Time to go BUKU (again!)
It’s my favorite time of year – the beginning of festival season!
As winter fades away, dreams of endless spring and summer nights at music festivals enter my subconscious. To be brief, I am thoroughly excited to return to some of my favorite festivals in 2015. BUKU Music + Arts Project has always had a special place in my heart. It’s always been relatively small and kept a humble, yet quirky demeanor. Despite those qualities, it delivers a high quality event that sells out every year. This year, the organizers of BUKU are on track to really out do themselves and set the festival ahead of the rest! First of all, the lineup had one of the most explosive (and revealing) releases I have ever seen. Everyone was talking about this little 2-day festival set in March around the holidays!
So, with headliners like Bassnectar, A$AP Rocky, Passion Pit, Die Antwoord, STS9, TV On The Radio, Porter Robinson and more….returning fans and new fans are excited to be part of the fest in 2015!!! There is one draw back to having such a stacked lineup. With only two days of music and four stages, there are definitely some scheduling conflicts. Luckily, BUKU is held on a relatively small area (which is also why tickets tend to sell out…giving everyone room to dance and be safe)! It’s very realistic to plan on seeing one act at the Power Plant stage and another in the Back Alley with a quickly paced 7 minute walk in between.
I have a two-part methodology for choosing which artist to see when a couple of my favorites conflict. First, think about which one you will have more of an opportunity to see in the future. For example, I like Pell and Robert DeLong relatively equally and they are playing at the same time. However, I know that Robert DeLong will also be performing at at least one more festival I plan on attending this year. So, I might lean towards catching Pell. Second, think about which artist you are truly digging right before you go to the fest. This is pretty obvious logic to me but some people forget about it…go see whoever you will be most excited and hyped to see right NOW! Honestly, the most important thing to keep in mind when approaching conflicts in a schedule…don’t worry or complain too much about it!!! Remember, you are lucky enough to be able to go to the festival at all and have the opportunity to see so many great artists!!! Your life rocks right now. You will have a great time even if you just wander around with out looking at a schedule (seriously, try that sometime – it’s very freeing).
Anyway, enough about the lineup – we all know it’s great per usual. Let’s get into the nitty gritty details of the festival. Being in New Orleans in the middle of March means the weather is pretty unpredictable. Typically, the days will be lovely in the 60’s but the nights still have the potential to get quite chilly in the 40’s. The festival is held right along the canal, so the wind tends to add a little of a chill factor once the sun goes down. I recommend leaving your NOLA hotel/hostel/house with a few layers (the re-entry policy is that you may do so ONCE each day). And of course, there’s always a chance of rain.
One thing I always recommend for BUKU is comfortable shoes! Especially, if you plan on walking to the venue. You will be on your feet a lot and most of the terrain at Mardi Gras World is relatively hard, paved surfaces. The organizers have added cool seating and shade areas each year that can help to give your legs a rest. So, if you tend to have some knee/back/ankle pain when you’re on your feet for extended amounts of time…it might be smart to pack some Advil to alleviate some of that.
And of course, NOLA knows how to stay up partying all night! So, BUKU is hosting some late night parties at some cool venues in the city. These are definitely worth checking out!
New Orleans is a great town to hold a festival in. Make sure to spend some time exploring the city! It’s basically exploding with culture. Some of the best art, food and street performers in the country! BUKU will be hosting some of NOLA’s great graffiti artists on site at Mardi Gras World. It will be hard to miss the exhibit….it’s going to be 17 giant boards on scaffolding with artists creating what their minds’ desire. Each piece will be auctioned off after the festival!
For any other info about BUKU 2015, check out their helpful website http://thebukuproject.com/
