The chant “waka, waka, waka” should still be ringing about 75,000 eardrums of those who took the Wakarusa Music Festival journey this past June 5th – 8th. Wakarusa 2014 was held in its long-term homeland atop Mulberry Mountain in the Ozarks of Arkansas. While on-site at Waka, guests are constantly surrounded by beautiful scenery, people, and music; making Wakarusa one of the most popular camping music festivals in the US. Aside from the visual spectacles and auditory delights, Wakarusa provides a sense of community among the people who attend the festival.
The weather was absolutely beautiful the first couple days. When it did rain, it did not seem to put a damper on people’s spirits in the slightest. With a lineup featuring The String Cheese Incident and STS9 (both groups played 2 shows), Bassnectar and The Flaming Lips providing epic showcases, and Edward Sharp spreading joy during his headlining set, it’s no surprise people showed up in the masses every day despite the weather conditions. Nearly 25,000 people attended each day of Wakarusa 2014. Stage after stage was packed with good music; discovering new bands and artists was just as fun as going to see your favorites play their finely tuned festival-sets.
In addition to the main stage there was a slough of tents and stages hidden within the mountain lines for attendees to explore in search of their favorite types of music. The Satellite Stage was hidden deep in the woods down a freshly bedded trail for those to safely dance down until they reached the stage in the center of a perfectly constructed, all-natural dance floor provided by Mother Nature herself (and the crack team of Pipeline Productions who coordinated all the magic for Waka). Electronic music fans could find an abundance of beats being dropped by talents like Wick-it The Instigator, heRobust, Govinda (who dropped one of the breath-taking “sunrise sets” over the weekend), Keys n’ Krates, Random Rab (another “sunrise set” dropper) and many more.
The Backwoods Stage, Outpost and Revival tents, along with Grassroots California’s hidden gem of a stage in the main area did their parts when it came to hosting show after epic show. In the midst of going back and forth to see waves of musical talent, patrons could shop for “heady” festival merchandise.
Vendors like Festival-Gear [.com], Grassroots California, and Spoiled Apparel supplied festi-fans with all one could need to stay stylish and prepared well on-site at music festivals. Festival-Gear’s solar powered backpack made quite an impact on those looking for festival survival gear. The backpack charges your gear and has a water pouch for nonstop hydration as those frolic from stage to stage. Spoiled offered attendees a unique style of festival-wear for festival-goers of all ages and genders. Grassroots California did nothing short of what they do best by offering patrons some of the most detailed and custom hat-wear that’s readily available at different music festivals around the country. Both Spoiled and Grassroots collaborated for their own stage that raged for shoppers to the wee early morning.
After one combines the fun and festivities that went down at Wakarusa Music Festival, your left with a cocktail of memorable moments that attendees will never forget. Wakarusa is an event that should be experienced by all music festival lovers. For a first time at Waka-goer, I can honestly say I hope to return year after year. Team Music Festival Central is looking forward to seeing everybody atop Mulberry Mountain for Wakarusa 2015!