Thursday morning came early as the sun cast a blanket of heat over the unshaded fields of Manchester, Tennessee. My companions had not yet begun to stir but anticipation anxiety kept my eyes from resting. I had prepared for this weekend for months and I was ready for it to begin.

I was eating a Lunchable alone at 7:30 AM as a fellow approached my campsite and what he was carrying awakened my friends more quickly than the sun ever could. When he opened his mouth, I got my first taste of the Wild West that is Bonnaroo.

“Hey man, you need any acid?”

“Acid?”

“Yeah, I’ve got Molly and Special-K too.”

I looked at my watch and considered declining but what did I come here for if not to experience all this place had to offer? I knew my friends would never forgive me if I took this stranger’s candy without alerting them, so I told the young entrepreneur “Yes, but let me wake everyone. I’m sure they want some as well.”

Everyone sprang out of bed and the bargaining began. Tabs of double-dipped LSD-25 cost $10 each. The MDMA was an equal $10 per dose, which equaled out to about 120 milligrams. We didn’t get a price on the ketamine because, frankly, we were terrified of it. A K-Hole is not where you want to be in the middle of a sticky Tennessee summer. We each bought a dose of acid and some of us bought the Molly to bring us back up afterward. We would never make it to the night shows without it. Acid, as all psychonauts know, takes its toll.

The first event of the day wasn’t music at all. In fact, it was the “First (and probably last) Intergalactic Space Cat Video Festival”. It was to take place at the Cinema Tent at 2PM. We waited through the morning, keeping the drug cool in a cooler, and dropped at 1PM. The onset for LSD is somewhere between 45-90 minutes, depending on the person, so we thought we would come up just as the festival began.

It was about a 30 minute hike to Centeroo, where all the events took place. The line for the Cinema Tent may as well have been a mile long. We waited in the scorching heat for over an hour. The queue was like that of a club — one person out, one person in.

We were about half-way through the ever-growing line when the drugs began to take hold. Sounds began to change as vision subtly started to shift. The heat no longer seemed to matter as my experience became more internalized. It seemed like I stood in that damned line for an eternity but the little man with the clicker finally ushered me and the rest of my group inside.

It was the largest cinema I had ever seen. It was populated by droves of sweaty, grotesque hippiewannabees. My mind filled in the dark voids with a kaleidoscope of fractels. The festival was well underway when we finally found a group of seats large enough to accomodate us all. A film began and what we all experienced there was indescribable. The range of sights, sounds, and emotions we felt in that tent is something that no other human will understand until they experience it for themselves.

And so it is for Bonnaroo as a whole.

It is a social experiment in companionship, free-thinking, and self-reliance. It is an indescribable experience that should be felt by every human at least once in their short lives. What happens at Bonnaroo truly is magical. It is the kind of miracle that must be witnessed to be believed. Drugs, alcohol, and hippie-chic are not necessary. All it takes is a sense of adventure and anyone can have the trip of a lifetime.

AUTHOR’S NOTE — While I did attend Bonnaroo 2014 and witness many partake in the actions portrayed here, this is a work of fiction. Only a fool would indulge in such mania and own up to it.