Wakarusa 2015 (June 4-7, Ozark, AR)

any idea when we can expect the schedule?

got my flight booked today! Able to get into Little Rock around 10am Thursday thankfully and got a good departure flight for the trip back too. Pretty excited for this and have found tons of new acts im looking forward to see like ProbCause, the Floozies, Jakubi, Cure for The Common, the Fritz, Hearts of Darkness, and plenty more.

The mid-card here trumps even Coachella and are much more unique in my opinion.

Yeah, Waka brings in some cool Jamtronica-side of EDM which I generally prefer over straight DJ's (Conspirator, Greenhouse Lounge, Savoy, EOTO etc.). Portugal was great at Hangout last year and probably even better at Buku 3 weeks ago. I don't even listen to them, but kind of like Arctic Monkeys (though different music), they come together live. They should kick ass at Waka. They were destroyed at Buku having a blast and drinking like fish, but at least this time, their drummer was actually able to play unlike the first time they came here. I wasn't there, but apparently he was trashed and got into an argument with the rest of the band.

DO IT

cmack had been trying to get me to go for 2 years now and i finally caved. the website has tons of great info on it i would suggest taking a look, it really helped sell me in the end.

i think Esteban said they go as late as 6am and u can find some unannounced ones at any time as well.

Krisp,

If you go, I would STRONGLY encourage you to spend the money for VIP. It's a completely different experience than Bonnaroo. For one, it's about 1/4th or 1/5th the size, so it's not as packed as ACL/Roo/Jazazfest etc. You also get free beer, ales, ciders, red bulls, waters, a couple of meals a day and free beer bars at both the main stage and the Revival Tent (which is the 2nd main stage) also a large front row section and a chill out lounge at the campground. The VIP campground is right behind the main stage. The shows go til 6am. They have this mountain-side stage called the Satellite Stage (google image that) where a lot of the electronica is played. It's probably the best stage I've ever seen anything at (admittedly, I haven't been to red rocks yet). The nature/views/etc. are vastly superior to Bonnaroo which is more of a flat farmland (can get dusty there) of course whereas Waka is a valley in the mountains. There is zero Leo at the fest since it is private lands, though if you hike up to the waterfall or end up camping at riverside, they can be encountered. It's a very chill/hippie vibe with jam, EDM and some hip-hop along with a bluegrass stage if you listen to that.

It rained some last year (was only bad Sunday AM), but we had a waterproofed tent. They have covered areas in VIP where you can go if it rains. The biggest problem was in 2013 when it was torrents of rain. It's springtime in the South, so you never know what you're going to get, but because it's in the mountains, it's not usually that hot. Personally, I like Waka better than Bonnaroo and not just by a little. The cards don't really compare because Bonnaroo is at the giant level and gets the big dogs whereas Waka knows what their fans want and always deliver from that angle.

They will upgrade you if you can save the $300-400 difference between now and June. You really, really, really want that. You just have to email them, and they're really good about responding to that kind of stuff. The west side is okay, just make sure you are on a little bit of a ridge rather than down in a pooling area so you don't end up in a lake if it does rain. That happened to my oldest in 2013 when they had all those nearby killer tornadoes in Oklahoma. Tent flipped and everything inside as well. /pwn3d

You can bring all the food and booze you want to the campsite. You can't get that stuff into the festival itself (pretty typical with vendor exclusivity deals and such these days) unless you smuggle. The main thing, like all camping festivals, is that you just can't have glass. Be mindful that the car searches can be lengthy and onerous, and make sure that you have license, registration and up to date stuff if you make a wrong turn on the way to the fest. As long as you don't try to run or have any reason to be hassled/detained, they will let you continue on your way. Once you get past the car search and get your credentials, it's pretty much 100% home free. Sometimes you'll get patted down going into the Satellite stage if you have backpacks and stuff, but that's kind of an entrance to the festival that you go across the campsite to get to. So it's not that different from going into the main fest.



You camp next to your car in lines (pretty much like Bonnaroo and everywhere else). The spots are typical except VIP where you can pretty much spread out however you want to. I'd leave the valuables in the car in GA, though we didn't have any issues in VIP last year with anything getting spirited away. And EVERYONE was cool there. Again, I'm not super rich or anything, but this is the one festival that you really want to do VIP at. It's like mid 700's for Wed night pre-party through the wee hours on Monday morning. 15 16oz beers a day at fest prices (they also have a local micro brewery, Mother's, on tap) of say like $8.00 is $120. 4 days of that, and you're up near $500 already plus you get okay (if not great) meals twice a day, premier camping in the woods, hassle free (except there were some bears out last year allegedly raiding ice chests and the like), coffee in the am, festival poster (lithograph last year people were paying $40 for at the booths), red bulls as needed, showers, a/c bathrooms, private bathrooms/port-o-lets in all VIP areas, etc. And if you like any of the higher end bands and acts that you know will be on the main stage (STS9, etc.), you get the front row. You'll literally see a sea of people behind you, and you walk right in, get your free booze for the set, and post up on the rail. It's pretty unreal and allows you to cut some of the shows close and not worry about having to be 150 yards back or anything. Here's the link, and note the picture where the lights are in the crowd. VIP runs about 10-15 deep (most shows aren't that crowded, but some are), and they will play EDM (Eoto and Major Lazer presumably) on the main stage as well (last year Bassnectar and Infected Mushroom got the midnight main stage slots). www.wakarusa.com/tickets/vip-event-passes/

Cell phone service is spotty, but you can get it from time to time. Mine died on Thursday afternoon last year, and I didn't really care after that. Not sure about everything being cash. I brought like $350 with me, and I ended up only using it for booze after the VIP bars closed (12:30/1am-ish) and for tips all weekend. And there was this pretty bad-ass local bbq place that did pull pork with cilantro on Texas-styled white bread. I had to have one of those each day after finding it. I just wish they would have had a mechanism to toast the bread.

yea i think ima bite the bullet and commit to going to WAKA with them. VIP is $700 prolly wont be swinging that what with VIP @ hangout and just booked our place for ACL. I'd love to do VIP if i could but I guess ill just have to shlep it with the GA folks at main venue camping.

where is the river from the festival?

Krisp, make them buy you VIP as a condition of going (but still go anyway if they wont). Jabco and I aren't b.s.'ing you about this. We did it last year, and it was unbelievable. All my clan is going back (including daughter for the first time) based on how outrageous of a value it was last year. You come out of pocket a bit initially, but then you really don't have to worry about anything. The river is downhill and across a road. You have to be careful what you bring down there as that is a policed area, but you most likely won't have any trouble. We tried to go rafting last year, but the water was too fast, so the river was closed. Then there is a hike up a waterfall (also that's a state park so it's off the private lands) that we didn't get to go to last year due to sore ankles, jam packed days of music and such. I'm going to try to get up there this year if I have any allowing gaps.

www.google.com/search?q=wakarusa+waterfall&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=woYlVc_XNsuisAXuqYGwAQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1152&bih=720

Damnit....you just need to convince ne215 now! He's my date to waka (plutonically and heterosexually).

I know. I shouldn't either.