Posted on

FloydFest: Family Friendly Music Festival Camping

When a writer noted last year that FloydFest had made TIME magazine’s list ‘240 Reasons to Celebrate America’  as a “Summer Fests We Love,” FloydFest in Floyd, Virginia, and its co-creators Kris Hodges and Erika Johnson were being feted, it came as no surprise to those who know the event and the founders. To hear FloydFest exec Sam Calhoun sing its praises, the event is rockin’ on a roll – a 20-year roll. No small part of that is the smallest attendees at this welcoming festival.

Continue reading “FloydFest: Family Friendly Music Festival Camping”

Posted on

Siberia No Longer: Bands, Music Festivals Calling On South Florida

Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule at Boca’s Sunset Cove

If you’re a live music-loving South Florida native, it’s a great time to get your tunes on. It wasn’t that long ago that the southern stretch of the Sunshine State was a musical Siberia. Plenty of arena- and stadium-filling acts – Elton John, U2, The Rolling Stones, and Lady Gaga – would regularly and dutifully venture south of Orlando, bringing in tow tickets ranging in the hundreds of dollars – before the scalpers unleash their bots and resale pillaging.

But bands more befitting a smaller theater or concert hall – and tickets rarely topping $30 – avoided the last 200 miles of the state. After all, 400-plus miles r/t is a heluva road trip to play to a few hundred loyal fans.

Continue reading “Siberia No Longer: Bands, Music Festivals Calling On South Florida”

Posted on

FloydFest Collaborations: One-Time-Only Sets

For music festival fans and those who roadtrip in search of a special festival camping experience – with that stellar, once-in-a-lifetime musica performance – FloydFest has been home to some impressive musical collaborations.  Dating back to the festival’s beginning in 2002, that’s been a mission. As co-founder Kris Hodges says, a successful collaboration can be priceless (check out this list of past lineups). These things don’t just happen. They take thought and detail, some aligning of the stars (both metaphorically speaking and the musicians themselves), and a heartfelt willingness to pivot when shit goes sideways. After all, the show must go on.

In the third of a three-part conversation with Hodges and COO Sam Calhoun, RoadtripMojo explored the role of musical collaborations in the 80-acre spread on the Blue Ridge plateau, how festival friends and family stepped up to avert what could have been a fan-disaster – and instead created the Buffalo Mountain Jam, FloydFest’s unique contribution to the collaboration scene. This year’s BMJ promises to be over the top, with this year’s Grammy winners Kacey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile, and Fantastic Negrito on the bill.


Continue reading “FloydFest Collaborations: One-Time-Only Sets”

Posted on

FloydFest: Candy for a Festival Camper’s Ears – and Eyes

There’s something about docking your RV or pitching your tent in 80 acres in rural Virginia that makes any camper giddy about communing with Mother Nature. To the music festival enthusiast, camping amid such beauty – with a line up that includes String Cheese Incident, Phil Lesh and the Terrapin Family Band, Kacey Musgraves, Tyler Childers, Margo Price, and Leftover Salmon is enough to make you salivate.

Set along the line that separates Patrick and Floyd counties in western Virginia, FloydFest is a camping feast for any festival goer’s senses – eyes, ears, and spirit.

Continue reading “FloydFest: Candy for a Festival Camper’s Ears – and Eyes”

Posted on

FloydFest: Two Decades of Camping & Jams in Western Va.

Take 80 acres in rural Virginia an hour’s drive out of Roanoke. Drop in a line-up of the top musicians and acts from across the jam, blues, bluegrass, Zydeco, Appalacian, and Americana space. Create scenic views from the Blue Ridge Plateau that would make a National Geographic photographer’s shutter finger envious.

And you have FloydFest.

Bordering Patrick and namesake Floyd counties, the festival is pushing two decades as a staple in the Midlantic coast music scene. Before there was Wanee (RIP), Mountain Jam, Peach, or Lockn’, there was FloydFest.

Continue reading “FloydFest: Two Decades of Camping & Jams in Western Va.”