Who’s ready to go BUKU?!?!
We are excited to be heading to the festive city of New Orleans in a couple of weeks for the Buku Music & Art Project! I attended Buku last year and absolutely loved it. The festival is nestled on the fair grounds of Mardi Gras World. The site is so unique. One of the stages is inside of a large warehouse full of all of the float parts from the previous Mardi Gras parade! The main stage is on the edge of the river with the power plant as the backdrop.
The festival is held on March 21 & 22. It’s only 2 days, which is kind of great if you have to be at work the next Monday morning. Don’t worry, 2 days is plenty of time to rage to some great music! The line up this year is a beauty. Buku has found it’s own little niche with booking quality EDM, hip-hop, and weird psychedelic rock artists. Headliners include The Flaming Lips, Ellie Goulding, Zedd, Kaskade, The Glitch Mob, Nas (performing with DJ Premier!!!!), Explosions in the Sky, and many more!
Here’s what you’ll be hanging with at the “Float Den” stage. Super, indeed
As far as surviving Buku…it’s not a camping festival. So, I have faith that everyone can survive. What I want to offer is some advice on thriving at Buku!!! Because the festival is only 2 days long, you gotta make sure you live it up every second to its fullest.
Seeing the music: Luckily, the stages are really close to each other. So, don’t be scared to plan on bouncing in between all of the stages throughout the day and night! Definitely bring comfortable shoes…everything is paved and there aren’t a whole lot of places to sit other than the hard ground. My feet were pretty sore from walking around for 2 days on hard surface. Don’t be scared to go early! The music starts in the afternoon but don’t be afraid to get there when it starts. Last year, I caught an incredible set from St. Lucia (who opened the fest and are HUGE now!) with only like 20 other people.
Enjoying the sites: The music ends around midnight (give or take an hour or 2)…then, you get to go play in the city of New Orleans! Plus, Buku is going to be sponsoring after parties. The venues, Republic and The Howlin’ Wolf, are within walking distance from Mardi Gras World. Mad Decent and LuckyMe are curating the shows at Republic. Also, you get all of Sunday to walk around and explore some of the city. If you’re lucky, you might get to have a beignet.
Tasting the FOOD: Since the music doesn’t start until the afternoon, you have time to check out the local restaurants. And you will be mad at yourself if you don’t. For example, last year…I tried pizza with tomatoes, potatoes, bacon, and crawfish on it! So much culinary exploring to be done!
As far as what to wear…the weather can be kind of iffy. It might be chilly. Last year, it got cold at night because of the wind coming off the delta. Definitely make sure to bring a jacket! Other than that, it’s a pretty simple fest. But it really does have so much to offer! As always, take some ear plugs. Protect those ears!!
For more info, head to http://thebukuproject.com/
For tickets (only $170), head to http://thebukuproject.com/tickets/
UPDATED: We have just learned that more seating areas have been added to the grounds. Also, a grassy area has also been opened up to be used for additional festival things!
