Kira Hoefler is a 20-year-old college student from Wilimington, Delaware who has attended the Bonnaroo Festival the past two years in a row. Hoefler first gained interest in the festival through her brother, who had gone nearly every year since the perennial performances in 2002.
Hoefler and I share mutual friends, and she will be part of the large group of people from all over the eastern shoreline that I will travel to Tennessee with this June. No doubt, she will serve as a bit of a tour guide for us less-experienced patrons.
In a telephone interview, Hoefler spoke to Bonnaroo or Bust about some past highlights, the strange people one encounters at Bonnaroo and crucial supplies needed to survive at the four-day festival.
Bonnaroo or Bust: What year did you first go, how many times have you gone and what made you decide to go?
Kira Hoefler: I went 2007, and what made me decide to go was my brother had gone for many years before. I actually wanted to go in 2006, but I wasn’t allowed to go because I wasn’t of age yet. I’ve gone two times.
BOB: What has been your favorite show that you’ve seen, and why?
KH: That’s a tough one, can I have a tie? I’d say between Widespread Panic and Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam and Widespread played last year, and Widespread also played in 2007. I’m going with Widespread, I actually love Widespread, because you can just jam and dance all night long, and they play way past their time. They were supposed to play from like 8 p.m. to midnight, but they’d play 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. And you can just go all night, and just dance.
BOB: What sets Bonnaroo apart from other concert experiences?
KH: That it’s four days long of all intense, non-stop music whenever and wherever you want, and whatever kind of music you want.
BOB: What’s your favorite part of being at Bonnaroo?
KH: Just being with people; being around a huge group of people, meeting new friends and being with my friends. The socialization part of it.
BOB: What’s the craziest person you’ve ever met at Bonnaroo?
KH: Oh god, I don’t remember. I mean, you meet so many crazy people. People just come up to you out of nowhere and start talking to you about the oddest things. You’ll notice when you get there, they’ll be absolutely off-the-wall people and people will just come up to you out of nowhere – oh, you know what, here we go. There was a guy that stopped in our tent last year and just came in, sat down and hung out for like two hours and I don’t know what world he was in. He was just going on for like two hours about anything and everything. We had to kick him out, I mean, it was just time to go.
BOB: What are you looking forward to this year?
KH: I’m looking forward to being with my friends and as far as music-wise, I’m not too excited about Bruce Springsteen, but Nine Inch Nails should be a pretty good one. And I’m hoping for a couple add-ons to the lineup. I would really love to see Widespread there, but I don’t think they’re coming this year. They’re going to the 10,000 Lakes Festival this year.
BOB: What do you wish you would have known as a first-timer that you know now?
KH: Just what to bring. The supplies that you need and knowing what to pack – a mist bottle, for one. I was lucky that I had my brother with me and that he pretty much had everything there that I would have needed. But if I would have gone by myself without having him there the first time, I would have lacked a lot of things that I needed. A mist bottle, seriously, because you need to spray yourself with cold water. Multiple coolers, because you need coolers for food, one for water and you definitely need a cooler by itself for beer; fear no beer, never run out of beer. A good tent, you need a sturdy tent, that’s for sure. I’ve seen tents blow up in the air and people’s campsites just absolutely wrecked, especially if it rains. A good vehicle, you definitely need a good vehicle. Our neighbor’s broke down last year and it had to get taken down and fixed, and it cost them a couple thousand dollars. But in all, supplies; that’s what I panicked about the most, like what do I bring? That’s why I’m relying on my brother this year. I’m going over his house and I’m taking everything we’ve used before so I don’t have to worry about it.
Bonnaroo or Bust! 