The ADD Guide to Summer Camp 2009

Words and Videos by Benji Feldheim It started with two stages. Bands played on one large stage at the bottom of a hill and under a tent out in the woods over two days. A red barn with room for no more than a thousand was used for musician clinics during the day and late shows going into the early morning. Tents dotted only the wooded area east of a main road that snaked all the way from the barn to the main stage, with nothing but empty west and north. You could lie in your tent between five and 10 in the morning and just scream. People also lying in their tents would hear you and join in.

Summer Camp Festival 2001

The organizers then stretched it a day, making Summer Camp three days before Memorial Day weekend. And they added the third “Sunshine” stage. It stood west of the main dirt road, nearly as big as the main stage – which was then dubbed the Moonshine Stage. The extra day on Fridays was followed by a Thursday “pre-party” and two more stages called Starshine and Campfire. The barn became too tiny for access to all attendees, as numbers swelled from just over 1,000 when the fest was first thrown in 2001, to 10,000 this year. Not only the numbers grew. The grass area north of the road is filled nearly as far as one can see with tents, booth spots for various breeds of non-profits and a full bar. There’s a tent that alters its roles from yoga class to coffee house-like stage for acoustic sets to a DJ tent real late for those “too excited to sleep” (in the immortal words of Trey Anastasio). But somehow it never feels cramped. One can still get to their campsite from near the soundboard at the Moonshine stage during a set break and get back without missing a thing. READ ON to check out the videos Benji put together...