Bonnaroo Site Enhancements Could Mean Higher Ticket Prices, Big Changes

Bonnaroo 2015 ~ Bryan Edward Photography_-30

If you have ever been to the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, chances are you received a survey in your inbox this week. The summer festival was soliciting feedback from its attendees about a variety of enhancements they are considering making to grounds next year. Ideas that seem to be getting thrown around include permanent bathrooms and showers, water features, and a potential campsite reservation system. Several different surveys were sent essentially asking if people would be willing to pay anywhere between $100 and $175 to camp next year to pay for these new projects.

Needless to say, the outcry from the Bonnaroo community has been palpable. Bonnaroovians have taken to the interwebz in droves to voice their displeasure with having to pay for features they don’t support, especially after ticket prices already went up this year.

Earlier this summer it was announced that a potential country music festival could take place at Great Stage Park, the venue that houses Bonnaroo every year in Manchester, Tennessee, that most attendees lovingly refer to simply as “The Farm.” This came not long after the announcement (mere weeks before Bonnaroo) that the festival had been bought out by venue powerhouse Live Nation. Chatter among festival veterans quickly soured, wondering what this would mean for their beloved Bonnaroo. While their initial announcement stated that operations would still be under the control of festival founders AC Entertainment and Superfly, it is clear that multi-use of the land is an immediate goal for the new stakeholders. It’s no secret that the land is available for more than just Bonnaroo. There has long been a website just for the property touting it as “The Home of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival”, offering it up as a venue for any other event. There have just never been any takers, and until now the push to use the land for more than just Roo hasn’t been as loud.

It’s still too early to tell what will happen, but that’s not stopping the debate about the future of the festival. While the survey alluded to these changes being for the better of The Farm, concerns mount as people stew over what this means not only for the festival staying affordable, but also for the quality of the lineup and the overall experience. What sets Bonnaroo apart from many of the other large-scale summer festivals is that, throughout its evolution, long-time attendees feel that it has retained an authentic atmosphere that promotes positivity and community. Bonnaroo to many is more than just a concert; it is a family. And nobody wants to have to give that up for what a corporation thinks will make more money.

The dates for Bonnaroo next year have been set, June 9-12, 2016, and we can only hope that we can all return to The Farm happy with its progression.

But we want to know what you think. Did you receive the survey? How did you feel about it? Or maybe you’re considering attending the festival for the first time next year. How does this impact your decision? Let us (and Bonnaroo!) know how you feel in the comments below.

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