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Bonnaroo 2025: Rain threat can't kill the vibe as festival gets underway
If there's one thing true about Bonnaroo fans, it's that a little rain won't stop the party or kill the good vibes.
With tents staked tight and canopies double knotted, The Farm in Manchester, Tennessee, slowly filled up June 12 with campers ready to take on the wind and the rain at this year's 23rd annual — unless you don't count the two canceled years— Bonnaroo music festival.
Despite a little anxiety from the 2021 tropical storm that canceled the festival days before it was scheduled to kickoff, this year's event is business as usual.
"We feel like we're prepared for it [rain]," said Austin Donithan, from Roanoke, Virginia while enjoying a meal with his family in Outeroo. "[We have] a bunch of tarps instead of tents this year. We have E-Z cubes, so it's a little bit easier to protect and keep things from getting wet."
His brother-in-law, Eli Lupacchino, is counting on the rain to not drown out their good time.
"I looked at the weather this year and it doesn't look too bad," he said.
Lupacchino, a 5-year festival veteran, said the festival's close-knit, friendly atmosphere has kept him coming back year after year.
"People will give you the shirt off their backs if you need it," he said. "It's great."
But yes, rain is coming.
More: They've been going to Bonnaroo for more than 10 years. Why these 'roo veterans keep going back: 'It'll change you'
The National Weather Service predicted showers and thunderstorm chances every day of the festival. Chances for thunderstorms ranged anywhere from 20% to 90% with Saturday having the highest risk. It will, hopefully, keep temperatures below 90.
Thunderstorms and lightning could threaten performances for any of the 150 artists, delaying them in the schedule, or, in extreme circumstances, causing a cancelation.
Still, attendees are looking forward to seeing their favorite acts take the stage, despite the forecast.
"It's going to be muddy!" said an enthusiastic Meaghan Burton, from St. Pete, Florida "I just want to put my hiking boots on and get through it."
Burton is most looking forward to seeing Rainbow Kitten Surprise on June 13, when the weather service is predicting an 80% chance of showers and thunderstorms after 7 p.m.
Her mother-in-law, Jennifer Moore, has braved more intense Bonnaroo years, she said.
"It'll be fine," said Moore, who in 2009 broke her foot in a mud pit during the final Beastie Boys concert.
For Moore, the annual festival is a family affair and an opportunity to expose her four children to different communities and walks of life, she said. The Tullahoma native and 16-year-veteran of the festival has been bringing her children, ages 34, 29, 20, and 19, to the festival since 2008.
"Politics, religion, sexual orientation — all gets thrown out the window when you're in here and I really enjoy that," she said. "The two young ones I brought in when they were still dressed up in spiderman outfits and in little red wagons."
Luke Combs, Tyler the Creator, Olivia Rodrigo and Hozier are scheduled to headline this year. And in what seems to be a Millennial fever dream, Avril Lavigne, Vampire Weekend, Aly &AJ, Arcade Fire, Nelly and Natasha Bedingfield are also scheduled to play.
This year's festival is also the first appearance of a brand new, one-of-a-kind "Infinity Stage" featuring spatial sound, synchronized lights and a three-dome, open-air design for an immersive 360° experience.
Diana Leyva covers trending news and service journalism for the Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@ or follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @_leyvadiana
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Bonnaroo returns to The Farm for 2025 Tennessee music festival
