Floydfest 13 Will Be “Revolutionary,” Co-Founder Promises

Music from last year on the Dreaming Creek main stage.
Music from last year on the Dreaming Creek main stage.

Co-founder Kris Hodges likes to “theme” FloydFest every year; this year FloydFest 13 is “Revolutionary.” Hodges said that tag, in part, describes some of the headliners that will make music on one or more of the ten stages set on 80 acres near the Floyd and Patrick County lines.

Lauryn Hill, Buddy Guy, Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite, Ray LaMontagne, Ziggy Marley and Michael Franti are some of the more prominent performers Hodges has slotted this year. He calls FloydFest 13 perhaps the “strongest” lineup to date. Old favorites like Donna the Buffalo and Hackensaw Boys return as well.

There may still be some tickets and even some limited camping spots left; see FloydFest.com for availability and pricing. Festival goers can also spend time on mountain bike tours, running a 5K trail race, taking float trips down the Little River or trying a guided hike, but the music is always front and center at FloydFest.

A dozen years after he and co-founder Erika Johnson got FloydFest off the ground, it may have gotten a little too big for its britches last year: sellout crowds of around 14,000 almost every day in 2013 put a strain on the shuttle bus system from the fairgrounds to remote parking lots; some attendees with camping gear reported that they waited for hours before their equipment made it over to the site. Being named a top ten music festival by magazines like Outside and top websites including Huffington Post has just drawn more attention to FloydFest.

Hodges said they have ironed out some of the logistical issues this year: for starters fewer tickets will be sold for each day – about 1500 less a day – to go along with improved shuttle service that now includes luxury coach buses – not school buses. And Hodges said a better system is in place to get camping equipment over to the festival and camping areas. Campers will also be allowed to stay over until Monday the 28th, if they want to avoid some of the crowds that will be leaving when the festival official ends on Sunday the 27th.

“With [success] came a lot of logistical challenges,” Hodges admitted. “We had to play catch up for the massive crowds that came aboard.” A new check-in point for single day ticket holders and those coming back and forth from the festival daily will be staged on an airstrip in Meadows of Dan, 7 miles away from FloydFest. Those deluxe motor coaches will take people back forth from the festival from that location.

If you haven’t been to FloydFest (mile marker 170.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway) before, Hodges said come prepared for “a pristine mountain setting, complete with happy people and [a place] that allows you to be yourself. Once you embrace all of that, you’ll be free.” You can even take part in early morning yoga and Tai Chi to help get ready for a full day of music.

FloydFest is indeed a family-friendly event; it’s not unusual to see families with kids of every age in tow and the Children’s Universe provides plenty of activities to keep the little ones engaged. “I have two children myself that have basically grown up in the festival environment. It has enriched their lives for sure. We try to provide something for every age group,” said Hodges, who noted a lack of family inclusion at some of the other music festivals he checked out, a situation he wanted to avoid when creating FloydFest.

Hopefully this year’s festival won’t feature the torrential rain that turned dirt pathways into mud pits last year; many who came equipped only with sandals wound up going barefoot for much of the weekend, mud oozing between their toes in a nod perhaps to Woodstock.

Hodges has no trepidations about this being festival number 13 either: “Thirteen is a very powerful, lucky number,” said the promoter who is banking on this year’s FloydFest being another magical experience for those lucky enough to get tickets.

By Gene Marrano

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