June 15, 2007

Wakarusa Festival VIP Package Review - 2007

The VIP package cost me $435, which works out to a little over $100/day. Not a bad deal considering what I had at this festival compared to others and all the following was included in the price.

Camping – The VIP campgrounds was located right next to the main festival area and could not have been more convenient. From my tent to the entrance was about 15 yards as I got there early Wednesday night and claimed a spot. The bathrooms were air-conditioned and were located inside the campground area. The hot showers were about 400 yards away, but a shuttle would bring you there if you were not inclined to walk.

Front Row Viewing – At the Main Tent and the Revival Stage, you could literally be about 6-7 feet away from the stage if you claimed a spot about 15 minutes before a show. About the only time the VIP area got crowded was during night shows such as Widespread Panic, Ben Harper or Les Claypool. Any show during the day was no problem getting right next to the stage. This made for great picture taking and was worth the price of admission by itself.

Main Stage VIP Area www.MusicRoadMan.com

The fence on the right side of the cart was actually moved back about 10-12 feet from where it is located in this picture, so area was bigger than is shown.

Food – We had dinner on Thursday, lunch and dinner on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was catered by one of the local grocery stores and was not bad. We had hamburgers, tacos, spaghetti, fried chicken, etc. for main courses and usually a vegetable or salad with cookies or brownies for dessert. Not 5-star cuisine, but when you are feeding 400-500 people about what I expected. Usually had fruit around such as apples, bananas and oranges.

Drinks – Bottled water, iced tea, coffee and soft drinks as well as Fat Tire and Skinny Dip keg beer from New Belgium Brewing Company from noon until midnight. This was also available at tents at the Main Stage and Revival tents so you did not have to walk back to the campground as well as portable bathrooms were onsite. Hey, if you drink beer, close bathrooms are a necessity. Remember, you don’t buy beer, you just rent it……..

VIP Pavilion – This was a huge tent in the campground area where tables were set up for eating and also had couches and chairs to lounge in between sets.

VIP Pavilion www.MusicRoadMan.com

Extras – They gave the VIP’s a CD from the 2004 Wakarusa Festival (still have not listened to it), a coozie with a plastic cup for the beer, small poster from this year’s festival and a bottle opener. Not bad schwag……

Security – They had guards at the entrance to the campground and to the stage areas and no problems. I guess they had some security problems last year that made a lot of people unhappy but everything this year was smooth.

Wireless Internet Access – One of the local cable companies set up wireless access across the area and even though I brought my own, the people I talked to who used said it worked great.

The only thing I would do different for next year would be to move further away from the festival grounds. I was about 30 yards away from one of the smaller tents for music but they were playing until about 4 in the morning. Waking up to sound checks at 2:30 AM can wear you down quickly.

The sound at the stages was good, but some of the technicians seemed to be more with it than others. I can tell by the reaction of the musicians onstage whether they are happy or not and some were quite aggravated. I have a feeling that changes will be made for next year.

Overall a great value and worth the price and have no problem doing it again next year.