Beloved Festival is an amazing magical adventure of music, yoga, art, kindness and humanity every year. Amazing warm humans attend this event. May are what I like to call "love and light" shiny people. They smile all the time, hug everyone, resolve disputes through gentle means and are what others may call crunchy hippies (never understood that reference). Honestly all amazing people to be around and they warm my heart every year with their genuine kindness and love.
But despite the fluffy, shiny exterior, arrival at a festival can test even their cool calm demeanor and tempers flare, annoyances come to the surface and smiles fall off of faces to be replaced with momentary melancholy looks of frustration or annoyance. I reference them because these are the people you never see upset at the festivals, and it seems out of place to see them upset (I get that human emotions happen).
On suggestion of one of the amazing people who works closely with the festival I decided to write an arrival guide (Thank you Memo for the suggestion!). Why should you care about an arrival guide for a festival? You show up and party right? Yes... but no. With any large scale event over 100 people, the organizers and volunteers have to coordinate and manage a lot of gear, bodies, trash, cars and stress. Basically it is organized chaos on a large scale. There are some things you can do to ease stress for you, your friends and for the dedicated team trying to make you arrive and depart in a timely manor.
To arrive and depart from the festival there are two methods:
1) Car, van, camper or carpool if you are local or up for a road trip to the event. The benefits to this is you can bring more things for your camp, costuming, clothing, food and a camp stove. You do need to pay for appropriate parking locations you wish to park. Each parking location permits you to camp in specific locations at the event.
2) Fly into Portland and take the Eco Bus! This is a little more challenging as there are set times the bus departs and space is limited for gear. Frequently I hear of people being delayed for departure from Portland and also on the return back after the event. Schedule accordingly and give yourself a few hours time before your bus when going to the festival, and extra time when returning to the airport. It will make your life easier and your event less stressful.
I tend to do Thursday arrival as it gives you more options for places to camp and situate yourself. I tend to bring gear for myself and a friend who come in from Canada, so Thursday arrival makes life easy so we can camp together. Bigger tents can be challenging as space fills up quickly. If you are arriving Friday or later, a smaller tent is suggested. They advise an 8 foot by 8 foot footprint. If you can do with less, GREAT. If you need more, that is also fine, but can be a little challenging.
Near Mosque lots include Camelot, Gazebo and the Ringing Cedars. Camelot allows you to camp in Anastasia's Alley, Lefler's Ledge and Camp Camelot. Ringing Cedars and Gazebo are spaces where camper vans and small RV's can go. Car camping is also appropriate at these two lots.
In the Heart Of It camping lots are Bardo and Shangrilot. Farther than previously mentioned parking lots, allows you to camp at Eve's Orchard (my favorite spot), Secret Lake, West Hills and Get Down Town. These locations are very close to the stage and to the Oasis, as well as food vendors, clothing vendors, art gallery, coffee house and the main stage.
Forest Camp has a parking lot that is hard park only and is the closest parking lot to the main stage. Arrival for this lot is Thursday ONLY and plan to stay until Monday, but provides beautiful camping in the woods a short walk to the stage and located closer to the Yoga Pavilion. The reason is you drive through the festival grounds to access this lot and it is a hard park situation.
The Far Mosque camping has 2 lots, one for cars, and one for large vehicle parking (no larger than 32'). This is located near the yoga pavilion and about a 15-20 minute walk to the main stage. Camp areas include Family Camp (quiet camp), Rumi's Rest, Bhakti Camp, and The Far Mosque Camping areas. There are a couple of food vendors here, but the bulk are located by the Main Stage.
Tips for Option One
- If you can fit it, bring your own collapsible cart! They have carts available on site but they are hard to come by as the load in and load out process gets underway. You will need to provide something for insurance to guarantee you bring it back when you are done. ID or other valuable item is accepted and guarded by the dedicated staff. Wait time for carts can be up to 2 hours, so to save time having your own helps greatly. Return a borrowed cart quickly for the curtsy of other attendees wanting to get situated.
- Grab your tent and go! I do this every year. I pack my car so that I can grab my tent and walk it to the location I want to camp. I set it up and then go back for my stuff with my own cart. The past two years I parked in Shangrilot, so the walk down is about 15 minutes, but saves me time from loading my gear to the gear pickup point to drive down, and then wait to offload it at the barn located near Eve's Orchard. The beauty of Forest camp is you don't need to wait for the gear van to transport you down. Departure is more frantic than arrival as you are dealing with people who arrive through the weekend. I sat for 3 hours in line this year to get my gear up to Shangrilot on the gear shuttle. Thankfully I was not on a time schedule, so the wait was not an issue. Be patient, plan to go early if you need to get gear to your car and be ready to wait for a while. I try to get as much pre packed the night before so I can tear down quickly.
- Pack light, pack smart! My trip to Beloved is part of a 2 week camping trip so it is hard to pack light in my situation. If you are just attending the event, coordinate with others if you have friends going to reduce the overall gear you need. This event is definitely a community event, and everyone seems to be happy to help each other out without being asked! Over the past 4 years I've refined my packing to an art. I can fit all my gear into my tiny car with space for a guest traveler.
- Most importantly remember to BREATHE. The teams doing the work to coordinate the event are doing their best. Remember to thank them and know they are doing their best. Controlled chaos is not easily managed, and the team does everything they can to accommodate the mass arrival and departure of excited guests.
Tips for Option Two
- Packing light is your best friend! Limited space on the Eco Shuttle from Portland is limited and they will cram you in as best they can. Schedule your arrival bus with time to spare after you land so that you don't become "that person" who delays the departure. We all know airports can be hectic, waiting for luggage and gear can be added stress. You can also park at the airport and rid the Eco Shuttle if you don't want to drive to the festival. This also helps with return to Portland so people don't miss their flights.
- Coordinate with friends driving in to bring items to lighten your load. This allows you to focus on your clothing and sleeping accommodations only. One of the biggest complaints I have heard from people on the Eco Shuttle is too much stuff not enough space. I bring a tent, pillow, extra blanket and food stuffs for my friend who travels via air to Portland from Vancouver Canada. This enables her to pack one bag that has her essentials (and is small enough to be a carry-on for her flight) and expedites her boarding and off boarding on the shuttle.
- Prepack before departure. Pack all items you don't need the last half of Sunday and early Monday so you can get your gear to the shuttle pickup early. This is courteous to all who are using it to get back to Portland, especially those catching flights home. The line stacks up quickly at the barn and has no organization. Everyone waiting for gear shuttle to the parking lots AND people taking the Eco Shuttle line up in one line. Listen for what vehicle is going where so you can be ready.
- And like the last point for option one, BREATHE. This coordination process is chaotic even at the best of times. Help each other, support the staff and be gentle with yourself. Don't let the chaos of the arrival and departure bring chaos to your journey at the festival.
I hope the guide helps. Sorry if it is long, but there is a lot to consider for your arrival to this event. If you go to Beloved, may your heart overflow with the kindness of the community and I hope you carry that with you back out into the world and share that genuine love and sense of community with you.
Until next time!
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