and being pointed in different directions, that I couldn’t come in through any entrances we had been waiting at. I. WAS. SHOOK.
- Once we finally made it to someone who knew what was going on, they informed me that I would be able to camp in Guest Camping, however, anyone else that was in my car with me would need to stay back at the entrance and weren’t allowed to enter since I was the only one with media credentials.. Which meant.. where were my guests supposed to sleep?
The Lack of Communication
What made this so disappointing was the overall lack of communication. Not only between Bonnaroo and TDOT, but also between Bonnaroo and those who were given media credentials. It would have been nice to have the Sheriffs ‘in the know’ about where specific check-ins were taking place. As well, it would have been nice to be able to get my ticket at a reasonable hour to still have time to get in line, without having to wait for everyone and their mother to get in line before me.
During Check-In
The actual media check-in was also another experience. The line moved quickly, I would say there were at least 20-30 other members of media there with us. After watching the lines for a little bit, I started to hear the same response from the Bonnaroo team when they were asked questions “Well.. This is actually a learning process for us because we don’t really know what we’re doing…”. I could understand if this was the first year allowing media/press/photography on site, however, this was not their first rodeo.
To top it off, I started to also notice that everyone carrying a photography bag, were running into issues. Several, if not most, of the photography team, had turned in paperwork to get their bags tagged to get into Centeroo, however, Bonnaroo wasn’t able to actually find that paperwork? So most people had to carry their cameras willy-nilly. SMH Bonnaroo. SMH.
Inside The Venue
Once we finally made it into the venue, things went much smoother. The volunteers at the tollbooths were able to easily direct my car over to Groop Camping. The search was light (especially considering I had already been checked twice at other entrances previous).
There was a media/press tent within the venue that was where they held all of the press conferences and what not that was accessible to me. They had free waters, food, and even free wifi and air conditioning. I didn’t spend a ton of time in the media tent though- I rather found myself trying to push into the press areas at the fronts of the stages. Typically security was pretty lax, however, that was dependent upon the artists. Some had stricter requirements to get into the photo pits.
How It Could Have Been Better
Every year, Bonnaroo is the one festival that I look forward to over any other. Not only do I enjoy coming home, but I enjoy seeing the beautiful installations and works of art that the Bonnaroo team creates. Even with an additional influx of 20,000 people, the festival this year more or less went off without a hitch.
There was only ONE death announced (WOW, so awesome), and yes, we had some issues when it came to traffic. Of course, traffic is always an issue. However, I feel that with communication on the interweb being as easy as it is, posting something on Reddit, Instagram, Twitter or even email, would have been nice. They could have let the festival attendees know which exits they can take, where those exits are going to route them, and what the wait times are looking like in certain lines (I.E. 6 hours for interstate shoulder line, 5 hours for exit 127 line, etc.)
