Floydfest

I shared with you yesterday that T and I went to Floydfest with my Uncle and Aunt last week on our vacation.  Let me take you to the beginning...
We arrived on the property (which was previously a cattle farm) at approximately 9:30ish... we then were faced with lugging all the stuff we brought to our campsite about 1/4 mile away.  My Uncle rented us tents in the Show Sherpa village, and in case you are wondering it is pretty much a tent hotel (or the closest thing you are going to get without having an RV).  It was nice to walk up and not have to worry about lugging another thing finding a tent spot, setting it up, and hoping it doesn't fall down!  The tents were two person tents with two cots in each one.

The tent

My bed for three nights

When you arrived you got a wristband and a program

The programs really were a lifesaver especially for people who didn't know EVERY band performing since they gave information about the bands.  It also included a schedule so you knew what time the bands you wanted to see were playing and on which stage.

Realizing what I got myself into after my phone stopped working. 

T came and reminded me that we had no commitments for the next four days except to relax and enjoy ourselves!

Someone had the bright idea to put our pop up tent over the actual tent to keep it cooler - it did keep it a few degrees cooler but it wasn't like we were there to hang out in the tent all day!  Not to mention at night it was down in the 60's and with the breeze it felt even cooler.  We actually regretted not bringing jeans to put on at night.

tent + tent

My Uncle relaxing talking to Jay, the owner of Show Sherpa

After we got settled in our home away from home - T and I set off to do a little exploring around the festival.  We quickly learned how lucky we were to have the Show Sherpa camping since finding a camping spot was first come first serve and many of the "decent" (I use that work loosely) spots were already taken by 11am... not to mention they were on the side of a walking path, on a slope, or right on top of another tent.

Filling up pretty quick

By the end of day one - there were tents right up next to the walking path

Since we were out exploring I told T I wanted to see what we were working with when it came to showering.  We learned from Jay that they actually built 6 additional showers since last year to help with the length of the shower lines.  Upon walking up - they were pretty much what I expected... stalls with open tops to allow light in, shower curtains, shower liners at the bottom, a water hose and some had a sprayer while others just had a valve that you turned on or off.  I will say the water was warm!  Luxury right there!

I never waited in line standing, I was always able to sit on the log benches 

There was an area of the festival called the Global Village, it had more of the tribal, ethnic music... we didn't venture over here, but we hear that some of the bands were really good.

ENO hammocks were very popular here - this is a set up where you could go lay in them, sleep, whatever. 

This is where we should've gone at night because it was freezing

Dragon car that spit fire

Yurts - you could've stayed in one... if you were a baller

This campsite cracked me up - it was on our walk to/from the showers each day

My Uncle enjoyed relaxing in his fancy chair... typically he would do something and then sit int he chair for a few minutes, lol.

First drink of the festival :)  

Show Sherpa Campsite

It was pretty hippied out

We walked around the festival after lunch - there wasn't too much going on since the bands didn't start playing until 4 that day.  

Virginia is for Lovers <3

Aren't they cute? 

Over sized Chairs... that I almost fell off from. 

There were plenty of food vendors!!  A lot of them were local restaurants in Floyd that came to the festival.  My favorite was the Gouda Mac n Cheese (big surprise there, right?).

food vendors

walking up to the main stage

T and I did something smart and stupid at the same time when packing for the trip.  We learned that there were several water stations according to the 2012 Floydfest map that went out a few weeks prior to the festival so T decided he didn't want to bring a case of water, but instead bring out water bottles.  There was only one water station (with drinkable, filtered water) but it was okay since you walked by it to get anywhere.  That was a lifesaver!!  It was some of the best water I have ever drank too - there was literally a well there and a filtration system hooked up.

Klean Kanteen sponsored the water station

Massages, Yoga, AA classes... you know everything you  would expect to find at a music festival :) 

Honest Tea sampled their entire line, had a recharging station, and over sized bean bags

Is this not the cutest thing you have ever seen?

The porch - Uncle and Aunt's favorite stage

My Uncle thinks he's sneaky...

On the way back from exploring, we walked on a path through some of the camping area and found that people had set their tents up RIGHT BEHIND a row of bathrooms.  WHY?!?!?!  What in the world would make anyone think this is a good idea? Riddle me that...

Gross. 

Tomorrow I'll share as many bands as I can remember that we saw... there were a lot.