Photos by Phil Clarkin
Backwoods at Mulberry Mountain released its full lineup in early March, featuring powerhouse headliners REZZ, Umphrey’s McGee, and Zeds Dead. However, the insane announcements have yet to stop, and they do not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Recently, a new camping experience, CounterKulture, was announced as an add on for campers. The CounterKulture Soundcamp provides attendees shade camping within the soundcamp, free Sunday morning catered breakfast, and a ton of awesome Backwoods swag! For only an additional $20, I would say this is definitely worth it. Out of all of these fantastic additions to the music festival though, my favorite has got to be the workshops.
It is always great to get out of your comfort zone and try new things, and Backwoods has you covered! There are a wide variety of workshops for everyone. There are workshops for flow arts, meditation, yoga, etc. Seriously, what more could a music festival enthusiast ask for?!
All of these workshops sound so interesting and fascinating, and you can bet that I will do my best to attend as many of these as I can. Luckily, many of these are conducted several times over the course of the weekend for those who may have a set conflict. Some that particularly have my eye are the hoops workshop, forbidden knowledge, introduction to astrology, and ancient religions. I’m so upset I’m not arriving until Friday because silks aerial yoga sounds like an incredible experience.
For now, we will just have to endure the agonizing wait leading to May 31st-June 2nd. For people, like me, who just can’t stop thinking of Backwoods every day, its YouTube channel has a ton of festival recaps, behind-the-scenes episodes, and interviews from previous years. I have been binge watching these a lot recently, and they are super fascinating and just add to the suspense!
There are so many killer artists featured on the Backwoods 2019 lineup, and there’s no way I can write about every single act I want to see. To name a few though, I am super excited to see Space Jesus and Minnesota perform for the first time, and I’m so relieved both are doing two sets so I can worry less about potential set conflicts. Recently, I saw PEEKABOO perform at BUKU Music + Art Project, too. He absolutely slayed there and provided all the wubs and dubs a girl could possibly ask for. I’m excited to see what he brings to Backwoods! Trust me when I say that this music festival is not one to miss. My 11 hour drive from Milwaukee to Ozark is going to be absolutely brutal, but I know it is going to be 100 percent worth it. Until then, I’ll just be anxiously awaiting for Backwoods’ arrival to come!
You can purchase your tickets to Backwoods here. Early bird tickets are still available, starting at $213 before fees, with payment plans available. Other add ons are available for shade camping, CounterKulture camping, etc. I’ll see you on the mountain!