Saturday, 06/17/06

Bonnaroo notebook: Into the Folds… Fun for the whole family… Edu-tainment

Into the Folds

Nashville pop singer Ben Folds helped kick off the first official day of the 2006 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on Friday, taking the second biggest stage, Which Stage, in the early afternoon and playing to a monstrous, sun-baked crowd of thousands.

The Platinum-selling Folds is no crowd-drawing slouch, but his Bonnaroo set's audience still wowed him.

"It's good to be here," he said, after wrapping up a set-opening jazz-rock-odyssey jam. "You are a (expletive) load of people."

It hadn't worn off mid-set, as he was amping the crowd for a sing-along and remarking, "I'm not sure that all you people would've fit in the Ryman last time I played."

Folds ran through a mix of tracks from his solo albums alongside best-loved tracks like "Brick" from his former band, Ben Folds Five. His much-heralded reworking of a classic Dr. Dre song whose name isn't suitable for a family publication earned a heavy dose of cheers, laughs, and a huge clap- and sing-along refrain of "B——— can't hang with the streets."

"That's the way to bring people together," Folds crowed.

— NICOLE KEIPER

Fun for the whole family

Bonnaroo's base may be dominated by teens and 20-somethings, but you'll see representatives of every age group, from toddlers to seniors, shuffling across the grounds.

The festival's party-heavy reputation may make it seem less than suited for the pre-schoolers, but they have their place at Bonnaroo, too: Kidz Jam, a child-friendly corner of the grounds that offers games, instruments, tents, toys and pint-sized chairs and tables for young folks to play with and on, along with arts and crafts activities and face-painting.

Necessities such as free lip balm, earplugs, water, sunscreen and healthy snacks (along with more fun stuff like balloons) are offered, too.

The Kidz Jam concept isn't unique to Bonnaroo. It was thought up by organizer Lorain Long, 25, a mother of three, and started at RippleFest in Blufton, Ohio.

Bonnaroo's organizers have invited Long and Kidz Jam into the fest for the past three years, though they don't fund it — funding comes through Long and her significant other, Todd Turner, and donations.

"We don't encourage people to bring kids to a music fest, but they're going to bring them, and we'd rather them have a safe, fun place to go," Turner said.

Nashville mom Lyn Fontana is a four-time Bonnaroo veteran who supports Kidz Jam and donates to it every year. Her sandbox-bound boys, Trace, 5, and Eric, 3, are 'Roo vets, too — Trace is on his fourth; Eric his third.

Fontana thinks the festival can be fun and safe for kids (she's careful to keep the boys close, and they've been taught if they get lost to show the inside of their right arm, which has Mom's cell number written on it) and that Kidz Jam is a big help.

"All the people love to see the kids, too," she said. "As we cruise through, they ask who (Trace and Eric) want to see."

Trace's pick this year, he said, is his favorite band, Rusted Root.

For more on Kidz Jam, visit Kidzjam.org.

— NICOLE KEIPER

Edu-tainment

The music at Bonnaroo generally gets the most attention, but festival organizers have, since its inception, focused on creating an ecologically focused and educational event, too.

Bonnaroo's Planet Roo collects a variety of environmental organizations and organic lifestyle companies that offer information about ecological issues and ways to be more eco-friendly.

In the middle of Planet Roo this year, an educational art installation of sorts outlines the festival's waste and recycling efforts, physically illustrated by a 3.85-ton pyramid made of blocks of crushed aluminum cans, huge cardboard bales and crushed plastic bottles.

Some estimated waste statistics from 2005's event:

• 292,500 aluminum cans.

• 316,981 glass bottles.

• 151,644 plastic bottles.

• 3,414 cardboard boxes.

Waste-management company Clean Vibes has kept about 10 percent of the event's total waste from landfills since the beginning, and it expects to keep 60 percent out this year.

To Clean Vibes owner Anna Borofsky, the fact that her company was tapped by Bonnaroo shows its organizers' commitment to the ecological cause.

"They're saying they're behind it," she said. "And they've made huge strides this year in terms of greening it in other ways."

Some of those new ways include using biodiesel fuel to run the non-music-stage generators and partnering with Tennessee company WastAway to recycle 250 tons of waste into construction materials for future events.

This is music to the ears of StopGlobalWarming.org director of outreach Lindsay Guetschow, who came to Bonnaroo to share information about things to do — using fluorescent light bulbs and low-flow showerheads — to help combat global warming.

Guetschow said she and her compatriots felt a positive response from the mix of artists and fans at Bonnaroo.

"I think this is just really encouraging, to see so many people in one place and on the same page, ready to take that message with them," she said. •

— NICOLE KEIPER

Ben Folds performs at Bonnaroo. Folds said he was impressed by the size of the crowd. (JONATHAN D. WOODS/ THE TENNESSEAN)

Alison Scott, 18, from San Jose, Calif., finds shade under a tree near the recycling display on the Bonnaroo grounds. (MANDY LUNN / STAFF)

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MORE COVERAGE

Past Years Slideshows

2005 Day One (6/9/05) Day Two (6/10/05) Day Three (6/11/05) Day Four (6/12/05)

2004 Day Two (6/11/04) Day Three (6/12/04) Day Four (6/13/04)

2003 Day One (6/12/03) Day Two (6/13/03) Day Three (6/14/03) Day Four (6/15/03)

Previous coverage:

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