23 Reasons You Should Finally Go to Bonnaroo This Year

Everyone who attends the festival is expected to follow the Bonnaroovian Code, which evolved within the Bonnaroo community over the past 15 years. The Code offers six simple rules to make everyone's experience as pleasant as possible, including:

What's remarkable is that the code really works. Sure, as with any situation involving lots of people and alcohol, you will encounter a few bad apples, but for the most part, everyone is happy and helpful. When a thunderstorm this year required tens of thousands of people to evacuate and take shelter in our cars, everyone shuffled out jovially and even cheered when one particularly drunk gentleman finally located his campsite.

Though Bonnaroo started out as a "jam band festival," the lineups nowadays span pretty much every genre and draw a diverse group of fans. What unites us all is a love for killer live performances, and the performers really get into that. Even the least "jammy" performers indulge in more improvisation than they would at other festivals and rave about how enthusiastic and fun the crowds are.

I'm not sure how the organizers do it, but I have never once had to decide between two acts I really want to see that are playing at the same time. The show start times are nicely staggered, so it's easy to see all the bands you want to see without feeling rushed. And it's almost as if they schedule the music based on people's tastes, because rarely do any two shows overlap that might draw similar fans.

I'm not usually the high-fiving type, but at Bonnaroo, I've learned to love it. On your way into the festival or when walking between stages, staffers and attendees are likely to hold their hands up awaiting high fives. Winding through the line to get in, you might encounter a whole row of hands, like a baseball team high-fiving the other team.

At Woodstock in 1969, Wavy Gravy famously announced, "What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for four hundred thousand!" When I first heard that quote as an impressionable teenager, I wished I'd been at Woodstock, and I figure Bonnaroo is the closest I'll come.

Though Bonnaroo's attendance is much smaller (thank God), it feels really magical to go to bed and wake up alongside 80,000 people. Though a handful of people stay in hotels or get day passes, most of the attendees camp in the land surrounding the festival. You know how it feels to go to brunch hungover with the friends you partied with the night before? It's like that, but on a larger scale. No one really wants to talk that much, but we still say good morning and smile on the way to the bathroom.

I have very little patience with music festivals that require me to rush from stage to stage, only to find my destination at maximum capacity. Bonnaroo, however, is held on a 700-acre farm, so you can choose your preferred surroundings: in the middle of the action in the front of the stage or reclined on a blanket on the outskirts. Especially during the day, I've experienced entire concerts lying on a blanket but still able to hear the music perfectly. If you ever need a break from the crowds, it's easy to find an open spot to spread out, play frisbee, whatever.

As I've mentioned, Bonnaroo is f*cking hot. But thankfully, there is no shortage of water. A colorful fountain at the center of the festival lets you cool off from head to toe, every camping "pod" has showers, water-bottle refill stations are scattered throughout the farm, and there's even a water slide for particularly adventurous types. Plus, every ounce of water Bonnaroo pumps out comes from wells on site, so it's environmentally sustainable to stay hydrated.

Since Bonnaroo owns the land where the festival takes place, the organizers can erect permanent structures to complement the concert tents and stages. In 2016, the festival installed two permanent bathroom buildings with a total of 300 flushable toilets (you can see one of them in the background of this pic), and the fresh and clean bathrooms are a total game changer. Plus, the staggering number of stalls means you rarely have to wait in line, and you can still find tons of porta-potties if you don't want to walk to one of the two bathroom structures.

A four-day pass to Bonnaroo costs $350, and you really get your money's worth: performances start at 2 p.m. and go until 3 a.m. or later. Because I'm camping within walking distance, I have a tendency to start my day earlier than I would if I were attending a festival in my own city.

Since no one has anything to do the next day except listen to more music, the festival turns into a late-night party pretty much every night. There's just no reason to go to bed, and the festival grounds stay open all night. Better yet, it's not just the EDM acts (which are not my taste) that play late: this year, I saw Tame Impala from 1 to 3 a.m., Blood Orange at 2 a.m., and Big Grams at 1:45.

Of course, staying up until 4 a.m. means you want to sleep in, but chances are the sweltering heat will wake you up much earlier than you'd like. As a result, my Bonnaroo routine involves waking up against my will between 8 and 9 a.m., taking a cold shower, sitting in the air conditioned car while consuming coffee or a cocktail, then heading over to the festival around noon to find a shady spot to take a nap. Judging by the mass number of nappers (both in the afternoon and at odd times like 11 p.m.), I'm not the only one who considers napping at Bonnaroo a must.

At Bonnaroo, the various stages are named The What Stage, the Which Stage, This Tent, That Tent, and The Other Tent. People either love or hate this system, but I happen to love it. It leads to lots of ridiculous conversations and reinforces the laissez-faire attitude you need at this place.

It isn't easy to get the sound right at an outdoor festival, but Bonnaroo nails it. Rarely does the sound overflow too much from stage to stage, and it sounds crisp and clear even in the far reaches of the field. I sat waaaaaay back by the tents at this Father John Misty show (pictured), and the sound was still on par with that of an indoor venue.

Coachella this is not. Yes, you'll see plenty of fringe at Bonnaroo, but you'll also see plenty of hippy fashion, raver tutus, normcore khakis, and even bare-breasted women. While the anything-goes fashion philosophy leads to some pretty dreadful outfits, I appreciate the wear-whatever-you-want attitude. One accessory that unites pretty much everyone, however, is the bandana, which most festivalgoers soak in ice water and tie around their heads or necks.

Bonnaroo holds its own alongside music festivals like Outside Lands, which is famous for its food. You can choose from gourmet food trucks (I recommend the egg sandwiches from Cracked, pictured), booths peddling all different types of cuisines, plenty of vegan and vegetarian options, and my favorite junk foods: corn dogs and pizza.

This year, Bonnaroo started serving cocktails, and I couldn't have been happier. (In previous years, they only offered wine and beer.) Almost every beer stand also sells whiskey lemonade and a refreshing vodka-tea concoction, and specialty stands offer even more variety.

If you're camping, you can bring as much alcohol you want into the campground, as long as it's not in glass containers and you don't bring it into the actual music-festival area. No one bats an eye if you want to mix up a vodka soda for the walk to the gates, as long as you finish it before you enter.

Beers at Bonnaroo cost $7, but for $15, you can get your beer in a refillable cup. Every time you get a refill, you get a dollar off your beer, so the cup pays for itself after eight trips. Plus, the metal cups keep your drink cooler longer, and they come with a cool carabiner so you don't lose it.

One of my favorite destinations at Bonnaroo is the comedy tent, and not just because it's air conditioned. The venue hosts a handful of stand-up showcases every day, most of them an hour or more. This year, I stopped in for Judd Apatow and Friends, which featured full standup sets by Apatow, Beth Stelling, and Nate Bargatze (check those last two out if you aren't familiar). There was even a surprise set from Saturday Night Live's Kevin Nealon, who just happened to be at Bonnaroo and asked to do a set. It's like going to a New York comedy club, except it's way easier to get in to see the big names.

Another air-conditioned respite from the heat, the cinema tent screens everything from music-centric documentaries to a Purple Rain sing-along and a David Bowie music video dance party. Since the NBA Finals usually take place during the festival, the cinema tent also lets festivalgoers watch games on the big screen. This year, we caught the Warriors-Cavaliers game, and the energy of the crowd made it a truly one-of-a-kind experience.

Have I mentioned that Bonnaroo is very hot? Thankfully, the farm offers plenty of shaded areas for when you need a break from the sun, including a few hammock groves and tents that still let you catch the band you want to see.

When the sun sets, festivalgoers not only get a respite from the muggy heat, but also the added perk of stunning sunsets that last long enough to savor.

Though Coachella blows Bonnaroo out of the water when it comes to lighting design, the Tennessee festival has its share of cool features, like murals, a Ferris wheel, and this giant disco-ball tower, designed by Radiohead's lighting designer.

The Sunday headliner this year was Dead and Company, which is the current incarnation of the Grateful Dead, featuring John Mayer on guitar. But many of the collaborations at Bonnaroo exist only at the festival. Each year, the "Super Jams" bring together groups of disparate musicians performing at the festival. Plus, you never know when someone totally unexpected will pop up. Chance the Rapper, for instance, wasn't even playing Bonnaroo this year, but he still showed up on stage during two different sets.

I'm still sort of embarrassed by how much I have consumed the Bonnaroo Kool-Aid, but it's one of those things you just have to experience to understand. If you come with the right frame of mind, the vibe will win you over. It's no surprise that plenty of people make the trek to the festival year after year; it's even been known to host weddings.