Camp with us!

UPDATE: Craigslist flagged our post. I'm amazed it stayed up as long as it did. But you can't say we didn't warn you. We were spiked by a shithead angry that nobody would take a day off from work to provide her a ride at her convenience. Thanks, Pat!

So if you've indicated an interest via an anonymous CL reply, but never given us a real email address or phone number, our sole link is gone. We can't follow up on any requests or promises.

If you found your way here, presumably you're still interested. It's up to you to email michaelhagen at gmail.com to get into the loop.

Hope to see you this weekend!





The mainstage concerts are great, but most longtime festers wiil agree that the campground is where the real magic happpens. Wandering through the carnival of extravagantly decorated campsites, joining in a hundred jams or song circles (or just listening), skits, game shows,  foot races, mud wallows, beer pong and general harmless drunkenness.

If you've never been to the festival but want to join the fun, or been to the concerts but never camped, or are ready to return after a long exile, or just want to trade your current evil companions for a new set of evil companions, today is your lucky day. We're eagerly seeking fresh faces with new jokes to join our campsite, temporarily known as The Campsite With No Name.

WARNINGS: Along with 6,499 other close friends, you'll pitch your tent in a recently mowed hay field. If you're allergic to hay, you're just plain screwed. There is NO SHADE in the campground except what you bring with you, LITTLE SILENCE when you cram that many people into a few acres, NO REAL PRIVACY although folks pretend not to hear what goes on inside your tent. If it rains in the days before, THERE WILL BE MUD. If not, THERE WILL BE DUST. If it rains during the fest, YOU WILL BE DRENCHED and MUD WILL WORSEN. If it's hot, YOU WILL SWEAT. If it's 100-degree hot, fire trucks will HOSE YOU DOWN unless they're busy fighting brush fires. If a HURRICANE PASSES OVER, the show goes on. Paradoxically, after a scorching hot day, the NIGHTS WILL BE COLD -- shivering, see-your-breath, bladder-challenging cold. None of this is the fault of The Campsite With No Name, so do not be a whiny little bitch.

Steve Z arrives early and will secure sufficient acreage on high, dry, relatively level land, the approximate size of Rhode Island. Probably in the area designated Quiet Camping (which name is a hope, not a legally binding promise). Last year we were near Gully Road, which follows the tree line, close to the porta-pots outside the Packer Gate, and convenient to the Packer Bridge to weekend/camping parking lot. Warn Steve in advance and he'll stake out a tarp to reserve a space adequate to your tent. Show up unheralded and you'll settle for leftovers (and like it). Expect a few canopies to shelter from sun or rain, but we can always use more. Someones will haul down drinking and washing water. There will probably be tools and extra supplies, and there's a general store in the campground for anything we forgot.

Ask for help loading your stuff in (there are wagons), setting up, knocking down and loading out. The earliest arrival for non-volunteers is 10am Thursday, though people with jobs arrive as late as Friday night. Many pack up Sunday morning to make a quick break after the evening concert, but those who stay over Sunday night get the added pleasure of helping Steve break camp on Monday.

We're not planning to cook this year, instead living off concession food and whatever's in our coolers. There will be a propane stove, and we're hoping someones will take responsibility for the first pot of coffee each morning. Sat and Sun there will probably be a minyan for the all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at the Upper Salford firehouse. No contributions of snacks, sodas or alcohol to the common table are ever refused, with the exceptions of Zima, Four Loko and Steel Reserve malt liquor. If someones were to make a Friday morning run to nearby Harleysville for groceries, extra beer, WalMart needs and the like, those persons would become strong contenders for camper of the year. Just sayin'. Another urgent Friday morning task is to bring back program books from the concert area as soon as it opens, so folks can plan their day's wandering among five different stages.

Each morning, someones need to stake down tarps in the concert area to guarantee us sufficient space with a good view for the evening show. Before you wander off each day, know where that evening's rendezvous point will be.

If you want to carry alcohol from the campground (officially forbidden upon but de facto tolerated) into the concert areas (actively interdicted) ask about contraband concealment strategies before you leave camp.

We tend to wander the campground rather than cluster at our own site after midnight, so if you're the kind of candyass who retires early, you have some hopes of a good night's sleep. The rest of us are seeking out sings and jams and general tomfoolery after midnight. There is an "official" open mike stage near Main Street which is consistently good. How the evening goes depends on weather, blood sugar, mood, levels of drunkenness and the unpredictable vibe of 6,500 people from night to night.

This year's returning veterans (when last counted) include:
Steve Z, our early scout
Sean, who came up with the brilliant idea to find new faces on craigslist
Brad, master of the mountain dulcimer
Bert, who travels light
Mike H, who has been cultivating potential newbies via craigslist emails
Connie, who shows up
Catherine, teenage daughter to Connie
Miguel, brother to Sean
Neil, who I have met only once
Gerrie
Barry

With expected guest appearances by our mutual friends:
Six (no, not Blossom's best friend as played by Jenna Von Oy on the 1980s sitcom)
Mrs. Six

New to our company this year:
Hannah, teenage friend to teenage Catherine
Mary, Esq.

Our concerts-only friends who are too la-di-dah to camp in the mud:
Craig, brother to Brad
Tracey, wife to Craig
The Lovely Tavia, girlfriend to Sean

And a horde of craigslist newbies to be named as they commit their asses to the project.

Old friends: Please make a comment below to introduce yourself to our new friends.
Newbs: Once you're committed, or at least not fleeing in horror, make a comment as well.