Sherpa ExperienceAbout Bonnaroo
Bonnaroo built the template for the modern American camping festival. Four days in a Tennessee field with a lineup that spans every genre, a community that genuinely embraces the experience, and a production scale that few festivals can match.
Bonnaroo is the blueprint. It invented the modern American festival experience and still does it better than most. The sound and production are elite — This Tent is one of the great festival stages in the world. The heat and the walk between stages are the biggest knocks, and the grounds can feel punishing by day three in a Tennessee summer. But the community is real, the lineup is consistently adventurous, and there's nothing quite like a Bonnaroo sunrise set.
Festival Info
- Location
- Manchester, TN
- Dates
- Jun 11–14, 2026
- Type
- Camping
- Price Range
- Premium
Genres
What You Need to Know
Bonnaroo is a camping festival first, music festival second. If you're not camping you're missing half of it. Centeroo is where the stages are. Outeroo is your home — the campgrounds surrounding it. Everything revolves around this two-world setup. Learn it before you arrive. Campgrounds open Wednesday morning at 8am, festival starts Thursday — arrive Wednesday to get a campsite close to Centeroo before the good spots are gone. Must be in line by 8pm.
This is Tennessee in June. It will be brutally hot during the day and surprisingly cool at night. Your tent becomes a sauna the second the sun rises — most people are up by 6am whether they like it or not. Set up a shade canopy over your campsite, not just a tent. Drink water before you're thirsty. Bring electrolytes. Sunscreen every day, no exceptions. Don't be the person who gets heat exhaustion on day one.
Get merch the first time you enter Centeroo — popular sizes and designs sell out by Saturday afternoon. The Bonnaroo Post Office has its own postmark and is only open three days a year — send a postcard, it's a Roo tradition. Ride the Ferris wheel. Find the Mushroom Fountain in Centeroo and cool off under it. Bring a flag or totem for your campsite — when you're a mile out in the back plazas, everything looks the same at 2am.
Bonnaroo's After Hours scene is legendary and underrated. Sunrise sets happen every morning — literally music as the sun comes up. The Where in the Woods UFO Stage runs all-night sets directly in Centeroo in 2026 for the first time. Late night Outeroo parties run in every plaza. If you plan to do late nights, nap in the afternoon — there's shade and trees near the stages for exactly this. This is a four-day marathon, not a sprint.
Fly into Nashville (about an hour away) — it's the closest major airport. Traffic into the Farm is notoriously bad at any hour. Once you park your car, it stays there until you leave — you can't move it. Stock it with everything you need before you pull in. The Walmart in Manchester runs out of supplies fast, especially by the second day — bring more ice, water, and food than you think you need.
2026 highlights: Skrillex headlines Thursday, The Strokes on Friday, RÜFÜS DU SOL Saturday, Noah Kahan closes Sunday. Kesha leads the SuperJam — one of the most chaotic and fun traditions at Bonnaroo. "Weird Al" Yankovic has a special late-night Saturday set called "Bigger & Weirder." Camp Busyhead is a new community camp created with Noah Kahan — morning yoga and exclusive programming for fans who sign up. Bonnaroo Radio returns in 2026 with throwback performances and live traffic updates during arrival.
Everything You Need
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