r/bonnaroo

How early do the cops start posting up? Was thinking about getting there a couple days earlier than Monday(arriving Monday to work) and trying to avoid the stress of having a million cops on the road but if they will already be posted no point

Not trying to have a debate, just looking for ideas. If this isn’t your cup of tea no worries, keep scrolling and enjoy your roo✌🏼

Really can’t stand that the festival is in TN anymore. We have debated not going because of the laws that they have been passing over the years and things just keep getting worse.

That being said, I’m not going to purchase anything in TN except to top off my tank before entering the festival (actually debating bringing a gas can for this instead but not sure). For the first time ever, I’m not going to buy merch on site. I won’t be buying a single thing from the general stores either. Can’t completely avoid purchasing some food items while inside centeroo but overall I will be spending significantly less than I have in any previous year.

This is just to limit my tax contribution to the state. I feel like this is really the only thing I can do to fight back because I’ve already invested so much into actually going year after year. I’m wondering if anyone has any other suggestions for small ways we can fight back? Would love to talk ideas 🫶🏼

PS I already write to/call representatives and do those things, but I’m looking for more than that

Hey fellow Roovians…it’s been so long! This will be similar to my last post from 2025 as usual! 

I’m still working as an associate attorney for Mitchell & Mitchell, and have been practicing almost 5 years now doing exclusively criminal work.

I am really excited to carry on the tradition of helping this community of wonderful Redditors by giving information…and I’ll answer what questions I can! I believe that I can be a voice for your questions and concerns, as well as the voice and contact person for my LOCAL firm here in Middle Tennessee.

 

In my 2025 post, I mentioned that I am a long-time attendee of Bonnaroo. This will be my 14th consecutive year! As a somewhat newly licensed attorney, I can answer most of your questions, and if I cannot I have been given explicit permission from the managing partner of my firm to relay questions that I am unsure of directly to him and give you the best and most accurate information. Although I am new as an attorney (5 years officially last month), I’m in an extremely unique learning and working situation, as my supervising attorney, Jack Mitchell, has been practicing locally in criminal defense for over 30 years. That’s in addition to having a great working relationship with the district attorney assigned to Bonnaroo cases.

 

 I wanted to continue the tradition of this post because I do believe that people on this sub get some good benefit from it and share details of the process for handling charges that can change from year to year. This is a place to ask questions you may have, and I will try to answer everything I can (and if not, I will do my best to get the answer for you). As someone who loves attending Bonnaroo and being part of the community there, I hope you don’t need this information, but it is here in case you do.

 The current elected District Attorney brought changes to the way criminal charges resulting from the festival were handled. In years past, criminal citations and charges were treated differently during Bonnaroo. Those who caught charges (defendants) were sent a letter from the District Attorney’s Office and the Court Clerk indicating that with the payment of a fine, the charges would be dismissed or retired after a certain period of time. The more serous the offense, the larger the fine assessed.

 The last several years, criminal charges resulting from Bonnaroo were supposed to be treated the same as every other crime in Coffee County. However, what we found is that the process for festival offenses is still much different than the process used the rest of the year, and we expect more of the same this year.

 What does this mean for you? If you are arrested or cited for any criminal offense while you are in Coffee County for Bonnaroo, you will have to make regular court appearances (REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE CITING OFFICER TELLS YOU) or have a licensed attorney appear on your behalf, and you will be prosecuted through the justice system. It’s annoying, for sure, but if you don’t show, and don’t have permission to not appear, the penalties could increase.

Probably the best advice we could give you when dealing with law enforcement is to exercise your right to remain silent. Along with this, you should not willingly consent to the search of your person, bags, vehicle, or campsite (other than when you enter the tollbooths). An officer may go ahead and search anyway, but giving consent immediately removes any chance of suppressing the contraband they find.

 We understand that sometimes unfortunate things happen, and at Bonnaroo it is usually a case of bad luck and timing rather than bad people or actions. If you find yourself in this situation and need the assistance of an attorney, you can contact us through Reddit, at (615) 896-4211, [emily@mitchellattorneys.com](mailto:emily@mitchellattorneys.com), or through our website at mitchellattorneys.com. We can work with you on fees and will try to minimize travel and costs for out of state clients.

 The major benefit of retaining an attorney with knowledge of the system is most of the leg work and negotiation can be done prior to the first time you are required to be in court. For most of our clients in past years, they were only required to make one court appearance, and for others (depending on the charges and criminal history) we were able to completely avoid the need for their appearance in court. Almost everyone we represented in past years was able to keep the conviction off their record and have their charges expunged.

 Every situation is different, but our knowledge of the local judicial system and professional relationship with the District Attorney’s office will help ensure the most favorable result for your individual case.  I will be on the farm experiencing the festival as always, and I’ll have koozies and business cards with me, lol! Enjoy your time in Middle Tennessee and at Roo. Also, look for our sign prior to entering and, like the sign says, take a picture JUST IN CASE.

 

 

\*NEW INFO FOR THIS YEAR (2026)\* 

The last couple of years a number of personal vehicles were seized during police shakedowns. This is just an FYI that if you have the unfortunate interaction with law enforcement, there is a potential for them to seize your car. When this happens, you will have to essentially buy your car back from them. This is not the same for rental cars, as they have to return the rental back to the company it came from. 

Also—if you are caught se(ll)ing to an undercover officer, be prepared to have more serious consequences than if you are just cited for possession.

 

 

\*\*TLDR:\*\* while this whole post is informative, basically this is about Coffee County’s Bonnaroo citation procedures and helpful information.

hi! i’m going to bonnaroo for the first time but i’m a little bit nervous about the camping because i’ve only been to festivals with literally 1/10th of the amount of people that are going here. it’s a pretty huge festival but it looks so much fun! Can we like book a hotel or something?? I heard there is a re entry fee for 40$

Lineups for all of Outeroo just dropped, including the Wednesday Campground Kickoff Party in Groop camping! We're so excited to host and share the event with everyone who wants to attend this year! In addition to that, the Thursday LN Skrillex afters are going to be a blast! Can't wait to see everyone on the farm!

Be sure to check out the full schedule for all of Outeroo here: https://www.bonnaroo.com/schedule

And check out all of the awesome Outeroo events all weekend! A ton of work goes into making this part of Roo a special celebration of community, art, and music! Big shoutouts to our friends in House of Yes, SooperGroop, Fractal Bloom, Roo Bus, and everyone else pitching in to provide fun activities for the Farm!!!

https://preview.redd.it/872bczfjvj0h1.png?width=665&format=png&auto=webp&s=0b1f0cd88ef626047714dce2f71b64e5cba89718

Hi! It’s my first roo in many years and I can’t remember how thorough the camping security is. I know there is dogs and such but more or less I’m wondering how strict they are. Thanks, happy Roo!

Hey! I know there is still time until Bonnaroo but all my friends have received their wristbands in the mail and I still haven’t even gotten the notification that mine shipped. Should I be concerned or have a lot of other people not gotten shipping confirmation yet either? Thanks!

I’ve gotten so many great ideas from everyone’s tips on here, but now I wanna know what’s your favorite product to bring to Roo that has made your experience better?

My top three are:

1. A foam roller
2. These portable work lights. They’re magnetic so they stick to the canopy poles and are perfectly bright enough that I don’t need any other lights at camp.
3. A water jug pump

I accidentally bought a carpool camping pass Wednesday entry. We only have two coming. I was just going to buy the regular one but they are sold out now. Is there anything I can do about this?

Ok, I know I’m crazy but hear me out.

I have some fire fits planned for bonaroo that would be completed with the right boots.

However, I fear my thrifted boot collection of sizes 7 - 9 is not cut out for the grounds of Roo and also I don’t want to ruin them.

Does anyone have any good recommendations of stylish women’s boots that would be comfortable and well suited for Roo?

Again, everyone is probably going to flame me in the comments for even suggesting boots but whatever if anyone has actual recs lmk 😁

Is there a dedicated space to leave canopies and other items I can not bring back home with me (flying in) I dont wanna just leave it at my campsite abandoned, would love to "donate" it so to speak if there is a general space for items like that? I know a cleaning crew will do a pass of the grounds after, hoping to at least make peoples jobs easier 😄

What are you guys using to lay down on the ground around the fest? Blankets, towels, moonmats, sleeping bags??