Things 1st timers might not expect

You won't see nearly as many bands as you think you will. And you won't care.

Shakedown Street is really, really fun at night. Several of the vendors will create makeshift bars that are quite enjoyable. Take a break between the headliners and late night to go cruise outside Centeroo.

You will take home at least half of the water you bring. LOL. You're really worried about the heat (because of this board). However, you're not going to be at your campsite long enough to drink the 17 cases of water that you bring.


Everyone is in a really good mood just about the whole time. Smile, laugh, relax and have a whole lotta fun.

just because you see someone else peeing on the walls, doesn't mean its the right thing to do.

there are many many many porta potties, but there's not always toilet paper in them -BRING SOME!

No matter how excited you are at first, remember:
It's a marathon, not a sprint.

You'll want to sleep as much as you can, but by 8 A.M. (At the latest.) it will be too hot to get any rest. Go into Centeroo and find a nice shady spot to sleep. You can pass out for a couple hours and no one will mess with you. When the music is about to get started around 12 P.M., it will get crowded and louder, so you'll wake up. This way you can stay rested, so you have energy in the daytime, and therefore won't miss the best shows when it comes time for late-night.

So why don't the dealers hand out free hits?

Alot of walking in 90 degree heat = Swamp Ass

BRING GOLD BOND

The ground is hard when dry, so bring a camp hammer for your stakes.

Bring duct tape, as said in one of the Bonnaroo DVDs, "If you can't duct it, fu*k it."

Bring more clothes than one outfit a day. You will have pitted out your day outfit by the time the night time shows start, so head back to camp, take a refreshing Wet-One bath and put on clean, dry clothes. Be sure and throw a hoodie in your backpack at night; it can get chilly.

The first year we took great pains to figure out how to make coffee in the morning and brought a french press. However, we never used it even through we were coffee drinkers. It's just too much hassle to deal with at camp, and the Bonnaroo air has built-in caffine. However, we did drink coffee from the vendors at night.

Whatever food you bring to Bonnaroo, plan on taking it all home with you when it's over. Buying a huge piece of pizza from a vendor for $4 was much more appealing than anything we brought from home. I think the only thing we ever ate at camp was packages of cheese and crackers - I think only two were missing from the box when we arrived home.

Bring windshield shade screens for your car/truck. Be sure to get them for your back window as well, and not just the front one.

Bring extra tarps of all sizes if you have room in your vehicle. You can use them everywhere to create shade or a floor. Duct tape, extra tent stakes/rope and bungee cords are key here.

Throw a few empty Wal-Mart or any store's plastic sacks in your backpack. If it rains, you can put your backpack in the sacks to keep it dry - one on the bottom, and one for the top that you will remove when getting stuff in and out. This way you can set your backpack on the wet ground if you need to. Keep in mind, most ponchos are large enough to allow you to wear your backpack underneath; however, that means you have to take the poncho off to get anything out of the backpack. The sacks are the alternative to the poncho.

Glowsticks are for more than throwing: Wearing a glowstick on your wrist will provide lighting in the portapotties and also provides light when digging in your backpack for something - you must remember to dig with the hand that has the glowstick, though. If you don't have glowsticks, bring a little flashlight and attach it to yourself at all times so that you can turn it on in the portapotties at night - there is NO light in those things.

Bring a first-aid kit - keep some supplies in your backpack. Blisters, insect bites, hangnails, headaches, allergies happen. The med tents have most items you need, but it sucks to be with your friends at a show with a super annoying hangnail that is caked with Roo dirt.

Bring an extra set of contacts if you wear them. The dust/dirt can do some damage. I spent Roo '06 only able to see out of one eye. Good times.

Keep Wet-Ones, Purell (anti-bacterial gel) & toliet paper on you at all times. Most portapotties do not stock toilet paper and there are no sinks near the food vendors.

Buy more Bonnaroo t-shirts than you think you really want. You'll be sad when you get home otherwise. The first year I bought a ton of them with plans to give them to my friends that didn't go, but I ended up keeping them all for myself. I'm a horrible friend, I know.

If you see expensive items for sale, like silk wallhangings, posters, glass, big tie-dye items, etc., get the vendor's card and buy it from their website when you get home. I found that while under the influence I tend to impluse buy. Roo cash should not be wasted on crap you can buy at home - we've got partying to do folks! Also, your friends will not be happy carrying your big piece of glass in his/her lap the whole drive home.

Bring lotion. Not just SPF (50 is perfect like mentioned above - especially the spray-on kind), but super-hydrating lotion because Roo dirt is very drying to the skin.

Doubles:
Two pairs of really good shoes
Two hats
Two pairs of sunglasses
Two shirts for each day
Two lighters
Two camera memory cards
Twice as many batteries as you think you will use
If you smoke cigs, bring twice as many cigs as you usually smoke in a weekend party setting
Two sets of car keys

Damn Tix, you get Karma for that reply!!

Nice!

I can only second some of the others comments.

DO NOT, I said DO NOT underestimate the heat. It gets very very hot. And you will, for the most part, have no where (ie air conditioning) to get away from it for 4 days! Be prepared for that!

Dont bring a bunch of perishable food. It is hard to keep ice in your coolers. Bring cereal bars, energy bars, trail mix. Things like that, that you cna quickly grab and eat for an energy boost. You can arry things like this into centeroo also.

There are TONS of food options, inside and outside centeroo. Plan on about 15 to 20 $$ a day to eat.

Bring way more water than you think you will need!!
Buy a heavy duty tarp to use as a screen over your tent.
After about 8 or 9 in the morn, your tent will be a sauna, for get sleeping in there.

Bring more than one pair of shoes/sandals, whatever you wear. Bring changes of clothes. Bring rain gear. Bring extra socks!!!!!!

Bring some gallon sized ziplock baggies to put your socks, tshirt, shorts an dother items. This will keep them dry if it gets really bad. (And it has gotten really bad in the past).

Dont sweat it if you dont see eveyone you want to! Have Fun!

be sure to bring a heavy blanket or a sleeping bag, it CAN get really cold at night, despite the heat during the day (my teeth were chattering the entire first night last year, i only brought a thin blanket!)

walking back to camp from centeroo can get confusing and/or tiring. camping in the tent only section can really add to your roo experience, its sooooo nice to be able to go back to camp anytime you want and its a definite time saver. it's worth the hassle of dragging your stuff there at the beginning of the fest.

missing bands early in the day is not as bad as missing an incredible late night set

movies are all fun and good, but you can watch movies anytime, anywhere, bonnaroo is once a year, avoid the movie tent

same thing with comedy

as someone said bring toilet paper or something you can carry easily (like kleenex) with you for the times when the port-o-potties are out

mist tents are the greatest thing in the world when you need them

even in a crowd as good natured as rooers there are some a-holes, just ignore them and have a blast!

Don't steal stuff! If there is a backpack on the ground, someone is probably looking for it, it's not yours so please leave it alone.
If you choose to do nitrous, don't casually walk around with your balloon, people on horses will either yell or chase after you.
Don't write 'Bonnaroo or Bust' on your vehicle....police have sand in their vaginas.
Be courteous to staff when entering the grounds, they can make or break ya.
Don't show up early unless you want to be put in the far back, or BFE ( far side).
Movies might be lame but seeing a comedy show when you are out of your mind is an oddly awkward but extremely enjoyable experience.
Become familiar with your immediate neighbors. It is polite, you can be watchful of each other's stuff and you might make a new friend.
Don't be afraid to dance, we all look goofy anyway.

there are so many beautiful people at bonnaroo


if you don't know how or have never been compelled to dance at concerts or public gatherings,
bonnaroo is a wonderful place to let loose your self-consciousness and try it out


oh, yes, and clear, spray-on sunscreen is a great blessing.