Festival goers come from near and far

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After more than 20 years, festival goers continue to flock to Manchester for the annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival to enjoy a long-weekend of great music and fun times.

Haleigh Clark and Jarod Hodges made five-hour drive from Bloomington, Indiana to enjoy the festival this year.

“It is my third and his second year,” Clark said Friday.

The pair said they will be camping out for the weekend on festival grounds.

“They always have good music, good food, good energy,” she said. “It is a fun place to be.”

Festival goers Turner Hamilton and Abbey Matheny didn’t have quite as far to drive.

“I am from here but I moved to Nashville last year,” Matheny said. “This is my tenth year, I have been coming since I was 10 years old.”

Hamilton said this is his first year attending Bonnaroo.

“It is awesome,” he said. “I have been wanting to come forever and this was the first year I was able to afford it.”

Matheny said she is looking forward to the artist lineup for this year’s festival.

“There was a really good lineup this year,” she said. “Probably about 70% of the bands I want to see.”

Matheny said the “vibe and the people” are what keeps her coming back to The Farm after a decade of attending Bonnaroo.

“It is just super nice, the music too,” she said.

Sean Anderson and Maegan Donajkowski from Northeast Michigan were enjoying the day Friday practicing some juggling under the shade of a tree during the afternoon.

The pair said they had an 11-hour drive to Manchester.

Donajkowski said it is their first time at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, and it has definitely lived up to their expectations.

Nashville resident Olen Babcock said he will spend the weekend camping with about five friends and enjoying the festival.

While normally about an hour drive, Babcock said it took them about three hours to make it onto the festival grounds.

“The traffic was the worst part of it,” he said. “I am really excited for Three 6 Mafia tonight, that has been on my list for a while.”

Babcock said it is his second time attending Bonnaroo, and he considers it to be a wonderful time.

“Everyone and everything is just so beautiful here,” he said. “There is never a dull moment, there is always something to see whether it is the people or the music and there is always a reason to go explore something here.”