A Brief History: Camp Bisco, Shambahla, & Burning Man
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The specific subculture of North American jam-electronic festivals is relatively new. Camping music festivals began to take place in the late 90’s, gaining more widespread popularity in the early 2000’s. Some of the earliest festivals include Camp Bisco in Pennsylvania, Shambhala in British Columbia, and Burning Man in San Francisco (which has since moved to Nevada). Each of these festivals began with distinctly different visions, but all evolved similarly over time, demonstrating the rise of the scene's most prominent cultural elements. Using these festivals as a case studies reveals how camping festivals from different geographies have evolved and influenced one another over time, ultimately sharing cultural values.
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Camp Bisco
Camp Bisco was founded in 1999 by jam-tronica band, The Disco Biscuits. According to the band’s bassist, the festival was created, “out of necessity,” because they felt they had outgrown the early timeslots they were typically given at other festivals (History of Camp Bisco). Camp Bisco gave the Biscuits control of a space where they could play when and for as long as they wanted to while showcasing other rising artists. Bisco was created to showcase and celebrate jam-tronica music, hosting artists STS9 and Umphrey’s McGee in its earliest years.
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Although the festival remains small, it has expanded its experiential offerings to more than just music. The Camp Bisco experience now includes a, “Wellness Program,” with yoga, hiking, and essential oils, acupressure, and mindfulness workshops (Camp Bisco). Further, Bisco’s location has jumped around within Pennsylvania over the years, but the festival now prides itself on being, “…one of the rare venues that is built in tune with the surrounding nature,” on Montage Mountain, PA (Camp Bisco). Though it remains a small festival, Bisco is a perfect example of one influenced by the earthy, nature-oriented values manifested in the jam-electronic camping festival scene.
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Shambhala
The first Shambhala began as a gathering of 50 people just one year before Bisco in 1998, but in addition to musical celebration, it was created as a space for deep cultural and spiritual connection. The name, “Shambhala” comes from a mythical kingdom referenced in Tibetian Buddhist and Hindu traditions, the influence of which is apparent at the festival which, like Bisco, offers yoga and mindfulness classes. The festival was incepted with the intent to showcase the power of grassroots community, and is sustained by volunteers, refusing to accept any corporate sponsorship (Shambhala Music Festival).
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As the festival has grown in size, Shambhala has become a leader in harm-reduction, known as one of the greenest and safest existing music festivals. True to its grassroots values, Shambhala is a philanthropic leader in its surrounding community, raising tens of thousands of dollars for a local hospital. It is also known for a crowd that shares what it calls “ShambhaLove,” engaging in joint rituals like the “Shamwave,” (a wave that extends across the festival grounds), and interactive projects like, “having newly made friends write on a page in their journal” (Kusnierek).
Shambhala, a predominantly electronic music festival, is heavily influenced by EDM culture, and is one of the only festivals whose lineup lasts all night long, offers free drug testing on-site, and includes a space that provides support to attendees who may be having negative drug-induced experiences (Kusnierek). The “Shambhafamily” is one of the most famed lovefests in all of festival culture, and its influence shines at newer music festivals like Electric Forest and Okeechobee that are also known for their especially familial vibes.
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Burning Man
The first Burning Man was set ablaze on a San Francisco beach in 1986 – a ceremony that erected an enormous wooden statue of a man before burning it to the ground. In the words of one of Burning Man’s earliest attendees, “Its shape was a beacon to another time and space that spoke eloquently of ritual, sacrifice, and homage” (Brill). The action of building something beautiful just to return it to the Earth echoes throughout the contemporary Burning Man experience, which embraces several “fire art” statues every year, and urges its attendees to “leave no trace” of their stay in the desert.
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Once a brief ritual, Burning Man is now a festival that hosts some of the biggest names in EDM, and is where Bassnectar first gained traction. The festival is guided by ten principles that embody the “cultural ethos” (wiki) of the festival: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy. Burning Man’s focus has always been on a holistic festival experience rather than the celebration of one particular art-form, a value that pervades contemporary camping festivals worldwide.
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Camping Festival Values: Expression, Inclusion, Conservation
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Camp Bisco, Shambhala, and Burning Man each represent a different version of contemporary festivals, but the values they emit are echoed in the broader culture. Most festivals erect art installments and activities that interact with nature, foster an environment of reciprocity among attendees and the Earth, and detach from the digital and competitive nature of Western society in North America. Festivals have also collectively evolved to emphasize the experience in addition to the actual music showcased through the series of concerts throughout the weekend. Paul Reed of the Association of Independent Festivals said of festival evolution: “Festivals in general have become more participatory, immersive, and interactive, with more of an emphasis on the overall experience as the selling point” (Hillier). As music festivals grow evermore immersive, camping festivals take the cake; as articulated simply by Alex, “you’re spending nights with these people.” Although each has its own unique style, I can best narrow the complex and nuanced culture of camping festivals to three main values: expression, inclusion, and conservation.
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Expression
In tying together the cultures across festivals, artistic expression in a conspicuously common thread. The value of artistic expression is of course, embodied in the musical performances and festival production that draw a bulk of attendees. But it is also prevalent in the fashion, dance, and tangible pieces of art distributed by festival goers themselves.
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People spend days creating their outfits for festival weekends and create and trade accessories like pins and kandi as ways to connect with others. Painters, sculptors, and jewelers sit in the booths where their art is sold, and speak with people passing through. Some perform live-paintings during festivals. Flow performance, which draws from EDM culture, is similarly interactive, and enthusiastic dancing and acrobatics during shows that may be labeled outlandish outside of festival culture are praised.
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It is not uncommon for people to visually represent their connection to the scene through tattoos inspired by artists or festivals. Like other art forms, tattoos also incite interactions among festival goers: At Electric Forest in 2014, a friend of mine was walking shirtless through a packed concert crowd, and a girl reached out to gently touch the tattoo on his shoulder without saying a word. Experiences like these, promoted by festival organizers and attendees, show a universal admiration for personal expression through art.
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Inclusion
In correspondence with artistic expression, inclusion is also a driver of camping festival culture. Interviewee Josh articulates that part of the magic at music festivals is the reciprocal kindness people share with one another: "I could call upon tons of examples where I'm at Electric Forest in the forest, and someone will see you, maybe you're frowning or you're just not dancing and having a good time, and they come up to you and start dancing with you for no reason or give you something to make you smile...reciprocating that feels really good." Festival organizers establish areas like “The Giving Tree” at Electric Forest, where attendees are encouraged to leave an item at the tree and take something else they might need, resulting in a wealth of decks of cards, lighters, candy, and the occasional stuffed animal or hat pin available to anyone that desires them.
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People that share concert and festival experiences often refer to one another as “family,” or more colloquially, “fam.” “Fam” is tacked on to the end of seemingly any word to connect people that share musical or festival experiences. "Electric Forest Family," "Phish Fam," "Pretty Lights Fam"…its use is almost profligate to the extent that it loses meaning, but nonetheless it describes the universal feeling of love and respect that festival goers share.
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This, however, does not mean that every interaction that occurs at a festival is profound. I recall a moment from Electric Forest 2016 when I was sitting in a wooden yurt-like structure with a few friends and many strangers. One man with a giant staff sat down on the edge and started trying to bring everybody into one conversation. This resulted in the awkwardness of interrupting people and their friends, not being able to hear anybody properly, and a generally surface-level discussion. To me, that moment seemed forced, but it also demonstrated the allure of the “festival family.” People take advantage of this idea in any way that they can before returning to a world where formalities are expected.
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Conservation
Many jam-electric camping festivals are pioneers in waste-reduction at live-shows, a value unique to this genre. In our interview, Tony recalls working for a country music festival called Faster Horses that generated a "sickening" amount of waste: "It just looked like a graveyard of trash. They took everything, put them in bags, and left them on the grounds for this truck to come by and pick up and throw in this huge dumpster...it was 10 times worse than anything I've ever seen." This experience exists in sharp contrast to many jam-electronic camping festivals. Shambhala, Summer Camp, and Electric Forest have extensive recycling, waste-reduction, and environmental education programs. Sonic Bloom in Colorado strives to be zero waste. Envision Festival in Costa Rica creates every stage and setup out of recyclable materials like bamboo. Burning Man does not provide trashcans at its venue, encouraging attendees to live as waste-free as possible by literally prohibiting trash on festival grounds.
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The value of environmental conservation is embodied by festival management and attendees alike. When Electric Forest declared in 2015 that it was reducing the areas in which people were allowed to set up hammocks, festival attendees showed understanding and support, even though their EF experience was, in some ways, compromised. A subgroup of Bassnectar fans called “Bassnectar Clean-Up” are known to bring their own trash bags to outdoor shows in Canada and the United States, “…picking up pretty much everything on the floor of the gigantic space” (Hooper). Camping festivals remain largely apolitical, but are universally enthusiastic about environmental conservation, which is embodied in festivals old and new.
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These values, though pervasive, are not immune to exploitation. Many people pick up on festival fashion trends without feeling a truly personal connection to the vibrant outfits and accessories they wear. The iconic Third-Eye-Pinecone necklaces, for example, are criticized for capitalizing on the trends and values of festival goers by selling slivers of pine cone, but at heavily inflated prices. Stereotypes exist within the festival scene, including a character called a “wook,” which represents an ultra-hippy moocher that exploits the giving nature of festivals without giving anything in return. And lastly, most festivals generate piles upon piles of waste, no matter the magnitude of initiatives to combat it. But despite their fallibility, these values hold strong and fuel the creative, positive, and mindful spirit of festival culture.