In 2017, I used to be getting ready for my very first Bonnaroo. Earlier than I labored within the music business, I barely knew what to pack, not to mention how one can survive 4 days off the grid at my first tenting pageant, surrounded by tens of 1000’s of strangers and no dependable cell service.
All I knew was this: my highschool pals had gone the yr earlier than and returned dwelling glowing with tales—sweaty, sun-soaked, blissed out, and begging me to hitch them for spherical two. So, with out hesitation, I stated sure.
After I requested my pals what our plan was, I obtained a solution you may anticipate from a gaggle of 21-year-olds: there wasn’t one. The one element they may supply was that we’d be tenting with a gaggle of 40-somethings that they had met throughout the earlier Bonnaroo. I began imagining the worst.
Would I be caught within the Tennessee warmth for 4 days with many washed-up wooks I’d by no means met, awkwardly sharing tent house and toilet traces? The thrill in my chest turned to dread. I puzzled if I’d made a colossal mistake.
Two years later, in 2019, I cried pleased tears on the marriage ceremony of two random strangers I’d been so nervous to satisfy. They’re now my chosen pageant household. My Bonna-mom and Bonna-dad. And someway, we turned one thing greater than campmates by many shared sunrises, dusty dancefloors, and tent-side potlucks. We turned a tribe.
As we return to “the Farm” for this weekend’s pageant, right here’s the love story of Chris Payne and Ginnie Hill, the radiant Kentucky couple who unknowingly turned the center of my Bonnaroo journey.
EDM Maniac: Let’s hear your love story! I don’t suppose I’ve ever heard the official story of the way you met.
Ginnie: It was 2015, and I used to be with my girlfriends, Amy and Crystal. It was our second Bonnaroo, and I had been divorced, possibly six months on the time. It was Thursday, so we have been taking it gradual, hanging out, stress-free, and taking photos beneath this enormous oak tree. I suppose Chris was napping on the opposite facet of the oak tree, heard us, awakened, and supplied to take a gaggle image of us.
We began to simply chat him up as a result of he’s our age demographic, which isn’t all the time that typical for festivals. Chris had advised us that he was there by himself as a result of his pal bailed two weeks earlier than. After some time, we women determined to pack up and make our solution to the following vacation spot. Crystal stated, “Hey, ought to we get his quantity?” And Amy stated, “Nah, if it’s meant to be, we are going to run into him once more.”
The following day, I used to be simply strolling round camp, and we ran proper into Chris on his solution to get espresso close to the Grove. Attendance at Bonnaroo that yr was like 80,000, I believe, and he was camped actually a two-minute stroll from us.
After that, we just about adopted him into our group for the entire weekend. By Saturday, I obtained to know him a bit extra and began considering he’s a fairly cool man. I’m not enthusiastic about hooking up, I’m in my mid-forties, however it was enjoyable to flirt. I advised myself I’d simply see what occurs. We hang around the complete weekend, I’m flirting with him, he’s not likely flirting again, so I figured he’s simply not into it.
On the finish of the weekend, we did the entire “let’s communicate” factor that you just do once you’re saying goodbye to somebody. However then, a month later, he came visiting me in Kentucky from Chicago. We did long-distance for some time, which was onerous as a result of I had my daughter Fiona, who was 3 years outdated on the time.
After about two years of long-distance, he moved right down to Kentucky to be with me, and a yr after that, he proposed to me at Bonnaroo on the similar oak tree we met at.
EDM Maniac: That looks like destiny to me! What made you wish to suggest at Bonnaroo?
Chris: It was a particular place for us. We’re our greatest people at Bonnaroo, generally beneath the worst situations [laughing].
Ginnie: I all the time advised him it might solely go up from right here as a result of I met him sweaty and gross with no make-up on.
EDM Maniac: Your marriage ceremony continues to be considered one of my favourite recollections. How did having your Bonnafam encompass you in your marriage ceremony day really feel?
Ginnie: We beloved it. It was completely wonderful. I felt like each single considered one of my mini worlds collided in such a good looking manner. Amy stated it finest herself: “I’ve by no means seen so many cool motherfuckers in a single place.”
EDM Maniac: Now that I’m speaking about it, I don’t even understand how we met you. How did you meet my pal group that yr I wasn’t there?
Chris: Oh man, this story is nice. I introduced the RV that yr with some Chicago pals, however that was manner again when RV tenting was all the way in which by the freeway and tremendous far. We had plans to satisfy up with Ginnie, Jenny, Crystal, and Amy, and we type of simply moved into their campsite with them.
Your pal group’s campsite was subsequent to the women, and I keep in mind strolling by like, “What are these children doing? They’re sleeping on the bottom; all they’ve is a cover and a tent that’s barely arrange.”
I introduced a bunch of tenting gear with me that we weren’t utilizing, so I simply began throwing air mattresses and blankets into their camp so that they had one thing to sleep on.
EDM Maniac: OMG, I’m so embarrassed for them.
Chris: They didn’t even have meals. That they had a bag of bologna and a few bread. However, after all, we had an entire setup, so we fed them meals all weekend lengthy, and from that time on, they have been mainly adopted.
EDM Maniac: That’s such a humorous perspective. From my finish, my pals advised me that we have been tenting with some 40-year-olds they met final yr, and I’m like, “Who’re these individuals?”
Ginnie: [Laughing] I wager you thought we have been creepy outdated individuals.
EDM Maniac: In the meantime, it’s my pals who’re the menaces. I met you all in particular person, and I knew instantly it was going to be the very best weekend of my life.
EDM Maniac: Chris, it looks like you’ve mastered attending Roo alone. Do you’ve any recommendation for these attending alone?
Chris: Don’t be afraid. Everyone seems to be there to do the identical factor you’re. Be courageous; have a look at it as an journey. You’re by no means actually going to be alone.
EDM Maniac: Do you suppose you’ll ever deliver Fiona to Bonnaroo with you?
Ginnie: Chris needed to begin bringing her when she was 8! I believe possibly once we are too outdated to essentially get together.
Chris: We are going to by no means be too outdated to get together.
Featured picture courtesy: Bonnaroo Music & Arts Competition.
