Bonnaroo is turning its campgrounds into a non-stop party. But why now?

Dave Paulson | The Tennessean

Show Caption Hide Caption 5 non-headliners to watch at Bonnaroo 2018 Music and entertainment reporter Dave Paulson breaks down the must see non-healiners at Bonnaroo

Eminem and The Killers may be the ones performing on a massive stage for tens of thousands of fans this weekend — but they’re not the stars of Bonnaroo.

It’s their audience.

The heart, soul and secret weapon of the Manchester, Tenn. music festival lies in the unusually passionate fans who attend. On a good year, up to 80,000 music lovers pay for the privilege to camp on a hot Tennessee farm for four days and nights, and they’re determined to have the time of their life.

Now Bonnaroo is truly making those diehards a part of the show.

In 2018, as much as the music, the festival is trumpeting its “experiences” planned on the sprawling campgrounds.

Go look at the music schedule on Bonnaroo’s website, and you’ll see a note at the bottom: “This is only HALF of what’s happening.”

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In years past, camp was an area for guests to rest and entertain themselves. Now, among the sea of tents and RVs, Bonnaroo has installed seven “plazas." Within them, you’ll find everything from an all-night karaoke bar, a circus-inspired dance club and a wellness area for yoga to art displays, cooking demonstrations and acoustic jam sessions.

It’s all organized by the festival’s new “community experiences” department, which capitalizes on Bonnaroo being the largest camping music festival in the U.S.

“Bonnaroo has always been the outlier,” says Jeff Cuellar, the festival’s director of community relations. He paints it in contrast to “city festivals” — a huge umbrella that includes non-camping summer events like Lollapalooza in Chicago and Governors Ball in New York City — that use its host city as a backdrop.

“At Bonnaroo, we are the city, and we don't have to limit ourselves to what that (host) city has to offer.”

'OK, what else can we do out here?'

In fact, during Bonnaroo, Manchester becomes the seventh-largest city in Tennessee. Over the years, the festival has learned more about its citizens.

In 2011, RFID chips were added to the wristbands worn by attendees, and they were scanned each time they entered and exited the concert area. The resulting data was a wakeup call to organizers, who realized there were quite a few folks still in the campgrounds at any given time. That led to some serious brainstorming.

“OK, what else can we do out here?” Cuellar recalls them saying. “How can we expand this? How can we take the idea of Bonnaroo being a community and really extend it into the campgrounds?' So we put together a whole team dedicated to expanding the experience.”

Caitlin Maloney is the creative director of that team. Years before entering the concert industry, she attended Bonnaroo as a fan — back when the music festival market wasn’t nearly as crowded.

“Today, there's any number of festivals in your backyard, or in a different city that you want to visit,” she says. “We’re really trying to drill down on 'What is it about Bonnaroo that is special?' And it's that experience of living there, being part of that community for four days.”

To help program the new plazas, the team tapped into Bonnaroo friends, alumni and even some artists on the music lineup.

After his main stage set, R&B hitmaker T-Pain will make an appearance in the karaoke area to host an hour of singalongs. Every day at lunch time, celebrity chef Tim Love will show guests how to grill protein and mix up summer cocktails at his plaza, “The Love Shack.

There's even an all-Nashville themed Plaza called "The Ville," which will serve up Prince's Hot Chicken, showcase artwork from Fort Houston and vinyl from Third Man Records.

More: Cage the Elephant's Matt Shultz brings wild artistic vision to new Bonnaroo camp experience

"We've had a lot of success in our outreach," Maloney says. "They've got a captive audience of campers, so it's a really great way to take some chances, do some experimenting and get really creative."

Nashville rock giants Cage the Elephant may not be playing this year’s Bonnaroo, but frontman Matt Shultz has curated his own plaza called “Happy Roo Day” with four days of avant-garde experiences.

“With the current global climate - socially and politically - and humanity's real struggles right now, I think people (are) digging deeper for the experiences they want to have at these events," Shultz recently told The Tennessean. "One element that never changes is that sense of community. I think it's more important than ever now."

Experiential focus appeals to millennials

Of course, there's another reason this element is important to Bonnaroo — it's a crucial marketing tool.

It's worth noting that the community experiences department was founded after Bonnaroo 2016, which saw attendance plummet to an all-time low of 45,553. The festival made a significant rebound last year (65,000), and Cuellar says 2018 is "going to be a very strong year."

Part of the rebound came through the festival offering more appeal to millennials — 2017's lineup was packed almost exclusively with modern acts. The new campground programming also attracted young people, for whom Maloney notes, "experience is becoming more and more important."

You might be reminded of that widely publicized 2016 study which found that millennials care more about "experiences" than material possessions. And that's where Bonnaroo has an undeniable edge, even as performers like Eminem and The Killers can be found at other multi-day festivals all across the country.

"With the amount of competition that's out there right now for any fan's festival dollars, this is something else that we can put on the table that really, what other festival can compete with?" Cuellar says.

"Camping can be a challenge, but let's not make it a challenge. Let's make it an opportunity."

Contact Dave Paulson at dnpaulson@tennessean.com or on Twitter at @ItsDavePaulson.