It’s these monolithic corporate affairs
that have truly transformed the
national music festival scene, with
Lollapalooza among the standout
examples. Largely controlled by the
global entertainment behemoth
Live Nation Entertainment, it is one
of the biggest and longest-running
music festivals in America every
year, putting it in competition with
the Coachella Festival (promoted by
fellow juggernaut AEG Live). Industry
insiders have commented openly
that these two companies alone are
slowly consuming any festival that
can be bought and for good reason:
the North American concert industry
is tipped to be worth a staggering
$6 billion, with festivals allowing
for healthy profit margins when
you factor in vendor licences and
merchandise. A three-day weekend
pass for this year’s Coachella ranged
from $375 for general admission to
$899 for VIP.
Nice work if you can get it.
But whichever suits you, pick your
genre, pack your tent, hop in the car
(or plane) and join the throng along
with the average American festival
punter who, according to the Nielsen
company, travels an astounding 903
miles to attend a festival by road
or by air either within the USA or
from overseas. In 2014, 32 million
people attended at least one festival
that year.
If you’re in Manchester, Tennessee
and it’s June, chances are good
you’re there for Bonnaroo. Not
that the 10,000-person Coffee
County town isn’t an interesting
slice of American south-heartland
– its historic downtown boasts
an old courthouse and the Old
Stone Fort on the western edge of
town has scenic hiking trails and
waterfalls. But for most of the year,
these might be the only reasons
to stop over in Manchester while
traversing Interstate 24 between
Nashville and Chattanooga.
Come summer, Bonnaroo takes
Manchester’s ten thousand and
raises it tenfold. The festival’s nine
hundred thousand-plus attendees
make it for a brief moment big
enough to register as Tennessee’s
seventh-largest population center.
Bonnaroo draws its name from