Renegade Camps: Music Festivals Underground Scene

I recently had a moment of clarity after several days and long nights at the Hulaween Music Festival in Live Oak, Fla. It was the wee hours of the morning and I was heading in for the night after leaving the “renegade camps.” What I had just experienced I’d seen before. But each time, they leave me rushing with emotions.

These “underground” music camps are scattered throughout the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park and serve as a place to quench the never-ending desire for live music.

Most people attend music festivals based upon the headliners. Some attend just out of curiosity. Then there is a distinctive subgroup that attends for music. All of the music. The popular, the ones you’ve never seen live, and the never-heard-of-before.

For ones like me and others, there are the artists you know you’ll find out in the woods after the main stages shutdown out at the renegade camps.

To some, this is the backbone of the music festival world. Spun out of grit and determination to keep the party going – and a sheer love of music – you will find a variety of genres and skill levels lurking amid those trees.

Although renegade camps are not exclusive to Hulaween, every festival-loving Floridian is biased toward Spirit of the Suwannee and the setting it provides. The combination of trees and moss and music and vibes permeates into your soul and leaves you feeling as if you found the keys to the door in Alice in Wonderland.

To read my in-depth thoughts and interviews on this year’s Hulaween renegade camps. hop over to MusicFestNews. Happy Hula.