December 10, 2008
UPDATE: Official press release at the bottom.HEYOH! Big News! Thanks to a tip by my friend GreenMan who keeps an eagle's eye on all things Wakarusa, I've learned some breaking news. At some point last night, when things were quiet and no one was watching, Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival, Lawrence's longtime claim to music festival fame, slipped out through the back door and had a moonlit shotgun wedding with the fine folks at the Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas! That's right, Wakarusa is no longer a Lawrence, Kansas party. It's heading south and making Arkansas it's home, at least for next year.
Perhaps this is all incorrect, but it certainly seems like this is what's happened. The logo header on the Wakarusa website has been changed to say it's held on Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas. The earliest mention of this in the wakarusa forum is from this morning, so this apparently just happened. There's no mention of it on LJWorld either.As Wakarusa forum user KCNorthLander pointed out in the thread I linked above, Wakarusa is already listed as a special event on the Mulberry Mountain Lodge website. This is news for all, but especially for me, as the two places I've called home the longest have been Lawrence and Arkansas (Hot Springs and Fayetteville). The relationship between Kansas state officials and Brett Mosiman, organizer of the festival, had been shaky for years and got even shakier this year as he openly began looking at other locations to hold the festival. Last month Jefferson County rejected the idea of moving the festival there and Mosiman said he'd be looking at locations outside of Kansas.And now it looks like he's found his spot. And it's not a bad choice. Mulberry Mountain has hosted the Mulberry Mountain Music Festival which, while not as large as Wakarusa, brought a good lineup and nice crowd. My first impressions are that this will be a good thing for the festival, but obviously is a bad loss for the city. Lawrence is the loser here, in my opinion. It sucks that it happened, but as a Wakarusa veteran, music fan and Arkansan, I'm pleased with the decision. As a Lawrencian, it sucks. It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out and how the festival goes. Mulberry Mountain is a beautiful location and it's close enough to Lawrence that it's not too far for many of the same travelers that would come to Lawrence every year to get to. We'll have to wait and see how many Lawrencians take on the role of traveler and pack their cars and head down south. I hope many do, because Northwest Arkansas is a beautiful place. So, what are your thoughts on this? Chime in in the comments below. I'll be adding more to this as I learn more. So stay tuned.OFFICIALNESS UPDATE:News ReleaseFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 12/10/08 RE: WAKARUSA MUSIC AND CAMPING FESTIVAL Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival announces dates and new site. After a five year run in a State park outside Lawrence, KS, Wakarusa will move to a new home in northwest Arkansas. Wakarusa will be relocating to Mulberry Mountain outside of Ozark, Arkansas. Dates for this year’s festival will be June 4 – 7. Festival organizer, Brett Mosiman, says “we are extremely excited about this announcement and new chapter in our evolution. Mulberry Mountain offers one of the finest festival sites in the nation. It is on private land, in the middle of a forest, on top of a mountain, surrounded by streams and waterfalls, with a class three floating river adjacent and amenities second to none. Our ability to produce an incredible festival experience for our fans has increased exponentially.” Wakarusa is offering a deeply discounted festival ticket as part of its holiday sale from December 11th– 31st.
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smerdyakov (anonymous) says...
meh
December 10, 2008 at 12:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nohippies (anonymous) says...
/waves goodbye to the hippies
December 10, 2008 at 12:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
chewyfally (Falestine Afani Ruzik) says...
DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 10, 2008 at 12:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
greenman (anonymous) says...
The Natural State welcomes Waka and all its fun loving people with open arms! I encourage all those from surrounding states to make the scenic trip through the beautiful Ozarks to this promising venue. I look forward to seeing you all! And dont forget to look for Greenman!
December 10, 2008 at 12:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Reaper2K (anonymous) says...
Woo hoo! I will no longer be afraid to leave my apartment during a certain weekend in June. Let Arkansas deal with the traffic jams and public relations nightmares.
December 10, 2008 at 1:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Joel (Joel Mathis) says...
Well, of course. Because Arkansans are *extremely* tolerant of a Wakarusa-type crowd. Makes perfect sense.
December 10, 2008 at 1:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
chewyfally (Falestine Afani Ruzik) says...
LOL joel
December 10, 2008 at 1:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wbabbit (Will Babbit) says...
Is Arkansas the Natural State because no one wants to develop and live there?
December 10, 2008 at 2:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
editer (Phil Cauthon) says...
Here is the announcement via the Wakarusa email newsletter:>Dear Wakarusa Fans,First, let us start by giving you our heartfelt and sincere gratitude for helping Wakarusa realize the dream of announcing our 6th annual event. We couldn't have done it without all of you (the fans, musicians, staff, sponsors and volunteers). We started Wakarusa with a very simple goal: to throw a music festival that was primarily about the music and the fan experience. Our early growth proved that we were successful in our strategy of creating "a music festival for music fans" that was produced "by music fans". Along the way, we encountered our share of difficulties that we will not rehash. These difficulties brought the realization that to continue to positively serve our most valued customers, we had to find a new home and, in doing so, renew our primary mission: producing a world class festival experience that is steadfastly about the music, the positive fan experience and enhancing our community.As the old saying goes, every closed door is truly only a new opportunity.With that said, we are excited to formally announce that Wakarusa has a new home and a renewed spirit! The 6th Annual Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival will take place on June 4th - 7th, 2009 at Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas.That's right! Wakarusa will take place on top of a mountain that's surrounded by streams, waterfalls, swimming holes and scenic float rivers. Mulberry Mountain is not only on private land, but it has all the amenities of a well developed campground. Quite simply, if you haven't been to Mulberry Mountain, it is one of the very best festival sites we have ever seen.So, in honor of your incredible loyalty and in acknowledgement of the weather you suffered through during this year's event and the subsequent loss of music sets last year ....... we are making a few tickets available at the unheard of price of $79! Tickets will be available from noon tomorrow, December 11th, until December 31st.Also, it was crisp 90+ during the festival last summer, so we have all these great WAKA hoodies just sittin' here. Our loss is your gain. Until Christmas, take 20% off all Waka merch using the following code: brrrVisit www.wakarusa.com for complete details.Thank you, once again, for your support and patronage. We look forward to the next incredible chapter of music, mother nature, new friends and old at Wakarusa 2009.We'll see you in June!Cheers!<
December 10, 2008 at 2:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
joel, it'll be interesting, but the presumed benefits of this are the place is private and there won't be a nearby town for people to "dirty up" w/ their hippieness and no townies to complain. Bonnaroo has made it in backwoods Tennessee for as long as they have thanks to private land. it will be interesting. i think it'll end up being good for the festival.
December 10, 2008 at 4:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Keith (anonymous) says...
Won't they have to change the name to Arkarusa?
December 10, 2008 at 4:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alm77 (anonymous) says...
or Ozarkarusa? I grew up in the Ozarks on the Missouri side. I don't see how they are going to avoid the police "problem" there. Acccording to the nevergetbusted.com map, that corridor is a hot spot for drug check lanes, etc. I still think that the drug check points and night vision goggles is what did them in here. Even those of us who don't do drugs don't want to be spied on in the dark.
December 10, 2008 at 8:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weezy_Jefferson (anonymous) says...
Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.
December 10, 2008 at 10:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
adriisdum (Adri Pendergrass) says...
lmfao, weezy. for sure. coulda made the town a bill or two, though. shame it wasn't held together better.
December 11, 2008 at 3:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weezy_Jefferson (anonymous) says...
Brothels could make the town some money, too. Doesn't mean it's a good idea.On second thought....
December 11, 2008 at 5:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
coulior (anonymous) says...
I think Wakarusa was one of those things I never did because it was in my home town. Maybe now I can go to the show and not worry about people destroying our parks. I like the people and the music, but it clearly had an impact on the park.
December 14, 2008 at 8:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
coulior (anonymous) says...
I think Wakarusa was one of those things I never did because it was in my home town. Maybe now I can go to the show and not worry about people destroying our parks. I like the people and the music, but I'm not sure it was a positive thing for Lawrence.
December 14, 2008 at 8:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
coulior (anonymous) says...
I think Wakarusa was one of those things I never did because it was in my home town. Maybe now I can go to the show and not worry about people destroying our parks. I like the people and the music, but I am not sure it was a positive thing for Lawrence.
December 14, 2008 at 8:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
meggers (anonymous) says...
I attended Wakarusa a few times, but I, too, didn't much care for having it local. Not for environmental reasons, as I felt that the organizers minimized the long-term impact on the park as much as possible. There is just something liberating about the anonymity of attending a festival of this type far from home. That was definitely one of the appeals of Bonnaroo, which I've attended twice. I liked the smaller atmosphere of Waka and the location of Bonnaroo, so the move to Arkansas might actually be perfect. It does suck that the narrow-mindedness of some in this community and the heavy-handed tactics of law enforcement drove this festival away. In Tennessee, the locals are extremely friendly and appreciative of the Bonnaroo crowd, even though they are about as far removed from the jam band/hippie experience as one can get. They recognize a good thing for their local economy when they see it. Although it's on private property, the organizers hire off-duty mounties to provide assistance to festival-goers when it's needed. They're there basically to help anyone who needs it and to keep the peace, NOT to seek out people to bust. That's starkly different than what was going down at Wakarusa a couple of years ago.
December 15, 2008 at 10:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scary_manilow (anonymous) says...
I'm the opposite of bitter. I'm JUBILANT! If these legions of fucking hippies ever brought a red cent into this town, I sure as hell never saw it, so my worldview is nothing but pink at this news. Does this mean BrettCo is packing up his bags and moving down south, too?
December 15, 2008 at 11:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
scary_manilow, wouldn't think so, other than for the event itself and some scouting here and there. wakarusa was just one of pipeline's events, as you probably know. and i don't think this is anywhere close to a "eff lawrence, i'm taking my biz and my life outta town 4 eva!" kinda thing. just a relocation of one event - albeit a huge one. and the bonarroo guys sure don't live in manchester. you can produce these events from a distance for a while. and just because you're not seeing the pennies doesn't mean they aren't there and making their way to you in one way or another. the city budget was more in the black when this was here. and w/o it they're, well, w/o it. meggers, knowing the area, i think the interactions w/ local folk and festival-goers will be similar to that in tennessee. there will be some complaints, i'm sure, but for the most-part i think this will be well-received. alm77, though, that's not to say that there won't also be some strict law-enforcement in surrounding areas. this will be seen as a revenue stream for highway patrol, i'm sure.
December 16, 2008 at 2:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )